Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Abortion and racism

2024-10-01T03:02:45Z

Fire$hark: /* Richard Nixon */Made the section more full.

Many pro-abortionists have held racist views.<ref>[https://www.liveaction.org/news/three-disturbing-racist-quotes-abortionists/ Three disturbing racist quotes by abortionists]</ref>

==[[Roe v. Wade]] background==
Although no evidence suggests that Roe (actual name Norma McCorvey) herself is a racist, her lawyer was known to have claimed that she was raped by a gang of black men.<ref>[https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/real-story-late-norma-mccorvey The Real Story Behind the Roe of ‘Roe v. Wade’]</ref> According to McCorvey, it was some of her friends that told her to make up the rape story, indicating that they might be the racists as well.

==Adolf Hitler==
Hitler despised the Jewish, black, and Slavic races, and actively implemented genocidal policies. He most likely would not have allowed for the abortion of a pure German child and the only pro-abortion comment he made was regarding unborn children whose parents were Slavs.

==Richard Nixon==
[[Richard Milhous Nixon]], the 37th President of the United States in office from 1969 to 1974, is on record stating that when a pregnant woman has "a black and a white,” referring to when a white American woman has been impregnated by an African-American man or vice versa, an abortion is necessary.<ref>https://www.catholicleague.org/nixon-on-abortion/</ref>

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

[[Category:Abortion]]
[[Category:Racism]]

Abortion and racism

2024-07-05T17:52:00Z

Fire$hark: /* Adolf Hitler */

Many pro-abortionists have held racist views.<ref>[https://www.liveaction.org/news/three-disturbing-racist-quotes-abortionists/ Three disturbing racist quotes by abortionists]</ref>

==[[Roe v. Wade]] background==
Although no evidence suggests that Roe (actual name Norma McCorvey) herself is a racist, her lawyer was known to have claimed that she was raped by a gang of black men.<ref>[https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/real-story-late-norma-mccorvey The Real Story Behind the Roe of ‘Roe v. Wade’]</ref> According to McCorvey, it was some of her friends that told her to make up the rape story, indicating that they might be the racists as well.

==Adolf Hitler==
Unlike Roe, there is evidence to suggest that Adolf Hitler is racist. Hitler despised the Jewish, black, and Slavic races, and actively implemented genocidal policies. He most likely would not have allowed for the abortion of a pure German child and the only pro-abortion comment he made was regarding unborn children whose parents were Slavs.

==Richard Nixon==
Nixon believed that when the pregnant woman has "a black and a white", an abortion is necessary.<ref>https://www.catholicleague.org/nixon-on-abortion/</ref>

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

[[Category:Abortion]]
[[Category:Racism]]

Examples of Bias in Wikipedia: Anti-Christianity

2023-02-22T04:45:37Z

Fire$hark:

This article lists examples of [[Bias in Wikipedia]], related to Anti-[[Christianity]] and favoritism to other religions or atheism:
#A Wikipedia editor Qworty devoted 13,000 edits to cleaning up articles on pro-pagan topics before being permanently banned<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/IncidentArchive797#User:Qworty|title=Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive797|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> and then outed as Robert Clark Young by the website salon.com.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.salon.com/2013/05/17/revenge_ego_and_the_corruption_of_wikipedia/|title=Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia|date=May 17, 2013|work=salon.com|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> The failure to crack down on his work earlier drew criticism from the pagan website wildhunt.org.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wildhunt.org/2013/05/anti-pagan-wikipedia-editor-outed-by-salon-com.html|title=Anti-Pagan Wikipedia Editor Outed by Salon.com|date=May 22, 2013|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref>
# Wikipedia's article on [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=You_Can_Run_But_You_Cannot_Hide_International&oldid=524629239 You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International], the youth rock ministry of Bradlee Dean, is an attack page which was criticized in a WND column.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wnd.com/2012/12/whos-afraid-of-bradlee-dean/|title=Who's afraid of Bradlee Dean|date=December 14, 2012|work=WND|accessdate=December 26, 2012}}</ref> In response, [[Jimmy Wales]], Wikipedia's founder, demanded a retraction regarding his past as "a pornography trafficker". Instead, WND published detailed documentation of Wales' Boomis pornography website.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wnd.com/2012/12/heres-your-correction-wikipedia-founder/|title=Here's Your Correction, Wikipedia Founder|date=December 17, 2012|accessdate=December 26, 2012|work=WND}}</ref>
# Articles on the American Family Association [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Family_Association] and the Family Research Council [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Research_Council] call them hate groups based on opinions of the Southern Poverty Law Center on same-sex marriage, but the article on the Southern Poverty Law Center [http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Southern_Poverty_Law_Center] does not have similar criticism of it.
# Wikipedia's article on Extremism specifically points out Christians are commonly called extreme, ''"It is also not uncommon to necessarily define distinctions regarding extremist Christians as opposed to moderate Christians, as in countries such as the United States"'' [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Extremism&oldid=497191070]
# The body of the [[Islamic terrorism]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Islamic_terrorism&oldid=338611071|title=Islamic terrorism|work=Wikipedia|date=January 18, 2010|accessdate=December 26, 2012}}</ref> page opens with ''"Islamic terrorism" is itself a controversial phrase'' while the body of the article "Christianity and violence"<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christianity_and_violence&oldid=526775071</ref> page opened with ''Juergensmeyer wrote, "It is good to remember, however, that despite its central tenets of love and peace, Christianity - like most traditions - has always had a violent side."''
# [[Wikipedia]] has a lengthy entry on "Jesus H. Christ,"<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_H._Christ</ref> a term that slanders the [[Christian]] [[faith]]. [[Wikipedia]] calls the term "often humorous," "joking" and "comedic", and relishes in repeating disrespectful uses of the term, without admitting that the phrase is vehemently against [[Christianity]]. Meanwhile, [[Wikipedia]] does not describe insults toward any other religion as "humorous".
# Arguments for atheism are prominently featured in Wikipedia's atheism article, but it fails to mention that [[United States|American]] [[atheist]]s [[Atheism and Uncharitableness|give significantly less to charity than American theists on a per capita basis even when church giving is not counted for theists]].<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism</ref> In addition, Wikipedia's article on atheism fails to mention [[Atheism and deception|how key proponents of atheism have been deceptive]]. Wikipedia's article on [[atheism]] also fails to mention that [[Christianity and Science|Christianity and not atheism was foundational in regards to the development of modern science]]. Wikipedia's article attempts to associate atheism with scientific progress.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism</ref> Finally, Wikipedia's article on atheism fails to mention that [[Atheism and suicide|atheism is a causal factor for suicide]].
# Wikipedia has millions of obscure entries, but deletes or omits entries about [[conservatives]] and/or [[Christians]]. For example, conservative congressional candidate [[Ruth McClung]] has no entry at all on Wikipedia, despite being far more notable than many of its entries; likewise, broadcaster Al Gross's entry<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gross_%28broadcaster%29</ref> has been tagged for deletion even though he has a notable and continuing career in broadcasting.
# Wikipedia's article on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Theological_Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary] demonstrates its anti-Christian bias when it states "with the vision of continuing the theological tradition of Princeton Theological Seminary '''in a militant and explicitly polemical manner''', from which the Westminster founders felt Princeton was departing."
# It's apparently okay to cast doubt on well-known evangelical Christian's claims of being former atheists, as was recently done repeatedly to Kirk Cameron's Wikipedia article,<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kirk_Cameron&diff=262633707&oldid=262591086</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kirk_Cameron&diff=263109644&oldid=263063442</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kirk_Cameron&diff=263670595&oldid=263666117</ref> but similar edits regarding claims made by famous atheists of being former Christians would never be tolerated (e.g. PZ Myers' Wikipedia article<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pz_myers</ref>).
# Wikipedia's article on the [[French Revolution]] censors the central role [[atheism]] played in causing the mass murders of the [[Reign of Terror]].<ref>See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution</ref>
# Wikipedia omits an entry on [[Biblical scientific foreknowledge]], and instead ignores the foreknowledge with a pathetically abbreviated section entitled "History and advocacy" under "Scientific foreknowledge in sacred texts."<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_foreknowledge_in_sacred_texts</ref>
# Wikipedia's article on [[Thanksgiving]] is a clear-cut attempt to mitigate the meaning of Thanksgiving by changing it from a day to thanks to God as the holiday is supposed to be and instead claiming the day has become a politically correct "secular holiday." Wikipedia's [[political correctness]] is an attempt to change truth in order to appeal more closely with [[atheists]].
#[[Isaac Newton]] ''translated'' parts of the [[Bible]], and considered this effort to be the source of his scientific insights, yet Wikipedia's 10,000-word entry completely omits this.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton . Newton also felt that everyone else who translated the Bible were also able to have insights.</ref>
#Wikipedia uses anti-religious examples for its entry on "argumentum ad populum" (Latin for claiming that something is true if it is popular). Conspicuously absent from Wikipedia's examples are atheistic arguments based on popular opinion, such as misleading people into thinking the [[evolution|theory of evolution]] must be true if others accept it.
#Wikipedia's article about [[Bernhard Riemann]], perhaps the greatest modern mathematician, contains little discussion of Riemann's [[faith]] and tries to downplay his fundamentalism as though it were merely a passing interest as a teenager.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemann</ref><ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/bernhard-riemann</ref>
#In its entry on the heavily Christian Gothic architecture,<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture</ref> [[Wikipedia]] credits [[Islam]] before [[Christianity]], does not even mention Christianity until after more than 1500 words, and then does not mention Christianity again.
#Wikipedia's entry about the [[Christian]] martyr at [[Columbine]] refuses to admit that she was murdered by an [[atheist]] as she was expressing her [[faith]] in [[God]], as confirmed by multiple witnesses.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassie_Bernall</ref><ref>http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/cassie.htm</ref> Wikipedia is dominated by atheistic [[public school]] students who would be particularly biased against this truth.
#*Version of May 12, 2009:
#*:Initial reports suggested that one of the assailants, either Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold, asked Bernall if she believed in God moments before fatally shooting her. She was reported to have answered "yes". [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cassie_Bernall&oldid=289313205]
#Despite extensive evidence for the existence of God, Wikipedia has listed theism as an example of the so-called [[Tinkerbell effect]].<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tinkerbell_effect&oldid=390319255</ref> Fortunately, this bias has been resolved.
#Wikipedia contains no information on the link between [[atheism and obesity]] or the [[New Atheism leadership's problems with being overweight]].
# Arguments for atheism are prominently featured in Wikipedia's atheism article, but Wikipedia's Christianity article does not mention Christian apologetics.
# The Wikipedia entry on [[baraminology]] (a form of taxonomy) describes it as "pseudoscience" and "unrelated to science" simply because it is based on the Holy Bible.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/baraminology</ref>
# A user named [[Richard Dawkins]] apparently edited his own article on [[Wikipedia]],<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/RichardDawkins</ref> and even linked to a DVD being sold from his personal website. Illustrating [[Wikipedia]]'s favoritism towards [[liberals]], it took a long time (well over a year after he first edited his own article)<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:RichardDawkins</ref> for anybody to confront this well-known [[atheist]] for this conflict of interest, despite being against [[Wikipedia]]'s own rules.
# Wikipedia's entry for [[Johnny Appleseed]], a Christian folk hero, omits a discussion of his strong faith and instead features baseless speculation about his health, a year of death different from that of his obituary, and a silly story designed to make a Christian preacher look foolish.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed</ref>
# Wikipedia's entries about the 2007 Masters<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Masters_Tournament</ref> and its champion [[Zach Johnson]],<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zach_Johnson&oldid=154500732</ref> who won an upset come-from-behind victory against Tiger Woods, omitted any reference to Johnson's public statements crediting his [[faith]] in [[Jesus Christ]] for strengthening him as he overcame enormous odds to prevail. Months later, after criticism here, Johnson's attribution to [[Jesus Christ]] was included, but with the [[Wikipedia]] trick of placing it late in a wordy entry so that few are likely to see it, and even then with a silly "citation needed" to suggest that the quote may not be true.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Johnson</ref>
# Wikipedia recently moved further away from Judaeo-Christian beliefs by complaining that "[t]he average Wikipedian ... is from a predominantly Christian country" and that Wikipedia was built on Christian encyclopedias and "the Jewish Encyclopedia."<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Countering_systemic_bias (later "predominantly Christian" was changed to "nominally Christian")</ref> At the same time, Wikipedia complains about the "enormous significance" given by entries to "Al-Qaeda attacks on the U.S., UK and Spain, killing slightly over 3,000 people."<ref>''Ibid.''</ref>
# In the mid-20th century, a Soviet encyclopedia contained the assertion that Jesus was a myth.<ref>http://www.bede.org.uk/books,jmyth.htm</ref> Wikipedia's entry on [[Jesus]] has the following: "A small number of scholars and authors question the historical existence of Jesus, with some arguing for a completely mythological Jesus."<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus</ref> But no credible historian makes such a claim.
# Wikipedia allows the use of B.C.E. instead of B.C. and C.E. instead of A.D. The dates are based on the birth of [[Jesus]], so why pretend otherwise? Conservapedia gives the credit due to Christianity and exposes the [[CE]] deception.
# Wikipedia's article on Martin Luther King Jr. is extensive. There is little doubt that King was known for civil rights. However, Wikipedia fails to recognize King's main 'Influence', Jesus Christ. King's life was Jesus from day one, his entire life was Christ inspired. As Dr. King Jr said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.&oldid=338783450]
# Wikipedia's entry for the [[Renaissance]] denies any credit to Christianity, its primary inspiration.<ref>Wikipedia has since updated its entry with a backhanded reference to Christianity, but even then not for inspiring the Renaissance but rather for providing subject matter for the works.[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Renaissance&oldid=138439803]</ref>
# Wikipedia editors who are agnostic or atheistic outnumber Christian editors 2:1.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedians_by_religion</ref> This make them nearly 8 times as atheistic as America (in a Newsweek poll in 2006, 92% of Americans said they believed in God and only 8% said they did not believe in God or didn't know). Also, a Wikimedia page surveying the religions of Wikipedia editors, showed a greater number of atheists using pages to ridicule Christianity.<ref>http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikimedians_by_religion</ref>
#The articles on both [[Saul Alinsky]] and his book, ''Rules for Radicals'' make no mention of his dedication to "the original radical—Lucifer."<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_for_Radicals</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky</ref>
# About 60% of Americans accept the account of the Great Flood in the [[Bible]].<ref>http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040216-113955-2061r.htm</ref> But enter "Great Flood" into Wikipedia and it automatically converts that to an entry entitled "Deluge (mythology)." That entry then uses "myth" or "mythology" nearly 70 times in its description.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flood</ref> Its entry on "Noah's Ark" is just as biased,<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah's_Ark</ref> as is the official article on the Genesis flood narrative.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_flood_narrative</ref>
# The Wikipedia article on [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elopement_%28marriage%29&oldid=527790928 elopement] appears to make light of the tradition of marriage and weddings.
# [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kent_Hovind&oldid=739278963 Kent Hovind], a prominent figure in Christianity and specifically, the Creation/Evolution debate, is consistently labeled a tax protester, even though only about 1% of his ministry is about fighting common issues with the Internal Revenue Service in the United States. The Wikipedia page goes on to talk about his ensuing legal battles, even though many Christians regard Kent Hovind first as a figure in the Creation/Evolution debate, and his legal battles are nothing more than an afterthought.
# There have been complete lies and misrepresentations about conservative or Christian figures. For example, on Wikipedia's article about prominent [[creation scientist]] [[Henry Morris]], there was a false claim inserted that said that he wrote that "the craters of the moon were caused by a cosmic battle between the forces of Satan and the armies of the archangel Michael", when in fact there is no evidence he actually made such a claim.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_M._Morris&diff=649432826&oldid=649431975</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_M._Morris&diff=prev&oldid=645978140</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_M._Morris&diff=next&oldid=645978140</ref> In addition, there was another false claim on his article that stated he was a member of the [[King James Only]] movement (and that lie was placed in the "criticism" section of the article),<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_M._Morris&diff=712927742&oldid=712927668</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_M._Morris&diff=713198044&oldid=713197892</ref> when in fact it is clear he was not aligned with the movement.<ref>Morris, Henry M. (2005). [https://www.icr.org/article/preserving-words-god/ Preserving the Words of God]. ''ICR.org'' (from ''Acts & Facts. 34 (4)''). Retrieved October 17, 2016.</ref> Such edits are likely made to make Christian and conservative figures falsely appear theologically unorthodox, cult-ish, "fringe", and "wacko".
# Another example of the many blatant and extreme misrepresentations on Wikipedia was on [[Ken Ham]]'s article. Someone added a sentence of his views on the neutrality, or lack of, in American public school education. At first the sentence read "Ham also believes that students in science classes in American public schools are being taught to 'worship the sun' and that it is religion being imposed by the United States Government" (even though Ham said nothing about the ''United States'' government).<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=645518900</ref> The sentence was eventually changed by a conservative Christian editor to "Ham believes that despite opposing the teaching of creation in public schools, by teaching evolution and naturalism, the government is imposing a type of religion on students in science classes in American public schools", which was much more appropriate.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=721302488</ref>
# The Wikipedia article on Ark Encounter, beginning in the very first sentence, extensively refers to the theme park as "fundamentalist", a term for Biblical literalists that has a well-known negative connotation and is most often used in a derogatory way. In addition, said article focuses mainly on controversies and opposition to the Ark whilst devoting a disproportionately small section to the visitor experience. The article ends with links to other Wikipedia pages discussing "flood myths".<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ark_Encounter&oldid=787975803</ref>
# There is an article on Wikipedia called " Christian fundamentalism conspiracy theories " which labels the new world order and investigations surrounding the [[Murder of Seth Rich|murder of Seth Rich]] as " conspiracy theories ".
# Wikipedia has four separate userboxes available for the category of antitheist editors, indicating complicity in the userbox creators’ presentation of antitheism as a badge of honor as opposed to being the form of bigotry and intolerance that it actually is.<ref> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Antitheist_Wikipedians</ref> Likewise, two userboxes for the category of atheist editors falsely present science as in conflict with belief in God.<ref> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Atheist_Wikipedians</ref>
# The Wikipedia article on Rape in the Hebrew Bible falsely asserts that Numbers 31:18 is about raping female Midianite prisoners of war. The Got Questions Ministries article on rape has an entire paragraph thoroughly debunking this charge, pointing out that raping the women would be a violation of the command in verse 19 to purify both the soldiers themselves and the women. An edit made presenting its point as an argument against the idea that Numbers 31:18 promotes rape was reverted.<ref> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1100943122</ref>
# The opening sentence of Wikipedia’s article on nontrinitarianism falsely refers to it as a form of Christianity.<ref>https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nontrinitarianism</ref> Other Wikipedia articles mentioning non-trinitarians falsely refer to them as Christians.

== See also ==

*[[Wikipedia's atheism page - monthly page views]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Bias in wikipedia}}
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Anti-Christianity]]

Media Bias Fact Check

2022-04-21T00:44:34Z

Fire$hark: /* Criticism */Added the fact that Wikipedia regards MBFC as unreliable.

'''Media Bias Fact Check''' is a [[left-wing]] "fact-checker" owned by leftist Dave Van Zandt which purports to monitor [[Media Bias|bias in the media]].

==Political bias==

{{see also|Conservapedia Derangement Syndrome}}

In terms of political perspective it is similar to [[Snopes]], and most of Media Bias Fact Check's assessments are wildly inaccurate.

===Conservapedia===

It places [[Conservapedia]] at the very end of the [[right-wing]] - or "extreme right" - of the [[political spectrum]]; it is listed under "Questionable Sources" and described as "border[ing] on hate group status" due to its "consistent negative reporting on LGBTQ, Climate Change, Racism, Border Security and people of color..." even though Conservapedia condemns racism on its website.<ref>https://conservapedia.com/Racism</ref> Media Bias Fact Check accuses Conservapedia of promoting "conspiracies" and "fake news". Media Bias Fact Check claims that it "is not a credible source on any level or by any known criteria" without providing evidence to support this claim.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/conservapedia/</ref>

===Creation Ministries International===

Its page on Creation Ministries International is almost entirely incorrect, with only three sentences being free of error, and in one instance it spells the organization's name wrong. It frivolously and fraudulently accuses CMI of having "conspiracy" and "pseudoscience," although nothing that CMI does would qualify for the definition of either of these words.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/christian-ministries-international/</ref>

===Others===

Prager University is considered "propaganda,"<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/prageru/</ref> and [[the Rebel Media|Rebel News]] is considered "biased based on story selection that always favours the right."<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-rebel/</ref>

Media Bias Fact Check considers [[Breitbart News]] "extreme" and positioned on the "[[far-right]]" of the political spectrum,<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/breitbart/</ref> despite the fact Breitbart's content is regarded as right-wing by Media Matters and All Sides, meaning that it is between the center-right and the far-right.<ref>https://www.mediamatters.org/breitbart-news</ref><ref>https://www.allsides.com/news-source/breitbart</ref> [[Fox News Channel]] - which is center to left of center in its online content - is considered strongly right-wing biased and disreputable,<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/fox-news/</ref> and the [[neoconservative]] newspaper ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' is considered very biased to the right.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/wall-street-journal/</ref> This strategy marks almost all notable news sources one or two more points to the right than is indicated by reporting.

Media Bias Fact Check defends [[progressive]] echo chamber [[Wikipedia]] as "Least Biased,"<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/wikipedia/</ref> and leftist<ref>atheist crackpot operation</ref> RationalWiki repeatedly as "pro-science," while simultaneously calling Conservapedia, "right-wing Christian propaganda."<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/rationalwiki/</ref> In a display of ignorance about the history of science, it states that "Christianity is a set of dogmatic beliefs, which is opposed to Science which is a method that strictly avoids dogma" in its [[Christian Science]] article.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/christian-science/</ref>

Media Bias Fact Check considers the vile, far-left [[Salon]] to have "high" factual reporting.<ref>[https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/salon/ Salon - Media Bias Fact Check]</ref> They have also given a group calling themselves the [["Lincoln" Project]] a free pass.<ref>[https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-lincoln-project/ The Lincoln Project - Media Bias Fact Check]</ref>

Media Bias Fact Check also lists far-left [[Washington Post]], and, despite removing information that would damage left-wing causes, this newspaper is rated Center.

==English language errors==

Contrary to capitalization rules regarding proper names, Media Bias Fact Check has refused to capitalize the word "[[Bible]]" in at least one of its review pages.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/christian-apologetics-research-ministry-carm/</ref> It has contradicted itself, stating, "Regional cold snaps have nothing to do with global warming."<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/electroverse/</ref>

==Criticism==

[[Conservative]]s have criticized the liberal "fact-checking" website for being subjective and often outright false.<ref>https://www.politifactbias.com/2017/10/can-you-trust-what-media-biasfact-check.html</ref><ref>https://www.justfactsdaily.com/media-bias-fact-check-incompetent-or-dishonest/</ref><ref>https://www.wnd.com/2017/02/phony-baloney-the-9-fakest-fake-news-checkers/</ref> On their "10 Best Fact Checking Sites," they list several objectively false and generally inaccurate left-wing "fact-checkers," including [[PolitiFact]], [[Snopes]], and the Fact Checker by the [[Washington Post]].<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/2016/07/20/the-10-best-fact-checking-sites/</ref>

Media Bias Fact Check sources its information from the [[Anti-Defamation League]] and the left-wing [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] in order to inaccurately label right-wing websites and organizations as "questionable" sources according to Robert Spencer, who wrote to Media Bias/Fact Check's editor describing the attacks on his website, [[Jihad Watch]], as "pure libel," afterward claiming he received no response from the editor.<ref>https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/08/media-biasfact-check-just-another-bogus-leftist-robert-spencer/</ref>

On its article listing frequently discussed sources, Wikipedia notes that the consensus among its editors is that Media Bias/Fact Check is generally unreliable.<ref> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Perennial_sources#Media_Bias/Fact_Check</ref>

==External Links==
* https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Liberal Deceit]]

Media Bias Fact Check

2022-04-21T00:35:38Z

Fire$hark: /* Political bias */Included mention of the fact that saying “Christianity is opposed to science”, or anything to that effect, is ignorant about the history of science

'''Media Bias Fact Check''' is a [[left-wing]] "fact-checker" owned by leftist Dave Van Zandt which purports to monitor [[Media Bias|bias in the media]].

==Political bias==

{{see also|Conservapedia Derangement Syndrome}}

In terms of political perspective it is similar to [[Snopes]], and most of Media Bias Fact Check's assessments are wildly inaccurate.

===Conservapedia===

It places [[Conservapedia]] at the very end of the [[right-wing]] - or "extreme right" - of the [[political spectrum]]; it is listed under "Questionable Sources" and described as "border[ing] on hate group status" due to its "consistent negative reporting on LGBTQ, Climate Change, Racism, Border Security and people of color..." even though Conservapedia condemns racism on its website.<ref>https://conservapedia.com/Racism</ref> Media Bias Fact Check accuses Conservapedia of promoting "conspiracies" and "fake news". Media Bias Fact Check claims that it "is not a credible source on any level or by any known criteria" without providing evidence to support this claim.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/conservapedia/</ref>

===Creation Ministries International===

Its page on Creation Ministries International is almost entirely incorrect, with only three sentences being free of error, and in one instance it spells the organization's name wrong. It frivolously and fraudulently accuses CMI of having "conspiracy" and "pseudoscience," although nothing that CMI does would qualify for the definition of either of these words.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/christian-ministries-international/</ref>

===Others===

Prager University is considered "propaganda,"<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/prageru/</ref> and [[the Rebel Media|Rebel News]] is considered "biased based on story selection that always favours the right."<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-rebel/</ref>

Media Bias Fact Check considers [[Breitbart News]] "extreme" and positioned on the "[[far-right]]" of the political spectrum,<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/breitbart/</ref> despite the fact Breitbart's content is regarded as right-wing by Media Matters and All Sides, meaning that it is between the center-right and the far-right.<ref>https://www.mediamatters.org/breitbart-news</ref><ref>https://www.allsides.com/news-source/breitbart</ref> [[Fox News Channel]] - which is center to left of center in its online content - is considered strongly right-wing biased and disreputable,<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/fox-news/</ref> and the [[neoconservative]] newspaper ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' is considered very biased to the right.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/wall-street-journal/</ref> This strategy marks almost all notable news sources one or two more points to the right than is indicated by reporting.

Media Bias Fact Check defends [[progressive]] echo chamber [[Wikipedia]] as "Least Biased,"<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/wikipedia/</ref> and leftist<ref>atheist crackpot operation</ref> RationalWiki repeatedly as "pro-science," while simultaneously calling Conservapedia, "right-wing Christian propaganda."<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/rationalwiki/</ref> In a display of ignorance about the history of science, it states that "Christianity is a set of dogmatic beliefs, which is opposed to Science which is a method that strictly avoids dogma" in its [[Christian Science]] article.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/christian-science/</ref>

Media Bias Fact Check considers the vile, far-left [[Salon]] to have "high" factual reporting.<ref>[https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/salon/ Salon - Media Bias Fact Check]</ref> They have also given a group calling themselves the [["Lincoln" Project]] a free pass.<ref>[https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-lincoln-project/ The Lincoln Project - Media Bias Fact Check]</ref>

Media Bias Fact Check also lists far-left [[Washington Post]], and, despite removing information that would damage left-wing causes, this newspaper is rated Center.

==English language errors==

Contrary to capitalization rules regarding proper names, Media Bias Fact Check has refused to capitalize the word "[[Bible]]" in at least one of its review pages.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/christian-apologetics-research-ministry-carm/</ref> It has contradicted itself, stating, "Regional cold snaps have nothing to do with global warming."<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/electroverse/</ref>

==Criticism==

[[Conservative]]s have criticized the liberal "fact-checking" website for being subjective and often outright false.<ref>https://www.politifactbias.com/2017/10/can-you-trust-what-media-biasfact-check.html</ref><ref>https://www.justfactsdaily.com/media-bias-fact-check-incompetent-or-dishonest/</ref><ref>https://www.wnd.com/2017/02/phony-baloney-the-9-fakest-fake-news-checkers/</ref> On their "10 Best Fact Checking Sites," they list several objectively false and generally inaccurate left-wing "fact-checkers," including [[PolitiFact]], [[Snopes]], and the Fact Checker by the [[Washington Post]].<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/2016/07/20/the-10-best-fact-checking-sites/</ref>

Media Bias Fact Check sources its information from the [[Anti-Defamation League]] and the left-wing [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] in order to inaccurately label right-wing websites and organizations as "questionable" sources according to Robert Spencer, who wrote to Media Bias/Fact Check's editor describing the attacks on his website, [[Jihad Watch]], as "pure libel," afterward claiming he received no response from the editor.<ref>https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/08/media-biasfact-check-just-another-bogus-leftist-robert-spencer/</ref>

==External Links==
* https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Liberal Deceit]]

Holocaust denial

2022-03-23T19:15:55Z

Fire$hark: For the purposes of helping people understand why Holocaust denial is anti-Semitic, including that it means Jews are either exaggerating or making up the horrors committed against them is more helpful than saying “inflammatory and provocative”.

'''Holocaust denial''' is a belief that the Nazi [[Holocaust]] did not occur, or occurred to a lesser extent than believed by the preponderance of scholars. Holocaust deniers assert that the Nazis did not attempt to exterminate the [[Jews]] (as well as political opponents, [[Gypsies]], [[Catholics]] and other [[Christian]] church members opposed to their policies, mentally retarded individuals, homosexuals, etc.) during [[World War II]].

The Holocaust denial viewpoint has no support amongst any significant number of scholars. This denial is partly a result of a growing number of [[Existentialism|existentialist]] thinkers who refer to history as simply a "myth" as well as the result of the efforts of liberal history revisionists (see [[Liberalism and genocide denial]]) and [[anti-Semitism|anti-Semites]].

As denial of the Holocaust is nonfactual, another common strategy of historical revisionism is to use relativism by comparing it to other genocides, the death toll of Germans in WWII, persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany, or the number of abortions, in an attempt at [[moral equivalence]].

One of its main purposes is to discredit the establishment of the nation of [[Israel]] in 1948. The other purpose is to deny Hitler did anything wrong. Questioning the historicity and authenticity of the Holocaust is considered gravely offensive to Jews,<ref>http://skepdic.com/holocaustdenial.html</ref> and anti-Semitic in nature as it asserts that Jews are either exaggerating or making up the horrors committed against them. Denying the Holocaust is illegal in a number of European countries. In 2007, a German court sentenced notorious [[historical revisionism|historical revisionist]] and denier Ernst Zündel to five years in prison for "incitement of racial hatred." <ref>http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/03/01/zundel-release.html</ref>

== Tenets of Holocaust Denial ==
"Holocaust denial" is a simplistic term for a movement with several different schools of thought. Some radical conspiracy theorists and neo-Nazi groups dispute whether the Holocaust occurred, but the superabundance of evidence undermines their argument. Most Holocaust deniers do not deny that the event happened at all, but they question the methods, historiography and truth behind the Holocaust. That viewpoint has manifested itself into the following arguments used by most contemporary Holocaust deniers.

=== Nazi policy and lack of written orders ===
Some Holocaust deniers admit that many Jews died during the war, but dispute that there was any official Nazi policy towards extermination of the Jews. To support this argument, they claim that there exists no unequivocal written order from Adolf Hitler that orders the mass murder of Jews. This argument maintains that the Jewish deaths during the war were no more than collateral damage and/or the civilian deaths that are unavoidable, especially in a war of that size.

==== Rebuttal ====
Despite the lack of a written order, Hitler's intentions were well-known. In a 1939 speech in the Reichstag, Hitler voiced a goal of "annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe."<ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/denialbrief.html</ref> Aside from that, an abundance of eyewitness testimony, diaries and orders from other Nazi officials make it clear that there was a planned extermination campaign in place.<ref>http://www.auschwitz.dk/hitler.htm</ref><ref>http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/orgs/american/skeptic-magazine/skeptic-9.html</ref> It is highly unlikely that a project of this size would occur without the knowledge or consent of the notoriously autocratic Hitler.

As well, there is abundant evidence that Nazi officials ordered widespread destruction of such written orders towards the end of the war. As it appeared increasingly likely that Germany would lose the war, Himmler ordered such documentation destroyed, so as to avoid incriminating the regime. There also exists a signed order dated April 1945, in which Himmler orders that no prisoner "fall into the hands of the enemies alive," since their testimony would condemn the Nazi leaders.<ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/denialbrief.html</ref>

While awaiting trial in 1960, Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann said that Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Reich Main Security Office had told him in August 1941 that "the Führer has ordered the physical extermination of the Jews."<ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/denial.html</ref>

=== "The Six Million Lie" ===
Many deniers question the death toll of the Holocaust, claiming that the numbers are "highly inflated". Many contemporary Holocaust deniers put the Jewish death toll between 300,000 and 1.1 million,<ref>http://www.ihr.org/leaflets/denial.shtml</ref> which is at odds with most widely accepted statistics, which put the Jewish death toll at approximately six million.<ref>http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143</ref>

==== Rebuttal ====
Simple demographic evidence effectively rebuts this argument. Deniers claim that many Jews simply emigrated elsewhere, but there are no corresponding population increases in other countries that would support this argument. While it is possible that hundreds, or even thousands of people could "fall through the cracks," that still leaves several million Jews unaccounted for.<ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/denial.html</ref> Deniers will go on to say that Red Cross puts it at 300,000, but they responded that they never published their claims nor complied. <ref>https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0031322X.1978.9969431</ref><ref>http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/orgs/international/red-cross/ftp.py?orgs/international/red-cross//300000-victims.response</ref> The World Almanac that they use is not even on their side. <ref>http://www.nizkor.org/features/techniques-of-denial/worldalmanac.html</ref> The Nazis kept records of the 3 million Jews that they took out in eight different extermination camps,<ref>http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/site/pp.asp?c=gvKVLcMVIuG&b=394667</ref><ref>http://www.nizkor.org/features/qar/qar01.html</ref> and even Rudolf Hess wrote volumes about it while Adolf Eichmann said that more should have been done. Just as the post-Nazi and [[Khmer Rouge]] governments released records of war crimes and genocide, the contemporary [[Turkish]] and [[Japan]]ese governments have not.

=== Use of gas chambers ===
This axis of Holocaust denial consists of several different arguments:

* The "Gas chambers" were not gas chambers at all. They were used as morgues or air raid shelters. In support of this, many deniers point to the infamous Leuchter Report, a pseudoscientific and widely discredited forensic report which found no evidence of use of hydrocyanic gas in the chambers at Auschwitz.<ref>https://www.scribd.com/doc/2582074/Leuchter-Report</ref>
* The gas chambers and crematoria found at many Nazi prisoner camps were not used to kill Jews. They were used strictly for delousing clothes, mattresses and other materials to prevent the spread of lice and typhus.<ref>http://www.nizkor.org/faqs/auschwitz/auschwitz-faq-06.html</ref>
* The chambers were not adequate for gassing. They were improperly sealed, lacked exhaust systems and had no opening for which to introduce gas.

==== Rebuttal ====
These arguments collapse under the weight of overwhelming evidence. Photographs, written orders and eyewitness testimony from guards and prisoners alike support the position that gas chambers were employed for mass murder.<ref>http://judaism.about.com/library/2_holocaust/testimonies/bl_1nirgalim.htm</ref><ref>http://www.shamash.org/holocaust/photos/</ref><ref>http://www.shamash.org/holocaust/denial/testimony.txt</ref>

Arguments based on the physical structure of the chambers (ventilation, construction and other concerns) spring from the postwar examination of the camps. However, there is ample evidence that Nazis fully or partially destroyed many execution facilities to conceal evidence of their crimes.<ref>http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189</ref><ref>http://remember.org/History.root.rev.html</ref>

A letter from Karl Bischoff, the head architect at Auschwitz, to the German Armament Works dated March 31, 1943 orders "three gas tight doors" for Crema 3 following “exactly the size and construction of those already delivered” for Crema 2. Bischoff reminded the manufacturer that the doors had to have a spy-hole of double 8-mm glass “with a rubber seal and metal fitting.” The order was characterized as “very urgent.”

There are also many photographs of actual gas-tight doors that were found all over Auschwitz immediately after the war. One, which had been used in either Crema 4 or 5, had a peep-hole covered with a heavy mesh screen and still had a gas-tight seal still around the edge, just as Bischoff's letter requested. The blueprints for Crema 2 show ventilation ducts in the walls (labeled ‘Entlüftung’) and the remains of the ducts can still be seen in the ruins. In the archives, there is also a request for a “handle for the gastight door” and a request for “twenty-four-gastight anchoring screws for gas tight doors” for Cremas 4 and 5.

The walls and ceilings of the gas chambers were plastered and whitewashed as numerous eyewitnesses have testified. By the time Leuchter arrived at the camp to take his samples, the plaster was gone and the exposed brick had been exposed to 40 years of rain, sun and snow. As HCN leaves only a thin blue chemical residue on surfaces, any “Prussian Blue” residue from the HCN would have collected on the surface of the plaster and would not have left a substantial presence on the bricks and mortar or concrete underneath.

Leuchter collected 31 handful-sized samples of bricks and mortar from the cremas and one control sample from the delousing chamber in Birkenau. By the time he crawled into the ruins of Crema 2, the plaster was long gone and only the bricks and mortar and concrete remained. Cremas 4 and 5 were constructed entirely of brick. They were totally destroyed before the end of the war. Only the concrete foundations remain and bricks have been gathered from around the area and loosely stacked up to show the general outline of the floor plan of the buildings. The bricks that Leuchter sampled did not necessarily come from anywhere near the gas chamber rooms. In the laboratory the individual samples were ground up into powder. Any trace of the HCN residue that might have been there became a miniscule part of the entire sample. A more appropriate method would have tested only the surfaces of the sample. Testing the total amount of the ground up powder was like trying to analyze the color and chemical structure of paint on the inside of a wall by looking for it in the boards and masonry behind the drywall. In the case of Cremas 4 and 5, it would like analyzing the materials from another room entirely.” The fact that Leuchter still found “insignificant traces” of the chemicals in the ruins of the gas chambers after all these years of being exposed to the elements is proof that there WERE gas chambers in Auschwitz-Birkenau.<ref>http://www.hdot.org/en/learning/myth-fact/leuchter</ref>

A properly authorized and meticulously conducted, rigorously scientific study done by Polish authorities in 1994 found that "''in spite of the passage of a considerable period of time (over 45 years) in the walls of the facilities which once were in contact with hydrogen cyanide the vestigial amounts of the combinations of this constituent of Zyklon B had been preserved. This is also true of the ruins of the former gas chambers''."

== Holocaust Denial in Germany ==
Holocaust denial is a particularly sensitive issue in Germany, the former seat of the Nazi regime. The country first outlawed denial movements in 1985, making it a crime to deny the extermination of the Jews. The law was amended in 1994, imposing a fine and a five-year prison sentence on anyone who publicly endorses, denies or plays down the genocide against the Jews.<ref>http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1833619,00.html</ref> In 2007, the German government spearheaded a movement to ban Holocaust denial throughout the [[European Union]].<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6263103.stm</ref>

== Holocaust Denial in China ==
Various Anti-Semetic articles have been published by Chinese media outlets which deny the Holocaust, claim that the number of Jews killed is only in the "tens of thousands", and blame Jews for being "too greedy and self-interested". <ref>https://antisemitism.org.il/en/111153/</ref>

== Holocaust Denial in Japan ==
A base of anti-Semitism is observable in the liberal news media of [[Japan]] in which news sources ''([[Shukanshi]])'' including the popular ''Shukan Bunshun'' has repeatedly published articles denying the German holocaust of European Jews.<ref>Adam Gamble & Takesato Watanabe - ''A Public Betrayed - An Inside Look at Japanese Media Atrocities and Their Warnings to the West'', 2004.</ref>

== Holocaust Denial by "Christians" ==
The Westboro Baptist Church, a group of homophobic, "Christian" extremists and self-proclaimed "fag-haters" and creators of the website [http://www.godhatesfags.com GodHatesFags.com], created a parody of "Hey Jude" by the Beatles titled "Hey Jews".

This song features several anti-Semitic remarks, including the line "Fag & dyke rabbis teach rebellion. You lie about the holocaust days". Clearly stating that they believe the Holocaust was a lie created by homosexual rabbis.
<ref>http://www.godhatesfags.com/audio/index.html</ref>

== Denial movements abroad ==
Iranian president and prominent anti-Semite [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] has become an outspoken voice of the denier movement, making many deliberately inflammatory and provocative public statements condemning Israel and Jews in general. He has questioned whether the Holocaust actually occurred and hosted a conference designed to cast doubt on the idea of its historicity.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,236014,00.html</ref>

==Countries where Holocaust denial is illegal==
*Austria
*Belgium
*Canada
*Czech Republic
*France
*Germany
*Israel
*Lithuania
*Poland
*Slovakia
*Switzerland

==List of Holocaust Deniers==

*[[Ali Khamenei]] <ref>https://www.jpost.com/Iranian-Threat/News/Irans-Khamenei-questions-certainty-of-Holocaust-346116</ref>

*[[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] <ref>http://www.ncccusa.org/news/051216Ahmadinejad.html</ref>
*[[Ilhan Omar]]<ref>https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/267555</ref>
*[[Rashida Tlaib]]<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2019/05/20/rashida-tlaibs-holocaust-comments-propaganda/</ref>
*[[David Duke]]<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/story/kkks-david-duke-tells-iran-holocaust-conference-that-gas-chambers-not-used-to-kill-jews</ref>
*[[Whoopi Goldberg]]<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/media/the-view-whoopi-goldberg-holocaust</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=35em}}

==See also==
*[[Anti-Semitism]]
*[[Denying History]]
*[[Liberalism and genocide denial]]
*[[Liberalism and anti-Semitism]]
*[[Liberalism and racism]]

[[Category:Holocaust]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Liberal Falsehoods]]

Shinzo Abe

2022-01-31T03:03:56Z

Fire$hark: Abe is no longer prime minister

{{Officeholder
|name=安倍晋三 (Abe Shinzo)
|image=Shinzō Abe.jpg
|party=[[Liberal Democratic Party]]
|spouse=Akie Matsuzaki
|religion=[[Shinto]] and [[Buddhist]]
|offices=
{{Officeholder/misc
|office=[[Prime Minister]] of [[Japan]]
|terms=December 26, 2012 - September 16, 2020
|preceded=Yoshihiko Noda
|succeeded=Yoshihide Suga
}}
{{Officeholder/misc
|office=[[Prime Minister]] of [[Japan]]
|terms=September 26, 2006 – September 26, 2007
|preceded=Yoshihiko Noda
|succeeded=Yasuo Fukuda
}}
}}
'''Abe Shinzo''' (born 安倍晋三 on September 21, 1954) is the current Prime Minister of [[Japan]], and is the president of the [[Liberal Democratic Party of Japan]]. The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan differs vastly from the [[Democratic Party]] of the United States. In Japan, liberalism adheres to the understanding of liberal and democratic values as outlined in [[Jeffersonian Democracy]], and are thus closer to [[libertarian]] values.

Abe is known for his [[conservative]] views on a number of issues, and his numerous libertarian actions. Abe has also promoted nationalist policies as prime minister,<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/news/abe-nationalist-blueblood-at-home-shrewd-diplomat-abroad/ Abe: Nationalist blueblood at home, shrewd diplomat abroad]. ''Breitbart News''. October 22, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2017.</ref> and he supports low [[immigration]] levels.<ref>Williams, Thomas D. (November 29, 2017). [https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/11/29/japan-confirms-its-policy-of-minimal-immigration-to-defend-culture-jobs/ Japan Confirms its Policy of Minimal Immigration to Defend Culture, Jobs]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved November 29, 2017.</ref> A [[nationalist]], Abe and his cabinet have taken an unapologetic stance toward their country and its history.<ref>Sieg, Linda (August 8, 2019). [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-japan-labourers-history-an/japan-led-by-less-apologetic-generation-stays-tough-in-south-korea-feud-idUSKCN1UY1BA Japan, led by less apologetic generation, stays tough in South Korea feud]. ''Reuters''. Retrieved August 8, 2019.</ref> He has supported a strong defense policy.<ref>Multiple references:
*Sieg, Linda (November 12, 2019). [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-abe-legacy-analysis/abes-mission-unaccomplished-pushing-to-revise-japans-pacifist-charter-idUSKBN1XN089 Abe's mission unaccomplished: pushing to revise Japan's pacifist charter]. ''Reuters''. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
*Kelly, Tim (December 19, 2019). [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-budget-defence/japan-government-approves-eighth-straight-defense-spending-hike-to-record-high-idUSKBN1YO05N Japan government approves eighth straight defense spending hike to record high]. ''Reuters''. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
*Tetsushi Kajimoto (December 19, 2019). [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-budget/japan-cabinet-approves-record-939-billion-budget-spending-plan-for-fiscal-year-2020-21-idUSKBN1YO05L Japan cabinet approves record $939 billion budget spending plan for fiscal year 2020/21]. ''Reuters''. Retrieved December 20, 2019.</ref>

On November 20, 2019, Abe became Japan's longest-serving prime minister.<ref>Sieg, Linda (November 19, 2019). [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-abe/japans-abe-becomes-longest-serving-pm-as-scandal-allegations-persist-idUSKBN1XU06I Japan's Abe becomes longest serving PM as scandal allegations persist]. ''Reuters''. Retrieved November 19, 2019.</ref><ref>Yamaguchi, Mari (November 20, 2019). [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/nov/20/abe-becomes-japans-longest-serving-prime-minister/ Abe becomes Japan’s longest-serving prime minister]. ''The Washington Times'' (from the ''Associated Press''). Retrieved November 20, 2019.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.s-abe.or.jp/ Official website]
* [http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html Prime Minister of Japan Official Website in English]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinzo, Abe}}
[[Category:Japanese Prime Ministers]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Nationalists]]
[[Category:Current Heads of Government]]

Argument from religious experience

2022-01-30T22:50:59Z

Fire$hark: Corrected the modus tollents section

The '''argument from religious experience''' is the [[argument]] that because people have reported religious [[experience]]s of [[God]], therefore God [[Existence|exists]]. In the [[formal logic]] of [[philosophical theology]] the argument may be expressed as follows:

:Let '''E''' be [[Truth|credible, reliable, valid, true]] experiences of God
:Let '''T''' be credible, reliable [[Testify|testimony]] of experiences of God
:Let '''G''' be God exists.

''modus ponens''
:1. IF '''E''', then '''G'''
:2. '''E'''
:3. Therefore, '''G'''

''modus tollens''
:1. IF '''E''', then '''G'''
:2. Not '''G'''
:3. Therefore, not '''E'''.

''Hypothetical Syllogism (or Chain Argument)''
:1. If '''E''', then '''T'''
:2. If '''T''', then '''G'''
:3. Therefore, if '''E''', then '''G'''

The [[Atheism|atheist]] response to the argument from religious experience is

''Hypothetical Syllogism (or Chain Argument)''
:1. If '''E''', then '''T'''
:2. If '''T''', then '''G'''
:3. Not '''T'''
:4. Therefore, not '''G'''

== Religious experience as demonstration and evidence ==

The type of religious experience most often discussed in the context of arguments for the existence of God is that of a person having an intense inner experience which that person takes to be God communicating directly.

In its strong form, this argument asserts that it is only possible to experience that which exists, so that the phenomenon of religious experience [[Proof|demonstrates]] the existence of God. People experience God, therefore there must be a God.

In its weaker form, the argument asserts only that religious experiences constitute [[evidence]] for God's existence.

Unless there is some specific reason to question the validity of a religious experience, most people will accept that religious experience is at least ''[[prima facie]]'' (Latin, "at first view") evidence for the existence of God, and as support for the philosophical [[hypothesis]] of [[theism]].

Most religious people do not defend their beliefs using any philosophical [[rhetoric]] at all. Most people will defend their religious belief based upon their own experiences and what they regard as the reliable testimony of others as evidence for the existence of God, such as the historical accounts of encounters with God in the Christian [[Bible]] and the uninterrupted existence and growth of [[Christianity]].

== Historical testimonies: epistemological reliability ==

As history is replete with examples of human beings sensing the presence of God with them to guide them, theism explains individual and collective religious experiences. Many people have on many occasions throughout human history reported having had a religious experience in which it seemed ([[Epistemology|epistemically]]) to them that God was present. In each of those cases of the experience in which it seemed (epistemically) to the subject that God was present (where there was an absence of special considerations), God was probably present. As it is reasonable to believe that the world is probably as we experience it to be if we are to avoid [[Philosophical skepticism|Skepticism]] and [[Solipsism]], in general terms, if it seems to a credible and reliable subject that x is present, then probably x is present.

== Philosophical theology ==

[[Philosophical theology]] observes that [[Religion|religious]] experiences appear to fall into two categories:
 1. An experience with religious significance in a religious context, for example, an act of [[worship]], the act of worship in a religious setting, a setting such as a religious building.
 2. A person's experience of some power or presence, an experience of something beyond oneself, people's experience of a presence beyond themselves.

Religious experiences tend to be of something "out of the ordinary". Often there is a problem in trying to explain the experience in everyday language. Religious experiences provide insight into something other than the everyday, material world. Hence, it is difficult to verify a religious experience to oneself and to others.

Despite there being experiences which are experienced by everyone (for example, hunger, cold, fatigue...etc.) religious experiences tend to be unique and limited to a few:
:an experience which can be described using everyday language (for example, a dream);
:an experience which cannot be described using everyday language (for example, a mystical experience);
:a conviction that God has been experienced in some way despite lack of material evidence.
Religious experiences are said to be "God given" compared to ordinary experiences which are available to anyone.

== Critical objections ==

Traditionally critics of the argument from religious experience have maintained that it is a fallacy to argue from a psychological experience of '''x''' to '''x'''; to argue, for example, from the fact that it appears to you that God is present to the probability that God is present. See [[Confirmation bias]]. However, both believers and open-minded sceptics accept the fact that not all reported perceptual experiences are psychological, or self-generated. See [[Testify]] and [[Witness]].

=== Wishful thinking ===

Sceptics would argue that religious experience is the result of wishful thinking or projection. It seems to them very plausible that even if God did not exist, people would still be inclined to imagine that there is a God and even imagine that they are having experiences of God, when in fact their experience is not veridical.<ref>"veridical" —truthfulness, corresponding to reality; "veridically" —truthfully, actually, corresponding to reality:
*[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/veridical Oxford Dictionaries.com "veridical"]
*[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/veridical The Free Dictionary.com "veridical"]
*[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/veridicality Wiktionary.org: "veridicality"]
*[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/veridical Merriam-Webster.com "veridical"]
*[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/veridical Dictionary.com "veridical"]</ref> Thus the theory that religious experience is delusionary would also explain some of the vast differences which different religious people claim to have in their "experience" of God, namely, that people "experience" what they want to experience. This is the sceptic's logical fallacy of [[confirmation bias]] and [[cherry picking]]. If an atheist had an experience of God, the committed atheist could freely dismiss it afterward as an aberrent psychological experience having no objective external reality. This is the fallacy of [[Solipsism]].<ref>Compare
*[http://www.logicallyfallacious.com/index.php/logical-fallacies/161-self-sealing-argument Logically Fallacious: Self-sealing argument]
*[http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~morourke/404-phil/Summer-99/Handouts/Philosophical/Self-Sealing-Arguments.htm University of Idaho. Self-Sealing Arguments. Chapter Ten, Philosophy 404, Summer 1999]</ref>

=== Conflicting claims ===

Critics sometimes appeal to the conflicting claims that are made on the basis of religious experiences within different religious traditions, representing these claims as mutually inconsistent and contradictory. This objection does not seem to consider the possibility that the most striking of the apparent differences in claims of religious experiences within different religious traditions could be due to opposing [[Possession|demonic manifestations]] and [[phenomena]], which sceptics also reject. Compare [http://biblehub.com/multi/1_corinthians/8-5.htm 1 Corinthians 8:5,] [http://biblehub.com/multi/1_corinthians/10-20.htm 1 Corinthians 10:20,] [http://biblehub.com/multi/2_corinthians/11-14.htm 2 Corinthians 11:14,] [http://biblehub.com/multi/galatians/4-8.htm Galatians 4:8] and [http://biblehub.com/multi/1_john/4-1.htm 1 John 4:1].

See [[Demon]], [[Ghost]], [[Magic]], [[New age movement]], [[Occultism]], [[Paranormal]], [[Possession]], [[Spiritism]], [[Thelema]], [[Theosophical Society|Theosophy]], [[Voodoo]], [[Witch]].

== Former atheists' experiences of God and their testimony ==

Against the objection by many thinkers who reject the ''argument from religious experience'' as valid evidence for the existence of God, many former atheists have testified to unexpected religious experiences they could not dismiss in which they personally encountered God and in response wholly embraced [[theism]].<ref>See the following
*[http://www.everystudent.com/wires/atheist.html HOW AN ATHEIST FOUND GOD A personal account from an atheist who was convinced no god exists, and what facts led to God.] (everystudent.com)
*[http://www.bethinking.org/is-christianity-true/from-atheism-to-christianity-a-personal-journey From Atheism to Christianity: a Personal Journey, Philip Vander Elst. About the Author: Philip Vander Elst is a freelance writer and lecturer who has spent nearly 30 years in politics and journalism, and now works with Areopagus Ministries.] (bethinking.org)
*[http://islamicblessings.com/upload/There-is-a-God.pdf '''there is a god. How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind.''' Antony Flew with Roy Abraham Varghese] (islamicblessings.com)
*[http://atheism.about.com/od/atheismmyths/p/ExperienceGod.htm Myth: Atheists Haven't Experienced True Religion. Atheism and Religious Experience: By Austin Cline, Agnosticism/Atheism Expert] (atheism.about.com)
*[http://freethought.mbdojo.com/personalexperienc.html The 'Personal Experience' Argument of Christians 1998] (freethought.mbdojo.com)
*[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20141116000042AAsUXkV Yahoo Answers. "Why do atheists reject personal experience of countless believers as evidence for the existence of God?"] (answers.yahoo.com)</ref>

== The argument of Jesus Christ ==

[http://biblehub.com/multi/mark/16-14.htm '''Mark 16:14''' multiple translations] He upbraided them for their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him.

[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%207:16-18&version=DRA '''John 7:16-18''' Douay-Rheims] He that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, he is true, and there is no injustice in him. (''truthful testimony'')

[http://biblehub.com/multi/john/7-17.htm '''John 7:17''' multiple translations] Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether My teaching is from God.

[http://biblehub.com/multi/john/8-47.htm '''John 8:47''' multiple translations] Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.

[http://biblehub.com/multi/john/15-22.htm '''John 15:22''' multiple translations] If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

[http://biblehub.com/multi/john/3-19.htm '''John 3:19''' multiple translations] [[Revelation (religion)|Light]] has come into the world, and men love [[Ignorance|darkness]] rather than light, because their deeds are evil.

The argument of Jesus Christ for the existence of God is wholly [[Intuition|intuitive]]. See [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%201:19-21&version=NABRE Romans 1:19-21]
== Bible believing Christianity and prayer ==

''See also:'' [[Studies on prayer]]

The ''Christian Post'' reporter Stoyan Zaimov wrote:
{{cquote|Double-blind [[prayer]] experiments: where people pray for others with terminal illness. [[Gary Habermas|Habermas]] admitted that most such experiments have not worked, but the three that he knows of that have indeed worked were cases of orthodox-Christians praying for the sick.<ref>[http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-apologist-10-reasons-for-the-fall-of-atheism-106531/ Christian Apologist: 10 Reasons for the Fall of Atheism] by Stoyan Zaimov,'' Christian Post'', October 14, 2013</ref>}}

Habermas has also discussed documentations of miracle claims and referred to thousands of cases around the world of documented miracles, including those where medical doctors witness prayer healing people with severe physical disabilities.<ref>[http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-apologist-10-reasons-for-the-fall-of-atheism-106531/ Christian Apologist: 10 Reasons for the Fall of Atheism] By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Swinburne's argument from religious experience]]

*[[Causes of atheism]]

*[[Epiphany]]

* [[Miracle]]

*[[Supernatural]]

*[[Atheist deconversion stories]]

* [[Faith]]

*[[Charismatic movement]]

* [[Speaking in tongues]]

*[[Atheism and Miracles|Atheism and miracles]]

*[[Atheists doubting the validity of atheism]]

*[[Atheism and the supernatural]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06689x.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: actual grace]
* [http://catholicism.org/category/miracles-and-apparitions Catholicism.org. Category Archive: Miracles and Apparitions]
* [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mystic+theology mystic theology]
* [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mystical+theology mystical theology]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04324b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: contemplation]
* [http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/lossky_intro.aspx Theology and Mysticism in the Tradition of the Eastern Church, by Vladimir Lossky]
* [http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith9284 An Introduction to Orthodox Spirituality by George C. Papademetriou]
* [http://www.orthodox.cn/patristics/apostolicfathers/mystic.htm ORTHODOX MYSTICISM: TEACHINGS OF THE DESERT FATHERS]
* [http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7725 Jesus Christ is the Way for Oceania, by Pope John Paul II]
* [http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1385385?sid=21105944746203&uid=3739256&uid=2&uid=3739640&uid=4 The Protestant Temperament: Patterns of Child-Rearing, Religious Experience, and the Self in Early America by Philip Greven. William R. Garrett, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 1979), pp. 94-96]
* [http://people.bu.edu/wwildman/relexp/reviews/review_weber01.htm Max Weber. The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism. Review by Lawrence A. Whitney , 2008. Max Weber. The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism. New York: Penguin Books, 2002. 392pp.]
* [http://agilewriter.com/Biography/Billwilson.htm Biography of Bill Wilson (founder of A.A. Alcoholics Anonymous)]

[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Spirituality]]
[[Category:Christian Apologetics]]

Atheism and evidence

2022-01-30T22:43:32Z

Fire$hark: /* Atheism, evidence and evidential standards */I think it would be more accurate to use the present tense in this situation

[[Atheism]], as defined by the ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'', the ''[[Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'', and other [[philosophy]] reference works, is a religion that denies the existence of [[God]].<ref>Multiple references:
*Smart, J. J. C. (August 8, 2011). [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism "Atheism and agnosticism"]. ''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (Spring 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).
*Merriam-Webster dictionary: Atheism - a disbelief in the existence of deity; the doctrine that there is no deity. Origin of atheism: Middle French athéisme, from athée atheist, from Greek atheos godless, from a- + theos god [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism]
*Atheism: a + theos, denying god, (Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology-1966).
*Sarfati, Jonathan, Ph.D. (23 June 2007). [https://creation.com/atheism-is-more-rational "Atheism is more rational?"]. See [[Creation Ministries International]], [[Jonathan Sarfati]].
*Day, Donn R. (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20140906135211/http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism - etymology"].
*[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/definition-of-atheism Definition of atheism] by [[William Lane Craig]]
*[http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0131a.html Putting the Atheist on the Defensive] by Kenneth R. Samples, Christian Research Institute Journal, Fall 1991, and Winter 1992, page 7.
</ref> [[Paul Edwards (philosopher)|Paul Edwards]], who was a prominent atheist and editor of the ''[[Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'', defined an atheist as "a person who maintains that there is no God." <ref name="CRI">[http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0131a.html Putting the Atheist on the Defensive] by Kenneth R. Samples, Christian Research Institute Journal, Fall 1991, and Winter 1992, page 7.</ref> An atheist who claims there is God has a responsibility to shoulder the burden of proof for this claim and many atheists freely admit that they cannot.

Beginning in the latter portion of the 20th century and continuing beyond, many [[agnosticism|agnostics]] and atheists have argued that the [[definition of atheism]] should be a lack of belief in God or gods.
<ref name="CRI"/><ref name="Divine">Day, Donn R. (2007). [http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism - etymology"].</ref>
<ref>[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/definition-of-atheism Definition of atheism] by [[William Lane Craig]]</ref><ref>Britain is a less religious country than the United States and the online Oxford Dictionaries offers both the narrow/broad definitions of atheism (As noted in a previous footnote the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which is a traditional American dictionary, offers a more narrow definition of atheism similar to the definition that major encyclopedias of philosophy use). Oxford Dictionaries: Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/atheism]</ref>

In terms of contemporary definitions of atheism, the ''Webster-Merriam Dictionary'' defines atheism in two ways: "1) a lack of belief or a strong disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods 2) a philosophical or religious position characterized by disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods."<ref>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism Atheism], ''Webster-Merriam'' dictionary</ref>
''Oxford English Dictionies'' defines atheism as "Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods."<ref>[https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/atheism Atheism], Oxford online dictionary</ref>

[[William Lane Craig]] writes:
{{Cquote| If atheism is taken to be [[Atheist worldview|a view]], namely the view that there is no God, then atheists must shoulder their share of the burden of proof to support this view. But many atheists admit freely that they cannot sustain such a burden of proof. So they try to shirk their epistemic responsibility by re-defining atheism so that it is no longer a view but just a psychological condition which as such makes no assertions. They are really closet agnostics who want to claim the mantle of atheism without shouldering its responsibilities.<ref>[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/definition-of-atheism Definition of atheism] by William Lane Craig</ref>}}

The atheist Francois Tremblay wrote:
{{cquote|Atheism, as [[Definition of atheism|commonly defined]] by atheists, expresses a lack of belief, or disbelief, in deities. It is not a positive belief in anything, but a negative concept...

Another problem of atheism qua atheism is that it does not contain its own basis. What I mean by this is that atheism is a punctual, [[ontological]] belief, which is itself the implicit or explicit result of [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] and [[Atheism and epistemology|epistemological deductions]]. Any reply to an attack on this basis cannot come directly from atheism. Concentrating oneself only on being an atheist is like trying to build a house from the second floor up. It may look less costly on paper, and for people who only build houses in their imagination this may be a good way of seeing it, but it's not good enough for a serious endeavour. And most importantly, it's too fragile. I see too many religionists attacking atheism from the bottom and atheists being unable to adequately reply to the arguments. If the [[Atheism and irrationality|atheist cannot answer to his most fundamental beliefs on the nature of reality and cognition]], then his atheism is worthless in terms of validation. It is nothing more than a big paper tiger, made from the finest cardboard.<ref>[http://www.liberator.net/articles/TremblayFrancois/herdingcats.html ''Herding Cats: Why atheism will lose''] by Francois Tremblay</ref>}}

[[File:Vox Day.jpg|thumbnail|right|150px|[[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]]]]
The [[ex-atheists|ex-atheist]] [[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]] wrote:
{{Cquote|Underlining the utter vaccuity of the atheist position is the fact that the average atheist does not even understand what the word "evidence" means. There are many types of evidence beyond scientific evidence, the entire basis for our system of law explicitly denies the concept that "scientific evidence" is the only valid form of evidence.

Of the four types of evidence deemed permissible for determining truth in court, only "real" evidence for God can possibly be considered lacking in any way, although not necessarily as documentary evidence is considered a form of real evidence. There is ample demonstrative, documentary, and testimonial evidence, and in legal terms, testimonial evidence is the strongest as it is "the only kind that does not usually require another form of evidence as a prerequisite for its admissibility. See Evid. Code § 702(b); Fed R. Evid. 602."

Scientific evidence, on the other hand, is often not permissible in court because it is too often known to be unreliable.<ref>[https://voxday.blogspot.com/2007/11/old-atheist-recants.html The atheist recants] by [[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]]</ref>}}

Many atheists, such as many [[New Atheism|new atheists]], only accept [[scientific evidence]] as a valid form of evidence<ref>[https://www.iep.utm.edu/n-athxxx/ The New Atheists], Internet Enclopedia of Philisophy</ref>

Reverend Dwight Longnecker wrote:
{{Cquote|Very often atheists will ask for “evidence” for the existence of God, but I have never been able to ascertain from any of them what they mean by evidence. Do they want scientific evidence of the sort you produce in a laboratory? Archeological evidence? Documentary evidence? Historical evidence? Eyewitness evidence? Contemporary sociological evidence? Psychological evidence? Forensic evidence? I can provide all those kinds of evidence that points to the existence of God, but whenever one produces such evidence the atheist disputes the evidence. Interested in evidence? You tell me what kind of evidence you want and I’ll try to provide it. None have.<ref>[Twelve Reasons Why I Never Argue With Internet Atheists] by Reverend Dwight Longnecker</ref>}}

== Atheism, evidence and evidential standards ==

''See also:'' [[Evidential apologetics]] and [[Atheism and irrationality]] and [[Atheism and logic]] and [[Atheism and logical fallacies]]

Atheists demand proof and evidence for other worldviews, yet there is [[Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism|no proof and evidence]] that atheism is true. Also, despite the abundant [[Christian apologetics websites|evidence for Christianity]] and the lack of proof and evidence for atheism, atheist reject the truth of [[Christianity]]. Atheists refuse to go where the evidence clearly leads. See also: [[Arguments for the existence of God]]

In addition, when atheist make claims related to [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]], make personal claims or make accusations against [[theism|theists]], they often employ lax evidential standards instead of employing rigorous evidential standards.

=== Atheist community requested to provide proof and evidence that atheism is true ===
[[File:Zero scale.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|The popular YouTube Christian [[Shockofgod]] asked for proof and evidence that atheism is true. When atheism is weighed on the proof and evidence scale, it lacks evidential weight that it is a valid worldview. [[Christian apologetics website resources|Unlike Christianity]], there is no proof and evidence that atheism is true.]]
The popular Christian [[YouTube]] Christian [[Shockofgod]] likened atheism to a clown due to its hypocritical and foolish evidential standards.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjS__cWr0Y0</ref> Shockofgod regularly asks the YouTube atheist community, "What proof and evidence do you have that atheism is accurate and correct?".

The YouTube atheist community became flustered and upset by his question.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjS__cWr0Y0</ref> Shockofgod declared concerning their reaction to his question: "The hostility I am getting over this question is unbelievable...It's like..picture this...Atheism is a clown and it didn't know it. And then I got the clown and I walked it over...I forced it to look itself in the mirror. And it sees itself in all its red hair, big nose, big shoes, polka dot glory."<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjS__cWr0Y0</ref>

=== Atheism and extraordinary claims ===

Western Atheists often claim that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence", yet they have no proof and evidence that the extraordinary claim of non-life becoming the first life solely through natural processes is true (See: [[Origin of life]]).<ref>[http://carm.org/extraordinary-claims-require-extraordinary-evidence Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence]</ref><ref>[http://theosophical.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/2830/ Do Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence?]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRvJ-4WmJwk William Lane Craig debunks the atheist's "Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence?]</ref>

=== Atheism and the unobservable by senses or instruments ===

Physicist Stephen Barr points out, “How ironic that, having renounced belief in God because God is not material or observable by sense or instrument, the atheist may be driven to postulate not one but an infinitude of unobservables in the material world itself.” See also: [[Multiverse]] and [[Dark matter]] and [[Dark energy]]

=== Selective application of naturalism ===

Although all atheists indicate that they do not believe in the existence of [[God]]/gods, a significant portion of atheists do not strictly subscribe to the philosophy of [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]] (see also: [[Atheism and the supernatural]]).

=== Atheism and miracles ===

See: [[Atheism and Miracles|Atheism and miracles]]

== Atheists and the denial that Jesus existed ==
[[Image:David Christ on the Cross.jpg|left|150px|thumb|[[Jesus Christ|Christ]] on the Cross by [[Jacques Louis David]].]]
''See also:'' [[Historicity of Jesus]] and [[Atheists and historical illiteracy]]

Despite their being an abundance of historical evidence for [[Jesus Christ]] living in the first century, many atheists embarrassingly claim the Jesus never existed (see: [[Historicity of Jesus]]).

In an article entitled ''Scholarly opinions on the Jesus Myth'', Christopher Price wrote concerning individuals who insist that Jesus Christ was merely a mythical figure:
{{cquote|I have often been asked why more academics do not take the time to respond to the Jesus Myth theory. After looking into this question, I discovered that most historians and New Testament scholars relevant to the topic have concluded that Jesus Mythers are beyond reason and therefore decide that they have better things to do with their time.<ref name="bede.org.uk">[http://www.bede.org.uk/price1.htm ''Scholarly opinions on the Jesus Myth''] by Christopher Price</ref>}}

Price also indicates:
{{cquote|In his book, I Believe in the Historical Jesus, Howard Marshall points out that in the early to mid 20th century, one of the few "authorities" to consider Jesus as a myth was a Soviet Encyclopaedia. He then goes on to discuss the work of GA Wells which was then recently published.

:There is said to be a Russian encyclopaedia in current use which affirms in a brief entry that Jesus Christ was the mythological founder of Christianity, but it is virtually alone in doing so. The historian will not take its statement very seriously, since ... it offers no evidence for its assertion, and mere assertion cannot stand over against historical enquiry. But more than mere assertion is involved, for an attempt to show that Jesus never existed has been made in recent years by GA Wells, a Professor of German who has ventured into New Testament study and presents a case that the origins Christianity can be explained without assuming that Jesus really lived. Earlier presentations of similar views at the turn of the century failed to make any impression on scholarly opinion, and it is certain that this latest presentation of the case will not fare any better.

Professor Marshall was correct that neither any earlier attempt nor Wells have swayed scholarly opinion. This remains true whether the scholars were Christians, liberals, conservatives, Jewish, atheist, agnostic, or Catholic. And even GA Wells himself has now conceded that a real figure called Jesus lay behind some of the teaching contained in the synoptic Gospels.<ref name="bede.org.uk">[http://www.bede.org.uk/price1.htm ''Scholarly opinions on the Jesus Myth''] by Christopher Price</ref>}}

=== Atheists and selective use of academic consensus ===

''See also:'' [[Atheist hypocrisy]]

An irony of atheists asserting that Jesus never existed is that atheists often appeal to the academic consensus when it comes to pseudoscience such [[evolution]]. And secular leftists often appeal to the academic consensus when engaging in [[global warming]] alarmism.

==== John Lennox's discussion with New Atheist Richard Dawkins about the historicity of Christ ====

[[John Lennox]] pointed out to [[New Atheism|New Atheist]] Richard Dawkins that Dawkins claimed in his book ''The God Delusion'' that Jesus may have never existed and that Dawkins errantly claimed that ancient historians have some disagreement on whether Jesus existed or not. After some additional discussion with Dawkins, Dawkins conceded that Jesus existed and said, "I take that back. Jesus existed".<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ant5HS01tBQ Richard Dawkins admits Jesus existed]</ref>

== God of the gaps rebuttals ==

''See also:'' [[God of the gaps]] and [[Rebuttals to atheist arguments]]

"[[God of the gaps]]" is a term used by atheists and scientists to disparage the belief that science cannot explain everything. Atheists argue that saying "God did it" as a response to every mystery is an ineffective argument. It should be noted that [[Gödel's incompleteness theorems]] has effectively established that science really can't explain everything; therefore, accusing believers of having a God of gaps is not in accordance with scientific principle.

=== Christian responses to unreasonable uses of the God of the gaps argument ===

*[https://creation.com/whose-god-the-theological-response-to-the-god-of-the-gaps Whose god? The theological response to the god-of-the-gaps]
*[https://www.icr.org/article/gaps-the-god-gaps/ The Gaps in 'The God of the Gaps'] by Brian Thomas, M.S.
*[https://shadowtolight.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/how-to-defeat-modern-day-atheism-with-three-easy-questions/ How to Defeat Modern Day Atheism With Three Easy Questions]

=== Intelligent design response to the God of the gaps argument ===

[[Intelligent design]] (ID) is the empirically testable<ref>"Dembski and Wells argue calmly and convincingly that intelligent design theory is empirically testable (in spite of Darwinists' shrill protests to the contrary) by indicating precisely what it would take to refute the theory, namely a clear demonstration that systems exhibiting [[irreducible complexity]] with specified complexity can in fact arise spontaneously by purely material processes" source: [https://www.amazon.com/The-Design-Life-Discovering-Intelligence/dp/0980021308 The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems - Amazon page]</ref> theory that the natural world shows signs of having been designed by a purposeful, intelligent cause.<ref>
An inference that certain biological information may be the product of an intelligent cause can be tested or evaluated in the same manner as scientists daily test for design in other sciences. [http://www.uncommondescent.com/id-defined/ ID Defined]</ref> As [[Jonathan Wells]] wrote, "ID ... asserts only that some features of living things are better explained by an intelligent cause than by unguided processes." <ref>http://www.evolutionnews.org/2009/11/wired_science_one_long_bluff028441.html</ref>

==== ID response to the God of the gaps argument ====

*[http://www.ideacenter.org/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/1159 Is ID a "god-of-the-gaps" argument?] - Idea Center

== Evidential apologetics ==

''See also:'' [[Evidential apologetics]]

[[Evidential apologetics]] is an approach in [[Christian apologetics]] which emphasizes the use of evidence to demonstrate that God exists and that there is compelling evidence to support Christianity and the Bible.

Within the discipline of Christian apologetics are various topics related to evidential apologetics:

*[[Biblical archaeology]]

*[[Bible history]]

*[[Historicity of Jesus]]

*[[Christian legal apologetics]]

*[[Resurrection of Jesus Christ]]

*[[Christian Apologetics and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ]]

*[[Creation science]] (see also: [[Intelligent design]])

*[[Bible prophecy]]

*[[Christianity and science]]

*[http://creationwiki.org/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge Bible scientific foreknowledge]

== Atheists, evidence and motives for disbelief ==

''See also:'' [[Causes of atheism]] and [[Atheism and arrogance]] and [[Atheism Quotes|Atheism quotes]] and [[Agnosticism quotes]]

The Christian apologist Tom Gilson, after citing cases where atheists hold to views without sufficient evidence, quotes the prominent atheist [[Thomas Nagel]] who declared:
{{Cquote|I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and, naturally, hope that I’m right in my belief. It’s that I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe to be like that.<ref name="Gilson">
[https://www.thinkingchristian.net/posts/2015/08/atheism-and-evidence-self-defense-against-belief/ 'Atheism and Evidence: Self-Defense Against Belief?''] by Tom Gilson</ref>}}
[[Image:Aldous Huxley.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[Aldous Huxley]] ]]
Gilson then quotes the [[agnosticism|agnostic]] [[Aldous Huxley]] who declared:
{{Cquote|I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; and consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics. He is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do. For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. The supporters of this system claimed that it embodied the meaning – the Christian meaning, they insisted – of the world. There was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and justifying ourselves in our erotic revolt: we would deny that the world had any meaning whatever.<ref name="Gilson"/>}}

For additional information, please see: [[Causes of atheism]]

== See also ==

*[[Atheism and knowledge]]
*[[Rebuttals to atheist arguments]]
*[[Atheism and historical revisionism]]
*[[Causes of atheism]]
*[[Atheism and science]]
*[[Atheism and presuppositional apologetics]]
*[[Atheism and its retention rate in individuals]]
*[[Atheist apologetics]]

== External links ==

*[http://crossexamined.org/atheism-burden-proof/ Atheism and the burden of proof]
*[https://www.thinkingchristian.net/posts/2015/08/atheism-and-evidence-self-defense-against-belief/ Atheism and Evidence: Self-Defense Against Belief?] by Tom Gilson
*[https://philosophynow.org/issues/78/Wheres_The_Evidence Where's the evidence?]
* [http://www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth11.html Why the Burden of Proof is on the Atheist] by Professor Ralph McInerny
*[http://www.bethinking.org/atheism/dawkins-delusions-faith-and-evidence Dawkins' Delusions: faith and evidence] by Chris Knight

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

[[Category:Atheism]]

Democratic Party

2021-01-06T07:29:48Z

Fire$hark: Added section about factual errors on the Democratic Party official website,

{{AmericanPoliticalParty
| party_name=Democratic Party
| party_articletitle = Democratic Party (United States)
| party_logo = [[Image:democraticpartyusalogo.png|200px]]
| Thankssite = [http://www.democrats.org www.democrats.org]
| headquarters = 430 South Capitol Street SE (next to the [[Murder of Seth Rich|Seth Rich bike rack]])<ref>[https://www.swpm.us/crowd-chants-justice-seth-rich-outside-dnc/ CROWD CHANTS ‘JUSTICE FOR SETH RICH!’ OUTSIDE DNC], By Alicia Powe and Chelsea Schilling, ''The Front Line'', July 11, 2017.</ref> [[Washington, D.C.]] 20003
| chairman = [[Thomas Perez]]
| houseleader = [[Nancy Pelosi]]
| senateleader = [[Chuck Schumer]]
| foundation = 1828
| ideology = [[Elitism]] [[Historical revisionism]] [[Socialism]] [[Progressivism]] [[Fascism]] [[Democratic Socialism]] [[Hollywood values]] [[Communism]] [[Anti-Semitism]] [[Keynes]]ianism [[Racism]] [[White supremacy]], [[Cultural Marxism]] [[Hypocrisy]] Historically: [[Segregation]] [[Jim Crow]] [[Slave Power]]
| fiscalpolicy = [[Left-wing]]
| socialpolicy = Left-wing to [[Far-left]]
| international =
| colors = Blue (unofficial) formerly Red prior to the collapse of the [[Soviet Union]]
| footnotes =
}}
<center>''This article is about the Democratic Party of the United States. For parties named "Democratic Party" in other countries, see [[Democratic party (disambiguation)]]. For the grammatically-correct name of the party, see [[Democrat Party]]''</center>
{{TOC right}}
The '''Democratic Party'''<ref>This is the official name of the party.[https://www.democrats.org/about/our-party/party-organization]. Some refer to it as the Democrat party, implying the party is not democratic. The term is said to grate on Democrats' ears.</ref> ('''D''') is one of the two major political [[parties]] in the [[United States of America]]. Slavery, segregation, and controlling minorities was and remains a founding principle of the Democratic party, and which the GOP was founded to oppose.<ref>Since its formation, Democrats have held the position that some lives are disposable. The party was, therefore against the abolition of slavery. The same view supports abortion as they view the unborn baby as disposable. https://www.coursehero.com/file/p5gmsch/Core-principles-The-opposing-party-to-the-Democrats-party-is-the-republicans/ The rights and dignity of the individual remain the core principal of the Republican party, be it opposition to slavery, abortion, big government, or high taxes.</ref> The party claims as part of its legacy of the [[Jim Crow]] era a long history of [[Democrat election fraud]],<ref>https://theredelephants.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/try.mp4?_=2</ref> election tampering, [[voter suppression]], and ballot box stuffing at the polls that continues to this very day.<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2020/11/09/from-hanging-chads-to-ballot-creep-democrats-are-perfecting-post-election-heists/</ref> It is currently controlled by international [[globalism|globalist]]s whose principle aim is the overthrow of American [[democracy]] and free elections.

A core tenet of the Democratic party is opposition to the principle of "one person, one vote", be it the original insistence on a [[Three-Fifths Compromise|3/5's rule]] for minorities among its early promulgators or the election rigging by [[Dominion Voting Systems]] in the [[2020 Presidential election]].

==Biden junta==

:{{See also|Sedition|}}
As of Novemeber 2020 [[Peter Neffenger]] was chairman of the [[corrupt]] [[voter fraud|ballot-stuffing]] and [[election fraud|election-rigging]] [[Dominion_Voting_Systems#Smartmatic|SmartMatic]] corporation.<ref>https://www.smartmatic.com/us/about/board-of-directors/detail/peter-neffenger/</ref> Neffenger was appointed to the [[Biden junta]] organizational team.<ref>https://www.air.tv/watch?v=ir00pXx9QsKbvSdjsCy3nQ</ref>

Dr. Navid Keshavarz-Nia,<ref>https://cybersummitusa.com/2017/06/navid-nia/</ref> with 35 years experience performing technical assessment, mathematical modeling, cyber-attack pattern analysis, and
security [[counterintelligence]] linked to foreign intelligence service operators, including [[China]], [[Iran]], [[North Korea]], and [[Russia]] and who has worked as a consultant and subject-matter expert supporting the [[Department of Defense]], [[FBI]] and US [[Intelligence Community]] (USIC) agencies such as the [[DIA]], [[CIA]], [[NSA]], NGA [National Geospatial Agency], and the [[DHS]] I&A [Office of Intelligence and Analysis] supporting counterintelligence, and [[law enforcement]] investigations and whom the ''[[New York Times]]'' describes as the "always the smartest person in the room,<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/09/opinion/sunday/garrison-courtney-spies-contracts.html</ref> testified under oath Smartmatic and its role in the [[2020 Presidential election]] thusly:
{{quotebox|"In my expert opinion, the DVS [ [[Dominion Voting Systems]] ] Democracy Suite, [[Scytl]]/SOE Software/eClarity and Smartmatic have not produced auditable results in the 2020 election. It is evident that ballots were not properly validated, system records were not kept, and the system experience considerable instability even several days prior to November 4, 2020 that require DVS to implement software changes at the last minute. In addition, the disparity in data distribution after 4:30 AM on November 4, 2020 indicates significant systemic anomalies that were widespread among all battleground states. The evidence is both extensive and persuasive and indicates large-scale [[fraud]] by remote operators.

"I conclude that a combination of lost cryptographic key contained on stolen USB memory cards, serious exploitable system and [[software]] vulnerabilities and operating system backdoor in DVS, Scytl, SOE Software/eClarity and Smartmatic created the perfect environment to commit widespread fraud in all states where these systems are installed. My analysis of the 2020 Election from ''NY Times'' data shows statistical anomalies across the battleground state votes. These failures are widespread and systemic - and sufficient to invalidate the [[vote]] counts.

"I conclude with high confidence that the election 2020 data were altered in all [[swing states|battleground states]] resulting in a hundreds of thousands of votes that were cast for [[President Trump]] to be transferred to [[Vice President Biden]]. These alterations were the result of systemic and widespread exploitable vulnerabilities in DVS, Scytl/SOE Software and Smartmatic systems that enabled operators to achieve
the desired results. In my view, the evidence is overwhelming and incontrovertible."<ref>https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mied.350905/gov.uscourts.mied.350905.1.19.pdf</ref>}}
===Foreign collusion===
On September 12, 2018, by President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 13848 entitled, “Executive Order on Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election.”<ref>https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-imposing-certain-sanctions-event-foreign-interference-united-states-election/</ref> In that executive order President Trump declared a national emergency and the 2020 presidential election was conducted under this state of emergency. The order states that people and organizations located, in part, outside the [[United States]] are known to be able to, {{quotebox|“interfere in or undermine public confidence in United States elections, including through the unauthorized accessing of [[election]] and campaign infrastructure or the covert distribution of [[propaganda]] and [[disinformation]].” The EO further states that this foreign interference in U.S. elections, “constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the [[national security]] and [[foreign policy]] of the United States.”}}
Di Dongsheng, a vice-dean at the School of International Relations at Renmin University in Beijing, made public statements before a large audience on November 28, 2020:
{{Quotebox-float|"We know that the Trump administration is in a trade war with us, so why can’t we fix the Trump administration? Why did China and the US used to be able to settle all kinds of issues between 1992 and 2016?" he asked. "I’m going to throw out something maybe a little bit explosive here. It’s just because we have people at the top. We have our old friends who are at the top of America’s core inner circle of power and influence."

"During the US-China trade war, [[Wall Street]] tried to help, and I know that my friends on the US side told me that they tried to help, but they couldn’t do much. But now we’re seeing Biden was elected, the traditional elite, the political elite, the establishment, they’re very close to Wall Street, so you see that, right?"

"Trump has been saying that Biden’s son has some sort of global foundation. Have you noticed that? Who helped [Hunter] build the foundations? Got it? There are a lot of deals inside all these."<ref>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/12/08/top_chinese_intellectual_boasts_about_old_friends_who_are_at_the_top_of_americas_core_inner_circle_of_power_and_influence.html#!</ref><ref>https://youtu.be/lyQUtPEBBSA</ref><ref>https://thepostmillennial.com/watch-tucker-carlson-exposes-how-media-democrats-have-been-working-on-behalf-of-china/</ref>}}

===Biden putsch===
:{{See also|Democrat election fraud|Biden Putsch}}
At 2:30 AM EDT of the 4th of November 2020, TV broadcasts reported that Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada and Georgia decided to cease vote counting operations and would continue the following day. This unanimous decision to initially and intentionally stop counting by all five battleground states was unprecedented, and it demonstrates prior coordination by election officials in battleground states. This allowed for more time to manufacture fraudulent ballots.

==117th Congress==
[[File:Blue-wave.jpg|left|250px|thumb|]]
As the 117th Congress was sworn in, one thing was certain and obvious to the American people: the Democratic party no longer had any regard or respect for [[democracy]] and the [[human rights]] of other people. The Democratic party organization, from poll workers, to members of the [[civil service system]], to elected officials, had rejected the fundamental tenets of a [[two-party system]] and embraced full-fledged [[single party control|single party]] [[communism]] and [[totalitarianism]], including rigged elections, [[censorship]], lack of [[due process]] rights, a rejection of the right of free association, a perverted [[law enforcement]] and [[judicial]] system, wholesale domestic spying, a [[globalism|globalized]] and [[collectivist]] [[planned economy]], a rejection of [[God]] and [[religion]], and an attack on the rights of armed citizens to defend themselves.

==Ideology==
The Democratic party's failed [[Trump-Russia collusion hoax]] destroyed the American people's faith in [[mainstream media]] news coverage and brought a cloud over the perception of the American system of government throughout much of the world.

[[File:Biden racial jungle.jpeg|left|200px|thumb|Biden: "My children are going to grow up in a jungle, the jungle being a racial jungle."<ref>https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/biden-racial-jungle-quote/</ref> On August 18, 2020, the Democratic Party officially nominated Joseph Biden as its presidential candidate in the 2020 election.]]
In 2020, elected Democrat mayors and governors threatened with arrest citizens going to church, funerals, graduation parties, or even playing with their children in public parks while giving license to violent leftwing mobs to riot, loot, burn down churches and shopping districts in minority communities, take taxpayers hostage in broad sections of a city, and to murder innocent people, including the police. When an armed mob of leftist insurrectionists took over and occupied a seven square block area of [[Seattle]], local and state elected Democrat officials did not respond to requests from citizens and taxpayers to protect property and liberate from oppression 8,000 residents held hostage. The DNC partners with the [[Antifa]] [[terrorist]] organization for fundraising.<ref>https://noqreport.com/2020/07/19/action-network-bonds-antifa-blm-riots-and-dnc-at-the-hip/</ref>

The party is pro-infanticide, pro-[[illegal immigrant]] rights over American citizens,<ref>https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2/2019/07/03/fareed-zakaria-current-immigration-crisis-caused-people-gaming-asylum-laws/</ref> [[pro-abortion]], anti-capitalist and anti-[[free enterprise]], supports confiscatory taxation, resource redistribution, wealth transfer from American citizens to illegal immigrants,<ref>https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2018/02/26/how-american-citizens-finance-health-care-for-undocumented-immigrants/#2185177612c4</ref> abuse of asylum laws,<ref>https://www.westernjournal.com/hermancain/pelosi-deeply-disappointed-deal-mexico-reduces-abuse-u-s-asylum-laws/</ref><ref>https://thefederalist.com/2018/06/20/democrats-have-zero-tolerance-for-illegal-immigration-solutions/</ref> [[single party]] [[socialism]], election cheating, rigged nomination and election process, dictatorial regulation by unelected partisan [[Civil service system|civil servants]], anti-First, Second, Fourth and Fifth Amendments opposing [[due process]] rights of the accused, and a dictatorial central controlling government. Democrats are anti-free speech, religion, the Constitutional electoral process, [[separation of powers]], and advocate court-packing. Elected Democrat officials have refused to protect the lives and property of citizen taxpayers who voted for them, paid for emergency police, fire, and medical services, and pay their salary.

Democrats have become [[radical]]ized, [[elitism|elitist]], have abandoned the interests of working people, and their leaders have endorsed violence to promote "change." By contrast, the [[Republican Party]] is generally [[pro-life]] and pro-free enterprise, supporting lower taxes, gun rights, individual liberty, small responsible government,<ref>http://www.diffen.com/difference/Democrat_vs_Republican#Role_of_Government</ref> tolerance, the two party system, and the free, open exchange of ideas.

The party has been taken over by Marxists. It has won the praise of the [[Communist Party of the United States of America|Communist Party USA]]<ref>Varney, James (June 19, 2019). [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jun/19/communist-party-usa-praises-democrat-policy-shifts/ Communist Party, USA praises Democrats' policy shifts ahead of centennial celebration]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved June 19, 2019. See also:
*Chumley, Cheryl K. (January 29, 2015). [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/29/communist-party-usa-working-with-the-democratic-pa/ Communist Party USA: 'Working with the Democratic Party' is key]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved September 26, 2019.</ref> and is dominated by [[progressive]] [[Millennial]]s indoctrinated with [[Cultural Marxism]] from [[public school]]s and state universities.<ref>https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5439334O</ref> [[Violence]], [[Anti-Semitism]], [[intolerance]], [[gender psychosis]], [[infanticide]], promoting [[racial]] divisiveness, pandering, [[patronage]], [[censorship]], eliminating beef from the American diet, and tearing down America's automobile and airline infrastructure have replaced justice, fairness, tolerance and economic wellbeing as priority issues. The party rejects God and claims [[science]] is the ultimate determiner of truth yet rejects the scientific fact that medical treatment cannot turn a man into a woman. The party has adopted the [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] position that [[reparations|slave reparations]], a [[universal basic income]], and [[single payer|single payer healthcare]] will reduce [[global warming|carbon emissions]].<ref>See [[Green New Deal]].</ref> [[Labor union]]s, which once formed the backbone of the [[New Deal]] and [[Great Society]] coalitions, have been decimated by [[globalism]]. Working peoples' jobs have been shipped overseas to promote "[[equality]]" with the "[[Third World]]."<ref>If "Third World" is a "racist code word" as some progressives contend, it was coined by liberal academics, United Nations experts, and globalists during the [[Cold War]].</ref> Formerly industrious working families have been pacified by [[big government]] and taxpayer-supported narcotic addiction with [[opioid]]s, which Democrats claim to be a fundamental "human right."

Political observers and news sources have referred to the Democrat Party as more of a criminal organization (and in at least one case, even a domestic terrorist organization<ref> [https://drhurd.com/2020/06/07/the-democratic-party-is-now-a-terrorist-organization/ The Democratic Party is Now a Terrorist Organization]</ref>)
than an actual political party because of its history of corruption, racism, hate, lawlessness (including their ignorance of the Constitution except where convenient to them), anti-Americanism (including collusion with anti-American foreign and domestic enemies), lack of regard for life, lack of regard for civil rights (except where and when convenient to them alone) and fomentation of anarchy and insurrection against the United States,<ref>Multiple sources:
*[https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/09/a_criminal_enterprise_aka_the_democratic_party.html A Criminal Enterprise, a.k.a. the Democratic Party] at the American Thinker
*[https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/02/the_democrats_a_corrupt_insane_posse_masquerading_as_a_political_party.html The Democrats: A Corrupt, Insane Posse Masquerading as a Political Party] at the American Thinker
*[https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/michael-walsh/2016/08/16/the-democrats-a-criminal-organization-n47572 The Democrats: A Criminal Organization...]
*[https://fellowshipoftheminds.com/democratic-party-is-a-criminal-corrupt-organization Democratic Party is a criminal corrupt organization] at Fellowship of the Minds
*[https://www.wnd.com/2012/07/ex-time-editor-dem-party-criminal-organization/ Ex-Time editor: Dem Party 'criminal organization'] at WorldNetDaily
*[http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/caruba/131017 A criminal enterprise called the Democratic Party]
*[https://canadafreepress.com/article/a-citizens-indictment Democratic Party has become a Continuing Criminal Enterprise] at Canada Free Press
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WJJBdN2QgA The Democratic Party is America's largest criminal organization] at Josh Bernstein YouTube channel
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypr11PvaCpI Glen Beck identifies largest criminal organization in US history, the National Democrat Party] at DrWrongPaul YouTube channel
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w994YjfJbqk Democrats are a Criminal Organization | The Andrew Klavan Show Ep. 938] at the Daily Wire YouTube channel
*[https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-biden-harris-democrats-pro-criminal Tucker Carlson accuses Biden, Harris of embracing 'the Democratic Party's new pro-criminal agenda'] at Fox News</ref> and have criticized the Democrats as a whole for their refusal to take any responsibility for their actions and [[liberal projection|to accuse the Republican Party and its supporters]] of exactly what the Democrats are guilty of, including playing the [[historical revisionism]] card with the American public<ref>[https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/06/democratic-party-racist-history-mona-charen/ Whitewashing the Democratic Party’s History] at the National Review</ref><ref>[https://ammo.com/articles/jim-crow-laws-democrat-party-century-of-racist-history Democrats & Jim Crow: A Century of Racist History the Democratic Party Prefers You'd Forget]</ref> and using a willing and complicit [[liberal media]] to do so. Even President [[Donald Trump]] has referred to the Democrats as the party of crime because of its support for defunding (and in some cases, abolishing) local police forces and giving domestic terrorist groups such as Antifa and Black Lives Matter free reign to engage in violent rioting, commit crimes against the public and basically do as they please with impunity.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhwBo9_8Qn8 "Democrats have become the party of crime!" President Trump]</ref><ref>[https://thecommonsenseshow.com/activism-agenda-21-immigration/democratic-party-domestic-terrorist-organization-dnc-connections-china-terrorists-and-cartels-part The Democratic Party Is a Domestic Terrorist Organization-DNC Connections to China, Terrorists and the Cartels (Part 3)]</ref>

===Leftwing violence===
[[File:Racist Democrats.jpeg|right|350px|thumb|[[Marxist]] [[white supremacist]]s defaced the Monument to the all-volunteer Black 54th Massachusetts Regiment of Union Soldiers in the [[Civil War]].]]
[[Connor Betts]], dressed in all black, killed 9 people including several [[African American]]s and injured 27 in a [[Dayton shooting|shooting at a Dayton, Ohio restaurant]]. He described himself on his Twitter account page as "leftist / i’m going to hell and i’m not coming back.” He wrote on Twitter that he would happily vote for Democrat [[Elizabeth Warren]], praised [[Satan]], was upset about the [[2016 presidential election]] results, and added, “I want [[socialism]], and i’ll not wait for the idiots to finally come round to understanding.” The Greene County Board of Elections lists his party as “Dem.”<ref>https://heavy.com/news/2019/08/connor-betts/</ref>

Patrick Crausius, a 21 year old registered [[Democrat]]<ref>https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/leftists-change-shooter-patrick-crusiuss-mylife-page-after-saturday-shooting-from-democrat-to-republican/</ref> [[El Paso Walmart shooting|killed 20 people and injured 26 at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas]]. The shooter was a supporter of universal healthcare, universal basic income, racist, [[environmentalist]] and [[zero sum]] anti-corporate anti-[[economic growth]] policies. In a manifesto the shooter wrote,<ref>[https://www.paypervids.com/alleged-el-paso-texas-walmart-shooter-manifesto/ ]</ref>
:*''"The inconvenient truth is that our leaders, both Democrat AND Republican, have been failing us for decades. They are either complacent or involved in one of the biggest betrayals of the American public in our history. The takeover of the United States government by unchecked corporations."''
:*''"America will have to initiate a basic universal income to prevent widespread poverty and civil unrest as people lose their jobs.."''
:*''"Achieving ambitious social projects like [[universal healthcare]] and [[UBI]] would become far more likely to succeed if tens of millions of dependents are removed."''
:*''"immigration will make one of the biggest issues of our time, [[automation]], so much worse. Some sources say that in under two decades, half of American jobs will be lost to it."''
:*''"our lifestyle Is destroying the environment of our country. The decimation of the environment is creating a massive burden for future generations. Corporations are heading the destruction of our environment by shamelessly overharvesting resources."''
:*''"Consumer culture is creating thousands of tons of unnecessary plastic waste and electronic waste.... We even use god knows how many trees worth of paper towels just wipe water off our hands. ... The government is unwilling to tackle these issues beyond empty promises since they are owned by corporations. Corporations that also like immigration because more people means a bigger market for their products. ... So the next logical step is to decrease the number of people in America using resources."''
:*''"This will also make the elites that run corporations realize that it’s not in their interest to continue piss off Americans. Corporate America doesn’t need to be destroyed, but just shown that they are on the wrong side of history."''
:*''"the idea of deporting or murdering all non-white Americans is horrific. Many have been here at least as long as the whites, and have done as much to build our country. The best solution to this for now would be to divide America into a confederacy of territories with at least one territory for each race. "''
:*''"I know that the media will probably call me a white supremacist anyway and blame Trump’s rhetoric. The media is infamous for [[fake news]]. Their reaction to this attack will likely just confirm that."''

===Democrat racism, intolerance and bigotry===

:{{See also|Blexit}}
The Democrat Party has normalized<ref>[https://thefederalist.com/2019/03/07/democratic-party-has-normalized-anti-semitism/ The Democratic Party Has Normalized Anti-Semitism], David Harsany, ''The Federalist'', March 7, 2019.</ref> and become the home of modern anti-Semitism in America.<ref>Murphy, James (March 8, 2019). [https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/congress/item/31685-do-democrats-have-an-anti-semitism-problem Do Democrats Have an Anti-Semitism Problem?] ''The New American''. Retrieved March 8, 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.jns.org/opinion/anti-semitism-has-a-history-in-the-democratic-party/ Anti-Semitism has a history in the Democratic Party], Diane Bederman, Jews News Syndicate, March 20, 2019.</ref> After making statements critical of the [[Obama]] and Trump administration's handling of migrants,<ref name="ushmm.org">https://www.ushmm.org/information/press/press-releases/statement-regarding-the-museums-position-on-holocaust-analogies</ref> Rep. [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]] was condemned by the United States Holocaust Museum for mocking the deaths of [[Nazi]] [[holocaust]] victims.<ref name="ushmm.org"/><ref>https://dailycaller.com/2019/06/24/holocaust-museum-comparisons/</ref>
[[File:Farrakhanclinton.jpg|left|350ox|thumb|Democrats push anti-Semitism into the mainstream. [[Al Sharpton]], [[Jesse Jackson]] and [[Bill Clinton]] appear on stage with notorious anti-Semite [[Louis Farrakhan]], September 2018. Within a month, America suffered the worst mass killing of Jews in its history at the Tree of Life synagogue in [[Pittsburgh]].<ref>https://www.jta.org/2018/09/07/news-opinion/bill-clinton-shared-stage-louis-farrakhan-aretha-franklins-funeral</ref>]]
Ettie Kryksman writing in the ''Times of Israel'' noted:
{{quotebox|"there is scant protest coming from within the Democratic Party of Democratic Officials and activists, who see no shame in hobnobbing with avowed [[antisemite]]s. The Democratic Party that condones this behavior either vocally or tacitly in their silence, is no longer a welcoming place for [[Jew]]s. Where are the voices of the Leftist Jews condemning the antisemitism that has hijacked the Democratic Party? Are Jewish [[Democrat]]s willing to tolerate and excuse the rise of antisemitism in their party? Has [[Judaism]] for them become so politicized that it has been replaced by [[Liberalism]]? The distinction between the two is lost when Jews ignore the antisemitism that has invaded the Democratic Party's leadership. The widespread antisemitism in the Democratic Party, has manifested itself... [Linda] Sarsour was later championed by Democratic Senator [[Kirsten Gillibrand]] who thought Sarsour was a wonderful role model for all women. Democratic rallies shout anti Israel slogans against the "[[apartheid]] state of [[Israel]]." Pro Israel speakers are shouted down at college campuses by [[progressive]] [[leftist]]s, who refuse to allow them to speak. Events are canceled as event organizers yield to [[bullying]].<ref>[https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/antisemitism-and-the-democratic-party-time-for-jews-to-wake-up/ Antisemitism and the Democratic Party: Time for Jews to Wake Up], Ettie Kryksman, ''Times of Israel'', April 10, 2018.</ref>}} The [[U.S. State Department]] has on its website as part of its definition of anti-Semitism: {{quotebox| Making mendacious, dehumanizing, [[demonizing]], or [[stereotype|stereotypical]] allegations about [[Jew]]s as such or the power of Jews as [[collective]] — such as, especially but not exclusively, the [[myth]] about a world Jewish [[conspiracy]] or of Jews controlling the [[media]], [[economy]], [[government]] or other societal institutions.<ref>https://www.state.gov/s/rga/resources/267538.htm</ref>}}
[[File:Trump-antisemitic-3.jpg|right|350px|thumb|A blatantly [[anti-Semitic]] cartoon depicting [[Israel]]i [[Prime Minister]] [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] as a guide dog with a [[Star of David]] collar leading a blind [[President Trump]] wearing a skullcap. The cartoon accompanied an op-ed published 4/25/19 in the International Edition of the ''New York Times''.<ref>https://thehill.com/homenews/media/440957-ny-times-opinion-apologizes-for-cartoon-depicting-anti-semitic-tropes</ref> Two days later, a Trump-hater shot up a California [[synagogue]], killing one and injuring several. The shooter left a manifesto calling President Trump a “Zionist, Anti-White, Traitorous, C*********.”<ref>http://archive.is/9rV3Y</ref>]]
DNC Vice Chair Keith Ellison met with the antisemitic [[UK]] [[Labour party]] leader [[Jeremy Corbyn]].<ref>https://twitter.com/keithellison/status/1146183139506708480</ref> The Democratic-controlled [[House of Representatives]], under [[Speaker Nancy Pelosi]], refused to pass a resolution rebuking Rep. Ilhan Omar for a persistent pattern of anti-Semitic statements.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-passes-resolution-indirectly-calling-out-omars-anti-semitic-comments-without-mentioning-her-name</ref><ref>https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/03/house-democrats-anti-hate-resolution-anti-semitism-islamophobia-ilhan-omar.html</ref> Omar received support from [[Ku Klux Klan]] Grand Wizard and former Democrat presidential candidate [[David Duke]].<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2019/03/07/david-duke-ilhan-omar-important-congress/</ref> The [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] ignored the anti-Semitic [[hate speech]] by Democrat members of Congress. Imam Omar Suleiman, who has called for the destruction of the State of Israel, was invited to deliver the noon prayer in the House of Representatives. The imam had been invited by Rep. [[Eddie Bernice Johnson]] of Texas. (D–TX).<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2019/05/15/democrats-behest-terrorist-friendly-imam-gives-prayer-congress/</ref> [[Valerie Plame]] announced her candidacy for the House. Plame promoted anti-Semitic materials on Twitter, a scandal that forced her resignation from the Ploughshares Fund.<ref>[https://thefederalist.com/2019/05/13/coverage-valerie-plames-run-congress-ignores-anti-semitism/ Coverage Of Valerie Plame’s Run For Congress Ignores Her Anti-Semitism], By Warren Henry, ''The Federalist'', May 13, 2019.</ref>

Georgia Democrat house minority leader Erica Thomas claimed a white man told her to "Go back where you came from" while standing in a supermarket express lane. The man, a [[Cuba]]n American, loyal Democrat straight party line voter who hates Trump, supports [[the Squad]], and once Tweeted that Trump should go back to Germany, denied the accusation. Thomas later recanted her claim.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxbH13jn3NY</ref><ref>Nieto, Phillip (July 21, 2019). [https://dailycaller.com/2019/07/21/georgia-lawmaker-caught-lying-racist-encounter/ Georgia Democratic Lawmaker Appears To Be Caught Lying About Alleged Racist Encounter]. ''The Daily Caller''. Retrieved July 21, 2019.</ref><ref>Bufkin, Ellie (July 21, 2019). [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/georgia-state-rep-erica-thomas-backtracks-on-racism-accusations Georgia state Rep. Erica Thomas backtracks on racism accusations]. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved July 21, 2019.</ref><ref>Nolte, John (July 22, 2019). [https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/07/22/nolte-media-blame-trump-for-grocery-store-spat-between-two-democrats/ Nolte: Media Blame Trump for Grocery Store Spat Between Two Democrats]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved July 22, 2019.</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtGC7y9BtHA</ref> A store clerk employee then came forward alleging Thomas herself told the Cuban to go back to where he came from.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWOEW-XDMzg</ref>

Some Democrat politicians elected to Congress in 2018 were vocal in ridiculing Christians.<ref>Kirkwood, R. Cort (December 13, 2018). [https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/30918-the-democratic-party-s-new-face-congressional-muslims-who-ridicule-christians-and-more The Democratic Party’s New Face: Congressional Muslims Who Ridicule Christians and More]. ''The New American''. Retrieved December 13, 2018.</ref><ref name="breitbart.com">Pollak, Joel B. (December 15, 2018). [https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/15/ilhan-omar-trolls-mike-pence-jesus-take-the-wheel/ Ilhan Omar Trolls Mike Pence: ‘Jesus Take the Wheel’]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved December 16, 2018.</ref> A man was arrested for burning several historically Black churches in [[Louisiana]]. The suspect was heavily involved in anti-Christian music, [[satanism]] and [[paganism]]. In a [[Colorado]] high school shooting, a [[gender confusion|gender-confused]] registered Democrat and Barack Obama fan killed one person and injured nine others in deranged rampage.<ref>https://heavy.com/news/2019/05/devon-erickson-devin/</ref> A Democrat charged with pedophilia won a primary vote against an incumbent who supported [[Virginia]]'s racist Democrat Governor Ralph Northam.<ref>[https://freebeacon.com/politics/virginia-democrat-charged-with-sex-with-a-minor-wins-primary-for-state-senate/ Virginia Democrat Who Was Charged With Sex With a Minor Wins Primary]</ref> The national Democratic Governors Association (DGA) contributed over $6 million to Northam's campaign and praised him after near universal calls for his resignation.<ref>https://twitter.com/DemGovs/status/1149367001363701761</ref> Travis County [[Texas]] Municipal Judge Sarah Eckhard mocked a disabled person in a wheelchair at a leftist gathering in the capital city of Austin; Texas Gov.[[Greg Abbott]] was paralyzed when a tree fell on him, and pretending to be an [[environmentalist]], Judge Eckard joked "Abbott hates trees cause one fell on him."<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2019/09/28/texas-democrat-forced-to-apologize-for-saying-gov-greg-abbott-hates-trees-because-one-fell-on-him/</ref> In [[Pennsylvania]], a Democrat state representative streamed on [[social media]] his harassment of a woman senior citizen praying outside an abortion clinic.<ref>https://www.tmn.today/2019/05/democrat-rep-harasses-elderly-woman-praying-outside-planned-parenthood/</ref>

In [[Kentucky]], voters overwhelmingly rejected the Democrats' racist agenda, electing the state's first black [[Attorney General]] and first Republican in 70 years, [[Daniel Cameron]]. Four years earlier, Kentucky voters elected conservative Republican Jenean Hampton as the state's first black statewide elected official, and the Republican governor they elected, [[Matt Bevin]], had adopted four children from Ethiopia.

===Anti-semitism===
:{{See also|Left-wing Anti-Semitism}}
[[File:2019-05-30 17-27-08.jpg|150px|right|thumb|AOC flashing a [[white supremacist]] hand sign.<ref>https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-30/aoc-white-supremacist</ref>]]
Rep. [[Rashida Tlaib]] supports the [[Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions|BDS movement]].<ref>Chasmar, Jessica (December 4, 2018). [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/4/rashida-tlaib-newly-elected-democrat-endorses-anti/ Democratic Rep.-elect Rashida Tlaib endorses anti-Israel BDS movement]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved January 5, 2019.</ref> Tlaib made a [[Liberal bigotry|bigoted]] tweet accusing Jewish-Americans of having divided loyalties, an attack frequently made by anti-Semites.<ref>Multiple references:
*Starr, Penny (January 7, 2019). [https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/07/democrat-rashida-tlaib-blasted-for-antisemitic-tweet-accusing-dual-loyalty-israel-bds/ Democrat Rashida Tlaib Blasted for Antisemitic Tweet: ‘They Forgot What Country They Represent’]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
*Re, Gregg (January 7, 2019). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rashida-tlaib-accused-of-anti-semitic-slur-days-after-profane-anti-trump-tirade Rashida Tlaib accused of anti-Semitic slur, days after profane anti-Trump tirade]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved January 8, 2019.</ref> She wrote at least one op-ed on [[Louis Farrakhan]]'s website.<ref>Multiple references:
*Caruso, Justin (February 11, 2019). [https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/02/11/report-rashida-tlaib-wrote-op-ed-for-antisemite-louis-farrakhans-website/ Report: Rashida Tlaib Wrote Op-Ed for Antisemite Louis Farrakhan’s Website]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
*Mikelionis, Lukas (February 12, 2019). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rashida-tlaib-once-wrote-column-for-nation-of-islams-publication-reprinting-farrakhans-anti-semitic-comments Rashida Tlaib wrote column for Louis Farrakhan publication in 2006]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
*Kirkwood, R. Cort (February 12, 2019). [https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/item/31469-tlaib-published-in-farrakhan-newspaper-with-omar-still-has-committee-assignments Tlaib Published in Farrakhan Newspaper, Still Has Committee Assignments]. ''The New American''. Retrieved February 12, 2019.</ref> Tlaib did a selfie with a [[Hezbollah]]-praising activist to also denied Israel's right to exist.<ref>Multiple references:
*Klein, Philip (January 14, 2019). [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/democrat-rep-rashida-tlaib-photographed-with-pro-hezbollah-activist-who-says-israel-has-no-right-to-exist Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib photographed with pro-Hezbollah activist who says Israel has no right to exist]. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
*Richardson, Valerie (January 14, 2018). [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jan/14/pro-hezbollah-activist-posts-photos-rashida-tlaib/ Pro-Hezbollah activist posts photos with Rashida Tlaib at swearing-in ceremony]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
*Brest, Michael (January 14, 2019). [https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/14/israel-palestine-tlaib-picture-extremist-abbas-hamideh/ Anti-Israel Extremist Says He was At Tlaib's Private Dinner After Swearing In]. ''The Daily Caller''. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
*Danan, Deborah (January 15, 2019). [https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2019/01/15/democrat-rep-rashida-tlaib-poses-with-pro-hezbollah-rabid-anti-israel-activist/ Rashida Tlaib Poses with Pro-Hezbollah Activist]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved January 15, 2019.</ref> ''New York Magazine'' named her one of 10 activists who may become the future of the Democratic Party as the "new Obama."<ref>[http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/muslim-woman-congress-shes-also-palestinian-869782483 Middle East Eye, Multimedia 'Staying out of the ring is not an option’: Palestinian woman runs for Congress], Ali Harb Friday 23 March 2018</ref> Tlaib was sworn in surrounded by a group that included Sarsour and Nihad Awad as her special guests.<ref>https://bigleaguepolitics.com/new-muslim-congresswoman-invites-linda-sarsour-and-cair-representative-as-her-guests-to-congressional-ceremony/</ref>

Rep. [[Ilhan Omar]] is known for her anti-Semitism,<ref>https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2019/01/17/ilhan-omar-tweet-controversy/2603030002/</ref> insensitivity and mocking remarks about [[Christian]]s,<ref name="breitbart.com"/> and [[homophobic]] comments directed against colleagues.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrat-ilhan-omar-accused-of-breathtaking-bigotry-after-saying-lindsey-graham-is-compromised</ref><ref>https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/17/rep-ilhan-omar-furthers-homophobic-conspiracy-that-lindsey-grahams-compromised/amp/</ref> Omar tweeted "[[Israel]] has hypnotized the world, may [[Allah]] awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel." Omar supports BDS.<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2019/01/18/cnn-not-know-question-ilhan-omars-conspiracy-theories-anti-semitism/</ref><ref>https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/269488770066313216</ref><ref>Pollak, Joel B. (January 28, 2019). [https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/28/zoa-slams-adl-for-accepting-ilhan-omar-non-apology-for-antisemitism/ ZOA Slams ADL for Accepting Ilhan Omar’s Non-Apology for Antisemitic Rhetoric]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved January 28, 2019.</ref> Omar claims congressional support for Israel is "All about the Benjamins baby," a reference to the Ben Franklin $100 bill, implying members of Congress are paid off by [[AIPAC]]. Despite this, Democrats gave her a seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.<ref>Tapscott, Mark (January 21, 2019). [https://www.theepochtimes.com/gop-punishes-steve-king-anti-semitic-dem-gets-choice-committee_2774145.html GOP Punishes Steve King, Anti-Semitic Dem Gets Choice Committee]. ''The Epoch Times''. Retrieved January 21, 2019.</ref>

The fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, Rep. [[Hakeem Jeffries]], defended Tlaib and Omar as "thoughtful colleagues." Tlaib is a member of a [[Facebook]] group that posts anti-Semitic videos and memes. ''The Daily Caller'' reported that a key fundraiser for Tlaib posted a [[Holocaust denial]] video.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-lawmaker-defends-house-freshmen-accused-of-anti-semitism-as-thoughtful-colleagues</ref>

===Blexit, WalkAway and Jexodus===
[[File:COM.FIG1.gif|right|350px|thumb|Communist megamurders, 1900–1987. Source: Prof. R.J. Rummel. Two-thirds were killed by governments, quasi-governments, and guerrillas.<ref>https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM</ref>]]
''[[USA Today]]'' reported that President Trump's popularity among African Americans is higher than any Republican president in decades.<ref>https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/08/16/trump-approval-rating-african-americans-rasmussen-poll/1013212002/</ref> This is not surprising given that Blacks have suffered most from illegal immigration. Since Democrats established the entitlement dole, Blacks' income and employment have been stepped over by [[Korea]]n and [[Vietnam]]ese war refugees and virtually all [[immigrant]] groups. ''Conservative News and Views'' reported,
{{quotebox-float|Just as [[Candace Owens]] has spearheaded the “[[Blexit]]” movement, Bawer writes, inspiring “black Americans to recognize the damage done to them by the [[Great Society]] and its aftermath [and to] leave the [[Democratic plantation]], so has [[Brandon Straka]] led other [[gay]]s to see that they’ve been “served a bill of goods by the [[mainstream media]] and Democratic Party and is now heading his [[WalkAway]] campaign.” But what about the Jews?

Well, whaddaya know? Here comes Elizabeth Pipko, a 23-year-old Jewish figure skater-turned-model who, in an effort to aid a “mass Jewish exodus from the Democratic party,” has popularized the “JEXODUS” movement” initiated by Republican activist Jeff Ballabon.

"Right now," Ms. Pipko said, "as a Jewish person, you cannot support the Democratic Party and support the Jewish people at the same time."<ref>https://www.conservativenewsandviews.com/2019/03/13/news/anti-semitism-parade-everything-old-new/</ref>}}

==Political positions==
:{{See also|Democrat urban issues}}
<center>{{cquote|<big>We choose truth over facts.</big>|||[[Joseph Biden#Segregation|Segregation]]ist and former V.P. [[Joseph Biden]].}}</center>
[[File:Davell Gardner Jr.png|right|200px|thumb|1 year old Davell Gardner, Jr. was murdered by peaceful [[Black Lives Matter]] protesters<ref>https://youtu.be/NGBSCJ0dyyU</ref> while in his stroller after Democrats cut $1 billion from the New York Police Department.<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2020/07/13/go-to-hell-gardner-family-slain-toddler-tells-killers/</ref>]]
Virtually all political positions, foreign and domestic, have been determined by how it redounds to the expansion of the civil service workforce, state and federal, and to the benefit of the existing civil service. This has been historically true since passage of the Civil Service Act in 1882, and was the basis of the Jacksonian [[spoils system]] and founding of the party. Democrat candidates campaign on, and Democrats voters vote for, government jobs and goodies and who will be called upon to hand out money from the public treasury. All policy discussion and decisions regarding national security, foreign policy, and domestic programs are based upon this basic tenet of controlling and expanding the power of the civil service workforce.

Half of all homeless persons in America live in the blue state of California, which has enacted voter suppression legislation against Republicans to keep President Trump off the ballot. Although unemployment is at record lows, blue states still lead the nation in crime and homelessness.

The Democratic party has persistently attempted to restrict gun ownership rights of blacks, Hispanics, and all other minorities at all levels, state and federal.<ref>https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1534&context=faculty_scholarship</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_tOilPSHaM&list=PLuq9rBpmQwBRX_EExUHbChmECDSUf8dD0 Black Gun Owners SHRED Media Narrative About 'White Nationalist' Gun Rally]</ref> Democrats seek to disarm Blacks, where only cops and criminals have guns.

===Critical race theory===
:{{See also|Critical theory}}
Derrick Bell,<ref>https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individuals/derrick-bell/</ref> [[Barack Obama]]’s favorite [[Harvard]] professor, devised Critical Race Theory,<ref>https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/critical-race-theorys-toxic-destructive-impact-on-america</ref> which exemplifies Lenin’s strategy as applied to race. According to Discover the Networks:
{{quotebox|Critical race theory contends that America is permanently racist to its core, and that consequently the nation’s legal structures are, by definition, racist and invalid … members of “oppressed” racial groups are entitled—in fact obligated—to determine for themselves which laws and traditions have merit and are worth observing. …}}
Bell’s theory is in turn an innovation of [[Critical Theory]], which was developed by Marxist thinkers of the [[Frankfurt School]] in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1923. The Institute’s left-wing scholars fled Hitler’s Germany in the 1930s, relocating to [[Columbia University]] in New York. Critical Theory, which discredits all aspects of Western society, we know today as [[political correctness]]. One of its most famous purveyors was the Frankfurt School’s [[Herbert Marcuse]], longtime associate of the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]’s [[Julian Bond]]. Marcuse invented the concept of “partisan tolerance,” that is, [[tolerance]] for leftist ideas and [[intolerance]] of all others. The Southern Poverty Law Center applied Marcuse’s strategy in developing its “Hate Watch” list, and ''[[Rules for Radicals]]'' author [[Saul Alinsky]] used it in his own life’s work.

The “racist” narrative was turbocharged with the concept of “White Privilege,” the notion that whites—the dominant [[demographic]] group in capitalist America—are irretrievably racist, [[sexist]], [[homophobic]], [[xenophobic]], [[imperialist]]ic oppressors who exploit everyone. Whites are the only true [[evil]] in the world and should be exterminated. “Dr. Kamau Kambon, who taught Africana Studies 241 in the Spring 2005 semester at North Carolina State University, also said this needs to be done ‘because white people want to kill us.’”<ref>''[https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/activist-exterminate-white-people/ Activist: exterminate white people],'' by Jon Sanders, Carolina Journal, Oct. 21, 2015.</ref>

===The New Abolitionism===
The “White Skin Privilege” idea was created in 1967 by [[Noel Ignatiev]],<ref>Fernando, Ivan (November 18, 2013). [http://diversitychronicle.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/progressive-professor-urges-white-male-students-to-commit-suicide-during-class/ "Progressive professor urges white male students to commit suicide during class"]. Diversity Chronicle website.</ref> an acolyte of Derrick Bell and professor at Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute. Ignatiev was a member of the [[Communist Party USA]]’s most radical wing, the Provisional Organizing Committee to Reconstitute the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party from 1958–66. The Provisional Organizing Committee was the intellectual forerunner to the [[Freedom Road Socialist Organization]], a [[Vanguardism|vanguard]] group. Writing under the alias Noel Ignatin, Ignatiev co-authored a [[Students for a Democratic Society]] (SDS) pamphlet with fellow radical Ted Allen titled, ''White Blindspot''. In 1992 he co-founded ''Race Traitor: Journal of the New Abolitionism''. Its first issue coined the slogan “Treason to whiteness is loyalty to humanity.” Its stated objective was to “abolish the white race.” More specifically, the ''New Abolitionist'' newsletter declared:
{{quotebox|The way to abolish the white race is to challenge, disrupt and eventually overturn the institutions and behavior patterns that reproduce the privileges of whiteness, including the schools, job and housing markets, and the criminal justice system. The abolitionists do not limit themselves to socially acceptable means of protest, but reject in advance no means of attaining their goal.<ref>https://capitalresearch.org/article/blm-roots/</ref>

===Rectification and self examination===
:{{See also|Maoism|Rectification|}}
[[File:BLM rectification.PNG|right|300px|thumb|A white woman accosted on the street with a demand to kneel and apologize for her whiteness.<ref>https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter/status/1267734418241830912</ref>]]
The concept of white privilege has been compared to the Maoist [[rectification movement]], which is described as "the largest, darkest, and most ferocious power game ever played out in the human world. In the name of 'cleansing [[petty bourgeoisie]] toxins,' the Party washed away morality, independence of thought, freedom of action, tolerance, and dignity. "

White privilege is a "petty bourgeoisie toxin" in socialist parlance. ''The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party'' describes the process of rectification and its results:
{{quotebox|"in evaluating their own consciousness, people were required to scrutinize whether they had been concerned about their self-interest, whether they had used work for the Party to reach personal goals, whether they had wavered in trust in the [[revolution]]ary future, whether they had feared death during battles, and whether they had missed spouses and family members after joining the Party or the army. There were no objective standards, so nearly everyone was found to have problems....

Humiliation became a fact of life—it was either humiliate other comrades or humiliate oneself. People were pushed to the brink of insanity, having been forced to abandon their dignity, sense of honor or shame, and love for one another to save their own lives and their own jobs. They ceased to express their own opinions and recited Party leaders’ articles instead.<ref>http://www.ninecommentaries.com/english-2</ref>}}
This Maoist rectification was openly used against public officials and private citizens on the street during the [[2020 Leftist insurrection]].<ref>https://youtu.be/eACIjK36mek</ref>

===The Great Awokening===

:{{See also|2020 Antifa riots|Woke}}
A [[Maoist]] rectification campaign erupted out of the Antifa riots.<ref>https://justthenews.com/nation/culture/forced-apologies-and-public-shaming-doctrinal-deviation-sweep-american-culture</ref> Whites were asked, if not demanded, to kneel and publicly disavow their white privilege.<ref>https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/06/03/brain-washed-whites-convulsing-from-white-guilt-make-pledge-of-allegiance-to-black-people-929304</ref> Calling police to report crimes or threats to life and safety was deemed "racist".<ref>https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/06/08/minn-official-tells-cnns-camerota-wanting-to-protect-your-home-comes-from-a-place-of-privilege-931770</ref> The mayor of Minneapolis was shamed before a leftist mob of mostly white people for not agreeing to disband the Minneapolis police.<ref>https://youtu.be/eACIjK36mek</ref> A ''New York Times'' columnist urged white people to text “relatives and loved ones telling them you will not be visiting them or answering phone calls until they take significant action in supporting black lives either through protest or financial contributions.”<ref>https://summit.news/2020/06/09/new-york-times-columnist-demands-white-people-ditch-family-members-who-dont-support-black-lives-matter/</ref>

[[New Orleans Saints]] quarterback Drew Brees told an interviewer “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the [[flag]] of the United States of America.” Brees and his family received death threats. Brees publicly asked for "forgiveness" for saying Americans should respect the flag.<ref>https://www.dailywire.com/news/drew-brees-caves-asks-for-forgiveness-for-saying-americans-should-respect-the-flag?itm_source=parsely-api</ref> Even Brees wife wrote an apology: “WE ARE THE PROBLEM. I write this with tears in my eyes and I hope you all hear our hearts.”<ref>https://nypost.com/2020/06/07/drew-brees-wife-brittany-issues-apology-we-are-the-problem/</ref>

Aleksandar Katai, a [[Serbia]]n soccer who played with the Los Angeles Galaxy, wife posted criticism of the Minneapolis rioters in Serbian. Someone noticed, translated the posting and criticized her. She deleted the posting. Katai's wife was in Chicago when she wrote the post, and Aleksandar may not have even been aware of the post. Riot protesters arrived at the Los Angeles stadium to call for Alexander's firing. The management of the L.A. Galaxy forced Alexander Katai to apologize for his wife, and then to denounce her. Then they made him endorse Black Lives Matter, which he did, and then they fired him anyway.<ref>https://skugal.org/racist-violent-la-galaxy-fire-aleksandar-katai-over-wifes-shocking-social-media-posts-about-us-police-brutality-protests/</ref> Then Katai was attacked on his way out for something he didn't do, may not have even been aware of, in a language most Americans don't understand.<ref>https://nypost.com/2020/06/06/la-galaxy-releases-aleksandar-katai-amid-wifes-racist-posts/</ref>

Editorial page director of the ''[[New York Times]]'' James Bennet apologized, and then resigned, after publishing an [[op-ed]] from [[Sen. Tom Cotton]]. The article suggested the U.S. military might be necessary to quell nationwide socialist insurrection if governors and mayors refused to defend the lives and property of American citizens and taxpayers.

[[Sacramento Kings]] play-by-play announcer Grant Napear resigned after the backlash from tweeting, “All lives matter.”

[[Roseanne Barr]], a mere mortal was fired from [[ABC]] after apologizing for making what was alleged to be a racist comment; prominent [[leftist]] spokesperson and alleged [[comedian]] [[Jimmy Kimmel]] was retained by ABC after apologizing for a blatantly racist alleged comedy skit.

During the 2020 Leftist rectification campaign [[UCLA]] investigated a [[white]] professor who read [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]’s ''Letter from Birmingham Jail,'' which reportedly contains the N-word, to students in a [[political science]] class. UCLA also held a town hall shaming and urged students to come forward with complaints. The department head and other faculty charged,
{{quotebox|"The lecturer also showed a portion of a documentary which included graphic images and descriptions of lynching, with a narrator who quoted the n-word in explaining the history of lynching. Many students expressed distress and anger regarding the lecture and the lecturer's response to their concerns during the lecture. We share students' concerns that the lecturer did not simply pause and reassess their teaching pedagogy to meet the students' needs."<ref>https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/professor-under-investigation-for-reading-mlks-letter-from-birmingham-jail-containing-n-word</ref>}}

===Intersectionality===
:{{See also|Intersectionality}}
Intersectionality is a form of left-wing [[identity politics]] and [[cultural Marxism]]. Intersectionality, so named because it relies on the intersection between race, class, sex, sexual preference, religion, gender identity, and a myriad of other irrelevant characteristics, is a bigoted ideology used by [[leftist]]s to make policy. It is constantly pushed by university professors, "journalists," and politicians, along with the rest of the [[establishment]]. One's level of oppression is determined by the number of oppressed groups they fall into, and/or where that group falls on the oppression hierarchy. [[Islam]] is at the top, followed by the [[LGBT]] community, then "people of color," then women, Jews, and WASPs.

Some of the most ridiculous examples of intersectionality include "Queers for Palestine," the racist allegation that white people cause "climate change", "Say Her Name," a gynocentric offshoot of [[Black Lives Matter]], and the 2020 Democrats supporting free healthcare and abortion "rights" for illegal immigrants. Accurate and positive examples of intersectionality include the connection between women's rights and gun rights, activists like Rev. Clenard Childress standing against the actual racism and "[[Black Genocide]]" of abortion provider and lobbying company [[Planned Parenthood]], and real feminist [[Malala Yousafzai]] fighting for women's education in Taliban-occupied Afghanistan.

===Socialist genocide denial===
:{{See also|Socialism denial|Cambodian genocide|Three Years of Disasters|Holodomor|The Black Book of Communism|Atheism and human rights violations}}
Every announced candidate for the Democrat nomination in the [[2020 Presidential election]] is a Socialist holocaust denier. Several Democrat presidential candidates have sparked a positive and enthusiastic response among [[white supremacist]]s.<ref>https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/02/david-duke-tulsi-gabbard/</ref><ref>https://www.thisisinsider.com/white-supremacists-are-disillusioned-by-trump-and-joining-the-yang-gang-2019-3</ref> None have renounced [[violence]] as a means to obtain or retain political power. This runs contrary to the [[Declaration of Independence]] which states that governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed."

==History==
:{{See also|Racism and the Democratic Party}}
'''First Party System'''
[[File:Dem-leaders.jpg|right|450px|thumb|A contemporary watercolor of Democratic presidents. Clockwise from far left: Presidents Jimmy Carter, John Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Woodrow Wilson, Lyndon Johnson, Harry Truman, Andrew Jackson and Franklin Roosevelt. Jackson is considered the founder of the party. Jackson, who implemented the Indian Removal Act, is slated to have his picture removed from the $20 bill in 2026.]]
Democrats claim that [[Thomas Jefferson]] founded their party in 1792 at the start of the [[First Party System]]. The [[Republicans (Jeffersonian)|Jeffersonian Republicans]] was a political party established under the leadership of Jefferson and [[James Madison]]. At the time, it was generally called the Republicans, but it had no relationship to today's Republican Party, founded in 1854. The 1816 election was the last occasion when the Federalist Party nominated a presidential candidate. In the 1820s, the Jeffersonian Republicans split into several fractions. [[Andrew Jackson]] emerged as the candidate of one of these groups and was elected president in 1828. Well into the 21st century, Jefferson and Jackson have been regularly honored by local Democrat parties with an annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/us/jefferson-jackson-dinner-will-be-renamed.html|title=Jefferson-Jackson Dinner Will Be Renamed|date=August 8, 2015|work=New York Times|accessdate=|first=Ashley|last=Southhall}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2015/11/16/colorado-democratic-party-considers-renaming-annual-jefferson-jackson-dinner/123835/|title=Colorado Democrats consider renaming Jefferson Jackson dinner|work=The Denver Post|first=John|last= Frank|date=November 16, 2015|accessdate=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/07/jefferson_jackson_renamed_loui.html|title=As state Democratic parties rename their Jefferson-Jackson dinners, will Louisiana change 'J-J?'|work=The Times Picayune|first=Kevin |last=Litten|date= July 23, 2015|accessdate=}}</ref>

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 Republicans and the Whisky Rebellion.<ref>World Book</ref> The leadership of the Jeffersonian Republicans, including [[John Quincy Adams]] and [[Henry Clay]], created the National Republican Party. Adams supporters called themselves National Republicans, antecedents of the merchant class Whig and later the Republican parties.<ref name="presidents">William DeGregorio, ''The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents'', Gramercy 1997</ref>
[[File:Cons4 (2).jpg|left|300px|thumb]]
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), they were "yeoman farmers" or "hillbillies", with 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. The U.S. Postal Service was the federal government's largest employer. With the emergence of the merchant or middle class 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===
[[image:donk1837.jpg|thumb|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. 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]].

====Racist and segregationist traditions====

:''See also [[Trail of Tears]], [[genocide|Ethnic cleansing]] and [[Dred Scott decision]]''
The 21st Congress was controlled by the Jacksonian Democrats. The first major bill they passed was the [[Indian Removal Act]], authorizing the removal of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminoles from the South, primarily Georgia and Florida, to a territory west of the Mississippi River which became [[Oklahoma]]. The bill was controversial, opposed by many Christians and Northerners. During the first stage of the Choctaws’ forced migration begun in 1831, thousands died during the journey. Each successive stage was marred by a lack of food, shelter, and protection from the elements. Diphtheria and typhoid were rampant. Over the decade, more than 46,000 Native Americans experienced these conditions.

Historian John Toland maintains that the [[Nazi Party]]'s segregation and deportation of [[Jew]]s into ghettos and concentration camps were derived from the Democratic Party's segregation and deportation of Native Americans to reservation land.<ref>https://jewishjournal.com/culture/food/182867/honoring-native-american-voices-recognizing-tragic-history-and-praising-brave-spirits/</ref>
[[File:Trail of Tears.png|right|350px|thumb|Andrew Jackson not only founded the Democratic Party, but he also founded the infamous Trail of Tears.]]
In the 31st Congress, the Democrats had a majority in the Senate and a large plurality in the House, while the [[Free Soil Republican]]s held only 9 seats. The [[Whig]]s held the second largest contingent as well as the White House. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which penalized local and state officials in free states who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave on demand of a slave owner. Any person aiding a runaway slave by providing food or shelter was subject to six months' imprisonment and a fine. Slave owners needed only to supply a sworn affidavit to a U.S. Marshal to capture an escaped slave. Since a suspected slave had no [[Jury trial|right to trial]], the law resulted in the kidnapping of free blacks by bounty hunters and conscription into slavery in both free states and slave states, as suspected fugitive slaves were denied the right to a legal defense. The law's passage ultimately led to the demise of the Whigs and rise of Free Soil-Republicans.

Jackson had appointed his [[Attorney General]], [[Roger B. Taney]], to fill the seat of retiring Chief Justice [[John Marshall]]. In 1846, [[Dred Scott]], an African-American slave living in Missouri, filed suit against his master for his own freedom. Scott argued that he had legally gained freedom in the 1830s, when he had resided with a previous master in the free state of Illinois and a portion of the Louisiana Territory where slavery was banned. After a series of legal battles lasting over a decade, the case made its way to the Supreme Court.

Democrat President [[James Buchanan]] said in his inaugural address that the issue of slavery would soon be "finally settled" by the Supreme Court.<ref>Simon (2006), pp. 117–120</ref> Taney sought to permanently remove slavery as a subject of national debate. All the Democratic appointees on the Court were outraged over what they saw as "Northern aggression" towards slavery, an institution they believed was critical to "Southern life and values."<ref>McPherson171174</ref> In the Dred Scott decision of 1857, the Taney Court ruled that persons of African descent could not be, nor were ever intended to be, citizens under the U.S. Constitution. Taney wrote that the framers of the Constitution believed that blacks “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect;" and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. The court also declared the [[Missouri Compromise]] unconstitutional (the Missouri Compromise of 1819 allowed for admission of new states to the Union on a one-for-one basis, one free state for every one slave state), thus permitting slavery in all territories of the westward expansion.

The ''Dred Scott'' decision received strong criticism and bolstered the growing popularity of the [[Republican Party]]. Republicans rejected Taney's legal reasoning and argued that the [[Declaration of Independence]] showed that the [[Founding Fathers]] favored the protection of individual rights for all free men, regardless of race.<ref>Simon (2006), pp. 138–139</ref> Many Republicans accused Taney of being part of a conspiracy to legalize slavery throughout the United States.<ref>Simon (2006), pp. 155–156</ref>

===Civil War and aftermath===
During the [[Third Party System]] (1854-1896) the Democrats became the minority in the face of the newly formed Republican Party (formed by former Whigs and Free Soil [[abolition]]ists), 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."
[[File:371px-Scourged back by McPherson & Oliver, 1863, colourised.jpg|left|275px|thumb|''Another definition of [[Progressive|Progressivism]]:'' Prior to the end of slavery and suppressing the vote for 100 years, then later keeping Blacks dependent on [[entitlement]]s, Democrats used the whip to keep Blacks in line.]]
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:
{{quotebox|There was an earthy quality in Voorhees, "the tall sycamore of the Wabash." On the stump his hot temper, passionate [[partisan]]ship, and stirring eloquence made an irresistible appeal to the western Democracy. His bitter cries against [[Protectionism|protective]] [[tariff]]s 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>}}

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 was divided between North and South. 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 heart of Democrat Resistance in the North resided in New York. The New York City draft riots (July 13–16, 1863) were the largest civil and racially-charged insurrection in American history, aside from the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] itself. Initially intended as a protest against the draft, it turned into a race riot. Workers feared free black people would compete for jobs. Black people throughout the city were attacked. 120 people were killed, public buildings, churches, homes of various abolitionists or sympathizers, and many black homes were ransacked or destroyed. The Colored Orphan Asylum was burnt to the ground.

Only a fraction of Union troops occupied the South after the war, and the balance mustered out according to length of service. Because blacks were not admitted into ranks until the middle of the war, they were retained at a higher rate, making the occupying force "blacker" than the one that won the war. The roughly 200,000 black Americans who served in the Union Army comprised an estimated 10 percent of the North's total fighting force. But by the last quarter of 1865, blacks made up about one-third of the occupation army. Many Southerners took this as a deliberate Republican insult.<ref>https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/02/what-reconstruction-and-its-end-meant-for-black-americans-who-had-fought-for-the-right-to-keep-and-bear-arms.html</ref>

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 "The Cause" in the Civil War but benefited from resentment toward Republicans for its effort to promote equality for blacks in Reconstruction. The Republicans received the eternal hatred and hostility of Democrats, and shied away from social issues for the next 150 years, focusing instead on its original purpose of preserving the Union through national security, and on economic issues. The [[Redeemers]] gave the Democrats control of every Southern state. [[Ku Klux Klan|Democratic terrorism]] at first was focused on Republicans; once the Republicans had been chased out, the [[lynching]] of Blacks peaked about 1892 with over 150 victims, or about one every two days.

Across [[the South]] Republican parties were formed by African Americans. Black people were the original Republicans in the South.
The Republican Party in [[Texas]] was founded on the 4th of July 1867 in [[Houston, Texas]] by 150 African Americans and 20 whites. Two of the first three statewide Republican chairman were African American. The first 42 Black legislators elected in Texas were all Republican.
The first 112 Black legislators elected in [[Mississippi]] were all Republican. The first 190 Black legislators elected in [[South Carolina]] were all Republicans. The first 41 Black legislators in [[Georgia]] were Republicans. The first 127 Black legislators in [[Louisiana]] were Republicans.

====Birth of the Klan====
[[File:Kkk-carpetbagger-cartoon.jpg|right|300px|thumb|A cartoon threatening that the that Democrat donkey and KKK will [[lynch]] scalawags (left) and [[carpetbagger]]s (right) on March 4, 1869, the day President Grant takes office. Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Independent Monitor, September 1, 1868. A full-scale scholarly history analyzes the cartoonː Guy W. Hubbs, Searching for Freedom after the Civil War: Klansman, Carpetbagger, Scalawag, and Freedman (2015).<ref>Hubbs, Guy W. (May 15, 2015). [https://books.google.com/books?id=KIVoCQAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s "Searching for Freedom after the Civil War: Klansman, Carpetbagger, Scalawag, and Freedman"]. University Alabama Press.</ref>]]
:{{See also|Reconstruction}}
In 1866 [[Democrat]]s formed the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. Its purpose was to take control and return Democrats to power. The Ku Klux Klan started attacking Black Republican conventions. At the Republican convention in Louisiana, the Klan joined with [[New Orleans]] police and New Orleans' Democrat mayor. The New Orleans Republican convention was attacked. 40 Blacks and 20 whites were killed. Another 150 were wounded.

In 1868 the Democrats put out push cards in South Carolina listing what they called the 'radical' members of the South Carolina legislature. A push card is about the size of a baseball card. The cards had the pictures of 63 legislators they wanted to kill. 50 of the legislators were Black and 13 were white. All 63 were Republicans. On the back of the was the name of the legislator.

In 1872 Congress held hearings on the Klan. Democrat leaders from Democrat States admitted under oath unequivocally that the Klan belonged to the Democrat party and their propose was to restore control in Southern states to the Democratic party. The Congressional Hearings make up 13 volumes. Black congressmen John Roy Lynch and Richard Cain went to Congress armed for fear of Klan attacks. Blacks testified that they instructed by the Klan and Democrats that, if they would stop voting the Republican ticket and would agree to vote the straight Democrat ticket, all the violence against Blacks would stop.

Jim Crow and 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 were white-only caucuses;<ref>The system remained in place until the [[McGovern-Fraser Commission]], which unseated white big city Democrat bosses at the national convention.</ref> victory in that primary was "tantamount to election."

GAR veteran 2nd Lieut. Nathaniel Grigsby of Company G, 10th Indiana Cavalry died at the age of 79 in 1890. Grigsby's brother was married to Abraham's Lincoln's sister. Grigsby had this written on his tombstone: {{quotebox|Through this inscription I wish to enter my dying protest against what is called the Democratic party. I have watched it closely since the days of Jackson and know that all the misfortunes of our nation has come to it through this so called party. Therefore beware of this party of [[treason]].<ref>https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/grave-statement-2/</ref>}}

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.

====Civil service replaces Reconstruction and the spoils system====
[[File:Lynch.jpg|thumb|450px|The first victims (yellow line) were Republican [[carpetbagger]]s; once they were driven out the Democrats turned on Blacks (blue line). Source: Historical Statistics of the U.S., and is based on the 1952 Negro year Book.]]
:{{See also|Civil service system}}
While the Democratic party lost the Civil War, it won the battle to control the United States Civil Service [[bureaucracy]].<ref>[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/21/trump-vs-the-deep-state Trump vs the Deep State], Evan Osnos, ''[[The New Yorker]]'', May 14, 2018</ref> Since the end of Reconstruction in 1876 and passage of the 1882 Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, the Democratic party is no longer dependent on the spoils system and winning elections to maintain its power.

With the defeat of the Democrats and the South, to the victors went the spoils. Republicans immediately stripped [[white]] [[male]]s who engaged in rebellion against the [[United States]] of the [[vote]], and gave it to Blacks. Newly freed Blacks held local, state and federal elected and non-elected positions as Republicans. The white males who were deprived of the vote were also barred from holding any civil service position and were universally Democrats. This disenfranchisement created enormous resentment among Democrats, so they formed the [[Ku Klux Klan]] to engage in voter intimidation and suppression.

By 1876, the situation had become ungovernable for Republicans.<ref>"the Compromise of 1877, which resolved the disputed presidential election of 1876 by awarding the presidency to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes (who had lost the popular vote) in exchange for the removal of federal troops from the South after the Civil War (which benefitted Democrats, who wished to end Reconstruction and return white supremacy to southern state governments)." [https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-gilded-age/gilded-age/a/gilded-age-politics-patronage Gilded Age politics: patronage]. khanacademy.org</ref> The Republicans had been able to pass the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments which guaranteed Blacks basic equality and civil rights, but eventually had to declare an amnesty for whites who engaged in rebellion. Reconstruction ended, and Republicans withdrew from [[social engineering]] which had divided the country so deeply and stirred up such bitterness and hatred among Democrats toward both Blacks and Republicans. Reconstruction earned Republicans the undying [[hatred]] of Democrats.<ref>See for example [https://youtu.be/-yY7g2jOquM James O'Keefe debate with Hairy Hillbilly Hippie] for an example of a partisan Democrat who votes against his own economic interests.</ref><ref>See excerpt from [[Dinesh D'Souza]]'s, ''[https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dinesh-dsouza-the-secret-history-of-the-democratic-party Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party]'', Regnery Publishing, July 18, 2016.</ref>

African Americans in the South were left to the mercy of increasingly hostile state governments dominated by white Democratic legislatures; neither the legislatures, law enforcement or the courts worked to protect freedmen.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties|author=Finkelman, Paul|year=2006}}</ref> As [[Democrats]] regained power in the late 1870s, they struggled to suppress black voting through intimidation and fraud at the polls. [[Paramilitary]] groups such as the [[Red Shirts]] acted on behalf of the Democrats to suppress black voting. From 1890 to 1908, 10 of the 11 former Confederate states passed disfranchising constitutions or amendments,<ref>{{cite book|title=Democracy's Privileged Few|author=Chafetz, Joshua Aaron|year=2007}}</ref> with provisions for [[poll tax]]es,<ref name="Klarman, Michael J. 2004">{{cite book|title=From Jim Crow to Civil Rights|author=Klarman, Michael J.|year=2004}}</ref> residency requirements, [[literacy test]]s,<ref name="Klarman, Michael J. 2004"/> and [[grandfather clause]]s that effectively disfranchised most black voters and many poor white people. The disfranchisement also meant that black people could not serve on juries or hold any political office, which were restricted to voters; those who could not vote were excluded from the political system.

Cleveland was the leader of the [[Bourbon Democrats]], the [[bourgeois]] wing of the party. They represented business [[elitism|elites]], supported banking and railroad goals, promoted capitalism, opposed the annexation of [[Hawaii]], fought for the [[gold standard]], and opposed [[Bimetallism]]. They strongly supported ending Republican spoils with the [[Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act|Civil Service Reform Act]] 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 pro-segregationist [[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.

===Bryan and anti-Semitism===

[[Grover Cleveland]] led the [[bourgeois]] [[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 name="presidents" />
[[Image:Dead-dem1880.jpg|thumb|425px|right|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 joined to the rear end of the North]]
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 name="presidents" /> The [[Gold Democrats]] attracted prominent figure such as segregationist [[Woodrow Wilson]] and historian [[Frederick Jackson Turner]] , known for ignoring the contributions of minorities and who refused to vote Republican.

Bryan became an overnight sensation among Democrats with his "Cross of Gold" speech: {{Cquote|"You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQQ0AjqzFxQ</ref>}} Implicit was his assertion that the religious group responsible for the death of Christ was also the source of the United States’ economic woes.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=mJLHrb-o5E0C&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=You+shall+not+press+down+upon+the+brow+of+labor+this+crown+of+thorns,+you+shall+not+crucify+mankind+upon+a+cross+of+gold.%27%27+The+antisemitism+evoked+by&source=bl&ots=fp9QYcxY3W&sig=ACfU3U3zQFaSOMeeKxu8DlnOdXz5RdWb7A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjyyr_4tYfgAhXL5YMKHQ5_DKgQ6AEwDnoECAIQAQ#v=onepage&q=You%20shall%20not%20press%20down%20upon%20the%20brow%20of%20labor%20this%20crown%20of%20thorns%2C%20you%20shall%20not%20crucify%20mankind%20upon%20a%20cross%20of%20gold.''%20The%20antisemitism%20evoked%20by&f=false Antisemitism in America], Leonard Dinnerstein, Oxford University Press, Nov 2, 1995, p. 50.</ref> 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," a codeword for "Jewish bankers."<ref>https://twitter.com/jdickerson/status/788461796772446208</ref> Using [[fraud]] and [[violence]], and rallying support by appealing to white supremacy, the Democrats held on to their power in Southern states. Many Democrats refused to endanger [[white supremacy]] by voting against the Democratic Party.<ref>https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_populist.html</ref> Ethnic Democrats, (especially Germans and Irish), however, were alarmed and frightened by Bryan.<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=XpCgCNZwpvoC</ref> 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.

===Wilson and the KKK===
:{{See also|Plessy v. Ferguson}}
[[Melville Fuller]] was appointed Chief Justice by President [[Grover Cleveland]] in 1888. Fuller managed Democrat [[Stephen A. Douglas]]'s campaign in the [[1860 presidential election]] against Abraham Lincoln. He was known as a Copperhead Democrat. In 1896, a Fuller Court decision declared that racial segregation does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment so long as the "separate but equal" doctrine is followed. The decision allowed the continued existence of Jim Crow laws for another six decades.

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. Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic, or GAR, became the GOP. One of the consequences of the Democratic victories in the South was that many Southern Congressmen and Senators were almost automatically re-elected every election. Due to the importance of seniority in the U.S. Senate, Southerners were able to control most of the committees and kill any civil rights legislation.<ref>https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_democratic.html</ref> [[William Jennings Bryan]], with a base in the South and Plains states, was strong enough to get the nomination again 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.
When [[Booker T. Washington]]'s autobiography, ''Up From Slavery'', was published in 1901, it became a bestseller and had a major impact on the African American community, and its friends and allies. Washington in 1901 was the first African-American ever invited to the White House as the guest of President Theodore Roosevelt – white Democrats complained loudly, although Washington remained as an advisor to Roosevelt.<ref>Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen, "A Patriot's History of the United States" (2007)</ref>

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 [[women's rights]], and were reluctant to undercut the "boss system" in the big cities.
[[File:320px-Birth of a Nation theatrical poster.jpg|left|200px|thumb|'''Birth of a Nation''' released in 1915 depicted the history of the Democratic Party after the Civil War. In 1992, the [[Library of Congress]] deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.]]
Taking advantage of a deep split in the GOP, the Democrats took control of the House in 1910 and elected the Northern segregationist Woodrow Wilson as president in 1912 and 1916. In his first year in office, Wilson permitted his Treasury and the Post Office to begin efforts to [[segregate]] the federal workforce, particularly in the Columbia District. It was often carried out surreptitiously. Yet Wilson condoned it and tried to duck its implications in a manner we would describe today as slimy. Wilson ordered [[Jim Crow]] segregation in all federal government facilities in Washington DC, wiping out 50 years of social progress that African-Americans made under Republicans. No longer could blacks and whites work together in government offices, eat in the same cafeterias, our use the same bathrooms. The Wilson administration went a step further. Through the Treasury Department's Office of the Architect, the bureau charged with construction and maintenance of federal buildings, federal buildings throughout the nation were ordered to furnish segregated bathrooms, even in Northern states were practices as such were virtually unknown.<ref>''American Nightmare: The History of Jim Crow'', Jerrold M. Packard, St. Martin's Press, 2003, pp. 124-125</ref>

Wilson also curtailed minority appointments to executive, diplomatic, and judicial positions. Those latter numbers weren’t large — about 30 — but they were posts traditionally reserved for black Americans. The signal was terrible, even if it’s unclear that those black appointments would have met approval from a Senate controlled by Southern Democrats. Estimates reckon that between 15,000 and 20,000 black civil service employees, 6% of the federal workforce, were impacted by the administration’s actions.<ref>https://www.nysun.com/national/princetons-purge-of-wilson-follows-a-change/91174/</ref> 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, raising wages for adults. 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.

In 1915 the epic [[Hollywood]] film, ''Birth of a Nation'' was released with its portrayal of black men, many played by white actors in blackface, as unintelligent and sexually aggressive towards white women, and the portrayal of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] (KKK) as an heroic force.<ref>[http://www.moviejustice.com/vault/index.php?p=getitem&db_id=4&item_id=27 MJ Movie Reviews – Birth of a Nation, The (1915) by Dan DeVore] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707194449/http://www.moviejustice.com/vault/index.php?p=getitem&db_id=4&item_id=27 |date=July 7, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://themovingarts.com/revered-and-reviled-d-w-griffiths-the-birth-of-a-nation/|first=Eric M.|last=Armstrong|title=Revered and Reviled: D.W. Griffith's 'The Birth of a Nation'|work=The Moving Arts Film Journal|date=February 26, 2010|accessdate=|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529224316/http://themovingarts.com/revered-and-reviled-d-w-griffiths-the-birth-of-a-nation/|archivedate=2019-01-31|df=mdy-all}}</ref> It was the first American motion picture to be screened inside the [[White House]], viewed there by President [[Woodrow Wilson]], members of his cabinet, and their families.<ref>{{harvnb|Stokes|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fGJFpiTjbKwC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=%22operators+wearing+full+evening+dress+utilized%22&source=bl&ots=AOFjf60Rc_&sig=GJ-f9FVH8MfOtgnzIJLQV_3l-DU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_m5hUMf9JI-whAfz6oCQAg&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22operators%20wearing%20full%20evening%20dress%20utilized%22&f=false 111]}}</ref> In a letter to the White House press secretary the author of ''The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan'' which the film is based,<ref name="Franklin pages 417-434">Franklin, John Hope "''The Birth of a Nation'': Propaganda as History" pages 417–434 from ''The Massachusetts Review'' Volume 20, No. 3, Autumn 1979 page 421.</ref> wrote: {{cquote|"The real purpose of my film was to revolutionize Northern sentiments by a presentation of history that would transform every man in the audience into a good Democrat...Every man who comes out of the theater is a Southern partisan for life!"<ref name="Franklin_430">Franklin, John Hope "''The Birth of a Nation'': Propaganda as History" pages 417–434 from ''The Massachusetts Review'' Volume 20, No. 3, Autumn 1979 page 430.</ref>}} In a letter to President Wilson, Thomas Dixon Jr., who authored the book and screenplay, boasted: {{cquote|"This play is transforming the entire population of the North and the West into sympathetic Southern voters. There will never be an issue of your segregation policy".<ref name="Franklin_430"/>}}
[[File:1924 DNC convention.jpg|right|300px|thumb|1924 Democratic Convention.]]
Dixon was alluding to the fact that Wilson upon becoming president in 1913 had imposed segregation on federal workplaces in Washington D.C. while reducing the number of black employees through demotion or dismissal.<ref>Yellin, Eric S. (2013). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Mx-NiOJ3n-AC&pg=PA127&lpg=PA127 Racism in the Nation's Service: Government Workers and the Color Line in Woodrow Wilson's America] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207065000/https://books.google.com/books?id=Mx-NiOJ3n-AC&pg=PA127&lpg=PA127 |date=February 7, 2018 }}''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina. p. 127. {{ISBN|9781469607207}}</ref>

Wilson was re-elected in 1916 on the slogan, "He kept us out of war!", the caldron that was inflaming Europe since 1914. Upon inauguration, Wilson promptly took the United States to war to save [[British]] [[Imperialism]]. Great Britain had been the United States principal foreign enemy since its founding, in the [[Revolutionary War]] and [[War of 1812]]; the Confederacy could not have fought without the assistance of British arms. Many Americans could not understand how the United States could come to the aid of Great Britain, which had tried to destroy the Union three times since its inception.

[[World War I]] left the U.S. with a staggering [[national debt]]. Wilson turned his attention to building trade alliances and 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. With the rise of the leftist [[Soviet Union]] and [[Communist International]] [[conspiracy]], the world had not been made safe for democracy. 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.

====1924 Klanbake====
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 a vote of 542.85 in favor to 546.15 opposed.<ref>[http://armored-column.com/the-democratic-klanbake-1924/ Democratic "Klanbake" Convention]</ref> The soaring temperatures gave the Convention the name, the Klanbake. At its peak in the mid-1920s, the KKK claimed to include about 15% of the nation's eligible voters, approximately 4–5 million people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2730 |title=Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century |author=Lay, Shawn |website=New Georgia Encyclopedia |publisher=Coker College }}</ref> The Klan 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.

=== New Deal coalition of liberals and segregationists ===
:{{See also|Economic planning}}
The [[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 [[United States 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 the [[administrative state]] and [[entitlement]]s. 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.
[[File:Students pledging allegiance to the American flag with the Bellamy salute.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Elementary school children giving the fascist salute while reciting the [[Pledge of Allegiance]] during the New Deal.]]
After making gains in Congress in 1934 Roosevelt moved left and embarked on a big spending program called "The Second New Deal." It was characterized by building a voting bloc of labor unions, nationalizing welfare by the [[WPA]] (with 2 million unemployed men), setting up [[Social Security]] and raising taxes on "economic royalists."

Roosevelt's [[New Deal]] created an Alphabet soup of government programs. They imposed strong regulations on the banking and financial system, transportation, communications, stock markets, labor-management relations and housing. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) imposed restrictive covenants on mortgage underwriters to discourage government-backed home loans in areas "infiltrated" by "inharmonious racial or nationality groups."<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-new-deal-as-raw-deal-for-blacks-in-segregated-communities/2017/05/25/07416bba-080a-11e7-a15f-a58d4a988474_story.html The New Deal as raw deal for blacks in segregated communities], Charles Lane, ''[[Washington Post]]'', May 25, 2017.</ref> Restrictive covenants were legal documents to ensure that blacks could not buy homes in white neighborhoods. These covenants forbade the owners and their heirs from selling their property to blacks and other racial and ethnic minorities. Because of these covenants, if the owners sold to a minority, the neighborhood property association had the right to sue in court to ensure that property and homes did not change hands and became the property of minorities.

Roosevelt built up the "[[New Deal Coalition]]", a diverse coalition of voters and special interest groups often with conflicting interests. Key components included corrupt big city political machines and labor unions. Key voter groups included traditional white segregationists, Southerners, Catholics, Jews, and liberals, as well as some Northern blacks. Southern New Dealers did not allow Blacks to vote. The big-city machines, largely controlled by immigrant leaders and unions, as well as blacks, were all tied to the party whose existence was maintained by a venomously, anti-Catholic, anti-labor and racist power center - the Southern Bourbon Democrats. The other keystone of the alliance was the [[Communist Party]] and other leftists, who played a crucial role in allying with Roosevelt and the Democrats to ensure that workers did not transcend trade unionism into political action independent of the Democratic Party. This 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 after the court found illegal and unconstitutional many of Roosevelt's first term programs. 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 coalition that managed to block nearly all socialist planning. (Only a minimum wage law got through.) Angry with dissenters in his own party, Roosevelt tried to destroy them. In 1938, he actively campaigned against five incumbent conservative Democratic senators; all five senators won re-election. In 1940, after rejecting DNC chair James Farley as his successor because Farley was [[Catholic]],<ref>John Flynn, ''The Roosevelt Myth'', 1948, p. 179.</ref> Roosevelt broke with tradition and sought a third term as President. The decision was controversial - Democrat Governor [[Strom Thurmond]] supported his third term while his own vice president John Nance Garner quit over the matter while.<ref>https://www.americanheritage.com/content/what-trent-meant</ref>
[[File:LynchinginAmerica-6ngpoajqm9pq7z40qd21q4ejl9fx6zrggi1pq7r5bic.png|right|300px|thumb|FDR's Southern Strategy: FDR always opposed federal anti-lynching legislation, first introduced by Republicans.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/12/07/is-it-time-for-progressives-to-stop-venerating-fdr/?utm_term=.2b894a27cc04</ref>]]
On the eve of [[World War II]], Roosevelt appointed [[Joseph P. Kennedy]], father of John Kennedy, [[Bobby Kennedy]], and [[Ted Kennedy]] as Ambassador to [[Great Britain]]. Joe Kennedy was a notorious [[anti-Semite]] and [[Nazi]] sympathizer. At the time of the [[Kristallnacht]], the ''New York Times'' reported Kennedy had a solution to the problems of German Jews: ship them all to [[Africa]].<ref>https://www.thedailybeast.com/joe-kennedys-answer-to-the-jewish-question-ship-them-to-africa?ref=home?ref=home</ref>

====FDR's Southern Strategy====
To win election, FDR forged a coalition of Northern Democrats and Southern segregationists by placing [[John Nance Garner]] of Texas on the ticket as his running mate. The Democrats won an overwhelming majority in the House, picked up 97 seats, bringing the total to 313. On the Republican side the first African-American in the 20th century, and the first since Reconstruction, Rep. Oscar De Priest was re-elected. The Democratic chairman of the new Congress' Committee on Accounts, Rep. Lindsay Warren, ordered a De Priest staffer and his son to be thrown out of the House's whites-only cafeteria. There was a separate facility for blacks in the basement. De Priest introduced a resolution calling for an investigation. On the House floor, De Priest refuted Warren's claim that African-Americans had always been banned from the restaurant, recalling that he and other black patrons had frequented the House cafeteria. De Priest implored his colleagues to support the resolution, remarking, {{quotebox|“If we allow segregation and the denial of constitutional rights under the Dome of the Capitol, where in God’s name will we get them? If we allow this challenge to go without correcting it, it will set an example where people will say Congress itself approves of segregation.”<ref>https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/D/DE-PRIEST,-Oscar-Stanton-(D000263)/</ref>}}
The effort to desegregate the Democrat-controlled House cafeteria was defeated. Civil rights were not on the party agenda. FDR always opposed the federal anti-lynching law as part of FDR's Southern Strategy. Anti-lynching bills were first introduced by Republicans. The Costigan-Wagner Anti-Lynching Bill was introduced in 1934, calling on the Roosevelt administration to take an active role in ending [[lynching]] in the United States. Senators Edward Costigan of Colorado and Robert Wagner of New York sponsored the bill. Under its provisions, any state officer who failed to exercise diligence in protecting a person under their care from a lynch mob or who neglected to arrest persons involved in a lynching, could themselves be subject to federal imprisonment for five years and a $5,000 fine. In 1935 attempts were made to persuade Roosevelt to speak out in support of the bill. However, Roosevelt refused. He argued that the white voters in the South would never forgive him if he supported the bill and he would, therefore, lose the next election.

Even the appearance in the newspapers of the lynching of Rubin Stacy failed to change Roosevelt's mind on the subject. Six deputies were escorting Stacy to Dade County jail in Miami on July 19, 1935, when he was taken by a white mob and hanged by the side of the home of Marion Jones, the woman who had made the original complaint against him. ''The New York Times'' later revealed that "subsequent investigation revealed that Stacy, a homeless tenant farmer, had gone to the house to ask for food; the woman became frightened and screamed when she saw Stacy's face."<ref>https://www.naacp.org/naacp-history-costigan-wagner-act/</ref> The Costigan-Wagner Bill had wide support; however, the bill was defeated in 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938 and 1940.
[[File:Hugo black kkk.jpeg|right|300px|thumb|Not until after the Democrat Senate approved FDR's appointment of Hugo Black to a lifetime appointment to the bench, was a conservative journalist able to reveal Black was a Klan member.]]
Ever since the Draft Riots of 1863, New York was the bastion of Democratic Resistance in the North. It was a Republican mayor however who made the first efforts to coax traditional black Lincoln Republicans into the New Deal coalition. Fiorello La Guardia was a [[RINO]], or Republican New Dealer. Roosevelt provided federal funds to La Guardia and withheld support from La Guardia's opponents. After the 1935 Harlem riot, La Guardia decreed that African-Americans were not to be arrested for anything, and that police patrolling [[Harlem]] could not carry nightsticks.<ref>[https://vault.fbi.gov/.../Eleanor%20Roosevelt%20Part%2016%20of%2040 Eleanor Roosevelt Part 16 of 37 - FBI — The Vault, p. 46]</ref>

In 1937 FDR appointed Alabama Senator [[Hugo Black]] to the Supreme Court. Black was a member of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and built his career campaigning at Klan meetings. Black was well known for his anti-[[Catholic]] viewpoints.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=WX2LcraS1EgC&pg=PA219 The Oxford Handbook of Church and State in the United States]</ref> In ''Korematsu v. the United States'', Black voted to uphold [[President Roosevelt]]'s mass arrests and incarceration of [[Japanese]] men, women, and children based on [[race]].

Not until the presidential election of 1960 when John Kennedy intervened for the release of Martin Luther King, who was jailed by local Democrats two weeks before the election in Atlanta following a non-violent protest, did the majority of Blacks begin voting Democratic ''en bloc''. The transition was solidified four years later when anti-Vietnam war candidate Barry Goldwater defied Republican Congressional leadership and voted with Southern Democrats to oppose the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It was the first time a GOP nominee carried the South in over 100 years. In fact, it was the only states Goldwater carried.

====White privilege relief efforts====
:{{See also|New Deal and Fascism}}
New Deal relief efforts targeted FDR's white Democrat voter base. A Black Republican congressman attached a non-discrimination amendment, however Democrats put a ten percent quota system on Blacks who were suffering from higher incidence of poverty and unemployment than whites or the population in general. In more prosperous times 30 years later the War on Poverty was the New Deal in reverse, targeting Blacks with the assumption that all Blacks were poor and uneducated. Both the New Deal and Great Society were predicated on Marxist [[class warfare]].

Journalist John Flynn reported on a Senate investigation into cronyism and corruption in New Deal programs in Kentucky. Similar abuses were found throughout the nation. {{quotebox|"The WPA foremen were given a sheet upon which they had to report on the standing of the reliefers in the political campaign. It became a part of [[Harry Hopkins|Mr. [Harry] Hopkins]]' [[WPA]] organization in Kentucky to learn how many of the down-and-out had enough devotion to Franklin D. Roosevelt to be entitled to eat. It was not sufficient for an indigent Kentuckian to be just down and out and hungry. He had to believe that the President of the United States was his redeemer and had to be ready to register that belief at the polls. The reliefers were asked to sign papers pledging themselves to the election of the senior senator from Kentucky. They were given campaign buttons and told to wear them and there were instances where, if they refused, they were thrown off the WPA rolls. All this, of course, was in a Democratic primary where only Democrats could vote. But there were a lot of poor Republicans in Kentucky who couldn't vote in the Democratic primary so long as they were Republicans. So they were told to change their registration and become Democrats, or no WPA jobs for them.}}

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was born of pure [[progressive]] intentions and modeled after [[Hitler Youth]] programs ongoing in [[Germany]]: employment of young men for conservation work on public lands. Republican Rep. Oscar DePriest, the only black member of Congress, made sure that the 1933 legislation that established the CCC banned [[discrimination]] based on “race, color, or creed." Black enrollment in the CCC was capped at ten percent of total recruits–roughly equivalent to the proportion of blacks in the U.S. in 1930, but nowhere near proportional to the number of blacks eligible for relief during the [[Great Depression]]. Tens of thousands were turned away.

The U.S. Army controlled CCC camp administration and operations, and the [[Wilsonian]] policy of racial segregation transferred over to the new civilian workforce. Most of the CCC's quarter million African-American enrollees served in segregated companies and were unable to attain positions of authority.<ref>The Progressive Republican states of Wisconsin and Minnesota had integrated camps.</ref> Some Southern states categorically excluded blacks, arguing that they were needed for growing and harvesting cotton.<ref>[https://livingnewdeal.org/just-way-segregation-ccc-2/ Just the way society was.” Segregation in the CCC], December 28, 2014.</ref>

====Housing discrimination becomes law====
The [[Federal Housing Administration]] (FHA) was created by the Democratic congress in 1934 to insure loans for construction and repairs of homes. White middle-class families could buy suburban homes with little or no down payments and extended 30-year amortization schedules and their monthly charges were often less than rents the families had previously paid to housing authorities or private landlords. But the FHA had an explicit policy of not insuring suburban mortgages for African-Americans, according to writer Richard Rothstein on the ''The American Prospect'' website. In suburban New York’s Nassau County, just east of Queens, Levittown was built in 1947 containing 17,500 mass-produced two-bedroom houses, requiring nothing down and monthly payments of about only $60. At the FHA’s insistence, developer William Levitt did not sell homes to Blacks, and each deed included a prohibition of such resales in the future.<ref>https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america</ref>

====Communist infiltration====

:{{See also|Students for a Democratic Society|Progressives for Obama}}
The New Deal was infiltrated with [[Russia]]n controlled [[Communists]] from the beginning. The [[Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy]] reported in 1996 "The first fact is that a significant Communist conspiracy was in place in Washington, New York, and Hollywood."<ref>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/moynihan/appa6.html Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy, Appendix A 6. The Experience of The Bomb]; the report also included, "At this distance it is difficult to conceive the intensity of Communist conviction in the 1930s....Looking back, however, we see more clearly the dilemma ... By 1950... the United States Government possessed information which the American public desperately needed to know: proof that there had been a serious attack on American security by the [[Soviet Union]], with considerable assistance from what was, indeed, an “enemy within.” The fact that we knew this was now known to, or sufficiently surmised by, the Soviet authorities. Only the American public was denied this information. [http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/moynihan/appa7.html Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy, Appendix A 7. The Cold War]</ref> [[Hayden Peake]],<ref>[http://intellit.muskingum.edu/alpha_folder/P_folder/peake.html Hayden B. Peake]</ref> curator of [[Central Intelligence Agency]]’s (CIA) Historical Intelligence Collection observes "[[Venona]] makes absolutely clear that they had active agents in the U.S. State Department, Treasury Department, Justice Department, Senate committee staffs, the military services, the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS), the [[Manhattan Project]], and the [[White House]], as well as wartime agencies. No modern government was more thoroughly penetrated." <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060820054409/http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/review/2000/summer/re2-su0.htm ''The Venona Progeny''], Hayen B. Peake, Naval War College Review, Summer 2000, Vol. LIII, No. 3.</ref> Of a handful of presidential assistants whose job was to read and summarize information coming in from all the departments and agencies of the U.S. government for the presidents' daily briefing in wartime, two - [[Lauchlin Currie]] and [[David K. Niles]] - were KGB agents.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/rooseveltandhopk006306mbp/page/n227 ROOSEVELT AND HOPKINS AN INTIMATE HISTORY], by ROBERT E.SHERWOOD, 1948, p. 228.</ref> So thorough was [[KGB]] penetration of the Roosevelt Administration, that when [[Army Signals Intelligence]] cryptographer [[Meredith Gardner]] extracted the names of [[Hans Bethe]], [[Niels Bohr]], [[Enrico Fermi]], Harold Urey, [[Edward Teller]] and 11 other scientists working on the [[Manhattan Project]] from a December 2, 1944 KGB encipherment,<ref>[http://www.nsa.gov/venona/venon00014.cfm Venona 1699 New York to Moscow, December 2, 1944].</ref> KGB agent [[William Weisband]] watched him do it.<ref>''VENONA: Soviet Espionage and the American Response, 1939-1957'', Robert Louis Benson and Michael Warner, eds., (Wasghington, D.C.: [[National Security Agency]], Central Intelligence Agency, 1996) [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/venona-soviet-espionage-and-the-american-response-1939-1957/preface.htm]; The ''Baltimore Sun'' (Laura Sullivan, "SPY'S ROLE LINKED TO US FAILURE ON KOREA," 6/29/00) reported that a report newly declassified by the US National Security Agency (NSA) shows that William Weisband alerted the Soviets to extensive US eavesdropping in 1948, resulting in a complete blackout of information from the communist bloc for more than two years. This crippled the NSA's intelligence gathering efforts in the late 1940s and begins to explain why the US was caught unprepared for the [[DPRK]]'s 1950 invasion of the [[ROK]]. NSA historian David A. Hatch, who authored the report, said, "This report answers several significant questions. Up until now, there has been a great lack of knowledge surrounding some of these events ... and this should help sharpen [the public's] understanding." [Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense's Early Bird news service for June 29, 2000.] [http://www.nautilus.org/archives/napsnet/dr/0006/JUN29.html#item8]</ref>

As early as Roosevelt's first 100 days, [[Harold Ware]] was a [[Communist Party USA]] (CPUSA) official in the [[Agricultural Adjustment Administration]] (AAA) and founded the [[Ware group]]. The group consisted of young lawyers and economists, had about 75 members in 1934 and was divided into about eight cells. The AAA was later found [[unconstitutional]], but by that time the Communist operatives had established jobs in the [[civil service system]] and were simply reassigned elsewhere in government. [[Alger Hiss]], [[Lee Pressman]], [[John Abt]], [[Charles Kramer]], [[Nathan Witt]], [[Henry Collins]], [[George Silverman]], [[Marion Bachrach]], [[John Herrmann]], [[Nathaniel Weyl]], [[Donald Hiss]] and [[Victor Perlo]] were all members. [[Harry Dexter White]], who was involved in the most auspicious policy [[subversion (political)|subversion]] as Director of the Division of Monetary Research in the [[Treasury Department]], was also affiliated with the group. The Ware group was the CPUSA's covert arm at this time. Each of these agents not only provided classified documents to Soviet intelligence, but was involved in political influence operations as well.

In 1934, a Congressional Investigation was held to examine statements by Dr. William A. Wirt, who headed the Office of Education which later became the [[Department of Education]]. Dr. Wirt had attended a dinner party with several [[Brain Trust]]ers at the home of his secretary, [[Alice Barrows]].<ref>A June 1945 [[Venona project]] decryption of Soviet [[KGB]] wartime cables from the Washington D.C. KGB Office to Moscow's Eighth Department, the political intelligence wing, relayed information on matters regarding Attorney General Francis Biddle. KGB agent [[Charles Kramer]], who served on the staff of several U.S. Senate Subcommittees, and Barrows are the sources of the information. ''Venona 3706 KGB Washington to Moscow, 29 June 1945.'' Mary Van Kleek who headed the Russell Sage Foundation and also served on the Board of the National Council, visited Washington weekly to meet with Barrows and [[Greg Silvermaster|Nathan Gregory Silvermaster]].

During [[World War II]] Barrows was the Executive Secretary of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship. This organization was declared in 1953 to be a [[Glossary of espionage terms#Fronts and cutouts|Communist front]] organization by the [[Subversive Activities Control Board]] (SACB). In its Findings of Fact, the SACB said the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, "advances positions...markedly pro-Soviet and...anti-United States Government...is a Communist-action organization which has as its primary purpose to advance the objectives of the world Communist movement under the [[hegemony]] of the Soviet Union; it has the policy to support and defend the Soviet Union under any and all circumstances...We conclude that the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, Inc., is substantially directed, dominated, and controlled by the Communist Party of the United States...and is primarily operated for the purpose of giving aid and support to...the Soviet Union, a Communist foreign government." ''[http://ets.umdl.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=usfexec;cc=usfexec;q1=Barrows;rgn=full%20text;idno=81242.0001.001;didno=81242.0001.001;view=image;seq=511;page=root;size=s;endseq=3;frm=frameset Reports of the Subversive Activities Control Board.]'' Washington. United States Government Printing Office. 1966. Vol. 1, p. 501.</ref>
Barrows began working for the Office of Education in 1919 and was a member of the CPUSA, which advocated the violent overthrow of the United States Government. Several of the Brain Trusters present revealed to Wirt they were CPUSA members. Wirt testified,
[[Image:Fbisilvermasterfilevol15p4.JPG|right|300px|thumb|[[CPUSA]] defector [[Louis Budenz]] testified he could name 400 individuals involved in the [[CPUSA#Secret apparatus|Communist conspiracy]];<ref>[http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft296nb15t&chunk.id=d0e6193&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e4718&brand=eschol FBI Headquarters File 100-63, Louis Francis Budenz, Internal Security—C, Serial 122.]</ref> others testified there may have been over 1000.<ref>Executive Sessions of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations ([https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/McCarthy_Transcripts.htm McCarthy Hearings 1953-54]).</ref> The [[Silvermaster group]] infiltrated 27 high level Stalinist [[KGB]] operatives into government jobs in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, including the first General Secretary of the [[United Nations]], the first head of the [[International Monetary Fund]], the head of the [[Manhattan Project]] as well as speech writers and staff assistants for both the President and Vice President.<ref>[http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster015.pdf FBI Silvermaster file Vol. 15, pg. 4 pdf.]</ref> ]]
{{Cquote|I was told they believe that by thwarting our then evident economic recovery, they would be able to prolong the country’s destitution until they had demonstrated to the American people that the Government must operate business and commerce. By propaganda, they would destroy institutions making long term capital loans—and then push Uncle Sam into making these loans. Once Uncle Sam becomes our financier, he must also follow his money with control and management.<ref>Hearings, House Select Committee To Investigate Certain Statements of Dr. William Wirt, 73rd Congress, 2nd Session, April 10 and 17, 1934.</ref><ref>''Dr Wirt faces the cameras and tells all'', Literary Digest v. 117 (April 21, 1934) p. 7.</ref><ref>FBI Silvermaster file [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster053.pdf Volume 53 June 1946], p. 78 pdf.</ref>}}
Outside government, the [[far-left]] was exerting considerable influence in the labor movement. It dominated the new [[Congress of Industrial Organizations|CIO]], and was building a network of membership organizations. The [[American League Against War and Fascism]] was formed in 1933 and, in 1937, became the American League for Peace and Democracy. There followed the [[American Youth Congress]], 1934; League of American Writers, 1935; National Negro Congress, 1936; and the American Congress for Democracy and Intellectual Freedom, 1939. All had significant [[Stalinist]] connections, and fought furious battles with the anti-Communist left.<ref>

Leuchtenburg (1963) 281-3; Irving Howe, Lewis A. Coser, and Julius Jacobson, ''The American Communist Party: a critical history, 1919-1957'' (1957); James R. Barrett, ''William Z. Foster and the Tragedy of American Radicalism'' (2002).</ref> [[Joseph Berger]], a speechwriter for the Democratc National Committee, also was a KGB agent.<ref>[http://foia.fbi.gov/venona/venona.pdf FBI Verona Files]</ref>

While the [[D-Day]] landings were happening, Vice President [[Henry Wallace]] undertook a mission to the Far East for the [[Office of War Information]] and was accompanied by [[Owen Lattimore]] and [[John Carter Vincent]] of the [[Institute of Pacific Relations]] (IPR).<ref>''Yalta Betrayal'', Wittmer, 1953, pg. 58. Retrieved from GELO.com [http://www.ogleo.com/search/ogleo-History_of_CzechoslovakiaHistory of Czechoslovakia] 05/08/07.</ref> Wallace and his delegation were given a tour of the Magadan concentration camp at Kolyma. Lattimore wrote a travelogue for the ''[[National Geographic]]'' describing this Siberian [[gulag]] as a combination of the Hudson's Bay Company and the [[TVA]], gushing about how strong and well-fed the inmates were and ascribing to camp commandant Feliks Nikishov “a trained and sensitive interest in art and music and also a deep sense of civic responsibility.”<ref>Paul Johnson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=aXm-lKKztywC&pg=PA1&dq=the+survival+of+the+adversary+culture&sig=NBsLl97lMC2A-i-gpuvRZdkewDA#PPA180,M1 ''The Survival of the Adversary Culture'' (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1988) ISBN 1560005548, p. 180]</ref> Upon his return from the Siberian journey Wallace was hailed by leftist [[mainstream media]] "as the conscience of the world" in "the century of the common man." Nobel Laureate [[Alexander Solzhenitsyn]] wrote years later in ''[[The Gulag Archipelago]]'' that the entire city of Magadan was founded as a Soviet Gulag, and would never have come into existence for any other reason than as a Communist slave camp for dissidents and the politically incorrect undesirables of Soviet society.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,944884,00.html?promoid=googlep Islands of Slavery],, ''[[Time magazine]]'', June 24, 1974.</ref><ref>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/10/31/jordan_peterson_reads_foreward_to_the_gulag_archipelago_50th_anniversary.html</ref> Commentator Cal Thomas wrote in 2007, {{Cquote|While many Westerners recall Nazi-run death camps like [[Auschwitz]] and [[Buchenwald]], few remember Soviet death camps named Kolyma and Magadan. True, Alexander Solzhenitsyn mentioned them in "The Gulag Archipelago" as did Varlam Sjalamov in "Tales from Kolyma," but as the late Swedish journalist Andres Kung wrote, "There are people who have still not heard of these communist [[democide|extermination]] camps -- even though the communists preceded the [[Nazi]]s in creating such camps and killed an even larger number of people in their camps.<ref>[http://www3.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20070612-085222-1017r.htm Monument to murder], By Cal Thomas, ''Washington Times'', June 13, 2007.</ref>}}
The [[American Labor Party]] provided the necessary votes to overcome the [[Republican]] lead over the [[Democrat]]s. By 1944 the [[Communist]]s had taken over the American Labor Party completely. In the election of 1944, [[Republican]] Presidential nominee [[Thomas E. Dewey]] got nearly half a million votes more on the Republican ticket than Roosevelt got on the Democratic ticket,<ref>[http://www.therealitycheck.org/GuestColumnist/tbrewton010306.htm The (Socialist) Empire Strikes],
by Thomas E. Brewton, ''The RealityCheck.org''. Retrieved August 1, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,801534,00.html?promoid=googlep The Side Issues], [[Time magazine]], Nov. 13, 1944.</ref> but Roosevelt was the candidate of two other parties - the American Labor Party of the Communists <ref>''The Roosevelt Myth'', John T. Flynn, Fox and Wilkes, 1948, Book 3, Ch. 10, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040626062741/https://www.rooseveltmyth.com/book/fdrmyth_Chapter_Ten___Politics__Disease_.htm ''Politics, Disease and History'']</ref> and the [[Liberal Party]] which consisted of technocrats, [[economic planners]] and American non-Stalinist Communists.<ref>''Roosevelt Myth'', Book 3, Ch. 2, [http://www.rooseveltmyth.com/cgi-bin/framed/2767/book/fdrmyth_Chapter_Two___The_White_House_G.htm ''The White House Goes into Business''], Flynn, 1948.</ref> In New York State Roosevelt won 47 electoral votes with a majority of 317,000.<ref>''Roosevelt Myth'', Book 3, Ch. 9, [http://www.rooseveltmyth.com/book/fdrmyth_Chapter_Nine___The_Great_Confere.htm ''The Great Conferences''], Flynn, 1948,</ref> Of these 825,000 votes came from the American Labor Party dominated by the Communists, which had also nominated FDR and he had accepted, and the American Liberal Party. The same thing was true in Illinois, in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and other large industrial states, although the fact was not so obvious because the radicals operated inside the Democratic party where they could not be so easily identified. [[Strom Thurmond]] also supported FDR's decision to seek a fourth term.<ref>[http://www.kevinbaker.info/c_wtm.html What Trent Meant], Kevin Baker.</ref>

Several liberal New Deal economists in the [[McCarthyism|McCarthy era]] fled to [[Maoist]] [[China]] to experiment with their real ambitions after being hindered by [[democracy]], law, and the [[Constitution]].<ref>Unlike the landlords of sharecroppers, these former American civil servants turned Chinese Communist civil servants simply outlawed "landlordism," and exterminated the landlords, saving the state treasury billions in agricultural subsidies.</ref> Their time in China is memorialized in history as the [[Three Years of Disasters]].<ref>Historian Frank Dikötter asserts that "coercion, terror, and systematic violence were the foundation of the [[Great Leap Forward]]" and it "motivated one of the most deadly mass killings of human history". Dikötter, Frank (2010). pp. x, xi. ISBN 0-8027-7768-6</ref> The death toll of this [[socialist]] experiment is estimated at 55 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liberation.fr/planete/2011/06/17/la-chine-creuse-ses-trous-de-memoire_743211|title=La Chine creuse ses trous de mémoire|last=|first=|date=|website=La Liberation|publisher=|language=fr|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref>

After [[World War II]], [[Moscow]] ordered all American communists to go underground and join the Democratic party. The story of [[Frank Marshall Davis]], Barack Obama's mentor,<ref>http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/main/AboutHFP/tabid/64/Default.aspx</ref> is intertwined with the Hawaii Democrats' rise to power.<ref>http://www.aim.org/aim-column/the-frank-marshall-davis-network-in-hawaii/</ref> Communists controlled the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the ILWU controlled the Hawaii Democratic Party, and in 1954, union-based election campaigns launched the Hawaii Democrats into control of the state legislature. Hawaii's first Democratic Governor Jack Burns said,
{{Cquote|Every guy in the ILWU was at one time or another a member of the Communist Party of America. This is where they got their [[community organizing|organizational information]] and how to organize, and how to bring groups together and how to create cells and how to make movements that are undetected by the bosses.}}
In 1959 Hawaii became a state.<ref>http://hawaii.gov/statehood/history</ref> when Burns captured the governor's office in 1962 the Democrats created a [[single party control]]led state unbroken for four decades until the election of [[Republican]] Governor [[Linda Lingle]] in the aftermath of the [[9/11 attacks]] in 2002. During those decades in some sessions sat as few as one Republican legislator. In 1976 the Democratic-controlled Hawaii State Legislature passed a resolution honoring [[Koji Ariyoshi]], a lieutenant of [[Mao Zedong]], the single biggest mass murderer of all time. Herbert Romerstein,<ref>[http://education-research.org/CSR/romerstein.htm The Education and Research Institute], Washington, DC.</ref><ref>[http://intellit.org/alpha_folder/R_folder/romerstein.html Herbert Romerstein], ''The Literature of Intelligence: A Bibliography of Materials, with Essays, Reviews, and Comments'', J. Ransom Clark Emeritus, Muskingum University, New Concord, Ohio. Published in 2007: J. Ransom Clark, Intelligence and National Security: A Reference Handbook (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International Reference, 2007. [http://www.greenwood.com/psi/book_detail.aspx?sku=C9298])</ref> formerly head of the office to Counter Soviet Disinformation at the United States Information Agency (USIA) commented, "this was the atmosphere that young Barack Obama grew up in...We honor Soviet spies."<ref>[http://www.usasurvival.org/docs/Transcript_May_22_edited_version.pdf ''The Stealth Candidate''], Edited Transcript May 22, 2008, Briefing on Barack Obama's Communist Connections Featuring Cliff Kincaid and Herbert Romerstein. Accuracy in Media.</ref><ref>Mao and Ariyoshi were Soviet operatives prior to the death of Stalin and the [[Sino-Soviet split]].</ref>

[[Michael Whitney Straight]] became a Communist Party member in the Stalin era and worked as a speechwriter for President Roosevelt. After WWII Straight took over as publisher of his family-owned ''[[The New Republic]]'' magazine, the liberal movement's flagship publication, where he hired former [[Vice President of the United States|U.S. Vice President]] and 1948 Progressive Party presidential candidate [[Henry A. Wallace]] as the magazine's editor. Straight later served as the deputy chairman of the Great Society [[National Endowment for the Arts]] program from 1969 to 1977 handing out taxpayer cash and federal grants to [[politically correct]] [[Cultural Marxist]] recipients.

====Immigration and refugees====

After [[Kristallnacht]] in November 1938, many Jews within Germany decided that it was time to leave. The ''S.S St. Louis'' carrying 937 passengers, most of them Jewish, set sail from Hamburg to [[Cuba]] on May 13, 1939. In Cuba the passengers were denied entrance without posting a $500 bond. A few dozen passengers disembarked. The ship set sail for Florida.

Once in Florida waters, Sec. of State [[Cordell Hull]] advised President Roosevelt to deny the Jews [[asylum]]. The [[U.S. Coast Guard]] and planes followed the ''St. Louis'' to prevent it from landing.<ref>https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-tragedy-of-s-s-st-louis</ref>
[[File:Instructions to japanese.png|right|250px|thumb]]
Many Jews had fled to Central and South America to escape [[Nazi]] persecution. When war broke out, these [[Latin America]]n countries did not want German Jews. They were deported to the United States where the Roosevelt administration was willing to hold them as German citizens in America [[concentration camp]]s. The Roosevelt administration traded them back to Germany in exchange for American civilians held in detention in Germany. The fate of these Jews is unknown.<ref>https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/internment-of-germans.html</ref>

In 1943, Roosevelt told French military leaders at the Casablanca Conference that "the number of Jews engaged in the practice of the professions" in liberated North Africa "should be definitely limited", lest there be a recurrence of "the understandable complaints which the Germans bore towards the Jews in Germany."<ref>http://new.wymaninstitute.org/2013/08/a-presidents-private-thoughts-about-jews/</ref>

====Mass incarceration of minorities====
Wikipedia states that Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt set up "[[concentration camp]]s" during World War II while the United States was at war with [[Nazi Germany]]:
{{quotebox-float|"Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the Secretary of War to prescribe certain areas as military zones, clearing the way for the incarceration of Japanese Americans, German Americans, and Italian Americans in U.S. [[concentration camps]]."<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9066</ref>}}
====Supreme Court====
Franklin Roosevelt nominated [[James F. Byrnes]] to the Supreme Court and was confirmed by the Democrat Senate in 1941. The NAACP opposed his confirmation in a telegram to the White House:
{{quotebox|“If Senator Byrnes at any time in his long public career failed to take a position inimical to the human and citizenship rights of 13 million American Negro citizens, close scrutiny of his record fails to reveal it.”}}
As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate for more than two decades, Byrnes personally blocked a Senate investigation of a South Carolina lynching and opposed federal anti-lynching legislation, insisting that “rape is responsible, directly and indirectly, for most of the lynching in America.”

Byrnes later held the office of Secretary of State under President Harry Truman. He remained a vocal opponent of integration throughout his term as South Carolina governor from 1951 to 1955. In his inaugural address, Byrnes proclaimed,
{{quotebox|“Whatever is necessary to continue the separation of the races in the schools of South Carolina is going to be done by the white people of the state. That is my ticket as a private citizen. It will be my ticket [as governor].”}}
A building and a professorship at the University of South Carolina bear his name, as do Byrnes Auditorium at Winthrop University, Byrnes Hall dormitory at Clemson University, and James F. Byrnes High School in Duncan, South Carolina.<ref>https://segregationinamerica.eji.org/report/segregation-forever-leaders.html</ref>

===Truman to Kennedy: 1945–1963===
[[File:FDR Truman and KKK.jpeg|left|250px|thumb]]
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]], a progressive, 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 important 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. Reagan was elected president of the [[Screen Actors Guild]] and left the party over communist infiltration of his union.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=I4-UBnd20K4C&pg=PA155 Ronald Reagan in Hollywood: Movies and Politics]</ref>

By October 1946, the G.I. Bill had placed 6,500 former soldiers in nonfarm jobs in Mississippi; 86 percent of the skilled and semiskilled jobs were filled by whites, 92 percent of the unskilled ones by Blacks. In New York and northern New Jersey, fewer than 100 of the 67,000 mortgages insured by the G.I. Bill supported home purchases by nonwhites. Discrimination continued as well in elite Northern colleges. The University of Pennsylvania, along with Columbia the least discriminatory of the Ivy League colleges, enrolled only 46 Black students in its student body of 9,000 in 1946. The traditional Black colleges did not have places for an estimated 70,000 Black veterans in 1947. At the same time, white universities were doubling their enrollments and prospering with the infusion of public and private funds, and of students with their G.I. benefits.<ref>https://atlantablackstar.com/2015/02/04/9-ways-franklin-d-roosevelts-new-deal-purposely-excluded-blacks-people/5/</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. The party was split three ways. [[Henry Wallace]], who Roosevelt threw off the ticket in 1944 ran as a [[Progressive]] while [[J. Strom Thurmond]], who remained a staunch supporter of FDR split off and ran as a [[Dixiecrat]]. Republican overconfidence led to many failing to show up at the polls and Truman 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 [[nationalization]] of the steel industry was reversed by the Supreme Court.

In 1948, [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] won an election for [[U.S. Senate]] from the state of [[Texas]] by [[Democrat_election_fraud#1948_Texas_Senate|stealing the election]], according even to historians sympathetic to him. Johnson ran against former governor Coke Stevenson; neither candidate won a majority of the votes in the election, which under Texas law forced a runoff between Johnson and Stevenson. Johnson then claimed an 87-vote victory over Stevenson in the runoff, which was fraudulent.<ref>See eg Robert A Caro Master of the ''Senate Means of Assent''</ref> Johnson's partner in [[crime]] in the election theft, [[Abe Fortas]], whom Johnson later appointed to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] and was confirmed by a two-thirds majority of the Democrat Senate, is the only Supreme Court Justice to have resigned over corruption charges.

In foreign policy, Europe was occupied but divided between the Western alliance and the Communist bloc as troubles mounted in Asia. American troops were now facing down the New Deal's Stalinist allies in the streets of Berlin. Kuomintang China, a major ally in the war against [[Japan]], fell to the Stalinist communist bloc in 1949. Truman, under the [[UN]] banner, entered the [[Korean War]] without formal Congressional approval—the last time a president would ever do so. When the war stalemated in 1951 because of Truman's reluctance to use nuclear weapons, 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. Stevenson, a New Deal liberal, adopted the traditional Democratic Southern Strategy of choosing a Southern white male for Vice President in both elections to appeal to Southern voters, who regularly would not allow African Americans to register to vote.

====Brown vs. Board of Education====
:{{See also|Brown vs. Board of Education}}
The election of a Republican for the first time in 20 years was momentous. Eisenhower appointed Republican California Governor [[Earl Warren]] as [[Chief Justice]] of the Supreme Court. All the other members had been appointed by Roosevelt and Truman who believed courts should defer to the policymaking prerogatives of the White House and Congress. Warren convened a meeting of the justices and presented to them the simple argument that the only reason to sustain segregation was a deep-rooted belief in the inferiority of African-Americans. In ''[[Brown v. Topeka Board of Education]]'', Warren produced a unanimous decision that said: {{quotebox|"Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group…Any language in contrary to this finding is rejected. We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”}}
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. After the Little Rock Crisis of 1957, the party made dramatic gains in the 1958 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 socialist domestic legislation from 1937 to the 1970s, except for a brief spell 1964–65, when Johnson neutralized its power.
[[File:John Kennedy texas.png|left|300px|thumb|John Kennedy was elected using the same Southern Strategy FDR did by putting a Texan on the ticket.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/23535517?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents John F. Kennedy's Southern Strategy, 1956-1960], Guy Paul Land, ''The North Carolina Historical Review'', Vol. 56, No. 1 (January, 1979), pp. 41-63.</ref>]]
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. His brother, [[Robert Kennedy]], who managed the campaign, opposed the outreach to Black voters and sided with traditional Southern racists of the New Deal coalition.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=kLspqSlNjfYC&pg=PA309&lpg=PA309&dq=three+Southern+governors+told+us+that+if+Jack+supported+Jimmy+Hoffa,+Nikita+Khrushchev,+or+Martin+Luther+King,+they+would+throw+their+states+to+Nixon&source=bl&ots=9PCWxfix0P&sig=ACfU3U2rlCOdSQJLr7w1x8AhpeJODSmG6w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj58fD9uIngAhWMoYMKHRY0CPAQ6AEwCnoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=three%20Southern%20governors%20told%20us%20that%20if%20Jack%20supported%20Jimmy%20Hoffa%2C%20Nikita%20Khrushchev%2C%20or%20Martin%20Luther%20King%2C%20they%20would%20throw%20their%20states%20to%20Nixon&f=false Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero], [[Chris Matthews]], Simon and Schuster, Nov 6, 2012, p. 309.</ref> Bobby Kennedy was furious with campaign aides for talking with King, and felt it would cost them the election.

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 Castro's Cuba; it failed badly. A few new programs like the Peace Corps provided pacifists with an alternative to two years of military service in the peacetime draft. In terms of civil rights legislation, his proposals were all cautious and incremental. In three years he was unable to pass any significant civil rights 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.

====Southern Manifesto====
:{{Main article|Southern Manifesto}}
The Southern Manifesto was a document issued in response to the Supreme Court's 1954 ruling ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', which integrated public schools. School segregation laws were some of the most enduring and best-known of the [[Jim Crow]] laws that characterized the American South at the time. All but twenty-eight of the 138 southern Democrat members of Congress signed this Southern Manifesto, including 19 of the Majority Democrat Senators.<ref>https://d1lexza0zk46za.cloudfront.net/history/am-docs/southern-manifesto.pdf</ref> [[John Sparkman]], 1952 Vice Presidential candidate as part of the Democrat's Southern Strategy, [[J. William Fulbright]] mentor of Bill Clinton, Richard Brevard Russell of the [[Warren Commission]], [[Sam Ervin]] of the [[Watergate]] Committee, [[Hale Boggs]] (the father of [[NPR]]'s Cokie Roberts), and Wilbur Mills were all signatories. It reads in part: {{quotebox|"This unwarranted exercise of power by the Court, contrary to the Constitution, is creating chaos and confusion in the States principally affected. It is destroying the amicable relations between the white and Negro races that have been created through 90 years of patient effort by the good people of both races. It has planted hatred and suspicion where there has been heretofore friendship and understanding....We commend the motives of those States which have declared the intention to resist forced integration by any lawful means."}} [[File:Little Rock Nine.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Republican President Dwight Eisenhower called out the 101st Airborne to protect Black school children from Democrat protesters after a Democrat governor refused to implement a desegregation order written by the Republican Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.]]

The Southern Manifesto was signed on a large mahogany conference table in Sen. [[John Stennis]]' office which Stennis used as his desk and referred to as "the flagship of the [[Confederacy]]." The table was used by segregationist and co-signer of the Southern Manifesto Sen. [[Richard Russell]] before his retirement. When Stennis retired in 1988, Sen. [[Joseph Biden]] took over Stennis' office, including the conference table. When Sen. Biden was elected Vice President in 2008, Biden had the flagship of the Confederacy moved into the Vice President's residence.

One of the first challenges to ''Brown v. Board of Education'' occurred when Democrat Governor [[Orval E. Faubus]] ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent African-American students from enrolling at [[Little Rock]] Central High School. Central High was an all-white school. Faubus ordered the troops to "accomplish the mission of maintaining or restoring law and order and to preserve the peace, health, safety and security of the citizens." A force of 289 soldiers was assembled. The commander told nine black students, six girls and thee boys ages 15–17 years old who were attempting to enter the school, to return home. The standoff continued for three weeks. Little Rock Democrat mayor Woodrow Wilson Mann appealed to President Eisenhower to help end the deadlock. Eisenhower sent the [[101st Airborne Division]] to federalized the entire 10,000-member Arkansas National Guard. The students were allowed to enroll.

Faubus was re-elected in 1958 with 82.5% of the vote over a Republican challenger. Faubus ordered the closure of four public high schools that year, preventing both black and white students from attending school while seeking a two and a half year delay on de-segregation until January 1961 in Federal Court when there would be a possibility of a Democratic president.

====1957 Civil Rights Act====
:{{See also|Civil Rights Act of 1957}}
Republican Attorney General Herbert Brownell originally proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Democrat Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson had Judiciary chairman Sen. [[James Eastland]] drastically water-down the House version, removing stringent voting protection clauses.<ref>https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1951-2000/The-Civil-Rights-Act-of-1957/</ref><ref>Caro, Robert, ''Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson'', Chapter 39</ref> The bill passed 285–126 in the House with Republicans providing the majority of votes 167–19 and Democrats 118–107.<ref>HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957. PASSED. YEA SUPPORTS PRESIDENT'S POSITION. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42</ref> It then passed 72–18 in the Senate, with Republicans again supplying the majority of votes, 43–0 and Democrats voting 29–18. Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, who later ran for president, voted against it.<ref>[https://kennedysandking.com/reviews/the-kennedys-and-civil-rights-how-the-msm-continues-to-distort-history-part-2 The Kennedys and Civil Rights: How the MSM Continues to Distort History, Part 2], James DiEugenio, 07 October 2018. "Kennedy sided with the [[segregation]]ists on a complicated procedural matter that watered down that bill. (p. 58) Even for Levingston, this is sorry. What watered down the bill was the removal of something that Kennedy voted ''for''. This was called Title III. </ref> Kennedy's 1957 book, ''Profiles in Courage'', celebrated the vote of Sen. Edmund Ross to acquit Pres. [[Andrew Johnson]], the first step in ending Republican [[Reconstruction]] reforms and paving the way for the Democrat era of [[Jim Crow]] laws and the [[segregation]] era.<ref>https://brewminate.com/andrew-johnson-impeachment-and-reconstruction/</ref>

The 1957 Civil Rights Act was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875. Johnson told Sen. [[Richard Russell]], {{quotebox|"These Negroes, they're getting pretty [[uppity]] these days and that's a problem for us since they've got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we've got to do something about this, we've got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference. For if we don't move at all, then their allies will line up against us and there'll be no way of stopping them, we'll lose the filibuster and there'll be no way of putting a brake on all sorts of wild legislation. It'll be Reconstruction all over again."<ref>Said to Senator Richard Russell, Jr. (D-GA) regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1957. As quoted in [http://books.google.com/books?id=HS9aAAAAYAAJ ''Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream''] (1977), by Doris Kearns Goodwin, New York: New American Library, p. 155.</ref>}}

===Johnson, war and riots===
:{{See also|Johnson administration}}
The New Deal Coalition began to fracture as union and religious leaders demanded support for [[civil rights]], upsetting the party's traditional base of Democrat segregationists who themselves became dependent on government largess. In 1948 the party platform for the first time in its history showed some support for civil rights. The Republicans passed civil rights legislation with the [[13th Amendment]], [[14th Amendment]], [[15th Amendment]], [[Emancipation Proclamation]], the Civil Rights Act of 1875, and first passed anti-lynching legislation in 1922, which Democrats killed by [[filibuster]]s.<ref>https://www.nationalreview.com/2012/05/party-civil-rights-kevin-d-williamson/</ref>
[[File:Lyndon Johnson showing scars.jpg|right|300px|thumb|A new level crudeness: Johnson shows off scars from gallbladder surgery to photographers and the world. Johnson is said to have given instructions to staff and press interviews while sitting on the toilet.<ref>https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4617681/toilet-time-lbj</ref> Johnson regularly used the "N" word.]]
The party's reversal on civil rights culminated with Democratic President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] finally signing the [[bi-partisan]] [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which he called "the N****r Bill."<ref>http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/lyndon-johnson-civil-rights-racism</ref> In lobbying fellow Democrats for the bill, Johnson said, {{quotebox|"I'll have them n*gg*rs voting Democratic for two hundred years."<ref>Said to two governors regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to then-''Air Force One'' steward Robert MacMillan as quoted in [http://books.google.com/books?id=lJz-yIZNE2sC ''Inside the White House''] (1996), by Ronald Kessler, New York: Simon and Schuster, p. 33.</ref>}} Democrats tried to block passage by filibustering for 75 hours, including a 14-hour and 13-minute speech by the Exalted Cyclops, Sen. [[Robert Byrd]],<ref>Sen. [[Theodore Bilbo]], whom Byrd swore his Klan oath to, said in 1949 on ''Meet the Press'', "Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux."</ref> who later became Senate Democrat Leader in the Reagan era. The filibuster failed when the Senate invoked cloture for only the second time since 1927.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Civil_Rights_Filibuster_Ended.htm|title=Civil Rights Filibuster Ended |work=Art & History Historical Minutes|publisher=United States Senate|accessdate=}}</ref> The law was intended to block Republican gains in the South followed by buying off Blacks with [[Great Society]] [[welfare]] and [[affirmative action]] programs. According to LBJ biographer Robert Caro, Johnson told his chauffeur: {{Quotebox|"Let me tell you one thing, n*gg*r. As long as you are black, and you’re gonna be black till the day you die, no one’s gonna call you by your g*dd*mn name. So no matter what you are called, n*gg*r, you just let it roll off your back like water, and you’ll make it. Just pretend you’re a g*dd*mn piece of furniture."<ref>https://slate.com/culture/2002/05/lbj-s-alleged-compassion.html</ref>}}

African-Americans formed an anomalous coalition with low-income white Democrat racists who were dependent on New Deal and Great Society [[welfare]] programs.<ref>"Chicago 1969: Assumed to be natural enemies, these groups united in their calls for [[economic justice]]." [http://theconversation.com/chicago-1969-when-black-panthers-aligned-with-confederate-flag-wielding-working-class-whites-68961 When Black Panthers aligned with Confederate-flag-wielding, working-class whites], Colette Gaiter, ''The Conversation'', January 8, 2017.</ref> Both African Americans and racist Democrats opposed Republican efforts to maintain fiscal and budgetary sanity. The coalition gave cover to bigoted Democrats to hide their racism, while accusing Republicans who wanted to balance the budget of prejudice. [[Malcolm X]] described it this way: {{quotebox|"The white Liberal differs from the white Conservative only in one way; the Liberal is more [[deceit]]ful, more hypocritical, than the Conservative. Both want power, but the White Liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro's friend and benefactor and by winning the friendship and support of the Negro, the White Liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or a weapon in this political football game, that is constantly raging, between the White Liberals and the White Conservatives. The American Negro is nothing, but a political "football game" that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white conservatives.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7YmjWW9tx4</ref>}}
Contrary to popular Democrat mythology, Democrat Governor [[George Wallace]] won [[the South]] in 1968 in a three-way contest against Nixon and Humphrey. There was no Nixon "[[Southern Strategy]]." The South continued to reject Yankee liberals (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 but steady gains. As racism in the South declined, Republicans in the South increased.<ref>https://youtu.be/ol7OMGBDMao</ref>

The South became competitive in presidential politics as early as the 1920s and by 1980 gave strong support to Republican Ronald Reagan, rejecting northern liberal candidates.<ref>https://www.prageru.com/videos/why-did-democratic-south-become-republican</ref> Democrats responded with a new Southern Strategy - putting Southerners at the top of the ticket - Carter in 1976 and 1980, Clinton in 1992 and 1996, Gore in 2000, and calling Yankee Republicans "racist."

By the 1990s the GOP was competitive at the state and local level throughout the South. The Democrats made gains in the west through [[illegal immigration]],<ref>https://cis.org/Report/Injustice-All-Excerpt-Sellout-Inside-Story-President-Clintons-Impeachment</ref> 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.

====1964 Convention: Mississippi Freedom Party====
:{{See also|Black history}}
The Mississippi Freedom Party was organized by African Americans to challenge the establishment Democratic Party, which allowed participation only by whites. The party ran a slate of delegates with close to 80,000 people casting ballots.<ref>[http://www.crmvet.org/tim/tim63b.htm#1963msballot Freedom Ballot in MS] ~ Civil Rights Movement Veterans</ref> The party hoped to replace the Regular Democrats as the official Mississippi delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

At the convention the party challenged the Regular Democrats' right to be seated, claiming that the Regular Democrats were illegally elected in a segregated process that violated both party regulations and [[federal law]].<ref>[http://www.crmvet.org/disc/mfdp.htm The Mississippi Movement & the MFDP] ~ Civil Rights Movement Veterans</ref> The Equal Protection Clause had been on the books for nearly 100 years already. The Democratic Party referred the challenge to the credentials committee,<ref>{{cite book
| last = Branch
| first = Taylor
| title = Pillar of Fire
| publisher = Simon & Schuster
| date = 1998}}</ref> which televised its proceedings and allowed the nation to see and hear the moving testimony of several delegates and the retaliation inflicted on them by Democrats for attempting to vote.<ref>Carmichael, Stokely, and Charles V. Hamilton. ''Black Power: The Politics of Liberation,'' (New York: Random House, 1967), p. 90.</ref>

After that, most observers and pundits thought the credentials committee were ready to unseat the Regular Democrats and seat the Freedom Party delegates in their place. But some Democrats from other states threatened to leave the convention and bolt the party if the Regular Democrats were unseated. President Johnson wanted a united convention and feared losing support. To ensure his victory in November, Johnson maneuvered to prevent the Mississippi Freedom Democrats from replacing the all-white Regular Democrats.

Two future Democrat Presidential nominees, [[Hubert Humphrey]] and [[Walter Mondale]], denied Blacks [[equal protection]] and made a mockery of the [[civil rights movement]].<ref>https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2011/05/sad-story-humphreys-role-1964-democratic-convention/</ref> Johnson held a private meeting with Humphrey, Mondale, Roy Wilkins, [[Andrew Young]], [[United Auto Workers]] President [[Walter Reuther]] and [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] A plan was hatched to offer the Freedom Democrats two non-voting ''At-Large'' seats with observer status, rather than replace the all-white delegation which had been undemocratically and illegally elected.<ref>Mills, Kay, ''This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer,'' (New York: Plume, 1994), p. 5.</ref> Johnson arrogated to himself the right to pick which two, and Johnson chose one white and one black. Johnson dispatched Humphrey and Mondale and ordered them to make sure that “that illiterate woman," Fannie Lou Hamer would never be a delegate. Dr. King protested and was told by Reuther to shut up.

The offer was rejected, but Humphrey and Mondale remained powerhouse liberals in the Democratic party for another 20 years.

====Great Society====
:{{See also|War on Poverty}}
By the 1960s, the [[Preamble]] clause of the [[Constitution]], "to promote the general welfare," was re-interpreted to justify massive [[welfare|wealth transfer]] programs under the rubric of "Welfare." This creeping [[Marxist dialectic]] and [[communism]] was accredited to [[Michael Harrington]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/01/08/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-war-on-poverty/ |title=Everything you need to know about the war on poverty |work=Washington Post |date=January 8, 2014 |quote="Many historians, such as Harrington biographer Maurice Isserman, credit Harrington and the book [The Other America] (which John F. Kennedy purportedly read while in office, along with the MacDonald review) with spurring Kennedy and then Johnson to formulate an anti-poverty agenda" }}</ref> founder of the [[Democratic Socialists of America]],<ref>''[http://www.marxisthistory.org/history/usa/parties/dsa/1973/1000-dsoc-dl006.pdf Newsletter of the Democratic Left]'', October 1973, page 3</ref><ref>Democratic Left, Sep. 1975, page 2</ref> and adopted by Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic Congress as the focal point of law, government social spending, and [[affirmative action]] programs.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kurtz|first=Stanley|title=Radical-in-Chief: Barack Obama and the Untold Story of American Socialism|publisher=Simon and Schuster|date=2010|pages=31}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Horowitz|first=David|title=The Shadow Party: How George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Sixties Radicals Seized Control of the Democratic Party|publisher=Simon and Schuster|date=2006|pages=85}}</ref>
[[File:Democrat coalition of 1960s.jpg|left|300px|thumb|The Democrat coalition of the 1960s. Racist whites who benefited from New Deal welfare programs now aligned with Blacks who were beneficiaries of the [[War on Poverty]]. Republicans who wanted to cut off vote buying out of the public treasury and balance the budget were unjustly accused by both of "racism."]]
African Americans, who were excluded from many New Deal programs, now were the direct targets of the [[Great Society]]. Single Black women could receive cash payments to have children outside wedlock.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/20/us/breakup-of-black-family-imperils-gains-of-decades.html</ref> Johnson and the Democrat's intended to capture the nation's 20 million African-Americans as a dependent and loyal voting bloc within the Democratic party, now that a bi-partisan majority of Republicans and Democrats smashed the Democratic party's stranglehold on the South, which had denied Black voter participation for a century. Great Society programs had a devastating impact on Black families and communities in the following decades.<ref>https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/262726/how-liberal-welfare-state-destroyed-black-america-john-perazzo</ref>

The term, "poverty" became a [[dog whistle]] for "black," and the term "rich" became a codeword for "white." [[Class warfare]] and [[Cultural Marxism]] became the focus in [[public education]].<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/25/us/education-the-mainstreaming-of-marxism-in-us-colleges.html</ref>

Dr. [[Thomas Sowell]] observed that "despite the grand myth that black economic progress began or accelerated with the passage of the civil rights laws and "war on poverty" programs of the 1960s, the cold fact is that the poverty rate among blacks fell from 87% in 1940 to 47% by 1960."<ref>[https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/11/14/a-legacy-of-liberalism A Legacy of Liberalism], By Dr. Thomas Sowell, November 18, 2014.</ref> The war on poverty increased the percentage of mothers and children dependent on the federal government to keep them above the poverty line. Although the number of dependent people had been declining for decades before the "war on poverty" began, this downward trend reversed itself and had a devastating effect on the black family structure, and black communities overall. Fathers were driven out of the home so that females could meet eligibility requirements, young males' marriage and family prospects precipitously dropped, out of wedlock births and street gangs, crime, and violence proliferated in coming decades.

Overall federal spending on programs for the poor escalated as eligibility rules for [[welfare]] and [[Social Security]] were loosened, the size of benefits was increased, and unemployment insurance was made more available to more people, and for longer periods of time. The number of people receiving [[public assistance]] more than doubled from 1960 to 1977. The dollar value of public [[housing]] rose nearly five-fold in a decade and the amount spent on [[food stamps]] rose more than ten-fold. All government-provided in-kind benefits increased about eight-fold from 1965 to 1969 and more than twenty-fold by 1974. Federal spending on such social welfare programs not only rose in dollar terms and in real terms, but also as a percentage of the nation's gross national product, going from 8 percent of GNP in 1960 to 16 percent by 1974. A classic example of income transfer or "redistribution of wealth".

As for urban ghetto [[riot]]s, they raged across the country during this era. [[Newark]] Mayor Hugh J. Addonizio (D) called for a federal investigation of the city's anti-poverty agency which received Great Society funding to determine if it had, in any way, contributed to the city's riots in which 26 persons were killed.<ref>https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal67-1313423</ref> More funding was approved anyway. Later, the strife declined sharply after the beginning of the Nixon administration, which opposed the whole ‘war on poverty’ approach and eventually abolished the Office of Economic Opportunity, which had been the spearhead of this program. Still later, during the eight years of the Reagan presidency–supposedly the nadir of neglect–major urban riots became virtually extinct.

Eventually, however, even official poverty began to rise, so that a larger number of people were in poverty in 1992 than were in poverty in 1964, when the "war on poverty" began.<ref>n21 U.S. Bureau of Census, Current Population Records, Series P60-185 (Washington, D.C. General Printing Office 1993) p.ix. (p. 13-14)</ref> By 1992, more than half of all [[black]] adults had never been married, quite aside from an additional 16 percent who had been either [[divorce]]d or [[widow]]ed. By contrast, only 21 percent of [[white]] adults had never been married. More than half of all black children–57 percent–were living with only one parent and another 7.5 percent were not living with either parent. Thus, only a little more than a third of black children were living in traditional two-parent households. Of 190,000 black children whose parents were currently still teenagers, only 5,000 were living with both parents.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/06/25/out-of-wedlock-black-children-draw-a-community-together/7c431555-27fa-483a-acdb-0ee09ea4acbe/</ref> As street gangs and crime proliferated, Democrats responded with mass incarceration of Blacks.

====Civil disturbances====
[[File:View-of-moratorium-demonstrators-p.jpg|thumb|190px|Democrats protested the war they started. [[North Vietnam]]ese and Cuban communist flags can be seen in the image.]]
After the chaos of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, where [[Hubert Humphrey]] did not appear on any primary ballot but took the nomination amid protests and riots, the Democratic party attempted to reform its nomination process.

With the assassination of [[Robert Kennedy]] who was a leading critic of [[President Johnson]]'s war policy, Humphrey was regarded as a war hawk who would continue President Johnson's [[Vietnam War]] policy. Johnson dropped out of the race due to growing unpopularity of himself and the war. Sen. [[George McGovern]] made himself heir of Bobby Kennedy's dovish stance. Most states at the time used closed caucuses and state conventions, controlled by New Deal segregationist “party regulars” and insiders to select national delegates. Machine caucuses in several states accumulated enough delegates for Humphrey to win nomination without appearing on any primary ballot. In the aftermath of the loss to [[Richard Nixon]], Humphrey agreed to a reform commission and appointed one of his lieutenants, Donald Fraser, to co-chair the [[McGovern-Fraser Commission]].

Chairman George McGovern wanted to "open up" the process of delegate selection and strip figures like [[Chicago]] Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]]<ref>[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj9TkjL87Rk Ribicoff vs Daley at the Democratic Convention 1968] youtube.com</ref> of their ability to select delegates for the upcoming 1972 convention. Daley felt particularly betrayed, having stuffed the ballot box for the Democrats and the Kennedy's to rob Richard Nixon of the presidency in 1960,<ref>[http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=425967 Did Daley rob Nixon of the Presidency in 1960?]</ref> to then be accused by [[liberal]] Democrats of "gestapo tactics" in the streets of Chicago.

McGovern was critical of the insider establishment's way of choosing a nominee and wanted to switch over to primaries. Donald Fraser was a lieutenant in the [http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctttsfmc Humphrey & Mondale Democratic Farmer-Labor (DFL) machine] which dominated [[Minnesota]] where caucuses are popular. So a compromise was sought. The general feeling was that party insiders such as Mayor Daley and Southern Democrat bosses controlled too much power and through state party caucuses and conventions were able to impose their candidates on a national convention.

Shortly after [[Sen. Richard Russell]]'s passing, the Democrat Senate renamed the Senate Office Building the Russell Office Building in commemoration of the man who was instrumental in their fight to keep [[segregation]] alive during his five decades of leadership in the Democrat party.

===Desegregation: the McGovern/Biden era===
In [[Nixon]]'s landslide 49 state re-election of 1972, [[Massachusetts]] was the only state that remained solidly in the Democratic camp. Black parents filed a desegregation lawsuit the same year, and the [[NAACP]] argued the case. According to ''Politico'', nowhere did the sentiment of people opposed to desegregation play out more dramatically than in [[Boston]]. In mid 1974, a federal judge found that 20 years after ''Brown v. Board'', Boston officials deliberately kept the schools segregated, and that the city must integrate at once. He drew up a busing plan. Black students from Roxbury would attend South Boston High School, while Irish Americans from Southie would board buses to Roxbury.

The first buses rolled through Boston in September 1974—and racial violence engulfed the city. White mobs hurled bricks at school buses with terrified black children inside. Then, on October 7, a [[Haiti]]an immigrant was beaten savagely by a white mob in South Boston. In the coming months, the list of casualties would grow. The city became a cauldron of racial hatred.

Each year after passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act up until 1977, the Democratic controlled House passed at least one new law designed to restrain school integration—often in the guise of anti-busing legislation. Until 1974, the Senate rejected those bills. But as white resistance to busing escalated in many cities across the country, the House Democrats anti-busing majority began to pull more Democratic senators to their side.

In 1975, Sen. [[Joseph Biden]] proposed an amendment that gutted Title VI of the [[1964 Civil Rights Act]], which enabled the federal government to cut off funding to school districts that refused to integrate. ''[[Politico]]'' writes of the whole sordid affair, {{quotebox|Biden morphed into a leading anti-busing crusader—all the while continuing to insist that he supported the goal of school desegregation, he only opposed busing as the means to achieve that end. This stance, which many of Biden’s liberal and moderate colleagues also held, was clever but disingenuous. It enabled Biden to choose votes over principles, while acting as if he was not doing so....In a seminal moment, the Senate thus turned against desegregation. The Senate had supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act, [[1965 Voting Rights Act]] and 1968 Fair Housing Act....the Senate remained the last bastion for those who supported strong integration policies. Biden stormed that bastion...<ref name="politico.com">https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/joe-biden-integration-school-busing-120968_full.html</ref>}} A Boston NAACP leader said, “An anti-busing amendment is an anti-desegregation amendment, and an anti-desegregation amendment is an anti-black amendment.” Republican Sen. [[Edward Brooke]], the first black senator ever to be directly elected, called Biden's amendment “the greatest symbolic defeat for [[civil rights]] since 1964.” Brooke accused Biden of leading an assault on integration.

====Voter suppression====
[[File:Democratic voter suppression.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Democratic voter suppression, 1963.]]
The McGovern-Fraser Commission required state parties to develop written rules and post uniform statewide notification of the date, time, and location of precinct caucus meetings or party primary elections. There was a common practice in some Southern states such as Mississippi were all-white local party bosses held meetings in obscure locations so that Black majorities in a county or district were unaware of the time and place of party elections. Although many provisions the commission brought about were undone in the early 1980s by Walter Mondale and Ted Kennedy, several provisions have remained. Prior to McGovern-Fraser, several states had no written guidelines governing party conventions, caucuses, and the delegate selection process at each level, and were based mostly on local tradition, which often meant cronyism, discrimination, voter suppression and the boss's rule. The system had been used effectively by Democrats in their [[voter suppression]] of Blacks for over 100 years.

The Commission rewrote the rules to rig McGovern's nomination. The 1972 Credentials Committee at the convention under the McGovern-Fraser reforms replaced Daley's contingent of the [[Illinois]] delegation with a group sent by [[Jesse Jackson]]<ref>See U.S. Supreme Court ''[https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/419/477/ Cousins v. Wigoda]'', 419 U.S. 477 (1975)</ref> and also replaced a delegation from [[Mississippi]] with another group.

After the 1972 election, Congresswoman [[Barbara Mikulski]] was asked by the [[Democratic National Committee]] (DNC) to chair the [[Mikulski Commission]] to review and make recommendations on how effective the pre-convention McGovern-Fraser reforms rules were. According to [[CNN]], the commission
{{quotebox|replaced the demographic quotas of 1972 with [[affirmative action]] requirements to increase participation by women, blacks and other minorities. (However, this specific plan had the OPPOSITE effect, decreasing the proportion of women from 38% in 1972 to 36% in 1976. The proportion of blacks declined from 15% in 1972 to 7% in 1976. After 1976, quotas for women delegates were reimposed.) PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION, the distribution of delegates among candidates to reflect their share of the primary or caucus vote, was mandated by party rules.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/conventions/chicago/facts/rules/index.shtml All Politics, CNN Time, Facts.] Sources: ‘’The National Journal’’, August 23, 1980; ‘’Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections’’; also quoted in ‘’Democratic party convention rule changes’’, academic.regis.edu , below.</ref>}}

The Mikulski Commission went further than McGovern-Fraser, proposing to bind rules on state parties which would restrict delegate selection in primaries or caucuses to "Democratic voters only who publicly declare their [[party affiliation|party preference]] and have that preference publicly recorded" (Rule 2A). This required a party registration process before being able to vote in a Democratic primary. The new rule put pressure on parties to close their primaries to outside participation and brought about "same-day registration"<ref>See for example Kansas rules. [https://www.sos.ks.gov/forms/elections/Voting_Rules_for_Primary_Elections.pdf Voting Rules for Primary Elections]. www.sos.ks.gov</ref> in states with open primaries mandated by state law. The DNC incorporated these recommendations into the Delegate Selection Rules for the 1976 Convention. A temporary exemption where state legislatures had no party identification requirement to participate in a primary election was included. Opponents and dissenters felt this new rule violated the integrity of the secret ballot at public polling stations.

The Mikulski Commission did away with the secret ballot and required a public declaration in front of the election judges or on registration forms and a party-specific ballot given to the voter to cast.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_elections_in_the_United_States#Types_of_primaries]</ref> Now in most states a non-partisan primary voter who wishes to vote for a Democrat for President and a Republican for Senate experiences voter suppression and denial.

====Biden Amendment repeal of portions of the Civil Rights Act====

:{{See also|Segregation|Systemic racism}}
In 1972 Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden re-cycled the [[John_C._Calhoun#positive good|racist rhetoric of John C. Calhoun]], arguing that school segregation was a "positive good" for Blacks. Calhoun famously laid out his doctrine of separation of the races as a civilizing force among Blacks which became Democrat talking points before the [[Dred Scott]] decision, throughout the [[Civil War]], [[Reconstruction]], the [[Jim Crow]] era, and the [[New Deal]]. In a Democrat [[filibuster]] on the floor of the [[Senate]], Calhoun famously said:
[[File:Biden segregation.png 1718483346.png|left|350px|thumb|Biden called segregation "a matter of Black pride" and pushed for a [[Constitutional Amendment]] to outlaw Court ordered de-segregation.<ref name="politico.com">https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/joe-biden-integration-school-busing-120968_full.html</ref>]]
{{quotebox-float|"I hold that in the present state of civilization, where two races of different origin, and distinguished by color, and other physical differences, as well as intellectual, are brought together, the relation now existing in the slaveholding States between the two, is, instead of an evil, a good—a positive good."}}
Biden resurrected the idea that segregation was "for their own good" and that Blacks were grateful for it.
{{Quotebox-float|“I think the concept of busing … that we are going to [[integrate]] people so that they all have the same access and they learn to grow up with one another and all the rest, is a rejection of the whole movement of black pride, a rejection of the entire black awareness concept, where black is beautiful, black culture should be studied; and the cultural awareness of the importance of their own identity, their own individuality.”<ref>https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/read-the-transcript-of-the-october-1975-npr-interview-with-sens-joe-biden-and-edward-brooke</ref>}}
In the 21st century Biden tried to separate himself from his previous racist statements on school integration:
{{quotebox-float|"Poor kids are just as smart as white kids."}}
Biden led a coalition of segregationists that was opposed by Republican Sen. [[Edward Brooke]], the first [[African American]] senator elected since Democrats forced the end of [[Reconstruction]] after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. National Public Radio's David Ensor asked Biden, "What about a constitutional amendment? Isn’t that what you’re gonna have to end up supporting if you want to stop court ordered busing, too?" Biden responded,
{{Quotebox-float|"That would clearly do it. I’m hopeful, and I have — now that I have some sort of new allies in this area, it’s become respectable now for [[liberal]]s to at least say publicly what they’ve been saying in private, that busing doesn’t work. We are trying to figure out whether or not we can come up with an innovative piece of legislation which would limit the remedy, and I don’t — honestly don’t know whether we can come up with something constitutional. And if we can’t, I will not in an attempt to eliminate busing violate the Constitution. I won’t do that. The only way, if I’m gonna go at it, I’m gonna go at it through a Constitutional Amendment if it can’t be done through a piece of legislation."}}
Ensor reported that Biden proposed renewing segregation because busing "wasn't working" ("wasn't working" to the electoral advantage of Democrats and not necessarily to the cause of equal rights for Blacks), and Biden was afraid that older liberal colleagues were blind to how Black separatists felt about their children being bused to [[white]] schools.
[[File:Biden racial jungle.jpeg|right|300px|thumb|Biden: "My children are going to grow up in a jungle, the jungle being a racial jungle."<ref>https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/biden-racial-jungle-quote/</ref>]]
{{Quotebox-float|"There are those of we [[social experiment|social planner]]s who think somehow that if we just [[subrogate]] man’s individual characteristics and traits by making sure that a presently heterogeneous society becomes a totally homogeneous society, that somehow we’re going to solve our social ills. Quite to the contrary."}}
Title VI of the [[1964 Civil Rights Act]] prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance.<ref>https://quizlet.com/45411923/ethical-and-legal-issues-2-flash-cards/</ref> By 1975, Biden authored an amendment to gut Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. ''[[Politico]]'' writes of the whole sordid affair, {{quotebox-float|Biden morphed into a leading anti-busing crusader—all the while continuing to insist that he supported the goal of school desegregation, he only opposed busing as the means to achieve that end. This stance, which many of Biden’s liberal and moderate colleagues also held, was clever but disingenuous. It enabled Biden to choose votes over principles, while acting as if he was not doing so....In a seminal moment, the Senate thus turned against desegregation. The Senate had supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act, [[1965 Voting Rights Act]] and 1968 Fair Housing Act....the Senate remained the last bastion for those who supported strong integration policies. Biden stormed that bastion...<ref name="politico.com">https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/joe-biden-integration-school-busing-120968_full.html</ref>}}
Sen. James Abourezk of [[South Dakota]] related how Biden reacted when Abrourezek tried to block the amendment:
{{quotebox-float|‘Abourezk, you **********, if I ever vote for another one of your bills, it'll be a cold day in hell.'

‘Calm down, Joe,' I told him, ‘You're eventually gonna thank me for doing this.'

‘Like hell I will you dirty *******.'

A few days later, Biden came into the scheduled committee meeting, this time with a broad, friendly grin aimed directly at me.

‘Jesus, Abourezk, you were right,' he said. ‘I am gonna thank you. You should see the Delaware newspapers—big front-page headlines saying, ‘Biden Battles Liberals in Washington.' He was unabashedly elated. ‘They love me back home, how did you know this would happen?'<ref>https://freebeacon.com/politics/biden-exploded-at-dem-colleague-over-busing-called-him-dirty-bastard/</ref>}}
''The New York Times'' published a lengthy story on Biden's advocacy of segregation. In a 1977 congressional hearing related to anti-desegregation orders, Biden emphasized,
{{quotebox-float|"Unless we do something about this, my children are going to grow up in a jungle, the jungle being a racial jungle."<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/us/politics/biden-busing.html</ref>}}
Republican Sen. [[Edward Brooke]], the first black senator ever to be popularly elected, called Biden's amendment “the greatest symbolic defeat for [[civil rights]] since 1964.” Brooke accused Biden of leading an assault on integration.

Prof. Ronnie Dunn said opposition to busing was motivated by [[racism]] and that without the court-ordered policy Biden probably would not have become vice president in 2009. “What I find ironic is that [Biden] was the vice president under a president who, if it hadn’t been for the social interaction that occurred during the era of busing, I argue we likely would not have seen the election of Barack Obama." Dunn, an Urban Studies professor at Cleveland State University and author of the book ''Boycotts, Busing, & Beyond'', said Biden made the case in favor of maintaining segregation. "That was an argument against desegregation.” Dunn said Biden must address the issue if he runs for president. “People have to be held accountable."<ref>https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/joe-biden-embraced-segregation-in-1975-claiming-it-was-a-matter-of-black-pride</ref>

Biden's opposition to integration didn't stop there. ''HuffPo'' reported:
{{quotebox-float|In 1977, two black men nominated for key Justice Department posts by [[President Jimmy Carter]] easily won approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee. After confirmation by the full Senate, Drew Days III became the nation’s first black head of the department’s civil rights division and Wade McCree became the second black solicitor general. Only one member of the committee voted against them. It wasn’t segregationists [[Strom Thurmond]] (R-S.C.) or [[James Eastland]] (D-Miss.). It wasn’t even former [[Ku Klux Klan]] member [[Robert Byrd]] (D-W.Va.). The lone Judiciary Committee vote against the two men was Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).<ref>https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-busing-nominees_n_5ca3c03de4b03174b92904f7</ref>}}
In 1981 Biden said in a Senate hearing, “sometimes even [[George Wallace]] is right about some things.” Wallace is famous for saying in 1963, “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2019/07/09/biden-sometimes-even-george-wallace-is-right/</ref> Biden read the "N" word into the Congressional Record during an open hearing in 1986.<ref>https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/10/exclusive-newly-uncovered-transcripts-reveal-joe-biden-said-n-word-public-senate-hearing-1986/</ref> In a farewell address to retiring Democrat segregationist Sen. John Stennis Biden said:
{{quotebox-float|"To think that I would be one day on the floor of the United States Senate, being paid such accolades by such a man of character and courage as John Stennis is beyond my wildest dreams. And I mean that sincerely."<ref>https://youtu.be/9X6Y2CLqgDM</ref>}}
When Biden announced his candidacy ''Politico'' attempted to poo-poo and explain away Biden and liberal Democrat racism with a back-handed slap at [[school vouchers]] for minority students, which liberal elites have strenuously opposed ever since the Biden Amendment passed:
{{quotebox-float|School desegregation, as part of a broader suite of civil rights reforms, was once as a vital component of the Democratic Party platform. Yet since the 1970s, Democrats, in the face of concerted white backlash, have largely accommodated themselves to increasing segregation in public schools across the nation. Party leaders, even the most progressive among them, rarely propose serious solutions to this vexing problem. A sincere critique of Biden’s busing record would require a broader reckoning of the Democratic Party’s—and by extension the nation’s—abandonment of this central goal of the [[civil rights movement]]. And it’s hard to see that happening anytime soon.<ref>https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/05/05/joe-biden-busing-problem-226791</ref>}}
Sen. [[Cory Booker]] of [[New Jersey]] condemned the [[2020 Democrat primary]] frontrunner at the [[Juneteenth]] annual commemoration of [[Republican]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] ending [[slavery]] in the United States. {{quotebox|You don’t joke about calling black men 'boys'...frankly, I’m disappointed that he hasn’t issued an immediate apology for the pain his words are dredging up for many Americans. He should.<ref name="zerohedge.com">https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-20/biden-doubles-down-after-reminding-everyone-democrats-owned-slaves</ref>}}

===Carter, stagflation and human rights===
More than four decades of [[Keynesian]]ism, deficit spending, and [[big government]] created an era of stagnant growth only kept afloat by the printing presses of the Federal Reserve Board. Each round of [[new spending]] by the Democratic Congress prompted the Federal Reserve to print more money, causing an increase in the cost of living, resulting in calls by Democrats for more government stimulus spending, more inflation, more price increases, higher costs, taxes on business and less new job creation. While wages and prices continued to spiral upward, no new jobs or increase in goods and services were created to meet the demands of a growing population.

The Democratic party split five ways in 1968 and became a minority party in presidential elections for decades; after 1964 they won a national majority of the popular presidential vote only in 2008. However, the Democrats won a plurality of the popular vote in 1976, 1992, 1996 and 2000. after the fiasco and riot that was the 1968 convention, the [[McGovern-Fraser Commission]] was appointed to reform the nominating process. Sen. [[George McGovern]] of South Dakota used the commission to rig his own nomination in 1972. 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 known that McGovern's running mate, Thomas Eagleton, had received psychiatric and electro-shock treatment, 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 emulated an earlier populist Plains preacher, William Jennings Bryan, with his antiwar sentiment and redistributive politics. He was defeated in a landslide by incumbent [[Richard Nixon]], winning only Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.. A Gallup Poll at the time revealed a staggering 33% of Democrats and 57% of blue-collar workers voted for Nixon.<ref>[http://presidentelect.org/art_cooper_e1972an.html An Interpretation of the 1972 Presidential Election Landslide], by CRAIG W. COOPER, 1975.</ref>

The [[Watergate affair]] of 1973-74 made mistrust of government a central issue, especially after [[Gerald Ford]] pardoned Nixon in September 1974. Together with a bad economy, the Democrats made major gains in the 1974 off-year elections. Racism and segregation remained a common thread binding white Democrats together. In 1975, [[Delaware]] Sen. [[Joseph Biden]] led a coalition of liberals and former [[George Wallace]] supporters to oppose racial integration of schools, and went so far as to consider a [[Constitutional Amendment]].<ref>https://soundcloud.com/user-391839060/npr-1975-interview-with-sen-joe-biden</ref>
[[File:Jimmy Carter.jpg|right|175px|thumb|[[Jimmy Carter]] was elected in 1976 and defeated in 1980.]]
In 1976 Ford was narrowly defeated 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. Carter's "consolidation" of governmental agencies resulted in the creation of two new cabinet-level bureaucracies, the [[United States Department of Energy]] and the [[United States Department of Education]]. Carter began deregulation of the trucking, airline, rail, finance, communications, and oil industries, raised [[social security]] taxes, and appointed record numbers of women and minorities to significant government and judicial posts, including [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] as head of the Great Society boondoogle, the Legal Service Corporation. He also enacted more environmental legislation, through the expansion of the [[National Park Service]] in [[Alaska]], adding 103 million acres of parkland. In foreign affairs, Carter negotiated the [[Camp David Accords]], the Panama Canal Treaties, the creation of full diplomatic relations with the [[People's Republic of China]], and the [[SALT II]] Treaty.

Carter failed to implement national health care and raised Social Security taxes. The [[Congressional Black Caucus]] year after year submitted bills for the Martin Luther King holiday, but despite Democrat control of the House, Senate, and White House, their proposals were repeatedly rejected by racist Democrats. Not until Ronald Reagan and the Republican Senate of the 1980s was the holiday adopted. Stagflation with limited job opportunities were on the rise.

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.

Jimmy Carter was elected by campaigning on the Misery Index - adding the [[inflation]] rate and [[unemployment]] rate together, which then stood at 13.4%. By 1980 when Carter sought a second term, the Misery index ratcheted up to 21%. After "twelve years of neglect" as Bill Clinton referred to [[Reaganomics]] it in 1992, the Misery Index stood at 9.2%. Clinton's racist [[dogwhistling]] brought enough racist Democrats home to win a 42% plurality in a three-way contest.

====Progressive Kool-Aid drinkers====
[[File:Jim Jones and the Democrat party.jpg|left|400px|thumb]]
:{{See also|Progressivism|San Francisco values|Peoples Temple Agricultural Collective}}
[[Willie Brown]], later mayor of [[San Francisco]] and [[Kamala Harris]]'s mentor, compared [[Jim Jones]] to [[Martin Luther King]] and [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. Brown endorsed Jones as “a close personal friend and a highly trusted brother in the [[National liberation struggle|struggle for liberation]]."<ref>https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/how-san-franciscos-democrats-made-jim-jones-and-then-made-his-memory-vanish</ref> [[Dianne Feinstein]] joined the rest of the San Francisco board of supervisors in honoring Jones “in recognition of his guidance and inspiration” in furthering “humanitarian programs.” Gov. [[Jerry Brown]] spoke at the [[People's Temple]]. At its peak, the Temple boasted 20,000 members.

Following the San Francisco mayoral election of 1975, the San Francisco District Attorney asked Timothy Stoen, a Temple member,<ref name="Lindsay, Robert 1978">Lindsay, Robert. "How Rev. Jim Jones Gained His Power Over Followers." ''New York Times''. 26 November 1978.</ref> to lead a special unit to investigate [[election fraud]] charges.<ref>Taylor, Michael, "Jones Captivated S.F.'s Liberal Elite", San Francisco Chronicle, November 12, 1998</ref> Shortly thereafter Stoen was hired as an assistant district attorney.<ref>Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. ''Raven (book)|Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim Jones and His People''. Dutton, 1982. ISBN|0-525-24136-1. p. 270.</ref><ref>Kinsolving, Kathleen and Tom. [http://www.culteducation.com/reference/jonestown/jonestown43.html "Madman in Our Midst: Jim Jones and the California Cover Up."] 1998.</ref> Stoen found no evidence of fraud, but Temple members later alleged that the Temple brought "busloads" of members from Redwood Valley who were not registered to vote in San Francisco, to vote in the San Francisco election.<ref>Crewdson, John, "Followers Say Jim Jones Directed Voting Frauds", New York Times, December 16, 1978</ref> It was Willie Brown who brought George Moscone and Jim Jones together.<ref>Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. ''Raven (book)|Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim Jones and His People''. Dutton, 1982. ISBN|978-0-525-24136-2. page 266.</ref><ref>http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/</ref> Moscone, who owed his position as mayor to Jones in a tight race, appointed Jones chairman of the city's Housing Commission Authority, effectively making Jones the city's largest landlord. Moscone's press secretary stated that Jones "made his followers available to support [[progressive]] [[Democratic]] candidates."<ref>Los Angeles Herald Examiner, "The Political Pull of Jim Jones", November 21, 1978</ref>

Moscone's press spokesman explained it was "common knowledge that if you were going to run for office in San Francisco, and your constituency included the black, the young or the poor, you'd better have Jones in your corner." Of particular interest to politicians was the Temple's ability to produce 2,000 people for campaign work or attendance at an event with only six hours notice.
<ref name="Lindsay, Robert 1978"/> Moscone's aide stated that Jones offered thousands of "foot soldiers" willing to walk precincts and get out the vote, which was "an offer no politician in his right mind could refuse." Similarly, San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos stated that "If you were having a rally for a presidential candidate, you needed to fill up the crowd, you could always get busloads from Jim Jones' church."<ref>Richardson, James, [http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft0m3nb07q;brand=ucpress ''Willie Brown A Biography''], University of California Press, 1996, p. 250 {{webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/5vybRDHsI?url=http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft0m3nb07q;brand=ucpress |date=January 24, 2011 }}</ref> The chairman of the county Democratic Central Committee, the governing body of the Democratic Party in San Francisco, referred to the Temple as "a ready-made volunteer workforce," and Jones was "a man who touched a component of the consensus power forces in the city, such as labor and ethnicity groups....here was a guy who could provide workers for causes progressives cared about."<ref>Taylor, Michael, "Jones Captivated S.F.'s Liberal Elite", San Francisco Chronicle, November 12, 1998.</ref>

Herb Caen, a [[Pulitzer Prize]] winner for the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', acted as a hype-generator for Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. [[Jane Fonda]] joined other celebrities in expressing that she was “familiar with the work of Reverend Jones and Peoples Temple and have no hesitancy in commending them for their example in setting a high standard of [[ethics]] and [[morality]].” <ref>Jones, Jim. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27309 "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 1023."] ''Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple''. Jonestown Project: San Diego State University. {{cite web |url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q1023.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=|deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5wTIpY0di?url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q1023.html |archivedate=2019-01-30|df= }} The concept often loosely mixed tenets of socialism. The Temple openly preached to established members that "religion is an opiate to the people." (Jones, Jim. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27318 "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 1053."] ''Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple''. Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.) Accordingly, "those who remained drugged with the opiate of religion had to be brought to enlightenment{{spaced ndash}}socialism." (Layton 1999, page 53). In that regard, Jones also openly stated that he "took the church and used the church to bring people to atheism." (Jones, Jim. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27580 "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 757."] ''Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple''. Jonestown Project: San Diego State University). Jones often mixed those concepts, such as preaching that "If you're born in this church, this socialist revolution, you're not born in sin. If you're born in capitalist America, racist America, fascist America, then you're born with a big d***o in sin. But if you're born in socialism, you're not born in sin."(Jones, Jim. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27318 "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 1053."] ''Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple''. Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.) {{cite web |url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q757.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=|deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5wTIqQUvL?url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q757.html |archivedate=2019-01-30|df= }}</ref> The Peoples Temple and the [[Nation of Islam]] held a joint event in the Los Angeles Convention Center in 1976 . Thousands packed the Civic Center. Two time [[CPUSA]] [[Vice President]]ial candidate [[Angela Davis]], along with the Lieutenant Governor and Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley attended the event. In speaking at the event Jones stated "We are grateful for this symbolic merging of our two movements . . . If the Peoples Temple and the Nation of Islam can get together, anyone can."

[[Rosalynn Carter]] called Jones at candidate Jimmy Carter's behest. She held a private dinner with him and had the Peoples Temple leader introduce her at the 1976 grand opening of the San Francisco Democratic Party Headquarters. Jimmy Carter's running mate, Walter Mondale, met with Jones on the tarmac in San Francisco during the campaign.<ref>When Deputy Minister Ptolemy Reid traveled to Washington, D.C. in September 1977 to sign the [[Panama Canal Treaties]], Mondale asked him, "How's Jim?", which indicated to Reid that Mondale had a personal interest in Jones' well being, p. 173. Moore, Rebecca. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16581 ''American as Cherry Pie''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029130010/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16581 |date=October 29, 2014 }}, Jonestown Institute, San Diego State University</ref> Jones dined with Rosalynn Carter at the head table at the Democratic National Convention.<ref>Layton, Deborah. ''Seductive Poison''. Anchor, 1999. ISBN|978-0-385-48984-. p. 53.</ref> Jones wrote to Carter requesting aid for [[Fidel Castro]], whom Jones had earlier met with in [[Cuba]].<ref>Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. ''Raven (book)|Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim Jones and His People''. Dutton, 1982. ISBN|978-0-525-24136-2. page 305.</ref> In a handwritten letter to Jones on White House stationery, the [[First Lady]] wrote "Your comments on Cuba have been helpful. I hope your suggestion can be acted on in the near future." Carter also wrote that "I enjoyed being with you during the campaign -- and do hope you can meet Ruth soon", referring to her sister-in-law, Ruth Carter Stapleton.<ref>LA Times November 21, 1978</ref> Mondale stated regarding the Temple that "knowing the congregations deep involvement in the major social and constitutional issues of our country . . . is a great inspiration to me."<ref>"First Lady Among Cult's References" {{cite news|work=Los Angeles Times |title=First Lady Among Cult's References; Mondale and Califano also listed |date= November 21, 1978}}</ref> [[Health and Human Services]] Secretary Joseph Califano stated "your humanitarian principles and your interest in protecting individual liberty and freedom have made an outstanding contribution to furthering the cause of human dignity." President Carter sent a representative to a dinner at the Temple at which Jones and Gov. Jerry Brown spoke.<ref>Mehren, Elizabeth, "Politicians Defend Associations With Jones", Oakland Tribune, November 21, 1978</ref>

Jones procured land in [[Guyana]] where nearly 1,000 of his followers settled in Jonestown, clearing the land, planting crops, and listening to him preach the gospel according to [[Karl Marx]]. “I call [[capitalism]] the [[devil]],” Jones said from the pulpit, “and [[socialism]] is [[God]].” A former member of the Indianapolis Human Rights Commission, Jones often quoted Marx's dictum, "From each as he is able, to each according to his need." One member said the Temple moved to Jonestown because "what we saw in the United States was creeping [[fascism]]. It was apparent that corporations, or the multinationals, were getting much larger, their influence was growing within the government, and the United States is a racist place."<ref>Tim Carter. [http://www.opb.org/radio/archives/2007/04/there_was_no_ch_1.php ''There was no choice in Jonestown that day...''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070426000000/http://www.opb.org/radio/archives/2007/04/there_was_no_ch_1.php |date=April 26, 2007 }} Oregon Public Broadcasting Radio interview. 9 April 2007. {{cite web |url=http://www.opb.org/radio/archives/2007/04/there_was_no_ch_1.php |title=Archived copy |accessdate=|deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5wTJ4uKgA?url=http://www.opb.org/radio/archives/2007/04/there_was_no_ch_1.php |archivedate=2019-01-30|df= }}</ref>

Up to $65,000 in monthly [[welfare]] payments from [[New Deal]] and [[Great Society]] programs to Jonestown residents were signed over to the Temple.<ref>{{Harvnb|Layton|1998|p=103}}</ref> Officials from the U.S. embassy in Georgetown interviewed [[Social Security]] recipients on multiple occasions to inquire if they were being held against their will.<ref>Pear, Richard. "State Explains Response to Cult Letters." ''Washington Star News''. November 26, 1978.</ref> None of the 75 people interviewed, according to the embassy, said they were being held captive, were forced to sign over welfare checks, or wanted to leave Jonestown.<ref>Wessinger, Catherine. ''How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven's Gate''. 2000. ISBN|978-1-889119-24-3.</ref> Civil rights lawyers Charles Garry and Mark Lane, who represented [[James Earl Ray]], depicted Jonestown as a paradise and aggressively defended Jones in the media.

As reports seeped back of people who wanted to leave Guyana, [[Harvey Milk]] – the first openly gay elected official who was endorsed by the Temple for San Francisco city councilman – wrote a letter to President Jimmy Carter defending Jones "as a man of the highest character," and stating that Temple defectors were trying to "damage Rev. Jones' reputation" with "apparent bold-faced lies".<ref>Milk, Harvey [http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/milk.jpg ''Letter Addressed to President Jimmy Carter, Dated February 19, 1978''] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/5vybbC0i4?url=http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/milk.jpg |date=January 24, 2011 }}</ref> The Temple claimed that "reactionary forces were trying to destroy his [Jones] image because he is the most persistent [[Social justice warrior|fighter for social justice]].<ref>Peoples Temple, [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/3VictimConspirBrochure.pdf ''Victims of Conspiracy Brochure''], Jonestown Alternative Considerations, San Diego State University {{cite web |url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JTResearch/opposition/3VictimConspirBrochure.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2019-01-31 |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5vybVUjVl?url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JTResearch/opposition/3VictimConspirBrochure.pdf |archivedate=January 24, 2011 |df= }}</ref>
[[File:The Jimmy Carter Jonestown Massacre.jpg|left|350px|thumb|'''Socialist paradise in Guyana.''' Lack of beef and living off of jungle plants is said to have added to the mass irrationality. Its leader, a community organizer named Jim Jones, was very active in Democratic party politics.]]
Russian dignitary Feodor Timofeyev visited Jonestown for two days to gave a speech.<ref>Jones, Jim. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27428 "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 352."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094827/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27428 |date=March 4, 2016 }} ''Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple''. Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.</ref> Jones introduced him saying, "For many years, we have let our sympathies be quite publicly known, that the United States government was not our mother, but that the Soviet Union was our spiritual motherland." Timofeyev opened the speech stating that the [[Soviet Union]] would like to send "our deepest and the most sincere greetings to the people of this first socialist and communist community of the United States of America, in Guyana and in the world". Both speeches were met by cheers and applause. Angela Davis addressed the crowd by shortwave radio saying, "when you are attacked, it is because of your progressive stand, and we feel that it is directly an attack against us as well."<ref>{{cite web|title=Statement of Angela Davis (Text)|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=19027|publisher=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple|accessdate=}}</ref>

Hearing allegations of abuse, Congressman [[Leo J. Ryan]] led a fact-finding mission to [[Jonestown]] which included in his group a staff member and future congresswoman, [[Jackie Speier]]. Ryan and four others were murdered when they attempted to leave. After the killings, Jones herded his followers into the camp's main pavilion and ordered them all to drink [[cyanide]]-laced Kool-Aid. 909 bodies, including 304 children, were found by Guyana police in following days. Some of the bodies had gunshot wounds.

Three survivors claimed they were given an assignment before the suicides began. They were given luggage containing $550,000 in U.S. currency, $130,000 in Guyanese currency, and an envelope, which they were told to deliver to the Soviet embassy in Georgetown, Guyana. The envelope contained two [[passport]]s and three instructional letters, the first of which was to Timofeyev, stating:
:''Dear Comrade Timofeyev, The following is a letter of instructions regarding all of our assets that we want to leave to the Communist Party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Enclosed in this letter are letters which instruct the banks to send the cashiers checks to you. I am doing this on behalf of Peoples Temple because we, as communists, want our money to be of benefit for help to [[oppression|oppressed peoples]] all over the world, or in any way that your decision-making body sees fit.''<ref>[http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/letter_toFeodorTimofeyev.pdf "Letter to Feodor Timofeyev."] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/5ryfcXgSk?url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/financialLetters/letter_toFeodorTimofeyev.pdf |date=August 14, 2010 }} ''Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple''. Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.</ref>

The letters included listed accounts with balances totaling in excess of $7.3 million to be transferred to the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]].<ref>[http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AnnieMcGowan_1.pdf "Letter from Annie McGowan."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205012201/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AnnieMcGowan_1.pdf |date=February 5, 2015 }} ''Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple''. Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.</ref><ref>[http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AnnieMcGowan_2.pdf "Another Letter from Annie McGowan."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205014539/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AnnieMcGowan_2.pdf |date=February 5, 2015 }} ''Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple''. Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.</ref> Jonestown was the greatest loss of American civilian lives in a non-natural disaster until the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]]. Progressivism suffered a devastating blow in the eyes of most Americans. Not until the rise of Barack Obama did it recover.

====Human rights and the Ayatollah Khomeini====
[[Image:Iran.jpg|thumb|198px|right|Carter's shift away from anti-communism to supposed "human rights" as the focus of U.S. [[foreign policy]] brought the [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] to power, and the enlistment of child soldiers - some as young as 4 years old - to clear minefields for the Iranian Army. Iran, once a U.S. ally, now pursues nuclear weapons.]]
Abroad, for the first time since Harry Truman, Carter shifted the focus of U.S. foreign policy from Russia to "human rights." The [[Shah of Iran]] came to power in 1941 and was an ally of Western powers in the war against [[Adolf Hitler]]. During the [[Six Day War]] in 1967, the Shah aided Israel by keeping [[Saddam Hussein]] out of the war. The Shah did not participate in the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]] or [[OPEC]] oil embargo. He had been a loyal Western ally in the [[Cold War]] for the better part of four decades.

Carter supported the [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] over the Shah of Iran whom Soviet intelligence and Western media portrayed as a greedy capitalist oppressor. William Miller, chief of staff on the US Senate Intelligence Committee, said America had nothing to fear from Khomeini since he would be a [[Progressivism|progressive]] force for human rights. U.S. Ambassador William Sullivan compared Khomeini to [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. The mainstream media and State Department called him the "Iranian Mandela." The fall of the Shah and rise of the [[Islamic Republic of Iran]] set back [[women's rights]] centuries.

Once installed under Carter's human right's policy, the Ayatollah created the ''Basij Mostazafan'', a movement of young people under age 17. When the Iran-Iraq War started in 1980, Khomeini issued a promise of paradise to the children and they were incorporated into the Iranian military. The Iranian clergy called for the young people from age 9 years old and up to move forward in human wave attacks, to clear minefields so the regular Army could pass.<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/iran-iraq.htm Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), ''Iraqi Retreats, 1982-84''], Globalsecruity.org, retrieved 20 March 2007.</ref> Matthias Küntzel quotes an Iraqi officer's description of one such encounter in the summer of 1982.

:''“They come toward our positions in huge hordes with their fists swinging...You can shoot down the first wave and then the second. But at some point the corpses are piling up in front of you, and all you want to do is scream and throw away your weapon."'' <ref>[http://www.matthiaskuentzel.de/contents/ahmadinejads-demons ''Ahmadinejad's Demons: A Child of the Revolution Takes Over''], Matthias Küntzel, The New Republic, 24 April 2006 .</ref>

Other reports appeared in the Iranian daily newspaper, ''Ettelaat'', and later an eyewitness gave an account to the German newspaper ''Frankfurter Allgemeine'' in 2002. Some 100,000 children were killed fulfilling Carter's human rights policy this way.

Iranian students attacked the American embassy in [[Teheran]] and took Americans hostage for 444 days. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979 and the progressive Kool-Aid drinkers weakened the perception Americans had of Carter.

Carter was forced to admit his error in downplaying the focus on Russian intentions in January 1980 with his [[Carter Doctrine]], declaring the Persian Gulf a vital [[national security]] interest which was later used as the long-standing [[foreign policy]] basis of the 1992 [[Gulf War]] and the 2003 [[Iraq War]]. The loss of the Shah as an ally in 1979 led to the rise of the [[theocratic]] Iranian Islamic Republic, the world's leading state sponsor of terror. The Islamic Republic's pursuit of nuclear weapons would become a lingering problem for the United States in coming decades and the early 21st century.

===Battling Raygun===
Carter was re-nominated in 1980. In a spirit of unity Willie Nelson, who later hit the top of the ''Billboard'' charts with a song celebrating public lynchings,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://psmag.com/news/country-hits-are-getting-more-misogynistic-according-to-new-research?fbclid=IwAR0L2NbDN6gHqxr8vnsjPyB6GZFuMbUxIjh-k9uFn74tSrvx9y-U_xc_OAk|title=COUNTRY HITS INCREASINGLY OBJECTIFY WOMEN AND GLORIFY WHITENESS|last=Jacobs|first=Tom|date=May 7, 2019|website=Pacific Standard|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref> sang the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention. Instrumental in the election of Republican [[Ronald Reagan]], were many who felt abandoned by the Democrats embrace of socialism. Among legislators, one of the most prominent of these conservative 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 September 1, 1983.
[[File:Carter mondale 1200.JPG|right|300px|thumb|Democratic nominee Walter Mondale on the campaign trail with Jimmy Carter in 1984.]] To oppose Reagan, Senate Democrats elected the [[Exalted Cyclops]] of Ku Klux Klan, Sen. [[Robert Byrd]] to lead them. Byrd once wrote, {{quotebox|"I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side. … Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds."<ref>https://www.ocregister.com/2012/05/09/walter-williams-most-racists-were-democrats/</ref>}}

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 landslide victories. Jesse Jackson became the first African-American to win states in a major party primary election for president in 1984. But vote rigging by [[Superdelegate]]s at the convention sabotaged his efforts.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/20/us/disparity-between-jackson-s-vote-and-delegate-count-vexes-party.html DISPARITY BETWEEN JACKSON'S VOTE AND DELEGATE COUNT VEXES PARTY], by DAVID E. ROSENBAUM, ''New York Times'', May 20, 1984.</ref> Reagan Democrats were mostly white ethnics in the Northeast who were attracted to Reagan on issues such as jobs, abortion, and his strong foreign policy. 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. Restrictive oil drilling, high energy prices, unrestricted Japanese auto imports, and 17% auto loans caused by federal deficits and inflation destroyed their jobs. Greenberg concluded that many working families no longer saw Democrats as champions of their interests. Bill Clinton resuscitated racist dog whistles with considerable success in 1992 and 1996.

====The global warming hoax to counter capitalism====
Democratic party leaders, officially and unofficially, [[collude]]d with the [[KGB]] to interfere in American elections and affect U.S. [[foreign policy]]. A 1983 KGB memo<ref>[http://sweetness-light.com/archive/kgb-letter-details-ted-kennedys-offer-to-help-ussr Kennedy collusion with the KGB].</ref> describes a meeting between former KGB officials and former Democratic Sen. John Tunney (Sen. Kennedy's confidant) in Moscow. Tunney asked the KGB to convey a message to [[Yuri Andropov]], the Soviet leader, proposing a campaign in which Kennedy would visit [[Moscow]] to offer talking points to Andropov and Soviet officials on how to attack Reagan's policies to U.S. audiences. According to the memo, Kennedy, through the intermediary, offered to help facilitate a media tour in a proposed visit by Andropov to the United States. Kennedy's hope was to hurt Reagan politically on foreign policy at a time when the economic recovery was working in his favor.<ref>[http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=30980 Jamie Glazov; ''Ted Kennedy and the KGB'' FrontPageMagazine.com (Thursday, May 15, 2008)]</ref>
[[File:Ted and Brezhnev.jpeg|right|300px|thumb|Sen. Ted Kennedy colluding with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev to interfere in the 1984 Presidential election.]]
In 1984, 10 Democratic lawmakers — including the House Democratic Majority Leader and Intelligence Committee chairman – sent a letter to Nicaraguan Communist leader [[Daniel Ortega]] known as the "Dear Comandante" letter. In it, the lawmakers criticized Reagan's policy toward [[Nicaragua]] and whitewashed the record of violence and murder by the [[Sandinista]] communists.<ref>https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/5-times-democrats-undermined-republican-presidents-with-foreign-governments</ref> [[Bernie Sanders]] was a frequent visitor to Nicaragua at this time, singing the praises of communism.

In response to Reagan's defense build-up and missile defense initiative,<ref>http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/nuclear-winter/</ref> which bankrupted the Soviet Union and ended the specter of Mutually Assured Destruction, many Democrats adopted the [[KGB]] line of a nuclear freeze and [[global warming]] targeting America's manufacturing and economic base. [[Barack Obama]] expounded the [[Brezhnev]] era doctrine in an essay entitled ''Breaking The War Mentality'' published in Columbia University's weekly magazine, ''The Sun Dial.''<ref>https://2012election.procon.org/sourcefiles/obama-article-sun-dial-columbia-breaking-war-mentality.pdf</ref> Anti-capitalists in the United States and Europe began attacking the booming auto manufacturing,<ref>The legacy of the global [[Cold War]] economy can be seen in that the loosers of [[World War II]] - [[Germany]] and [[Japan]] - as of 2019 remain the world's largest auto manufactures. Germany and Japan were allowed to rebuild their economies around the automobile - provided the two refrained from competing in the global aircraft industry. World War II proved the military doctrine of the superiority of airpower - whoever controls the skies controls the ground. While Germany and Japan do produce aircraft, including military aircraft, it is strictly for their domestic markets and not for export. Germany and Japan certainly have the manufacturing and technical capabilities to compete with Boeing, AirBus, Northrup Grumman and others, but by previous trade agreements are prohibited. By contrast, the United States, [[UK]], [[France]], [[Italy]] and others have ceded much of their domestic auto markets to German and Japanese manufactures. The fraud of the global warming hoax can be seen in the disproportionate lack of pressure on Germany and Japan to cease auto exports, as has been applied throughout the rest of the West.</ref> oil drilling and refining industries as responsible for the destruction of the planet. The Soviet [[KGB]], known for its [[propaganda]] campaigns such as the [[AIDS]] virus invented by the [[Pentagon]], mounted one last ditch effort to save [[communism]] and fight [[capitalism]]. This [[leftwing]] socialist sentiment was taught in schools and universities, where faculty salaries are dependent on [[statist]] largesse. These Russian-manufactured hoaxes on [[climate change]] were widely embraced by public sector unions in schools and universities to argue against cuts to [[Great Society]] programs.

In a limited way, the communists were successful; the global warming scare was a factor in the de-industrialization and transfer of Western factories to the [[Third World|developing world]] where environmental and labor laws were less strict. The [[free trade]] movement and [[globalization]] was partly justified by the politization of science and global warming.

====As the South became less racist, it became more Republican====
[[File:2000px-ElectoralCollege1980.png|left|thumb|325px|Reagan's 1980 landslide|By 1980, racism ebbed in the Old South as the South began voting like much of the rest of the country. Only the staunchest Democrat racist areas held out. The Republicans then passed the Martin Luther King Holiday, which the Democrat Congress and Jimmy Carter repeatedly rejected.]]
In the century after the Republicans efforts for Black equality and the end of [[Reconstruction]] in 1877, the white South identified with the 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 Lyndon Johnson's [[War on Poverty]] - an effort to extend big government social spending on Blacks which the New Deal failed to do<ref>https://youtu.be/rLMh3O-4aNA</ref> - 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" (including [[segregation]] of blacks). They repeatedly warned against the aggressive designs of Republicans and Northern liberals, as well as civil rights activists whom they denounced as "outside agitators."

However, between 1928 and 2004, the Democratic Party's lock on the South was broken.<ref>https://youtu.be/UiprVX4os2Y</ref> The long-term cause had to do with the South becoming more like the rest of the nation. It could no longer 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. As the South became less racist, it became more Republican.

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 Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices and by the [[bi-partisan]] Civil Rights acts of 1964 and 1965, a die-hard element of Democrats resisted integration, led by Democrats [[Orval Faubus]] of Arkansas, [[Lester Maddox]] of Georgia, [[Al Gore, Sr.]] of Tennessee, [[J. William Fulbright]] of Arkansas and [[George Wallace]] of Alabama. These racists appealed to a less-educated, blue-collar electorate that on economic grounds favored [[New Deal]] [[white privilege]] and opposed desegregation. After 1965 most Southerners accepted integration, with the exception of public schools in an effort led by Sen. [[Joseph Biden]].<ref name="politico.com">https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/joe-biden-integration-school-busing-120968_full.html</ref> Just as the Republican, 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.

President Johnson's [[big government]] giveaways and [[affirmative action]] programs attracted Blacks for the first time, and they began supporting Democratic candidates, producing leaders such as [[Julian Bond]] and [[John Lewis]] of Georgia, and Barbara Jordan of Texas.

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 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 {{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.3.html |date=2004-11-02\|accessdate=|title=U.S. PRESIDENT / REGION: SOUTH / EXIT POLL}}</ref>

In 1988, the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), after decades of running their own presidential candidates, with the loss of Russian funding stopped running presidential candidates and has endorsed every Democratic presidential nominee since.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pjFfE1MNFk Communists, the Democrat Party and Snopes]</ref><ref>[http://aun-tv.com/2015/08/did-the-communist-party-usa-take-over-democratic-party-in-1988/ Did The Communist Party USA Take Over Democratic Party in 1988?]</ref> Since the end of the [[Cold War]],<ref>[https://youtu.be/JVkkLDAm8I4 KGB Bezmenov 1985 - Four Steps to Subversion of a Nation], youtube.</ref> communists began rising in Civil Service and elected office as Democrats.<ref>[https://youtu.be/ZXLuqQe8DqQ Deep State Unmasked: State Dept on Hidden Cam "Resist Everything" "I Have Nothing to Lose"], ''Project Veritas''.</ref>

====Racist smear campaign====
In 1991, Republican President George H.W. Bush appointed an African American, [[Clarence Thomas]], to the Supreme Court to replace the retiring Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]]. Racist Democrats were outraged that a conservative Black, who refused to pledge to uphold ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' which legalized the murder of millions of unborn Blacks, would become a role model for Black youth. [[Anita Hill]], a [[lesbian]] staffer who worked for Thomas was pushed forward, against her will, to testify publicly about unverified comments she made to FBI background investigators alleging sexual harassment in the work place, essentially jokes circulating among office employees. Hill's name was illegally [[leak]]ed by Senate Democrat staffers and Chairman [[Joseph Biden]] then subpoenaed Hill, compelling her to testify in public under oath in an effort to derail the nomination and permanently scar Thomas. In an unprecedented step, Biden delayed the final vote and held extended public hearings.

Hill worked for Thomas at the Dept. of Education, and when Thomas left the Dept. of Education to work at the EEOC, Thomas invited her to come along and she followed. Hill never reported the alleged sexual harassment.

After nationally televised hearings consisting largely of a discussion of African American body parts, Thomas was confirmed by the U.S. Senate with a majority of Americans in public opinion polls believing Thomas over Hill. A fringe minority of partisan [[gay rights]] activists, [[feminists]], liberals, and [[mainstream media]] journalist are said to have believed Hill.

===Clinton, Biden and the New Jim Crow===
[[File:Clinton gore.png|right|275px|thumb]]
In the 1990s the Democratic Party revived itself, in part by distancing itself from [[Jesse Jackson]] and the [[Rainbow Coalition]].<ref>http://www.blackcommentator.com/46/46_cover.html https://ofamerica.wordpress.com/tag/democratic-leadership-council/</ref> Jackson was the first African-American to win a major party primary in 1988. Blacks were getting a little too [[uppity]] in the eyes of the Clintons and Democratic party leadership.<ref>[http://prospect.org/article/crisis-working-majority-0 From Crisis to Working Majority], Stan Greenberg, ''The American Prospect'' 2, no. 7 (September 1991). Republished 24 May 2005</ref> Clinton defeated the incumbent [[George H. W. Bush]] in 1992, was the beneficiary of reduced defense spending with the end of the Cold War and a balanced federal budget. Clinton proposed [[welfare reform]] (cutting benefits and requiring many recipients to take jobs). Labor unions, which had been steadily losing membership due to [[globalization]] 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 accelerating globalization and job loss over the strong objection of these labor unions.

Every year for twelve years, Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, who both always had at least one house of Congress controlled by Democrats, asked in their State of the Union addresses for Congress to create Enterprise Zones - special tax breaks for start-ups and businesses to relocate to blighted areas, predominantly black, inner-city urban areas - to create jobs and deliver services. Democrats didn't want Republicans to be seen as helping blacks. However, in President Clinton's first 100 days, with a Democrat House and Senate, Democrats finally delivered Enterprise Zones after making African Americans wait 12 years to finally participate in the prosperity begun in the 1980s. [[Bill Clinton]] attacked [[Nancy Reagan]]'s anti-drug "Just Say No" campaign as "twelve years of neglect" and ratcheted up deaths caused by illegal drug use from 10,000 per year to 70,000.<ref>https://slate.com/news-and-politics/1996/06/clinton-s-drug-war.html</ref> The [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] took control of both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate after the 1994 midterm election.
[[File:Bill-clinton-orval-faubus-1991.jpg|left|275px|thumb|Bill Clinton with a trusted advisor, [[Orval Faubus]] in 1991. Faubus sent over 200 National Guardsmen to block 7 Black children from registering at a white school in 1957.<ref>http://articles.latimes.com/1992-09-15/news/vw-739_1_orval-faubus</ref>]]
Under the Clintons and the 1994 Biden Crime Bill, more than 250,000 [[African American]]s were imprisoned in the [[United States]] than under President Reagan,<ref>http://www.blackelectorate.com/articles.asp?ID=320</ref> Both Hillary Clinton and Joseph Biden took credit for mass incarceration.<ref>https://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clinton-does-not-deserve-black-peoples-votes/</ref> Cumulatively since the Clinton's passed the Biden Crime Bill, 2.5 million adult black males—more than 10% of the population—were incarcerated, splitting up black families.<ref name="prisonpolicy.org">http://www.prisonpolicy.org/research/incarceration_rates_growth_causes/</ref> [[Barack Obama]], [[Louis Farrakhan]] and [[Al Sharpton]] led the [[Million Man March]] on Washington to protest.<ref>http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/04/wright-obama-helped-organize-march-with.html</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20100502040630/https://www1.chicagoreader.com/obama_reader/what_makes_obama_run/?q=012009K</ref>

In a eulogy loaded with racist [[dog whistle]]s, here's what Bill Clinton said at the grave of his mentor, Sen. J. William Fulbright: {{quotebox|"We come to celebrate and give thanks for the remarkable life of [[J. William Fulbright]], a life that changed our country and our world forever and for the better. . . . In the work he did, the words he spoke and the life he lived, Bill Fulbright stood against the 20th century’s most destructive forces and fought to advance its brightest hopes.<ref>https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/06/democratic-party-racist-history-mona-charen/</ref>}} So spoke President William J. Clinton in 1995 of a man who was among the 99 Democrats in Congress to sign the “[[Southern Manifesto]]” in 1956. The Southern Manifesto declared the signatories’ opposition to the Supreme Court's decision in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' and their commitment to segregation forever. Fulbright was also among those who [[filibuster]]ed the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. That filibuster continued for 83 days.

When the [[Democratic Leadership Council]] (DLC) assumed leadership of the party and its direction, some liberals and progressives felt alienated, believing the party gave in to capitalism and was unconcerned with left-wing issues in general. Some moderates challenged the validity of such critiques, citing the Democratic role in pushing the gay and progressive agendas.

=====Biden Crime Bill of 1994=====

:{{See also|The New Jim Crow|Biden Crime Bill}}
In the wake of the Central Park jogger attack, [[Joseph Biden]] boasts as one of his greatest legislative achievements passage of the 1994 Crime bill which locked up 10% of the Black adult male population of the United States.<ref name="prisonpolicy.org"/><ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/22/us/politics/joe-bidens-role-in-90s-crime-law-could-haunt-any-presidential-bid.html</ref>

When [[President George H.W. Bush]] asked for a record increase in funding to fight the [[War on Drugs]], Biden told a TV interviewer {{Quotebox|"In a nutshell, the President's plan does not include enough police officers to catch the violent thugs, enough prosecutors to convict them, enough judges to sentence them or enough prison cells to put them away for a long time."<ref>http://articles.latimes.com/1989-09-06/news/mn-1646_1_drug-war</ref><ref>http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/first-step-act-skepticism.html</ref>}}
[[File:1994 Superpredator Act.jpg|left|350px|thumb|The Biden Crime Bill of 1994. Feinstein, Kerry and Biden are clearly visible with President Clinton. The bill is known for its sentencing disparities which led to mass incarceration of Blacks.<ref>https://fair.org/home/senate-crime-bill-unscrutinized-by-the-press/</ref>]]
Biden, [[Ted Kennedy]], and [[Strom Thurmond]] worked on proposals that raised maximum penalties, removed a directive requiring the US Sentencing Commission to take into account prison capacity, and created the cabinet-level “drug czar” position. In 1984, they passed the Comprehensive Crime Control Act, which, among other things, abolished [[parole]], imposed a less generous cap on “good time” sentence reductions, and allowed the Sentencing Commission to issue more punitive guidelines.

Biden bragged on the Senate floor that it was under his and Thurmond's leadership that Congress passed a law sending anyone caught with a rock of cocaine the size of a quarter to jail for a minimum of five years - the notoriously racist hundred-to-one sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. In the same speech Biden took credit for [[civil asset forfeiture]] and seizure laws, and demanded to know why [[Papa Bush]] hadn't sentenced more drug dealers to life in prison or exercise the [[death penalty]] once Congress had given him that power.<ref>https://www.c-span.org/video/?18528-1/violent-crime-control-act-1991</ref>

Biden's version of a new crime bill added more than forty crimes that would be eligible for the [[death penalty]]. Biden boasted “we do everything but hang people for jaywalking.”<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=AK_DAwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA141&dq=we%20do%20everything%20but%20hang%20people%20for%20jaywalking&pg=PA141#v=onepage&q=we%20do%20everything%20but%20hang%20people%20for%20jaywalking&f=false The First Civil Right: How Liberals Built Prison America]'', Naomi Murakawa, Oxford University Press, Jul 10, 2014, p. 141.</ref> The [[NAACP]] and other groups lobbied against the bill.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/27/us/civil-libertarians-go-after-crime-bills.html</ref> Although the 1991 crime bill was defeated by Republicans, the 1994 Biden/Clinton crime bill was passed.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=SGUJBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PT142&dq=biden%20strongly%20believes%20the%20administration%20needs%20to%20seize%20control%20of%20the%20issue%20by%20upping%20the%20ante&pg=PT142#v=onepage&q=biden%20strongly%20believes%20the%20administration%20needs%20to%20seize%20control%20of%20the%20issue%20by%20upping%20the%20ante&f=false The First Civil Right: How Liberals Built Prison America]'', Naomi Murakawa.</ref>

By 2001, the United States had the highest rate of incarceration in the world. [[Human Rights Watch]] reported that in seven states, African Americans constituted 80 to 90 percent of all drug offenders even though they were no more likely than whites to use or sell illegal drugs. Prison admissions for drug offenses reached a level in 2000 for African Americans more than 26 times the level they had been under [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>[https://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clinton-does-not-deserve-black-peoples-votes/ Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Black Vote], Michelle Alexander, ''The Nation'', February 10, 2016</ref> Biden's "social planning" had proven effective.

The Leftist ''Jacobin'' magazine summed up Biden's record: {{Quotebox|"It’s not as if Biden didn’t know what he was doing.... He just didn’t care. Biden had made a calculated decision that the elections he would win were worth the damage he inflicted.... But even if Biden has subsequently learned the error of his ways, the rank cynicism and callousness involved in his two-decade-long championing of carceral policies should be more than enough to give anyone pause about his qualities as a leader, let alone a [[progressive]] one."<ref>https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/08/biden-crime-mass-incarceration-police-prisons</ref>}}
[[File:Epstein-bill-clinton-1200x630.jpg|right|350px|thumb|Bill Clinton with Clinton Foundation co-founder Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was a frequent visitor to the Clinton White House as an honoured guest.]]

=====Impeachment: lying under oath is not a crime=====
Clinton was impeached in a scandal involving [[sexual crime]]s in 1998 and acquitted in 1999 when Democrats considered that a sitting president who lies under oath to a federal judge was not a crime. Impeachment caused extreme partisan divisions within the country; however a healthy economy, with the lower mortgage interest rates due to reduced defense spending and the end of the Cold War, no one wanted to upset the apple cart. Democrats themselves were not keen on the idea of Al Gore becoming president, either.

Hollywood mogul and Democrat megadonor [[Harvey Weinstein]] was a founder of the Clinton Legal Defense Fund to defend Bill Clinton against sexual assault charges; after Senate Democrats exonerated President Clinton, Weinstein himself faced sexual assault charges from at least 97 women over the next twenty years.

=====Globalization=====
One of the first actions to promote globalization was when the Clinton administration purchased berets for Army Rangers made in China. Plans were quickly drawn up to outsource the manufacture of army boots, fatigues, and other military apparel to China. This of course would destroy American jobs in American textile plants.

Since the New Deal, tales were legendary how the large military force assembled by America led to full employment in American factories, with the soldiers wives and girlfriends working in arms factories, and mothers and grandmothers employed in textile plants to make clothing and boots for soldiers. This basic economic concept was engraved in the conscience of the World War II generation, particularly loyal Democrat voters proud of the New Deal. Outsourcing American jobs related to national defense and national security to foreigners, particularly a non-democratic and potentially hostile foreign power, seemed like total insanity to older loyal Democrat voters and Republicans, as well.

The argument that "cheaper is better", since it would destroy American jobs and the U.S. welfare system existed as a safety net, didn't carry much weight. But Democrat voters re-elected Clinton anyway. Globalists made clear that eventually items such as medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, items also related to national security should a [[pandemic]] ever erupt, could also be safely entrusted to the Chinese communists.

====Godhatesfags.org====
[[File:Al gore fred phelps (1).jpg|thumb|390px|right|[[Nobel Prize]] winner and former Vice President Al Gore with [[Fred Phelps]] and their wives at a [[Westboro Baptist Church]] fundraiser for Gore. Westboro is the home of the godhatesfags website.]]
The Rev. [[Fred Phelps]] of the notoriously [[homophobic]]<ref>https://shadowproof.com/2007/05/26/fred-phelps-on-baby-samuel-cheney/</ref> [[Westboro Baptist Church]] ran for governor of [[Kansas]] as a Democrat in 1990, 1994, and 1998.<ref name="ref4">[https://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/05/kansas.results/ 1998 Kansas Primary Results. Compiled by Congressional Quarterly.]</ref> Phelps received 31% of the vote in Kansas's 1992 Democrat Party primary for [[U.S. Senate]].<ref>[http://www.kssos.org/elections/elections_statistics.html State of Kansas Secretary of State Website]</ref> In 1993 and 1997,<ref>[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=21229 The "God Hates Fags" [[Left]]], By Mark D. Tooley, FrontPageMagazine.com, February 09, 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.religionnewsblog.com/1128/kansas-anti-gay-church-embarrasses-topekans Kansas anti-gay church embarrasses Topekans], November 7, 2002. Retrieved from ReligionNewsBlog.com, October 11, 2007.</ref> Phelps ran for mayor of [[Topeka]]. He supported [[Al Gore]] in the 1988 primaries. Phelpsbecame an extremely vocal critic of [[President George W. Bush]] and former Vice President [[Dick Cheney]], calling Bush "A Bible pervert." Of the Cheney family Phelps said, "They know the iniquity they’ve wrought, but they’re not at all ashamed of it...God hates the Cheneys."<ref>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8194338250744686470#</ref>

===Election of 2000: Florida recount===

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. Gore told the [[NAACP]] that his father, Sen. [[Al Gore Sr.]], had lost his Senate seat because he voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964-a total fabrication.

Gore won a plurality of over 500,000 votes but lost the electoral college by four votes. Gore asked for a recount in [[Florida]], re-opening the divisions caused by Clinton's impeachment.

Gore's affiliation with Clinton and the racist DLC machine<ref>http://www.blackcommentator.com/46/46_cover.html</ref> caused critics—Green Party progressive 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> Some Democrats blamed Nader's third-party spoiler role for Gore's defeat.

Afterward, Gore made millions of dollars with a film preaching progressive climate change eschatology, asserting that life on the planet would come to an end by the year 2013, sold his leftist propaganda radio network for hundreds of millions of dollars to [[Al Jazeera]], was accused of sexual assault, and disappeared into obscurity.

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: Progressives allied with jihadis====
[[File:C9Pak4-W0AIldKy (1).jpg|right|350px|thumb|Email to Hillary Clinton: '''"Al Qaeda is on our side."''' Al Qaeda murdered 3,000 Americans in the [[9/11 attacks]].<ref>http://theduran.com/wikileaks-drops-syria-bomb-email-to-hillary-clinton-assures-her-aq-al-qaeda-is-on-our-side-in-syria/</ref>]]
In the aftermath of the [[9-11 Attacks]], the nation's focus was on issues of national security. All but one Democrat<ref>Longtime [[CPUSA]] operative Rep. [[Barbara Lee]] of Texas</ref> joined the Republicans to authorize the use of force in 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 [[AUMF]] in Iraq. [[Progressive]]s sympathized with terrorists who wanted to destroy [[Western Civilization]]. More rational Democrats expressed concern over the domestic effects, including potential government abuses of civil rights and civil liberties with 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 [[Enron scandal]], Congressional Democrats pushed for an overhaul of business accounting.<ref>See [[Andrew Weissmann]].</ref> This led to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002.

Typically, an incumbent president loses seats in Midterm elections. However, in the aftermath of 19 terrorists entering the US during the Clinton administration as part of the [[multicultural]] experiment, who then murdered 3,000 Americans in the 9/11 attacks, Democrats lost seats in the House, Senate, and governorships in the 2002 midterms. Democrats flipped gubernatorial seats in New Mexico ([[Bill Richardson]]) and Arizona ([[Janet Napolitano]]) where Clinton [[cronyism|cronies]] were elected and Wyoming (Dave Freudenthal), it was offset by Democrats losing seats in South Carolina (Jim Hodges), Alabama ([[Don Siegelman]]) and, for the first time in more than a century the Democrats' Southern Strategy failed with the loss of Georgia (Roy Barnes).

Republican gains in [[The South]] had nothing to do with racism, and everything to do with Democrats' willingness to sacrifice national security for open immigration and [[diversity]]. It led to another round of soul searching about the future of the party's increasingly radicalized 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.

While the Gallup poll showed 72% public support for the [[War in Iraq]],<ref>https://news.gallup.com/poll/8038/seventytwo-percent-americans-support-war-against-iraq.aspx</ref> and with the party establishment drastically weakened, a handful of dissident anti-American and progressive protesters gathered in Chicago's Federal Plaza to hear an Illinois state senator named Barack Obama speak. Obama was one of the few, if not only, elected official in the country willing to express openly his lack of concern about the jihad against Western civilization. The protest was organized by the Communist party.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20100811115415/http://www.noiraqwar-chicago.org/?page_id=2</ref>

===Pelosi era===
[[File:Pelosi poop map.jpg|left|350px|thumb|The City of San Francisco official "poop map" of reports of human feces on the street covers Nancy Pelosi's entire 12th Congressional district.<ref>https://www.mrctv.org/blog/new-report-shows-nancy-pelosis-district-seat-piled-high-dirty-needles-and-human-feces</ref>]]
{{See also|Climate Crisis Committee}}
In 2002, after [[Richard Gephardt]] resigned as minority leader to seek the Democratic nomination in the [[2004 presidential election]], Rep. [[Nancy Pelosi]] was elected to replace him, becoming the first woman to lead a major party in the House of Representatives. Pelosi's father was a Congressman from [[Maryland]] and later the Mayor of [[Baltimore]]; when Pelosi graduated from college in 1962 she didn't remain in Baltimore to serve her community but rather joined the white flight to California<ref>https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2006/10/07/family-dynasty-may-boost-pelosi-to-head-of-house-2/amp/</ref> where [[blacks]] were fewer in number.<ref>https://qz.com/393128/white-flight-decimated-baltimore-businesses-long-before-rioters-showed-up/amp/</ref> By the 1980s she became a protégé of the progressive [[Willie Brown]].

A poll conducted by [[Fox News]] released in October 2007 found that 1 in 5 Democrats – nearly 10 million voters – thought the world would be better off if the [[United States]] were to lose the [[War in Iraq]].<ref>[https://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.

According to its 2008 platform, the Democratic Party claimed to have the objective of strengthening America, yet Democrat leaders did nothing while the Obama administration allied itself with jihadis.<ref>[http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=22045 "Democrats, ACLU Outraged Over Traveler Terrorism Screening Program"] C. Johnson, Associated Press</ref><ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0112/01/smn.19.html CNN Saturday Morning News] Transcript: December 1, 2001</ref> In 2010 the Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd (D., W.Va.) said "Democrats have been sedulously rewriting history for decades."<ref>https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/06/26/whitewashing_the_democratic_partys_history_127132.html</ref> The Exalted Cyclops passed away shortly afterward and was solemnly eulogized by Speaker Pelosi and Democrat Leader Schumer.

The Democratic Party favored free trade agreements, environmental regulation and so-called "trade impact assistance" or government handouts after trade agreements destroy private sector, taxpaying jobs.

At the Democratic National Convention in July 2016, no American flags were present while several attendees flew the Palestinian flag.<ref>Kassam, Raheem (July 25, 2016). [https://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/07/25/old-glorys-old-news-palestinian-flag-flown-dnc-delegates/ Old Glory’s Old News To The New Democrats As The Palestinian Flag Flies At The DNC]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved May 31, 2018.</ref><ref>Prestigiacomo, Amanda (July 26, 2016). [https://www.dailywire.com/news/7811/so-uh-guess-how-many-american-flags-were-dnc-amanda-prestigiacomo So, Uh, Guess How Many American Flags Were at The DNC.] ''The Daily Wire''. Retrieved May 31, 2018.</ref> The [[CPUSA]] urged people not to vote for Donald Trump even if they disliked Hillary Clinton (an indirect endorsement of Clinton).<ref>Although there are still some very substantial differences between communists and Democrats/liberals, the line between communists/Democrats/liberals continues to blur in the United States.</ref><ref>Ironically, the leading communist country in the world, [[Communist Party of China|communist China]], has moved farther away from communism and now has a mixed economy of [[capitalism]] and state-owned enterprises. [China's The Most Viciously Free Market Economy On The Planet Right Now], Forbes, 2015</ref> Democrats blamed Russia for Hillary Clinton's loss. Obama evidently did nothing to prevent it.

====John Kerry: the Hippies last stand====
[[Image:437px-The New Soldier.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Kerry's book, ''The New Soldier'' with [[VVAW]] activists flying the American flag upside down. By the time Democrats did start flying the American flag, they flew it upside down.]]
The 2004 campaign began in late 2002, when Gore said he would not run again. [[Howard Dean]], former Governor of Vermont, a war protester and critic of the Democrat establishment, was the front-runner leading into the Democratic primaries. Dean had immense progressive support, especially from the [[far left]] wing of the party. Massachusetts Senator [[John Kerry]], a [[Vietnam war]] veteran turned [[hippie]] who had heavy support from the Clinton Machine and DLC, was nominated because he was seen as more "electable" than Dean. Under [[Leader Pelosi]], Democrats moved to populist [[Trumpian]] positions that denounced free trade and the [[NAFTA]] agreement.

[[Babyboomer]]s - children born in the post-[[World War II]] "baby boom," despite their large numbers in the American electorate, were always wracked by political division stemming from the Vietnam war. The election of 2004 highlighted those divisions - Kerry the supposed "war hero" who then turned on the war, and Bush the "patriot" who used family privilege to duck the draft and served in the reserves.
[[File:John-edwards-mug-shot.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Vice-Presidential candidate [[John Edwards]]' mugshot. Edwards was charged and booked in a fundraising scheme.]]
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 netted governorships in Louisiana, New Hampshire and Montana. However, they lost the governorship of Missouri and a legislative majority in Georgia, which had long adhered to the Democratic racist tradition.

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 by citing Kerry's Congressional testimony where he called fellow Vietnam veterans war criminals.<ref>See [[Jerome Corsi]].</ref> Kerry was unable to reconcile his support for the [[Iraq War]] with his opposition to the war in 2004, or manage the deep split in the Democratic Party between [[Patriot]]s and protesters of the war. Republicans ran thousands of television commercials to argue that Kerry had flip-flopped on Iraq. When Kerry's home state of Massachusetts' judicial system legalized radical progressive [[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 union]]s. Ballot initiatives appeared in 11 states that brought citizens of both parties to the polls in large numbers; all 11 initiatives passed. [[Proposition 8]] in California won by a wide margin, but California Attorney General [[Kamala Harris]] bowed to [[LGBT]] groups and refused to defend citizen referendums in court. 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 due to [[FNMA|government subsidized interest rates]], 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.

====Pelosi and the Progressive takeover====
[[File:Pelosi Logan Act (2).jpeg|right|250px|thumb|Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an Assad apologist, violating the Logan Act.]]
These debates were reflected in the 2005 campaign for Chairman of the [[Democratic National Committee]], which [[Howard Dean]] won. As a progressive, Dean was the first to shepherd civil unions through the Vermont legislature. 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 retirement insurance and leave the collectivist model in place. 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 to [[Michael Bloomberg]] in New York City, a Democratic stronghold, for the fourth straight time.

The cost of fighting two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq simultaneously allowed [[China]], which was granted most favored nation trading status in 2001, to rush ahead in economic development and military modernization unchecked by American competition. Cheap Chinese made goods flooded the country, while American manufacturing jobs were exported to China. Negative public opinion on the war in Iraq, along with widespread dissatisfaction among conservatives 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. In 2006, with [[lobbying]] scandals engulfing the Republicans, the Democrats used the slogan "culture of corruption."

The Democratic Party's electoral success in the 2006 midterms was attributed to running relatively moderate 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 [https://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/07/election.exitpolls/]</ref> Democrats gained a majority of governorships and made gains in many state legislatures. No Democratic incumbent was defeated in any major race.

Senate Democrats promoted Harry Reid to Majority Leader. 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]]. Members of Pelosi's own Democratic Caucus warned failure to deliver on their promises to clean up corruption could be damaging.<ref>[https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0507/4014.html Democrats divided on lobbying reform], Josephine Hearn and Jeff Patch, May 15, 2007. Retrieved from [[Politico]] 06/01/07.</ref> Twenty freshmen Democrats asked for legislation to establish an independent ethics commission within the [[legislative branch]] to investigate future ethical lapses by fellow members.<ref>Alexander Bolton, [https://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dems-press-pelosi-for-ethics-panel-2007-04-18.html''Dems press Pelosi for ethics panel''], The Hill, April 19, 2007.</ref> Pelosi resisted the reform.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7hE4HX-Cwo&NR=1 The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same], ''[[ABC News]]'', April 25, 2007.</ref>

===Obamunism===
[[File:Barack-Hussein-Obama-mit-Louis-Farrakhan-528x524.jpg|left|225px|thumb|Barack Obama with the notorious [[anti-Semite]], [[Louis Farrakhan]]. Farrakhan called [[Jews]] "pigs and dogs." The [[Anti-Defamation League]] identified Farrakhan as the nation's “leading anti-Semite."<ref>[https://www.adl.org/resources/profiles/the-nation-of-islam The Nation of Islam], Anti-Defamation League.</ref>]]
:{{See also|Communism|Democrat Race Card: July 2011}}
From 1919 to 1992 the global communist movement, headquartered in [[Moscow]], sought to destabilize and [[subversion (political)|subvert]] the [[bourgeois]] regimes of the planet. The collapse of communism in [[Eastern Europe]] in ended the 45-year-long [[Cold War]]. [[Russia]] caved in, became [[capitalist]], joined the [[International Monetary Fund]] and qualified for [[World Bank]] loans. American leftists momentarily were in danger of losing their ideological direction. A group of academics and organizers called the [[Committees of Correspondence of Democratic Socialism]] (CoC) relocated the center of the global Marxist movement from the [[Kremlin]] to [[Berkeley]], [[California]] and kept the movement alive.<ref>https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/organizations/committees-of-correspondence-for-democracy-and-socialism-ccds/</ref> Despite what some journalists and pundits speculated as "the end of history" with the widely reported "fall of communism," within 15 years communists had captured the [[White House]].

Led by [[anti-war|anti-War on Terror]] radicals and [[jihad]]i sympathizers schooled in the Cold War era notion of Marxist "[[national liberation movement]]s," the Democratic 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 reunited in 2009, with near-unanimous opposition to the Democrats' socialist agenda and contentious policies, especially stimulus spending and Obamacare. Polls show Obama's popularity began to erode after his [[Barack Obama approval ratings#Declines after the Gates flap|anti-police stance]] became apparent in the summer of 2009.

For the first two years of the Obama administration, the Democrats held a veto-proof Congress and the White House, ramming through unpopular legislation, with no bipartisan support, such as [[Obamacare]]. In the [[2010 midterm elections]], Democrats received a "shellacking" for defying popular sentiment. In 2009 moderate [[Bluedog Democrat]]s boasted 44 [[centrist]]s, but by 2011 it had only 8 members. A [[centrist]] core in the House was destroyed by [[progressive]]s who dominated the party. Progressive communists tended to come from so-called "safe seats," whereas moderates, centrists, and Bluedogs came from competitive districts, and were sacrificed on the altar of ideological purity by Marxists in search of [[single party control]]. Suburbs and rural areas remained in Republican hands.<ref>[http://www.multistate.com/Site.nsf/Elections2006PostMaps?OpenPage Multistate.com] Post-Election 2006 Maps</ref> Voters in 2010, 2014, and 2016 rejected Democratic Party candidates at the local, state and national levels in record-setting proportions.

====Fascist national security state====
:{{See also|Obamunism}}
Under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic party has been transformed into the party of war and the national security surveillance state. Anyone who does not toe the party line is smeared as a Russian agent.<ref>https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1185988329742798848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw</ref> The party establishment attacks critics of [[regime change]] wars as "Russian" bots and assets. Party operatives regularly ignore [[4th Amendment]] and due process rights - including congressional committee chairmen conducting a supposed "[[impeachment inquiry]]" which was never voted on and authorized by the [[House of Representatives]].

Author Max Blumenthal, senior editor of ''The Grayzone'', observed:
{{Quotebox|This whole narrative would blow back on [[the left]] and would be used to enforce conformity on issues of war and peace, in support of the former against the latter. When we're seeing that play out in real time, with Hillary Clinton's attacks on Tulsi Gabbard. It was clear to me as soon as Tulsi Gabbard got into the race that even though she has absolutely no connection to Russia at all, she was going to be smeared this way because this is the McCarthyite venomous poison that Hillary Clinton has brought into the Democratic Party, along with the [[national security]] state figures like [[John Brennan]] and [[James Clapper]]. They have turned principled resistance against Trump and Trumpism into a collection of spooks, dupes, and Cold War cooks, and our worst warnings are being fulfilled. Tulsi Gabbard has been smeared as a Russian asset. She's been basically accused of committing a crime, that could hold the [[death penalty]], by someone with a multi-million dollar sleaze operation. Hillary Clinton and her sleaze network, her corporate funded sleaze network which really grew out of her campaign where she just had so much [[Wall Street]] money, and defense industry money....this is their way of destroying an emergent trend in the party, which is somewhat non-partisan. But is also anti-war, which reflects the sentiments of Americans across the country including a lot of the working-class people who are following Trump into the Republican Party. It was coordinated.... 
The rhetorical basis for Hillary Clinton smear was established during the past two years when anyone who challenged the imperatives of the national security state in places like [[Syria]] or [[Venezuela]], where the proxy war is playing out between the US and Russia although you know it's not purely a proxy war but it's seen that way in Washington, is accused of echoing [[Kremlin]] [[propaganda]]. And so we saw that narrative weaponized against Tulsi Gabbard after the last debate. I've never seen such a meltdown among you know Beltway and Democratic establishment hacks over a minor protest candidate who's polling at 2%, as the one I saw against Tulsi Gabbard. Susan Glasser from ''Politico'', who's just the quintessential centrist hack, who's married to Peter Baker - the ''New York Times'' White House correspondent, said that Tulsi Gabbard was echoing Russian and Syrian talking points by condemning regime change wars. This is something that only the reel cranks of the Republican Party would have said about opponents of the [[Iraq war]]. Now it's coming out of the political center. Josh Marshall, and founder of ''Talking Points Memo'' which all of the Democratic wonks wake up every morning and read, said "the only thing that Tulsi Gabbard can do is shut the F up." That was his response to her. It's like this. She inspires this kind of visceral outrage by condemning regime change wars, and one after another they accuse her of echoing Russian talking points. So now championing the cause of peace, withdrawing US troops, withdrawing US bases from a hinterland in northern Syria, it's the Russian agenda. And this is something I've never heard in my lifetime since I was kind of like a sentient being following politics. But it's something that I read about in books about [[McCarthyism]]. And it really appears to have so infested the mainstream of the Democratic Party that we're going to be living with it for the rest of our lives.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRp7iEVZD6c</ref>}}

Critics have noted that the Democratic party has morphed into a branch of the CIA not unlike the origins of the [[East German]] [[Stasi]] government.<ref>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/will-democratic-party-exist-after-2020-election</ref> The all consuming [[Russiagate]] insanity began when the FBI launched its counterintelligence probe after learning that a Trump campaign aide, [[George Papadopoulos]], was offered “dirt” on Hillary Clinton from an FBI plant named [[Joseph Mifsud]], and after Papadopoulos told Australian diplomat [[Alexander Downer]] about it. Australian officials then tipped off their American counterparts to Papadopoulos’ remarks, after which the FBI flew agent [[Peter Strzok]] to [[London]] to interview Downer about his interactions with Papadopoulos, igniting what the FBI called operation “[[Crossfire Hurricane]],” they claim began on July 31, 2016.

Aside from now fired FBI agent Peter Strzok and his also ousted FBI secret lover [[Lisa Page]] being exposed for their political bias in text messages to have created an “Insurance Policy” to damage Trump if he was elected, and Alexander Downer having funneled $25 million to [[Clinton Foundation]], the central pivot person of the entire Russiagate [[conspiracy theory]] revolved around Mifsud, who works for the UK Cabinet Office Security Vetting Appeals Panel and trains NATO intelligence personnel and diplomats at Link Campus University in Rome that's described as a finishing school for British spies, along with FBI agents who have also both taught and have trained at the school.<ref>https://disobedientmedia.com/2018/04/all-russiagate-roads-lead-to-london-as-evidence-emerges-of-joseph-mifsuds-links-to-uk-intelligence/</ref>

====Incremental socialism====
[[File:Maria-and-Che.jpg|right|300px|thumb|A Democrat organizer sports a poster of communist [[mass murder]]er [[Che Guevara]] at Obama campaign headquarters.]]
The [[2008 presidential election]] campaign featured a duel between [[Barack Obama]]—a black candidate, and [[Hillary Clinton]], a woman contender. Obama won with his oratory skills and a highly efficient fund-raising and strong organization in the caucus states, while Clinton appealed to [[feminist]]s and [[white supremacist]]s.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uWu0nSsg7w Hillary Clinton in Black History], youtube.</ref> The contest between Obama and GOP nominee [[John McCain]] showed Obama being the clear favorite, with the vast majority of polls (with the exception of early September) depicting Obama as the clear favorite.

The [[Obama Administration]] got off to a fast start taking on more government debt to finance massive bailouts to banks, increased regulation, and deep intervention in the automobile industry. All those policies failed to reverse the decline from the [[Recession of 2008]]. After Democrats passed the Economic Recovery Act of 2009, [[unemployment]] increased from below 7% to 10%.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm|title=Employment Situation Summary|work=Bureau of Labor Statistics|date=August 1, 2014|accessdate=}}</ref>

Democratic leaders endorsed various [[Democratic Health Care Plans]]; the question in 2009 was whether to allow "a crisis to go to waste." Many Democrats advocated a minimum wage increase; the Democrat Congress failed to act but Obama signed an [[executive order]] imposing a $15 minimum wage on federal contractors, a meaningless gesture as few federal contracts have minimum wage workers.

Democrats talked about increased taxpayer funding of higher education, particularly for scientific research, land-grant colleges, community colleges and historically black colleges. Obama established a White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-historically-black-colleges-and-universities|title=Executive Order 13532 -- Historically Black Colleges and Universities|date=February 26, 2010|accessdate=}}</ref> Democrats subsidized the interest rate out of the federal treasury for Stafford loan voters by cutting the rate to 3.4% and eliminated private banks as middlemen in federal student loans.<ref name=ed>{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/higher-education|title=Higher Education|accessdate=}}</ref>

The Democratic Party felt the sting from the opposition and many Democrats began questioning their own leadership. Liberals were disenchanted with Obama's escalation of the [[Afghanistan War]]. American deaths more than doubled in Obama's first few years compared with the preceding eight years.<ref>Chesser, S.G. (2012, July 12). [http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41084.pdf Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians - CRS Report for Congress]. Pg. 3. ''Congressional Research Service'''.</ref> The health care reform that consumed most of 2009 remained unsettled, as public opinion turned against it. Environmentalists seemed resigned to the failure of [[carbon tax]]es and a [[cap and trade]] program to reduce [[greenhouse gases]]. Most of the recession dragged on. The stimulus bill was passed quickly in February 2009 over almost unanimous GOP opposition, but despite promises of "shovel ready" projects, most of the money was never spent to relieve unemployment, job creation and [[economic growth]] remained dtagnant for years.

The elections in November 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.

In the [[2010 Midterm Elections]], the Republican Party gained 63 Representatives in the House (one of the largest amounts in its history and surpassing the 1994 landslide), almost gained a majority in the Senate, and gained a majority of governorships and state legislatures in one of its best election results in its history.

Although the Democrats had the opportunity to reverse the massive GOP gains in 2014 midterms, they completely failed and allowed the GOP to make even larger victories. Even when the GOP held a majority of governorships so large that it would be difficult to hold them all, they actually gained two states, expanding their majority to 31 out of 50.

====Marxists crawl out of the closet====
Within the first six months of the new administration, Obama White House Communications Director [[Anita Dunn]] told a high school graduating class that communist [[mass murder]]er [[Mao Zedong]] - the biggest mass murderer in history by far - was her favorite "political philosopher."<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2012/10/17/obama-debate-advisor-anita-dunn-mao/ Obama Debate Coach Named Mao as Favorite Political Philosopher] by Ben Shapiro, Breitbart News, 2012</ref> [[Van Jones]], a self-proclaimed communist, was appointed Green Czar to indoctrinate young people schooled in the [[global warming hoax]] into the communist movement. When Jones' communist background and connections became public he was immediately fired and hired as an analyst for [[CNN]].

[[Bernie Sanders]], a leading candidate in the Democratic Party's 2016 presidential nomination has a history of involvement with [[Marxism|Marxist]] organizations.<ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/01/16/dont-be-fooled-by-bernie-sanders-hes-a-diehard-communist/ Don’t be fooled by Bernie Sanders — he’s a diehard communist], New York Post by [[Paul Sperry]], New York Post,January 16, 2016</ref><ref name="IS BERNIE SANDERS A COMMUNIST">[https://www.wnd.com/2016/01/is-bernie-sanders-a-communist/ IS BERNIE SANDERS A COMMUNIST?] by Joseph Farah, WND, 2016</ref><ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/kenneth-d-ackerman/history-lesson-bernie-san_b_9355082.html History Lesson: Bernie Sanders is no 'Communist,' and 'Democratic Socialists' are as American as Apple Pie], Huffington Post, 2012</ref> Sanders had on the wall of his Senate office a flag of the [[Soviet Union]], a regime which [[democide|exterminated]] more than 50 million of its own peoples.<ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/01/16/dont-be-fooled-by-bernie-sanders-hes-a-diehard-communist/ Don’t be fooled by Bernie Sanders — he’s a diehard communist], New York Post by Paul Sperry, New York Post, January 16, 2016</ref>

In the 21st century, the Democratic Party dropped all pretense of advocacy for Human Rights in favor of forced [[collectivization]].

====Uranium One scandal====
:{{Main article|Uranium One scandal}}
Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration colluded with Vladimir Putin to sell Russia 20% of American uranium reserves. The Clinton Foundation received $150 million from investors. The Clinton campaign knew that Hillary's Russia collusion by approving the sale of Uranium One (U1) from Clinton Foundation board member Frank Giustra to Russia's state owned nuclear energy company Rosatom in 2010-2011 was a problem, so they set out from at least April 2015 to smear whoever she was up against as “weak on Russia” or “Kremlin Trolls”.

====Obama war crimes====
:{{Main article|Obama war crimes}}
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama illegally overthrew the government of Libya. The African [[slave trade]] was revived after the overthrow.

====Political spying====
Not wanting a crisis - the [[Financial Panic of 2008]] - to go to waste, which won the Democrats a veto proof Congress and the White House, the Democrats went full bore single party socialist and communist with the passage of Obamacare, ignoring public opinion and opposition within their own party. While subsequent elections repealed much of Obamacare, the Democrats and Obama administration plunged ahead with the communist agenda of outlawing and criminalizing political opposition and free speech. It began with the [[IRS scandal]], and when exposed shifted to [[FISA abuse]] and persecution of journalists who printed negative stories. Blackmail and pollical spying on opposition candidates and campaigns became the hallmark of Obama's second term. The cover up of the [[Muellergate timeline 2019|Muellergate scandal]] was used by Democrats to surreptitiously win back the House in 2018 and bring about the phony [[impeachment scam]].
[[File:112 2016 b4-napo-comey-hoove8201 c0-389-1420-1216 s885x516 (1).jpg|right|300px|thumb|In the Comey era, the FBI returned to the use of sexual innuendo and domestic spying on political opponents.<ref>https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/04/19/comey-trump-cnn-news-hook/</ref>]]
With Obama's harassment of political opponents, first with the [[IRS scandal]], then through illegal surveillance and [[FISA abuse]],<ref>[https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/03/08/doj-political-surveillance-from-the-irs-in-2011-to-the-fisa-court-in-2016/ DOJ Political Surveillance – From the IRS in 2011 to the FISA Court in 2016], Posted on March 8, 2020 by sundance. theconservativetreehouse.com</ref> Obama won re-election in [[2012 United States Presidential Election|2012]],<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EULOYZ-mAG0</ref> even though the Republican Party held on to all its 2010 gains.

This early self-deception by Democrats repeated in mainstream media after the election of Obama - that America had shifted its historic roots from center-right to center-left, had disastrous results in the coming decade. The repression of free speech in media in favor of a pro-communist line contributed to a deterioration in race relations based on communist lies and [[propaganda]]. The [[Obama riots]] destroyed Black communities, and the [[2020 Leftwing insurrection]], led by Marxist whites in the name of "social justice", overestimated the willingness of the American people to embrace Marxist [[revolution]], cast off [[capitalism]], and abrogate their constitutional rights to a single party [[totalitarian]] regime governed by unelected Democrat bureaucrats and [[civil servants]]. An entire generation of Americans grew up in the Obama years, where opportunity to improve one's own economic wellbeing was virtually non-existent, [[brainwash]]ed by Marxist doctrine in [[public school]]s and educational institutions, to resort to [[violence]] and attempt to tear down the whole system.

While most Blacks looked for the freedom and opportunity America promised, a generation of dangerous and [[intolerant]] white youth walked the streets, looking to violently maim and destroy anyone who opposed their Marxist agenda.

====Obamagate scandal====
[[File:Obama post election strategy Blame Russia start WW3.jpg|right|300px|thumb]]
:{{See also|Obamagate timeline|FBI scandal|Ukrainian collusion|Trump-Russia collusion hoax}}
In 2016 the party [[collude]]d with Russia and the Ukraine to interfere in the United States presidential election.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/16/horowitz-report-confirms-john-solomons-scoop-fbi-spreadsheet-regarding-steele-dossier/</ref><ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/world/europe/ukraine-paul-manafort.html</ref> The DNC has been sued for [[civil rights]] violations of [[Carter Page]] for the DNC-funded fraud against the FISA court.<ref>https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/480678-carter-page-files-lawsuit-against-democratic-national-committee-over</ref>

More than 27 Obama appointees and Democrat operatives were fired, removed, demoted or reassigned in the criminal attempt to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and later the [[coup]] plot against President Trump.

The Mueller Report produced no evidence whatsoever that Russia hacked the DNC. Neither Special Council Robert Mueller, nor the FBI, nor the DOJ, nor the Dept. of Homeland Security, nor the NSA, nor the CIA, nor the mainstream media, nor the Clinton campaign ever investigated DNC servers.

====The New McCarthyism====
In 2016, Russian hackers attempted, and failed, to hack into state election board computers. No federal facilities, as far as is known, were attempted. However, no federal law enforcement agency, not the FBI, CIA, [[Department of Homeland Security]] or any other federal, state, or municipal law enforcement agency ever investigated an alleged hack of the Democratic National Committee. The confluence of these two events - attempted hacking of state election boards and the publication of leaked emails from the DNC by [[WikiLeaks]] - coupled with the Obama administration's [[FISA abuse]] were melded by CIA Director John Brennan into the Russia collusion hoax.

The debunked Trump-Russia [[fake news]] morphed itself into a [[xenophobic]] reaction against Russian bots and anything Russian to explain all the Democratic party's self-inflicted misfortunes. These Russianbot [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] inspired some of the most absurd conjecture to explain social phenomenon and justify the most venomous hatred, in the spoken word of Democrat leaders, media elites, and violent actions of the [[extreme left]].

====Primary rigging====
{{See also|United States presidential election, 2016}}
Again, in 2016, the Democrats performed very poorly, allowing the GOP to win the presidency with [[Donald Trump]],<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/08/first-polls-close-in-2016-race-trump-projected-to-win-ind-ky-clinton-wins-vt.html Trump wins presidency, defeats Clinton in historic election upset]. ''Fox News''. November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref> to maintain their House and Senate majorities,<ref>Bresnahan, John (November 9, 2016). [https://www.politico.eu/article/republicans-on-cusp-of-keeping-the-senate/ Republicans hold the Senate in a stunner]. ''Politico''. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref><ref>Hughes, Siobhan (November 9, 2016). [https://www.wsj.com/articles/republicans-are-confident-about-retaining-control-of-the-house-1478634160 Democrats Gain Seats in House, But GOP Retains Majority]. ''The Wall Street Journal''. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref> to win the largest amount of governorships since 1922,<ref>Lieb, David A. (November 9, 2016). [https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-11-09/republicans-expand-control-of-governorships-legislatures Republicans governorships rise to highest mark since 1922]. ''U.S. News & World Report''. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref> and to win the most state legislative chambers in history.<ref>Bosman, Julie & Davey, Monica (November 11, 2016). [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/us/republicans-expand-control-in-a-deeply-divided-nation.html Republicans Expand Control in a Deeply Divided Nation]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved November 14, 2016.</ref> The Democrats held a record low amount of party trifectas in the states.<ref>Greenblatt, Alan (November 9, 2016). [http://www.governing.com/topics/elections/gov-republicans-add-dominance-state-legislatures.html Republicans Add to Their Dominance of State Legislatures]. ''Governing''. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref><ref>Siegel, Josh (November 9, 2016). [http://dailysignal.com/2016/11/09/republicans-maintain-strong-control-of-state-capitols-what-that-means/ Republicans Maintain Strong Control of State Capitols. Here’s What That Means.] ''The Daily Signal''. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref> Democrats lost 1,042 seats—including U.S. House, Senate, state governorship, and state legislative seats—during the eight years of [[Barack Obama]]'s tenure as U.S. president.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/12/27/democrats-lost-over-1000-seats-under-obama.html?refresh=true Democrats lost over 1,000 seats under Obama]. ''Fox News''. December 27, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.</ref>
[[File:Sethrich-e1494948876256.jpg|left|275px|thumb|Seth Rich (1989-2016) was an IT specialist at DNC headquarters in Washington DC. His bullet-ridden body was found on a dark street two weeks before the convention that nominated Hillary Clinton.]]
The Democratic primaries were rigged against Bernie Sanders in favor of Hillary Clinton, and the party was shown to be helping Clinton behind the scenes.<ref>Griffin, Andrew (November 9, 2016). [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/bernie-sanders-us-election-president-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-democrats-primary-results-a7408451.html Donald Trump won election because Democrats rigged system to have Clinton beat Bernie Sanders, says WikiLeaks]. ''The Independent''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref><ref>Hoft, Jim (October 18, 2016). [https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/10/obama-lectures-media-integrity-elections-forgets-democrats-just-rigged-primary-bernie/ Obama Lectures Trump on "Rigged" Elections — Forgets That Democrats Just Rigged Primary Against Bernie]. ''The Gateway Pundit''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref> The DNC tagged the [[Jewish]] Vermont Senator in the Bible Belt as an "[[atheist]]", hoping to give her another advantage in the early Southern Democratic primaries. Hillary won the endorsement of the [[Ku Klux Klan]].<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kkk-grand-dragon-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president</ref> The DNC scheduled the Democratic primary debates during days of the week when most Americans wouldn't watch, such as Friday and Saturday nights. This was done to keep interest in the Democratic primary debates low and with Mrs. Clinton obviously having more name recognition, would have an early advantage over her lesser-known opponents. Even the leftist website [[Salon Media Group|Salon]]<ref>Demoro, Roseann (March 30, 2016). [https://www.salon.com/2016/03/30/10_ways_the_democratic_primary_has_been_rigged_from_the_start_partner/ 10 ways the Democratic primary has been rigged from the start]. ''Salon''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref> and, later, [[Elizabeth Warren]]<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41850798 Elizabeth Warren agrees Democratic race 'rigged' for Clinton]. ''BBC News''. November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.</ref> believed the primary was rigged against Sanders.

[[Donna Brazile]], the interim DNC Chair, shared Democrat town hall meeting questions with the Clinton campaign in order to help her win.<ref>Shaw, Adam (March 17, 2017). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/17/brazile-admits-forwarded-debate-questions-to-clinton-camp.html Brazile admits she forwarded town hall questions to Clinton camp]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved March 17, 2017.</ref><ref>Ernst, Douglas (March 17, 2017). [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/17/donna-brazile-admits-leaking-debate-questions-to-c/ Donna Brazile admits leaking debate questions to Clinton camp: ‘A mistake I will forever regret’]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved March 17, 2017.</ref> She continued to deny this fact through February 2017<ref>Scarry, Eddie (March 17, 2017). [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/donna-brazile-finally-admits-she-shared-debate-questions-with-clinton-campaign/article/2617742 Donna Brazile finally admits she shared debate questions with Clinton campaign]. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved March 17, 2017.</ref> and blamed [[Russia]] for the ordeal.<ref>Hudson, Jerome (March 18, 2017). [https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/18/donna-brazile-admits-to-sharing-debate-questions-with-clinton-camp-blames-russia/ Donna Brazile Admits to Sharing Debate Questions With Clinton Camp, Blames Russia]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved March 18, 2017.</ref> Later, in November 2017, Brazile revealed that not only did Obama leave the DNC deeply in debt due to his 2012 re-election campaign,<ref>Boyer, Dave (November 2, 2017). [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/nov/2/brazile-says-obama-left-dnc-deep-debt-clinton-camp/ Brazile says she found DNC deep in debt from Obama, controlled by Clinton a year before nomination]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.</ref> but the Clinton campaign effectively controlled the DNC as early as 2015, and the DNC worked to keep Sanders from winning the nomination.<ref>Multiple references:
*Brazile, Donna (November 2, 2017). [https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/02/clinton-brazile-hacks-2016-215774 Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC]. ''Politico Magazine''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
*Pappas, Alex (November 2, 2017). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/02/donna-brazile-found-proof-dnc-rigged-nomination-for-hillary-clinton.html Donna Brazile: I found 'proof' the DNC rigged the nomination for Hillary Clinton]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
*Neuman, Scott (November 3, 2017). [https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/03/561768006/book-reveals-clinton-campaign-effectively-controlled-dnc-as-early-as-2015 Book Reveals Clinton Campaign Effectively Controlled DNC As Early As 2015]. ''NPR''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
*[https://www.jpost.com/American-Politics/Did-the-Democratic-Party-have-an-anti-Sanders-bias-513279 Did the Democratic Party Have an Anti-Sanders Bias?] ''The Jerusalem Post''. November 4, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
The incident highlighted the growing divisions in the party:
*[https://www.voanews.com/a/democrats-cry-foul-rigged-primary-election/4098967.html Democrats Cry Foul Over 'Rigged' Primary Election]. ''Voice of America''. November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
*O'Reilly, Andrew (November 3, 2017). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/03/donna-brazile-allegations-highlight-mounting-schism-within-dnc.html Donna Brazile allegations highlight mounting schism within DNC]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
*Nolan, Lucas (November 3, 2017). [https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/11/03/bitter-hillary-supporters-blast-brazile/ Bitter Hillary Supporters Blast Donna Brazile, Elizabeth Warren on Twitter over Rigged Primary Revelation]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
The mainstream media avoided these revelations:
*Flood, Brian (November 3, 2017). [https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/11/03/big-three-networks-skip-donna-brazile-bombshell-that-dnc-was-rigged-for-clinton.html Big Three Networks skip Donna Brazile bombshell that DNC was rigged for Clinton]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
Brazile walked back from what she revealed soon after:
*Crookston, Paul (November 3, 2017). [https://freebeacon.com/politics/brazile-backtracks-clinton-dnc-claims-never-said-hillary-rigged-election/ Brazile Backtracks on Clinton-DNC Claims: ‘Never Said Hillary Rigged Election’]. ''The Washington Free Beacon''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.</ref>

The release of Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails provided to [[Wikileaks]] by Seth Rich<ref>https://youtu.be/Kp7FkLBRpKg</ref> showed clear [[collusion]] between Clinton, [[mainstream media]] outlets, and the DNC to smear [[Bernie Sanders]]. Millennials felt betrayed by the Democratic party. DNC Chair [[Debbie Wasserman Schultz]] was forced out on the eve of the convention, less than 24 hours after dozens of emails were published showing her and her staff rigging the primary elections for Hillary Clinton.

The [[Whistleblower Statutes|whistleblower]] Seth Rich was gunned down execution-style in early July 2016, two weeks before the convention. Wikileaks founder [[Julian Assange]] offered $20,000 cash reward for the arrest and conviction of Seth Rich's killers or killer. Hillary Clinton said of Assange, "Can't we just drone this guy?"<ref>http://truepundit.com/under-intense-pressure-to-silence-wikileaks-secretary-of-state-hillary-clinton-proposed-drone-strike-on-julian-assange/</ref> In October WikiLeaks released a transcript of Hillary's private paid speech to [[Goldman Sachs]]. To silence Assange, Wikileaks internet access was cut within the [[Ecuador]] embassy, where he was granted asylum. Wikileaks Director, Prof. Gavin Macfayden, was found dead the following week. Macfayden's death was the third of a close associate of Assange in 6 months.<ref>https://mobile.twitter.com/wikileaks/status/790004642038050816/photo/1</ref>


''[[USA Today]]'' reported a [[The indictment of 12 Russian nationals, 13 July 2018#Use of Organization 1|37-page indictment]] from special counsel [[Mueller office|Robert Mueller's investigation]] shows that Russians worked to boost the campaign of [[Bernie Sanders]] to damage [[Hillary Clinton]]. Mueller's indictment reads the Russians “engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders."<ref>https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/17/indictment-russians-also-tried-help-bernie-sanders-jill-stein-presidential-campaigns/348051002/</ref>

Sanders hired [[Paul Manafort]] partner Tad Devine of Devine Mulvey Longabaug as his chief strategist.<ref>http://dmlmessage.com/about/</ref> Devine and Manafort worked for the election of [[Putin]] [[crony]] [[Victor Yanukovich]] as President of the [[Ukraine]] in 2010.<ref>https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/07/bernie-sanders-strategist-tad-devine-paul-manafort-files-mueller</ref> In February 2019 Sanders entered the [[2020 presidential election]] and re-hired Devine's company, of which Devine is president.<ref>https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders-hires-top-civil-liberties-advocate-faiz-shakir-as-campaign-manager</ref>

Sanders reminisced about his drunken honeymoon to ''[[Time magazine]]'' in his beloved [[USSR|Soviet Russia]]: {{quotebox|"on our honeymoon, I took Jane to [[Russia]], back when it was still known as the Soviet Union. Russia was an incredible place back then, before the billionaires ruined everything. Who needs 30 different types of deodorant anyway? In the glory days of the [[Soviet Union]], there was one brand, it was called “Deodorant,” and you had to wait four hours in line for it. By the time you got your hands on one, you were sweating so badly, not even the greediest billionaire’s fanciest deodorant could mask the stench. Or as I call it: The sweet smell of [[equality]]!"<ref>https://www.trumprussiaconspiracy.com/2019/01/29/bernie-sanders-and-wife-on-their-honeymoon-in-russia-singing-this-land-is-your-land-with-their-russian-comrades/</ref><ref>https://medium.com/the-haven/bernie-sanders-reminisces-about-honeymoon-in-soviet-union-bcbe3537e06c</ref>}} Vladimir Putin commented on the glory days of the Soviet Union: {{quotebox|"Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain."}}

====Guantanamo Bay====
:{{See also|Guantanamo Bay}}
For all it's moralizing, when the Democratic party enjoyed a veto-proof Congress and the occupied the White House, they refused to override a Presidential declaration of a national emergency, cut off funding and shut down the alleged [[human rights]] abuses occurring at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. Suddenly the issue became "too complex," after years of demagoguery.

===115th Congress===
:{{See also|115th United States Congress|Left-wing violence in the Trump era|Kavanaugh smear}}

====Democrat IT scandal====
:{{Main article|Democrat IT scandal}}
On February 2, 2017 ''Politico'' reported 5 House IT staffers, including 3 brothers later identified as Abid, Imran, and Jamal Awan, were relieved of access to House computers and had been under criminal investigation since late 2016.<ref>https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/house-staffers-investigation-equipment-234586</ref> The brothers managed office information technology for Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee handling matters on war and [[terrorism]].<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2017/02/04/exclusive-house-intelligence-it-staffers-fired-in-computer-security-probe/#ixzz4b5enE6c9</ref> Imran Awan worked for ex-DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz,<ref>https://observer.com/2017/02/imran-awan-democrat-debbie-wasserman-schultz-criminal-investigation/</ref> had access to her iPad and password,<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2017/03/09/suspect-in-house-it-security-probe-also-had-access-to-dnc-emails/n</ref> took $100,000 in cash from an [[Iraq]]i company,<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2017/02/20/exclusive-house-dem-it-guys-in-security-probe-secretly-took-100k-in-iraqi-money/</ref> and was a suspect in the [[leak]]ing of DNC emails to Wikileaks. Despite verbose allegations of "Russian hacking," the DNC never allowed the FBI to examine its servers to determine if indeed the DNC had been hacked, or did the leaks come from an inside source.<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2017/03/09/suspect-in-house-it-security-probe-also-had-access-to-dnc-emails/</ref> The suspects may have been involved in a leak of information that lead to the ambush and death of Navy SEAL William Ryan Owen.<ref>http://www.americanow.com/story/society/2017/02/06/muslim-spy-ring-linked-navy-seals-death</ref> Furthermore, because the suspects were [[Muslim]],<ref>http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-01/house-democrats-delayed-dismissal-it-staff-hackers-because-they-were-muslim-american</ref> their activities were covered up and they were not fired until after the death of Owen. Even then, they were initially relieved of duties without their names being released, two weeks later fired,<ref>https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/house-staff-criminal-investigation-234714</ref> and three weeks after that in a series of press leaks identified as prime suspects in what the media called the "Russian hacking" scandal.

On May 18, 2017, Wasserman Schultz threatened the Capital police chief for impounding evidence in the [[Awan investigation]]. The Awan brothers were former IT specialists working for Wasserman Schultz with access to DNC data, and for House Democrats on the Intelligence Committee.<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2017/05/24/wasserman-schultz-threatened-police-chief-for-gathering-evidence-on-her-it-staffers-alleged-crimes/</ref>

On May 24, 2017 federal prosecutor Beranton J. Whisenant Jr. was found murdered in Florida with a bullet in his head.<ref>https://www.cbsnews.com/news/beranton-whisenant-jr-federal-prosecutor-found-dead-on-florida-beach/</ref><ref>http://www.wptv.com/news/state/federal-prosecutor-beranton-j-whisenant-jr-found-dead-on-hollywood-florida-beach</ref><ref>http://yournewswire.com/voter-fraud-investigator-murdered/</ref><ref>https://steemit.com/chainbb-general/@stevescoins/additional-information-possibly-connected-to-the-whisenant-murder</ref> Curiously, the local police handled the investigation. Ordinarily, in the murder of a federal official, the FBI should investigate.<ref>http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article152629589.html</ref> Whisenant's body was found on a beach in the home congressional district that Wasserman Schultz represents in Congress.

===116th Congress===
:{{See also|116th United States Congress}}

====Marxist insurrection====
[[File:Dnc-tweet-july-4th-2.jpg|left|350px|thumb|The Official Twitter account of the [[Democrat Party]] made a post alleging that a [[4th of July]] celebration was "[[white supremacy]]".<ref>https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/06/29/rubicon-crossed-dnc-official-2020-position-celebrating-july-4th-equals-white-supremacy/</ref>]]

==Symbols==
[[Image:HammerAndSickle.png|right|100px|thumb|Displaying the hammer and sickle is illegal in some parts of the world because of its [[genocidal]] history.]]
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 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.

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.

Some critics refer to the group disparagingly as the [[Democrat Party]].
==Errors==
The Democratic Party official website claims that it has "led the fight for civil rights, health care, Social Security, workers’ rights, and women’s rights" for over 200 years.<ref>https://democrats.org/who-we-are/our-history/</ref> Not only were all three Reconstruction Amendments approved and ratified during a time when both houses of Congress were Republican-majority<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/38th_United_States_Congress</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/39th_United_States_Congress</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40th_United_States_Congress</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/41st_United_States_Congress</ref>, as well as the Nineteentn (giving women the right to vote)<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/66th_United_States_Congress</ref>, but the Democratic Party was founded in 1828, making their website's statement incorrect until January 8, 2028.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United_States)</ref>

==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]] (2009–2017)

==See also==
*[[Racism and the Democratic Party]]
*[[Fifth Column]]
*[[Election shenanigans]]
*[[List of political parties in the United States]]
*[[Clinton Foundation conflicts of interest]]
*[[Ukrainian collusion timeline]]
*[[Democratic party (disambiguation)]]
*[[Previous Breaking News/Democrats|Articles about '''Democrats''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Democrats (Brazil)]]
*[[Essay:History of racism and the Democrats]]

==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. [https://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. [https://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) [https://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. [https://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|colwidth=35em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.democrats.org/ Democratic Party Official Site]
*[https://youtu.be/ou2SAbSqyHg We Are Democrats]
*[https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/socialistvoice/democrats20.html Democratic Party: Disaster for Blacks], by Sy Landy, ''Socialist Voice No. 20 (Winter 1984)''.
*[http://www.demconvention.com/assets/downloads/2008-Democratic-Platform-final.pdf 2008 Democratic Platform (pdf download)]
*[https://www.mintpressnews.com/beyond-the-dnc-leaks-hacks-and-treason/247674/ George Eliason: Beyond the DNC - Leaks, Hacks, and Treason], August 14, 2018.
*[http://bertschlossberg.blogspot.com/2012/11/lawrence-patton-mcdonald-b_15.html A Forgotten Man: Congressman Larry McDonald]
{{Election Fraud}}{{communism}}{{Democrat establishment}}
[[Category:United States Political Organizations]]
[[Category:United States Political Parties]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]][[Category:Misnomers]]
[[Category:Progressive Era]]
[[Category:Gilded Age]]
[[Category:New Deal]]
[[Category:Reagan Era]]
[[Category:Obama Presidency]]
[[Category:Trump-Russia Collusion Hoax]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
[[Category:Jacksonian Democracy]]
[[Category:Liberal Organizations]]
[[Category:Communism]]
[[Category:Racist Organizations]]
[[Category:Hate Groups]]
[[Category:Anti-American]]
[[Category:Anti Second Amendment]]
[[Category:Police State]]
[[Category:Biden Putsch]]

Among Us

2020-11-06T22:54:45Z

Fire$hark: Changed it to include that a game can be played with as little as four players. Also, the term "crewmate" in the first paragraph implies that Impostors cannot report dead bodies, which they can. Also, the body sequence only appears when a body is reported

'''Among Us''' is a video game released by Innersloth. It is an online multiplayer social deduction game. While initially released in 2018 to little mainstream attention, it received an influx of popularity in 2020 due to many well-known Twitch streamers and YouTubers playing it. In response to the game's popularity, a sequel, Among Us 2, was announced in August 2020. However, a month later in September, the planned sequel was cancelled, with the team instead shifting focus to improving the original game.

==Gameplay==

3 to 9 players are crewmates. Their job is to complete tasks and find and eject the impostors from the ship. 1 to 3 players are impostors. Their role is to sabotage and kill everyone onboard. When the players find a dead body, they can report it, and a meeting is called. The impostors must lie and blame others for the murder. If someone sees an impostor go into a vent or they have other reasons to believe a player is an impostor, they can call an emergency meeting.

The Crewmates win by completing all tasks before being killed or by finding and eliminating all the Impostors. For the Impostors to win, they must either have a sabotage countdown run out or kill enough Crewmates such that the number of Impostors is equal to the number of Crewmates. Ghosts help their living teammates by completing tasks (as a Crewmate) or performing sabotages (as an Impostor). When an Impostor performs a sabotage, either there is an immediate consequence (such as all the lights being turned off or doors being closed) or a countdown begins. In the latter case, if the sabotage is not resolved before the countdown finishes, the Impostors win. Sabotages can be resolved by living players in varying ways depending on which sabotage is performed.

The Impostors must lie and deceive during meetings in order to not get caught. It is possible for Impostors to report their own kills (self-reporting). This can increase the Crewmates trust in the Impostor, or do the opposite. The Impostors can go into vents that take them to other locations in the ship to hide, run away, travel faster, or help with kills, but if the Crewmates see this, they know they are an Impostor and can call an emergency meeting to vote them off.

While the host can choose to have up to 3 Impostors, the usual settings are 4-1 Crewmates to Impostor. The 2 most played setups are 5 players, 1 Impostor, and 10 players, 2 Impostors. As you can't have more than 10 players in a game, there is no way to play with 3 Impostors that is considered balanced.

==Issues with cheating==

Because the game is mostly client sided, it is very easy to cheat. Cheats in this game include always being an Impostor, no kill cooldown, seeing who is the Impostor as a crewmate, wall hacking, and ESP. There is no anti-cheat, making cheating even easier. While it is considered pointless to cheat as there is no 'score', people still do.

Definition of atheism

2020-11-02T21:37:12Z

Fire$hark: Undo revision 1700965 by Liberaltears (talk) Didn't explain why it was reverting me.

[[File:Paul-Henri Thiry portrait.jpg|thumb|alt=atheism|right|190px|[[Paul-Henri Thiry]], Baron d'Holbach (1723 - 1789), was an early advocate of atheism in [[Europe]].]]
In terms of contemporary '''definitions of atheism''', the ''Webster-Merriam'' dictionary defines [[atheism]] in two ways: "1) a lack of belief or a strong disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods 2) a philosophical or religious position characterized by disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods."<ref>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism Atheism], ''Webster-Merriam'' dictionary</ref> ''Oxford English Dictionies'' defines atheism as "Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods."<ref>[https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/atheism Atheism], Oxford online dictionary</ref>

Atheism, as defined by the ''[[Stanford University|Stanford]] Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the ''[[Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'', and other [[philosophy]] reference works, is a religion that denies the existence of [[God]].<ref>[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Atheism and Agnosticism]</ref><ref name="cw">[https://creation.com/atheism-is-more-rational Is Atheism More Rational?] by [[Creation Ministries International]]</ref><ref name="Divine">Day, Donn R. (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20140906135211/http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism - etymology"].</ref><ref name="Definition of atheism">[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/definition-of-atheism Definition of atheism] by [[William Lane Craig]]</ref> See also: [[Strong atheism]]

[[Paul Edwards (philosopher)|Paul Edwards]], who was a prominent atheist and editor of the ''[[Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'', defined an atheist as "a person who maintains that there is no God." <ref name="CRI">[http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0131a.html Putting the Atheist on the Defensive] by Kenneth R. Samples, Christian Research Institute Journal, Fall 1991, and Winter 1992, page 7.</ref>

Beginning in the latter portion of the 20th century and continuing beyond, many [[agnosticism|agnostics]] and atheists have argued that the '''definition of atheism''' should be a lack of belief in God or gods.<ref name="Divine"/><ref name="Definition of atheism">[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/definition-of-atheism Definition of atheism] by William Lane Craig</ref><ref name="CRI"/><ref>Britain is a less religious country than the United States and the online Oxford Dictionaries offers both the narrow/broad definitions of atheism (As noted in a previous footnote the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which is a traditional American dictionary, offers a more narrow definition of atheism similar to the definition that major encyclopedias of philosophy use). Oxford Dictionaries: Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/atheism]</ref> See: [[Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism#Purpose of attempting to dilute the definition of atheism|Purpose of redefining atheism]] and [[Weak atheism]]

[[William Lane Craig]] writes:
{{Cquote| If atheism is taken to be [[Atheist worldview|a view]], namely the view that there is no God, then atheists must shoulder their share of the burden of proof to support this view. But many atheists admit freely that they cannot sustain such a burden of proof. So they try to shirk their epistemic responsibility by re-defining atheism so that it is no longer a view but just a psychological condition which as such makes no assertions. They are really closet agnostics who want to claim the mantle of atheism without shouldering its responsibilities.<ref>[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/definition-of-atheism Definition of atheism] by William Lane Craig</ref>}}

See also: [[Atheism and evidence]]

== Historic roots of the word atheism ==

Donn R. Day in his work ''Atheism - [[Etiology]]'' wrote:
{{cquote|These two words, "theos" and "atheos" are the root words from where we get "theism" and "atheism": "ism" means; "Greek -ismos; orig. suffix of action or of state, forming nouns from verbs." It's usage today is a "doctrine, theory, system, etc." (Webster's).

At the time "theos" came in to existence, there was no formal "doctrine of god" so "theism" developed sometime later, most likely during the (French) Enlightenment. This period of time is also when the modern form of "atheism" came into existence as well. This tracing of the development of a word is also part of etymology.

Once more formal doctrines came into being, then the word "theism" was created."Theos" god; "ism", belief or doctrine. Thus, the modern use of the word "theism", belief in God. We must remember, however, that the literal, Greek root for "theism" is "theos". "Atheos" then, in modern usage, means "no/without belief in god". But just like the word "theos" (god) is the root, literal meaning of "theism", so too, "atheos"(no god), is the root word for "atheism". That's why when you look in a dictionary, or encyclopedia under the word "atheism", they list the Greek, literal meaning as, "a denial of god(s)."

The following are the definitions offered by two dictionaries of Etymology. The word is followed by the accepted literal meaning from the Greek root word.

*Atheism: a + theos, denying god, (Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology-1966).

*Atheism: all are coined words from the Greek atheos, denying the gods, a word introduced into the Latin by Cicero in the form; atheos, a-, negative, prefix, and theos, a god, (Etymological Dictionary of English Language-1958)<ref name="Divine"/>}}

== Influential Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy denies atheist request to broaden the definition of atheism ==

Eric Hatfield states at the website ''Is there a God?'' concerning the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'':
{{Cquote|[https://atheistforums.org/thread-9794.html An atheist wrote] to the Stanford Encyclopedia a few years back, requesting the definition be changed to the more modern usage, but the editor declined, pointing out that the older definition was still the one used by philosophers, and saying that [[Antony Flew|Flew]] hadn’t persuaded his peers on this matter. It is worth reading both the letter and the response.<ref>[http://www.is-there-a-god.info/blog/belief/atheists-agnostics-and-theists/ Atheists, agnostics and theists]</ref>}}

== Advocacy of a broader definition of atheism: 19th century and contemporary efforts ==

''See also:'' [[Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism]] and [[Definitions of Atheist and Agnostic|Definitions of atheist and agnostic]]
[[File:Charles Bradlaugh.jpg|thumb|left|175px|[[Charles Bradlaugh]] ]]
As noted above, in the late 19th century and more broadly in the latter portion of the 20th century, the proposition that the definition of atheism be defined as a mere lack of belief in God or gods began.<ref name="Divine"/> It is now common for atheists/[[agnosticism|agnostics]] and [[theism|theists]] to debate the meaning of the word atheism.<ref name="Divine"/><ref>
*[http://www.apatheticagnostic.com/articles/meds2/med40/med796.html The Atheism Vs. Agnosticism “Debate”]
*[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/atheism Oxford Dictionaries]. Oxford Dictionaries, due to their British influence (Atheism is more popular in Britain than in the United States and many other countries where English is spoken, see: [[Atheist Population|Atheist population]] and [[Secular Europe]] and [[Atheism statistics]]), now offers the definition of atheism to be "Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods." which is a departure from its historical meaning before a broader definition of atheism began to be more widely advocated in the latter portion of the 20th century (see: [http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism - etymology"])</ref>

Critics of a broader definition of atheism to be a mere lack of belief indicate that such a definition is contrary to the traditional/historical meaning of the word and that such a definition makes atheism indistinguishable from the word [[agnosticism]].<ref name="Divine"/><ref>
*[http://www.apatheticagnostic.com/articles/meds2/med40/med796.html The Atheism Vs. Agnosticism “Debate”]
*[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/definition-of-atheism Definition of atheism] by [[William Lane Craig]]
*[http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0131a.html Putting the Atheist on the Defensive] by Kenneth R. Samples, Christian Research Institute Journal, Fall 1991, and Winter 1992, page 7.
*[http://carm.org/cut-atheism Atheism] by Matt Slick
</ref>

The English agnostic [[Charles Bradlaugh]], in 1876, proposed that atheism does not assert "there is no God," and by doing so he endeavored to dilute the traditional definition of atheism.<ref>Discussion on Atheism: Report of a Public Discussion Between the Rev. Brewin Grant, B.A., and C. Bradlaugh, Esq., Held in South Place Chapel, Finsbury, London, on Tuesday Evenings, Commencing June 22, and Ending July 27, 1875, on the Question, "Is Atheism Or is Christianity the True Secular Gospel, as Tending to the Improvement and Happiness of Mankind in this Life by Human Efforts and Material Means.". Brewin Grant Charles Bradlaugh, January 1, 1890, Anti-liberation Society, page 10-12 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Dwk3yV5MOaAC&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=Charles+Bradlaugh+definition+of+atheism&source=bl&ots=JtjIlK7qaJ&sig=E0HjYgfEyKXdEA4zlLAd9m41cQU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEgQ6AEwB2oVChMIrcijucWLyAIVCXA-Ch00NACw#v=onepage&q=Charles%20Bradlaugh%20definition%20of%20atheism&f=false]</ref>
Since 1979, many atheists have followed Bradlaugh's thinking further and stated that atheism is merely a lack of belief in any god.<ref name="Divine"/> The claim that atheism is mothing more than a mere absence of belief has been refuted by several atheists themselves and by ''7 Myths You Still Believe About Religion'', a video by Canadian YouTuber Matthew Santoro. The motive for such a shift in meaning appears to be to an attempt to shift the burden of proof regarding the existence of God to the [[theism]] side.<ref name="Divine"/>

In the article, ''Is Atheism Presumptuous''?, atheist [[Jeffery Jay Lowder]], a founder of [[Internet Infidels]] which owns and operates the Secular Web (the Secular Web is a website focused on promoting atheism, agnostics and [[Philosophical skepticism|skeptics]] on the internet), states that "I agree (with Copan) that anyone who claims, "God does not exist," must shoulder a burden of proof just as much as anyone who claims, "God exists."<ref name="Divine"/>
In short, the attempt to redefine atheism is merely an attempt to make no assertions so no facts need be offered. The attempt to redefine atheism, however, is not in accordance with the standard definitions of atheism that encyclopedias of philosophy employ which is that atheism is a denial of the existence of God or gods.<ref name="Divine"/>

The purpose of all these exercises in redefinition is to try to slant the rhetorical playing field in favor of the atheists and against believers:
*By redefining atheism to include agnosticism, they both boost their numbers - there are many non-religious folks who will admit they aren't sure whether God exists, but far fewer who have the presumptousness to claim to know for a fact that He does not - and also make their case easier to make (an agnostic, to justify their agnosticism, need only overcome the positive evidence in favor of God's existence; an atheist, in addition to that, must also find positive evidence against God's existence)
*By redefining atheism so that babies are atheists, they try to falsely paint atheism as some sort of ''natural state'', despite the fact that religion is a universal across human cultures, up until modern times; there is no traditional culture which totally lacks religious beliefs, and religious belief goes back thousands of years
*By ignoring the definition of traditional God (which refers to an omnipotent being, not a more limited being such as that found in Greek mythology), they try to claim that ''Christians are atheists'', with respect to all the gods of mythology. However, this specious argument ignores the fact that these other supposed beings are not Gods, only gods. There can only be one God, when the definition of God includes omnipotence.

=== William Lane Craig on attempts to define the word atheism ===
[[Image:Billcraig_czvx.jpg‎‎|thumb|150px|[[William Lane Craig]] ]]
William Lane Craig declared:
{{cquote|There’s a history behind this. Certain atheists in the mid-twentieth century were promoting the so-called “presumption of atheism.” At face value, this would appear to be the claim that in the absence of evidence for the existence of God, we should presume that God does not exist. Atheism is a sort of default position, and the theist bears a special burden of proof with regard to his belief that God exists....

But when you look more closely at how protagonists of the presumption of atheism used the term “atheist,” you discover that they were defining the word in a non-standard way, synonymous with “non-theist." So understood the term would encompass agnostics and traditional atheists, along with those who think the question meaningless (verificationists)...

Such a re-definition of the word “atheist” trivializes the claim of the presumption of atheism, for on this definition, atheism ceases to [[Atheist worldview|be a view]]. It is merely a psychological state which is shared by people who hold various views or no view at all. On this re-definition, even babies, who hold no opinion at all on the matter, count as atheists! In fact, our cat Muff counts as an atheist on this definition, since she has (to my knowledge) no belief in God.

One would still require justification in order to know either that God exists or that He does not exist, which is the question we’re really interested in.

So why, you might wonder, would atheists be anxious to so trivialize their position? Here I agree with you that a [[Atheism and deception|deceptive game]] is being played by many atheists. If atheism is taken to be a view, namely the view that there is no God, then atheists must shoulder their share of the burden of proof to support this view.<ref name="Definition of atheism">[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/definition-of-atheism Definition of atheism] by William Lane Craig</ref>}}

== Weak atheism and strong atheism ==

''See also:'' [[Weak Atheism|Weak atheism]] and [[Strong atheism]]
[[File:Baby picture.jpg|thumbnail|left|200px|[[Weak atheism]] is an individual merely lacking a belief in God/gods. Using this broad definition of definition of atheism, there are atheists who argue that babies are atheists.<ref>[https://carm.org/are-babies-born-atheists Are babies born atheists?] by Matt Slick</ref>]]
Many atheists like to make a distinction between ''[[strong atheism]]'' and ''[[Weak Atheism|weak atheism]]''. They define ''strong atheism'' as believing God does not exist, while ''weak atheism'' as neither believing nor disbelieving. However, this usage is incorrect, and has been invented by atheists to boost their numbers. If you believe God does not exist, you are an atheist. If you neither believe nor disbelieve, you aren't an atheist, you are some kind of agnostic.

[[Weak atheism]] is an individual merely lacking a belief in God/gods. Using this broad definition of definition of atheism, there are atheists who argue that babies are atheists.<ref>[https://carm.org/are-babies-born-atheists Are babies born atheists?] by Matt Slick</ref> Babies, just because they haven't learnt the concept of "God" yet, are not atheists. To be an atheist, you must have encountered the idea of "God", and chosen to reject it. A baby isn't even an agnostic, since an agnostic has encountered the idea, and isn't personally sure whether it is right, or even thinks we'll never know if it is. A baby hasn't encountered the idea yet.

=== Traditional definition of atheism, strong atheism and accusations of dogmatism ===

*[[Atheism, dogmatism and strong atheism]]

== Implicit and explicit atheism ==

''See also:'' [[Implicit and explicit atheism]]
[[File:Implict atheism and explicit atheism.png|thumbnail|A diagram showing the relationship between the definitions of [[weak atheism]]/[[strong atheism]] and Implicit/explicit atheism. See: [[Implicit and explicit atheism]] ]]
Implicit atheism and explicit atheism are types of atheism coined by the atheist George H. Smith. Smith belonged to the [[Objectivism|objectivist]] school of atheist thought.<ref>[http://www.anthonyflood.com/smithatheism.htm Rebuttal of George S. Smith's book Atheism: The Case Against God]</ref> See also: [[Schools of atheist thought]].

Implicit atheism as defined by Smith is "the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it", while explicit atheism is "the absence of theistic belief due to a conscious rejection of it".<ref>Smith, George H. (1979). Atheism: The Case Against God. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus. pp. 13–18. ISBN 0-87975-124-X.</ref>

Due to various research findings in the [[social science]]s, global [[desecularization]], the increase of religious immigration to the [[Western World]] and other developments, the usefulness of the terms implicit and explicit atheism has diminished (see: [[Implicit and explicit atheism]]).

== Atheism is a religion ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism is a religion]]
[[File:Sanderson Jones.jpg|thumbnail|left|200px|The [[British atheism|British atheist]] Sanderson Jones is a founder of the [[Sunday Assembly]] "atheist church" movement.<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/06/atheist-church-split_n_4550456.html Atheist Church Split: Sunday Assembly And Godless Revival's 'Denominational Chasm'], Huffington Post, 2014</ref> ]]
[[Atheism is a religion]] and this has implications in terms of the disciplines of [[religion]], philosophy, [[Christian apologetics]] and law.<ref>[https://creation.com/atheism-a-religion Is Atheism a religion?] by Daniel Smartt, Published: 4 May 2010(GMT+10)</ref> In addition, although many atheists deny that [[Atheist worldview|atheism is a worldview]], atheists commonly share a [[Atheism and beliefs|number of beliefs]] such as [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]], [[Evolution|belief in evolution]] and [[Origin of life|abiogenesis]].<ref>
*[http://carm.org/atheism-worldview Is atheism a worldview?] by Matt Slick of [[CARM]]
*[http://www.apologetics.net/post/Atheism-a-worldview.aspx Atheism a worldview?]
*[http://www.apologetics.net/post/Atheism-is-a-worldview-%28II%29.aspx Atheism is a worldview II]
*[http://www.rzim.eu/the-scandanavian-sceptic-or-why-atheism-is-a-belief-system The Scandanavian Sceptic (or Why Atheism Is a Belief System)] by [[Ravi Zacharias|Ravi Zacharias International Ministries]]
</ref>

If the view that there is no God (or are no gods) is a religion, it is argued its expression is constitutionally protected in the [[United States]].<ref>The Supreme Court has said a religion need not be based on a belief in the existence of a supreme being. In the 1961 case of [[Torcaso v. Watkins]], the court described "[[secular humanism]]" as a religion. [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45874 Court rules atheism is a religion]</ref> The government cannot force atheists to recant and adopt the opposite belief.

If atheism is not a religion, then the expression of atheistic ideas is still covered by the First Amendment, but only by the [[free speech]] and [[free press]] clauses.

The implications go deeper, affecting [[public education]]. If atheism is a religion, then the atheism adhering to the [[methodological naturalism]] of [[physical science]] cannot be given excessive government support. That would violate the [[establishment of religion]] clause. So, [[evolution]] education would have to allow students freedom to dissent from the "orthodox" [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] view that human beings evolved from earlier forms of life without any intervention from God. It should be noted that biology courses only require knowledge of what the theory of evolution, its mechanisms, and the evidence supporting it, rather than belief that evolution occurred.<ref>See [[Kenneth Miller]]'s testimony in ''Selden v. Cobb County', available at [http://ncse.com/files/pub/legal/selman/district_court/20041108_testimony_rogers_mccoy.txt], p. 178</ref>

In 2013, a trend of atheist services began and atheist services were reported in the ''[[New York Times]]'', '' [[The Blaze]]'' and other major news outlets.<ref>
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/24/us/in-the-bible-belt-offering-atheists-a-spiritual-home.html?_r=0 In the Bible belt offering atheists a spiritual home - NY Times, 6/24/2013]
*[Bizarre Trend: Atheist Sunday Morning ‘Worship’ Services Are on the Rise (Minus God, of Course)]
*[http://gawker.com/5973377/londons-first-atheist-church-opens-tomorrow London's First Atheist Church Opens Tomorrow]</ref>

== Common argument by atheists relating to the defining of atheism ==

Another specious atheist argument is "Christians are atheists about all Gods but one". But this ignores that ''god'' is used in two different ways. Little-g god, refers to a limited being, like the gods of mythology, with immense but not absolute power. It is possible for multiple such limited beings to exist. Capital-G God, refers to an omnipotent being, as conceived in religions such as Judaism and Christianity. It is impossible for there to exist more than one omnipotent being - what happens if two omnipotent beings have a disagreement? So, Zeus is not comparable to the Christian God, and the Christian's disbelief in Zeus is not a form of atheism.

Also, Christians need not deny the existence of the gods of other religions, and hence can not truly be called atheists with respect to them:
*A traditional belief in Christianity (see {{bibleref|1Corinthians|10|20}}) is that the gods of other religions may be demons presenting themselves as gods. So, a Christian may not deny the existence of Zeus, but understand Zeus very differently from how his worshippers back in ancient times would have (as an evil demon rather than as a good spirit)
*Another Christian belief is that other religions are distorted versions of the religion originally revealed by God. As such, they do not believe in different gods, but in the same God as the Christian; but only the Christian has an undistorted view of God, while the other religions are laboring under distorted ideas of His nature. It is like comparing a distorted rumour about a person to an accurate account; the accounts can be so different that they seem like different people, even though they are actually both about the same person (but one is accurate, the other highly inaccurate). So too may it be for the various religions and God.

== Quotes ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism Quotes|Atheism quotes]]

*"The [[Atheist movement|"atheist" movement]] keeps shooting itself in the foot by failing to reach a consensus regarding the meaning of "atheism." - atheist [[Jeffery Jay Lowder]]<ref>[http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/meyer/170930 Defining Atheism can be a liability Part I] by Robert Meyer</ref><ref>[http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/atheism-symbols-atheist-symbols Atheism Symbols - Atheist Symbols] by Ken Ammon at [[True Freethinker]]</ref><ref>[http://naturalisticatheism.blogspot.com/2006/01/disagreement-among-self-described.html Disagreement Among Self-Described Atheists about the Meaning of "Atheism"] by Jeffery Jay Lowder</ref>

*"But lack of evidence, if indeed evidence is lacking, is no grounds for atheism. No one thinks there is good evidence for the proposition that there are an even number of stars; but also, no one thinks the right conclusion to draw is that there are an uneven number of stars. The right conclusion would instead be agnosticism." - [[Alvin Plantinga]]<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2016/05/evidence-for-atheism.html Evidence for atheism?]</ref>

== See also ==

*[[Atheism and beliefs]]
*[[Atheism and belief]]
*[[Atheist worldview]]
*[[Atheism and evidence]]
*[[Schools of atheist thought]]
*[[Atheist factions]]
*[[Definitions of Atheist and Agnostic]]
*[[Types of agnosticism]]
*[[Atheism is a religion]]
*[[Atheism Quotes|Atheism quotes]]

Debate:

*[[Debate:Is atheism a religion?]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-definition-that-will-not-die The Definition of Atheism That Will Not Die!] by William Lane Craig
*[http://evidenceforjesuschrist.org/Pages/apologetics/the-meaning-of-atheism.htm The meaning of atheism] by Dr. Gregory S. Neal
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbVpdQnmCTc Rebranding Atheism: Flew's Folly, Redefining Atheism to Avoid Refutation]
*[http://www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth11.html Why the Burden of Proof is on the Atheist] by Professor Ralph McInerny

{{Nb Atheism}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Atheism]]

Ku Klux Klan

2020-11-02T17:49:35Z

Fire$hark: Undo revision 1700875 by Liberaltears (talk) Doesn't explain why it was reverting me.

[[File:Ku-Klux-Klan-By-Democrats-For-Democrats-600x600.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The Klan was founded as the militant terrorist arm of the [[Democratic party]].]]
The '''Ku Klux Klan''' ('''KKK''') is the traditional militant terrorist wing of the [[Democratic party|Democrat Party]]. In 2014 it was announced the Klan opened its doors to [[Jew]]s, [[homosexual]]s, [[black]]s and people of [[Hispanic]] origin.<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2828425/The-Ku-Klux-Klan-opens-door-Jews-black-people-homosexuals-new-recruits-wear-white-robes-hats.html</ref>

It had three incarnations in the USA. Several prominent Democrats were members of the KKK including Democrat [[Robert Byrd]], who was a U.S. Senator from [[West Virginia]] for more than 50 years and who had led his local KKK chapter, and Democrat [[Hugo Black]], who was appointed to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] by [[FDR]] and became the Justice most hostile to [[classroom prayer]] and [[Christianity]] in public life. Despite the Democrat-KKK connection, however, liberals (who falsely claim that the pre-1964 Democrats were a "conservative" party) similarly falsely claim the KKK to be a "right-wing" organization.

The Klan beginning in the 1860s was a violent effort by white Southern Democrats to fight [[Republican]] [[Reconstruction]] efforts and recognizing full citizenship rights of Blacks after the [[Civil War]]. Reconstruction was ended as a political compromise to resolve the exceedingly close presidential election of 1876. Owing to this, the Klan Democrats often targeted those belonging to the Republican Party with death.

The second Klan flourished nationwide for a few years in the 1920s as state and district organizers profited handsomely by signing up millions of members, selling them distinctive white-robe costumes. The Klan voiced strong support for prohibition, opposed sexual immorality and promoted [[racism]], anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism and immigration restriction. Dramatic scandals inside the organization and lack of organizational structure caused the Klan to collapse quickly in the late 1920s. By 1928 it was practically defunct.

The third Klan comprised unrelated hate groups that sprang up in the South in the 1960s to fight integration, but it largely fell apart with the defeat of [[President Jimmy Carter]] in 1980.<ref>http://www.fumento.com/arson/wsjfire.html</ref>

Violent [[leftist]]s, who founded the Klan and have been loyal [[Democrat]]s since its original inception, are now appealing to groups they had previously persecuted.<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2828425/The-Ku-Klux-Klan-opens-door-Jews-black-people-homosexuals-new-recruits-wear-white-robes-hats.html</ref>

==First KKK==
[[File:Lynch.jpg|thumb|450px|right|The first victims (yellow line) were Republican [[carpetbagger]]s; once they were driven out the Democrats turned on Blacks (blue line). Source: Historical Statistics of the U.S., and is based on the 1952 Negro year Book.]]
:{{See also|Insurrection_Act#Posse_Comitatus_Act}}
The first KKK was an movement of white Southerners who opposed [[Reconstruction]]. It was founded in 1866 by members of the [[Democrat Party]] to inflicting violence against black leaders and white Republicans.<ref>http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan</ref> Its purpose was to take control and return Democrats to power. One of the founders, and the first "Grand Wizard," was former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Attempts were made to break up the Klan by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and the U.S. Army using the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act).

Republicans stripped [[white]] [[male]]s who engaged in rebellion against the [[United States]] of the [[vote]], and gave it to Blacks. Newly freed Blacks held local, state and federal elected and non-elected positions as Republicans. The white males who were deprived of the vote were also barred from holding any civil service position and were universally Democrats. This disenfranchisement created enormous resentment among Democrats, so they formed the Ku Klux Klan to engage in voter intimidation and suppression.
[[Image:Artoon.jpg|left|200px|thumb|A political cartoon depicting the KKK and the Democrat Party as continuations of the Confederacy]]
The Ku Klux Klan started attacking Black Republican conventions. At the Republican convention in Louisiana, the Klan joined with [[New Orleans]] police and New Orleans' Democrat mayor. The New Orleans Republican convention was attacked. 40 Blacks and 20 whites were killed. Another 150 were wounded. In 1868 the Democrats put out push cards in South Carolina listing what they called the 'radical' members of the South Carolina legislature. A push card is about the size of a baseball card. The cards had the pictures of 63 legislators they wanted to kill. 50 of the legislators were Black and 13 were white. All 63 were Republicans. On the back of the was the name of the legislator.

In 1872 Congress held hearings on the Klan. Democrat leaders from Democrat States admitted under oath unequivocally that the Klan belonged to the Democrat party and their propose was to restore control in Southern states to the Democratic party. The Congressional Hearings make up 13 volumes. Black congressmen John Roy Lynch and Richard Cain went to Congress armed for fear of Klan attacks. Blacks testified that they instructed by the Klan and Democrats that, if they would stop voting the Republican ticket and would agree to vote the straight Democrat ticket, all the violence against Blacks would stop.

By 1876, the situation had become ungovernable for Republicans.<ref>"the Compromise of 1877, which resolved the disputed presidential election of 1876 by awarding the presidency to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes (who had lost the popular vote) in exchange for the removal of federal troops from the South after the Civil War (which benefited Democrats, who wished to end Reconstruction and return white supremacy to southern state governments)." [https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-gilded-age/gilded-age/a/gilded-age-politics-patronage Gilded Age politics: patronage]. khanacademy.org</ref> The Republicans had been able to pass the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments which guaranteed Blacks basic equality and civil rights, but eventually had to declare an amnesty for whites who engaged in rebellion. Reconstruction ended, and Republicans withdrew from [[social engineering]] which had divided the country so deeply and stirred up such bitterness and hatred among Democrats toward both Blacks and Republicans. Reconstruction earned Republicans the undying [[hatred]] of Democrats.<ref>See for example [https://youtu.be/-yY7g2jOquM James O'Keefe debate with Hairy Hillbilly Hippie] for an example of a partisan Democrat who votes against his own economic interests.</ref><ref>See excerpt from [[Dinesh D'Souza]]'s, ''[https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dinesh-dsouza-the-secret-history-of-the-democratic-party Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party]'', Regnery Publishing, July 18, 2016.</ref>

[[African American]]s in the South were left to the mercy of increasingly hostile state governments dominated by white Democratic legislatures; neither the legislatures, law enforcement or the courts worked to protect freedmen.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties|author=Finkelman, Paul|year=2006}}</ref> As [[Democrats]] regained power in the late 1870s, they struggled to suppress black voting through intimidation and fraud at the polls. [[Paramilitary]] groups such as the [[Red Shirts]] acted on behalf of the Democrats to suppress black voting. From 1890 to 1908, 10 of the 11 former Confederate states passed disfranchising constitutions or amendments,<ref>{{cite book|title=Democracy's Privileged Few|author=Chafetz, Joshua Aaron|year=2007}}</ref> with provisions for [[poll tax]]es,<ref name="Klarman, Michael J. 2004">{{cite book|title=From Jim Crow to Civil Rights|author=Klarman, Michael J.|year=2004}}</ref> residency requirements, [[literacy test]]s,<ref name="Klarman, Michael J. 2004"/> and [[grandfather clause]]s that effectively disfranchised most black voters and many poor white people. The disfranchisement also meant that black people could not serve on juries or hold any political office, which were restricted to voters; those who could not vote were excluded from the political system.
[[File:FDR Truman and KKK.jpeg|right|200px|thumb|Despite historical revisionism, FDR and Truman were in bed with the Klan.]]
According to the BrainPOP movie about Reconstruction, the first iteration of the KKK began to decline during the presidency of [[Rutherford Birchard Hayes]].

==Second KKK: The 1920s==
The second KKK was a nonviolent membership organization in the 1920s that reached hundreds of thousands—possibly millions—of men in every state. It was mostly a [[Ponzi scheme]], whereby the organizers took all the money (for initiation fees and costumes). When they had organized an area they moved on, leaving local chapters without money or leadership. No prominent American admitted he was a member at the time, but state organizers claimed vast powers. There is a possibility that some local Klans in the deep South engaged in violence against blacks, but historians are unsure; allegations of systematic violence were common but have not been verified. In recent years historians have found enough records to show that local chapters were primarily discussion groups, often with speakers who denounced Catholics, Jews, crime and violation of the prohibition laws.

A series of scandals rocked the KKK's reputation and the group somewhat faded after the 1924 Democratic National Convention.

In 1937 President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] appointed Alabama Senator [[Hugo Black]] to the Supreme Court. Black was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and built his career campaigning at Klan meetings. In ''Korematsu v. the United States'', Black voted to uphold [[President Roosevelt]]'s mass arrests and incarceration of [[Japanese]] men, women, and children based on [[race]].

==Third Klan==
The third Klan currently exists and comprises a few thousand members in local chapters. There is no real organization, and the group sponsors vehement hate talk as well as occasional violent threats and actions. It is racist and aims at the suppression of African-American, Jewish, homosexual, and Catholic interests. The current Klan presents itself as a "Christian" organization, but all denominations have rejected it as inherently non-Christian. Some Klansmen today practice [[Christian Identity]], which has also been condemned by every other [[Christian]] denomination.
[[File:KKKrally1946.JPG|left|300px|thumb|Ku Klux Klan rally, unknown location, August, 1951]]
Democrat Sen. [[Robert Byrd]] joined the Klan in the 1940s and was unanimously elected to the rank of [[Exalted Cyclops]] for his inborn leadership skills.<ref name="washingtonpost.com">Pianin, Eric. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html A Senator's Shame: Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK]. Washington Post, 2005-06-19, pp. A01</ref><ref>https://allthatsinteresting.com/famous-kkk-members</ref> He repeatedly expressed his desire for the Klan to expand to its previous size and power, once remarking in a letter that "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the nation." <ref>King, Colbert I. [http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/commentary/works/king2.html Sen. Byrd: The view from Darrell's barbershop], Washington Post, March 2, 2002</ref>
[[File:RR-KKK.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Ronald Reagan]] starred as the crusading district attorney battling the Klan in this 1951 film.<ref>See [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044075/usercomments analysis of film]</ref>]]
Byrd commented on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military. In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'', Graham Smith referred to a letter written that year by Byrd, when he was 28 years old, to fellow Klansman Sen. [[Theodore Bilbo]] of [[Mississippi]], in which Byrd vowed never to fight: {{Cquote|Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.}} Bilbo told ''[[Meet the Press]]'' in a 1949 interview: {{cquote|No man can leave the Klan. He takes an oath not to do that. Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux.<ref>[http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf Robert L. Fleegler, "Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938–1947"],''The Journal of Mississippi History'', Spring 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160103063503/http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf]</ref>}}
Democrats tried to block passage of the [[bi-partisan]] [[1964 Civil Rights Act]] by filibustering for 75 hours, led by a 14-hour and 13-minute speech by the Exalted Cyclops Sen. Byrd.<ref>{{cite news|title=Byrd Says He Regrets Voting For Patriot Act |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Common Dreams NewsCenter|Common Dreams]] |date=February 28, 2006 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |accessdate=|deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919043913/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |archivedate=September 19, 2006 }}</ref> The law was intended to block Republican gains in the South followed by buying off Blacks with [[Great Society]] [[welfare]] and [[affirmative action]] programs. By the 1960s the Klan was so thoroughly infiltrated by [[FBI]] informers, the joke existed that a Klan cell of 6 members often consisted of 5 FBI informants and one klansman. In 1981 when the Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in 28 years, the Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd was again elected Democrat Senate Leader to oppose [[Ronald Reagan]].

[[David Duke]] was a [[Democrat]] at the time of his official membership with the Klan and founded the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP). Duke quit the Klan and the Democrat party and was elected to the Louisiana state legislature. When Duke registered to run for higher office in a Republican primary, the [[Republican National Committee]] disavowed Duke and repudiated his racist views.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-1176548.html RNC Condemns Ex-Klansman Duke], ''[[Washington Post]]'', February 25, 1989. {{dead link}}</ref>

==21st Century==
By the 1990s there were fewer than 10,000 members of the Klan. Many so-called "chapters" or "hate groups," as measured by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]'s newsletter ''Klanwatch'', consisted of a single individual. The threat emanating from the Klan was often exaggerated to serve as a fundraising tool for anti-racist watchdog organizations. Chat rooms and discussion boards were set up by anti-racist watchdog groups in the hopes of baiting in a young person to identify who may be susceptible to extremist recruiting. These chat rooms and discussion groups also served the dual purpose of making the Klan threat appear larger than it actually was for fundraising purposes.
[[File:Blmhillary (1).jpg|left|350px|thumb|The teaching of [[Black history]] has led to a new appreciation of the [[Democratic party]]'s role in relationship to Blacks.]]
During the [[2016 U.S. presidential election]], the KKK (along with former Klansman [[David Duke]]), in possible [[collusion]] with the Democrat Party, pretended to "support" [[Donald Trump]] for President as part of a strategy to discredit Trump and make sure he would lose the election by making a false connection between the KKK and the Republicans (as the Democrats have done since 1964<ref>[http://www.blackandblondemedia.com/2009/01/14/democrat-race-lie/ The Democrat Race Lie] at Black & Right</ref>). However, because the Republicans have always opposed the KKK and despise what it stands for,<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/2016/07/the-ugly-history-of-democratic-suppression-of-blacks/ The Ugly History of Democratic Suppression of Blacks] at WND</ref> and because the Democrat-KKK connection is public knowledge despite the efforts of Democrats and liberals (particularly in the [[mainstream media]]) to bury and deny this historic fact,<ref>[http://blackrepublican.blogspot.ca/2015/10/the-ku-klux-klan-was-terrorist-arm-of_56.html The Ku Klux Klan was the Terrorist Arm of the Democrat Party]</ref> the KKK scheme to try to discredit Trump by publicly pretending to endorse him backfired as he rejected the "endorsement" and the public saw through the KKK's ruse, leading KKK Grand Dragon Will Quigg, who formerly pretended to support Trump, to show his and his organization's true colors, and those of the Democrats, by now publicly supporting Democrat nominee [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>[https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-14/ku-klux-klan-grand-dragon-will-quigg-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Will Quigg Endorses Hillary Clinton for President] at U.S. News & World Report</ref> Hillary, who has [[Hillary Rodham Clinton#Racism|her own history of racism]] and whose mentor, late Democrat senator Robert Byrd, was himself a longtime KKK member,<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> did not reject the KKK's campaign endorsement of her, which was one of the contributing factors toward her downfall in the election as Trump won the presidency, ultimately making the Democrat-KKK scheme against him fruitless. In multiple [[George Soros]] funded protests against Trump, many liberals dressed themselves in KKK robes and pretended to "support" Trump, holding signs that said "KKK wants Trump" and "Make America White Again" while the DNC created an attack ad claiming that the KKK is "actively supporting" Trump.<ref>https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bQOYADCDSyY</ref>
When it was announced that Barack Obama had won the presidential election, students from an American university posted to social media a picture of a dummy of Obama being lynched.

==Bibliography==
* Newton, Michael, and Judy Ann Newton. ''The Ku Klux Klan: An Encyclopedia''. (1991).
* Alexander, Charles. “Kleagles and Cash.” . ''The Business History Review.'' (1965) Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 348–367
* Chalmers, David. ''Hooded Americanism.'' (1987), an older survey
* Dray, Philip. ''At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America'', (2002).
* Feldman, Glenn. ''Politics, Society, and the Klan in Alabama, 1915-1949''. (1999).
* Fryer, Jr. Roland G. and Steven D. Levitt. "Hatred and Profits: Getting under the Hood of the Ku Klux Klan," ''National Bureau of Economic Research,'' September 2007, [http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/13417.html abstract]; [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:cyuQ-5WfsXAJ:www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers/Hatred%2520and%2520Profits,%2520Getting%2520Under%2520the%2520Hood%2520of%2520the%2520Ku%2520Klux%2520Klan.pdf+%22Hatred+and+Profits%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us full text online]
* George, John, and Laird Wilcox. ''American Extremists: Militias, Supremacists, Klansmen, Communists & Others'' (1996) 443 pgs. [http://www.questia.com/library/book/american-extremists-militias-supremacists-klansmen-communists-and-others-by-john-george-laird-wilcox.jsp online edition]
* Glaeser, Edward L. “The Political Economy of Hatred.” ''Quarterly Journal of Economics.'' 2005. Vol. 120, No. 1, pp. 45–86. [http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/qjec.2005.120.1.45 abstract], goes well beyond the KKK
* Goldberg, Robert Alan. ''Hooded Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado.'' (1981).
* Horn, Stanley F. ''Invisible Empire: The Story of the Ku Klux Klan, 1866-1871'', (1939)
::Horn, born in 1889, was a Southern historian who was sympathetic to the first Klan, which, in a 1976 oral interview,<ref>http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/Research/ohisrch.html</ref> he was careful to distinguish from the later "spurious Ku Klux organization which was in ill-repute—and, of course, had no connection whatsoever with the Klan of Reconstruction days."
* Jackson, Kenneth T. ''The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930.'' (1992)
* MacLean, Nancy. ''Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan.'' (1994)
* McVeigh, Rory. “Power Devaluation, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Democratic National Convention of 1924.” ''Sociological Forum'' 2001. 16(1):1-30.
* Moore, Leonard J. ''Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921-1928'' (1991). [http://www.questia.com/library/book/citizen-klansmen-the-ku-klux-klan-in-indiana-1921-1928-by-leonard-j-moore.jsp online edition]
* Parsons, Elaine Frantz, "Midnight Rangers: Costume and Performance in the Reconstruction-Era Ku Klux Klan." ''The Journal of American History'' 92.3 (2005): 811–36. [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/92.3/parsons.html in History Cooperative]
* Pegram, Thomas R. "Hoodwinked: The Anti-Saloon League and the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Prohibition Enforcement." ''Journal of Gilded Age and Progressive era'' 7.1 (2008): [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jga/7.1/pegram.html online].
* Rhodes, James Ford. ''History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896. Volume: 7.'' (1920)
* Trelease, Allen W. ''White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction'' (1995).
* Wade, Wyn Craig. ''The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America''. (1987); a highly negative account of all three Klans, based on extensive research but not familiar with recent scholarship.

==References==
<references/>

==Critical external links==
* [http://reactor-core.org/original-kkk.html The History of the Original Ku Klux Klan] - by an anonymous author sympathetic to the original Klan {{dead link}}
* W. S. Simkins, "Why the Ku Klux," 4 ''The Alcalde'' (June 1916): 735–748. [http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/simkins.html online]; Simkins (1842-1929) was an organizer of the KKK in Florida in 1868, and a law professor when he wrote this memoir.
* [http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixA.htm Full text of the Klan Act of 1871]
**[http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixB.htm simplified version]
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-694 Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era] (New Georgia Encyclopedia)
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2730 Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century] (New Georgia Encyclopedia)

[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Hate Groups]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Liberalism]]
[[Category:United States Political Scandals]]
[[Category:Reconstruction]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Terrorism]]
[[Category:Racist Organizations]]
[[Category:Gangs]]
[[Category:Anti Second Amendment]]
[[Category:Gun Control]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Biden Supporters]]

Definition of atheism

2020-11-02T17:48:38Z

Fire$hark: Undo revision 1700874 by Conservative (talk) Previous edit didn't explain why it was reverting me.

Definition of atheism

2020-11-02T01:59:31Z

Fire$hark: /* Advocacy of a broader definition of atheism: 19th century and contemporary efforts */

Video games

2020-11-02T01:44:36Z

Fire$hark: /* Violence */

A '''video game''' is an electronic game, which is played on a device such as a [[computer]] or console. Video games are generally designed to be [[addiction|addictive]], as this helps to build and maintain a profitable user base, and sell the product to those who may try it.

Violent video games are particularly addictive and harmful for teenage boys and young men. Often the more violent a game is, the better it sells. '''''Many of the [[young mass murderers]] have been linked to addictions to violent video games, and video games are also associated with dropping out of school, obesity, and other bad effects'''''. The video game industry is criticized for exploiting its workers, too.

At least one study showed that "young men are playing video games instead of getting jobs," as reported by the ''Chicago Tribune''.<ref>https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-video-games-jobs-emploment-20160923-story.html</ref>

Replacing a habit of playing violent video games with a hobby of playing the more mentally challenging game of [[chess]], which millions of competitors are playing online daily, is a great way to break the harmful video game [[addition]].

== Nature of video games ==
Video games vary greatly in type and complexity, but all games are alike in that they translate player input (from a controller, mouse, keyboard or motion sensor) into onscreen actions. Games are often stored on some sort of digital media - ROM cartridge, [[CD]], [[DVD]], flash memory chip, or even cassette tape for early computer games. Older or less expensive games sometimes used dedicated chips which were pre-programmed to play certain games only. In recent years, game developers have moved to digital distribution, allowing customers to purchase game licenses online, and download over the internet. On PCs, this is often done through marketplaces such as Valve corporation's Steam service, or Electronic Arts' Origin service, while the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have their own digital distribution services.

Home consoles are classified by ''generation'' to indicate their relative power and date of release. The current major consoles (Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch) are considered ''eight generation''. Handheld consoles are not generally put into generations due to their more irregular release schedules.

== Various genres ==
Video games in the course of their existence have grown from the simple arcade-style games, and have become more detailed and separated from one another. Genres can now include [[first person shooters]], [[racing]], [[Simulation game|simulation]], [[role-playing]], [[sports]], [[action]], [[strategy]], massively multiplayer online (MMO), puzzle, Sport simulation, and many others.<ref>https://www.idtech.com/blog/different-types-of-video-game-genres</ref><ref>https://thoughtcatalog.com/jane-hurst/2015/02/12-types-of-computer-games-every-gamer-should-know-about/</ref> Even then, games can combine genres, such as ''Mass Effect'' (Role Playing and Third Person Shooting), or not fit nicely into any genre, like ''The Mystery of the Druids''. The most popular genres tend to be shooters, action, and roleplaying games. Some video games are based on movies, such as Star Wars.

== Popularity & Controversy ==
Games have risen in popularity over the years, as is shown in the rise of video games sales from the 1980s until today. This has brought with it a various amount of controversy as the video game industry continues to grow with its original player base.

Video games are addictive activities targeted at teenagers, sometimes with tragic results.<ref>Some claim that 2/3rds of videogamers are over 18 years old, but far more people are over that age and a much higher percentage of minors are videogamers.[http://www.pan-o-matic.com/blog/?p=45 Only a third of videogamers are under 18]</ref> Certain genres of games are becoming increasingly violent and offensive, attracting the attention of legislators in many states to protect the exploitation of children by them. Games such as ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' are very violent, sexually explicit, and feature [[criminal]] behavior. These games are rated "M 17+" for "Mature," but courts have stricken down laws preventing retailers from selling them to children, under an interpretation that the First Amendment protects offensive video games even for children.<ref>http://gamepolitics.livejournal.com/148962.html</ref> After a ''Conservapedian'' filed an [[amicus brief]] with the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] to consider this issue, it surprised [[liberal]]s by granting ''[[certiorari]]''.

However, in 2011, the Supreme Court denied a ban on the sale of violent video games in California, claiming they were protected as they "qualify for First Amendment Protection" and pointing out that there has historically been no shortage of violent imagery in children's fairytales, classical literature, and comics. Writing for the majority, Justice Scalia pointed out that "disgust is not a valid basis for restricting expression", and continued that any effects of violent video games on children "are both small and indistinguishable from effects produced by other media".<ref>[https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/08-1448.pdf BROWN, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA, ET AL. v. ENTERTAINMENT MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION ET AL.]</ref>

It has also been suggested that it is the role of parents to regulate what their children play, and that laws restricting video game vendors are an effort to replace parents' decisions with the government's decisions.<ref>https://www.deseretnews.com/article/700150989/Violent-games-2-Its-parents-responsibility-to-monitor-what-kids-play.html</ref><ref>https://segmentnext.com/2018/03/09/dear-parents-take-responsibility-kids-stop-blaming-video-games/</ref>

As some wake up to how harmful violent video games are, the video game industry declined in 2012,<ref>http://www.nbc12.com/story/20289219/us-video-game-sales-drop-11-pct-in-november</ref> though it remains much bigger than Hollywood. Video games are likely the single biggest cause of bright young men dropping out of college. While video games were originally designed for children and adolescent males, video games have become too popular with adult males, many of whom will often neglect family and work to spend a copious number of hours playing video games including online games as World of Warcraft in a video game addiction. [[Liberal denial]] discourages people from recognizing the problem.

==Arguments against video game usage==
[[File:Stephen-Fry.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|The [[Atheism|atheist]] [[Stephen Fry]] said, "I do enjoy [[Video games|video gaming]]... In the early days of games, I would spend hours. I mean literally. I would find it would be 4AM, and I would say: 'God, I have be at work at 6.'"<ref>[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xeuj29_stephen-fry-talks-gaming_news Stephen Fry talks gaming]</ref> ''See also: [[Irreligion, video game usage and obesity]] and [[Atheism and obesity]]'' ]]
''See [[young mass murderers]] for their connection to video games''. 

Video games have been accused of being linked to [[Young Mass Murderers|murders by young people]] and other [[violence]], stress-induced health problems (including unexpected heart attacks),<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/russian-teenager-dies-after-playing-online-computer-game-defence-of-the-ancients-for-22-days-in-a-row/story-fnh81p7g-1227512824314 Teenager dies from a video game addiction]</ref> [[atheism]], [[obesity]],<ref>[http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/child_obesity/ Childhood Obesity] Department of Health and Human Services, retrieved Sept 18th 2011</ref> and [[sexual immorality]]. Several prominent murderers in recent years were inspired by video games.<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-316491/Teenager-gets-life-Manhunt-murder.html</ref><ref>Adelmann, Bob (August 5, 2019). [https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/33028-search-for-motives-in-recent-mass-shootings-ignores-impact-of-violent-video-games Motives in Recent Mass Shootings Should Include Impact of Violent Video Games]. ''The New American''. Retrieved August 5, 2019.</ref> [[Young mass murderer]] [[Adam Lanza]] was "immersed in a perverse video game world" and "killed himself to prevent law enforcement from taking his 'points.'" He plotted his rampage far in advance and "learned the principles of ... the tactical reload" from his [[video games]].
Video games has also been used as "murder simulators" by American army, in order to desensitize young man, into triggering the gun better, and with less doubt, thus killing enemies more efficiently.
<ref>[http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lupica-lanza-plotted-massacre-years-article-1.1291408#ixzz2NuWeFMNO]</ref>

After a murderous rampage by another video game user in Norway:<ref>http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/games/871121-norway-stores-pull-violent-video-games-including-call-of-duty-after-massacre#ixzz1erUdaLo5</ref>
{{cquote|A number of Norway stores have pulled violent video games from sale - including several Call of Duty games and World of Warcraft - in the wake of the massacre carried out by Anders Behring Breivik on July 22.}}
Unbeknownst to many, the video game industry is partly subsidized by taxpayers, even in the [[conservative]] Texas. In 2015, a spat broke out between the video game and film industries about the millions they would receive from government.<ref>http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/27/drama-between-film-video-game-groups-dooms-funding/</ref>

=== Video game usage and excess weight ===
''See also:'' [[Video game usage and excess weight]] and [[Obesity]]

Due to the sedentary lifestyle of many who abuse video games or play them for extremely long amounts of time, there is an absence of exercise - meaning [[addiction]] to video games can cause an increase in weight to unhealthy proportions.

[[File:Childhood obesity.JPG|thumbnail|200px|right|The state of Utah was acclaimed with the lowest percentage of children overweight, and was found to have the second lowest proportion of children spending 2 or more hours on TV/Video game play.
 
 
The District of Columbia, found to have the highest percentage of overweight children, also had the highest percentage nationwide of children spending an incredible 4 hours plus in front of a screen.<ref>[http://www.nationalobesityforum.org.uk/component/content/article/1-nof-in-the-media/338-tvvideo-games-and-child-obesity.html TV Video Games and obesity]</ref>]]
The National Obesity Forum indicates:
{{cquote|The figures highlighted by the "F as in Fat" annual report [Trust for America's Health 2007 Annual Report] were retrieved from the Data Resource Center on Child and Adolescent Health website. The analysis of these figures reveals a strong positive correlation between hours spent on TV/Video game play and the percentage of children classed as overweight per state. The state of Utah was acclaimed with the lowest percentage of children overweight, and was found to have the second lowest proportion of children spending 2 or more hours on TV/Video game play. The District of Columbia, found to have the highest percentage of overweight children, also had the highest percentage nationwide of children spending an incredible 4 hours plus in front of a screen.<ref>[http://www.nationalobesityforum.org.uk/component/content/article/1-nof-in-the-media/338-tvvideo-games-and-child-obesity.html TV Video Games and obesity]</ref>}}

''Slate'' reported in 2012:
{{cquote|The American Academy of Pediatrics tells parents that children’s total entertainment media time should not exceed two hours daily. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, average kids watch at least twice that much television. They also spend more than an hour per day online and another hour on video games. These activities, collectively called “screen time,” are widely blamed for the tripling of obesity rates in children since the 1980s.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2012/04/are_video_games_making_kids_fat_screen_time_and_childhood_obesity_.html Are TV and Video Games Making Kids Fat?]</ref>}}

The University of Texas at Austin declares:
{{cquote|A study by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin suggests that watching television is not associated with children’s weight, but playing electronic games may be—especially for girls.

“Children with higher weight status spent moderate amounts of time playing electronic games, while children with lower weight status spent either a little or a lot of time playing electronic games,” said Dr. Elizabeth A. Vandewater, who led the study published in the February issue of the Journal of Adolescence.

Although the greater weight/video game link was found in this study with girls, she noted that future studies may reveal similar findings for boys. Either way, the findings could be significant considering how many American children play electronic games.<ref>[http://news.utexas.edu/2004/03/23/nr_video_games Video games rather than TV may be linked to childhood obesity], University of Texas at Austin news</ref>}}

The ''Pittsburg Gazette'' reports: "A 2010 study from the Eastern Ontario Research Institute found video games to blame, chiefly because children, boys especially, tend to eat more when they're playing them."<ref>[http://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2012/11/12/TV-video-games-linked-to-obesity/stories/201211120171 TV, video games linked to obesity], Pittsburg Gazette</ref>

=== Irreligion, video game usage and obesity ===
''See also:'' [[Irreligion, video game usage and obesity]] and [[Atheism and obesity]]

''Relevant Magazine'' reported about the journal article in ''The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion'' entitled ''No Other Gods Before Mario?: Game Preferences Among [[Atheism|Atheistic]] and Religious Individuals'':
{{Cquote|[http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10508619.2011.638606 A new study] of 228 college students found that while just about everyone prefers video games to regular board games (duh), those who claim no religion vastly prefer video games compared to the religious peers. It's a small study, but the director, Chris Burris, has an interesting hypothesis about why [[Atheism|atheists]] prefer video games. Burris believes that atheists tend to be less good at "generating emotionally evocative internal simulations of experience." Simply put, he believes that religious people tend to be more imaginative, and are able to craft their own sense of play around simple games, while non-religious people tend to prefer the concrete rules afforded by video games.<ref>[http://www.relevantmagazine.com/slices/why-do-atheists-video-games-more-religious-people-do Why Do Atheists Like Video Games More Than Religious People Do?], ''Relevant Magazine''</ref>}}

As far as the relationship between irreligion and obesity, please examine the articles below:

*[[Atheism and obesity]]

*[[Millennials, irreligion and obesity]]

*[[Generation X, irreligion and obesity]]

*[[Baby boom generation, irreligion and obesity]]

=== Exergaming ===
As far as "exergaming" (Video games which prompt the users to engage in physical activity), ''Slate'' reports:
{{cquote|After three months, “there was no evidence that children receiving the active video games were more active in general or at any time,” the authors wrote. (The year before, a similar study in New Zealand had shown only minor improvement with active games; kids weighed just a pound less after six months of "exergaming".)<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2012/04/are_video_games_making_kids_fat_screen_time_and_childhood_obesity_.html Are TV and Video Games Making Kids Fat?]</ref>}}

== Overcoming addiction to video games ==
As with any [[addiction]], video game usage can be hard to overcome as soon as one is drawn into it. Fortunately, [[faith]]-based efforts to overcome addiction can be effective and rewarding, and churches exist in part to help people overcome harmful vices in the world. (See also: [[habit]])

[[Catholicism]] recommends that people give up something they like on Fridays, and throughout all of [[Lent]]. For some, it is easy to end a bad habit altogether once one is successful in giving it up at least one day a week, or throughout the 40 days of Lent.

In this regard, the [[Bible]] can be extraordinarily helpful and inspiring. Replacing video game usage with readings from books such as [[Psalms]] and [[Proverbs]] can turn a [[vice]] into an enormous boost to one's life. One approach is to read the Proverbs chapter having the same number as the day of the month (e.g., on February 17 read Proverbs 17), and read five chapters in Psalms that also correspond to the day of the month (e.g., read Psalms 81-85) on February 17 (17 times 5 is 85). [[New Testament]] passages in which [[Jesus]] mentions [[Hell]] can also be tremendously beneficial in combating vice. See, e.g., Mark 9:43.

In general, acquiring good habits can help drive out bad ones. Setting goals helps: Give yourself a weekly or monthly report card on all aspects of life. (See also: [[Beating NFL addiction]])

===Violence===

Most of the controversy comes from the rising trend toward violence in video games, as pioneered by ''[[Doom (video game series)|Doom]]'', ''[[Quake]]'', "[[Spring]]", and the ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' series.

Some people point out that violent video games cause violent behavior in children. The effects of violent video games on the developing psyches of children and adolescents vary greatly and of course depend on the mental stability of the subject in question.
Serious crimes have often been associated with video games. For example, a 14-year-old brutally murdered a video arcade employee one morning and his cousin stands trial for murdering the store manager when he entered the store shortly thereafter.<ref>http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1212467732102240.xml&coll=1</ref>
In the [[United States|USA]], all retail games carry ratings from the [[ESRB]], a video game ratings organization.

Some claim that kids who don't play video games at all seem to show more violent tendencies. Of course, as expected, those who played violent video games for large amounts of time also showed violent tendencies; the study, however, claims that this is a "risk marker", not an actual cause.<ref>http://wii.qj.net/New-research-reveals-kids-who-don-t-play-videogames-at-all-are-more-at-risk-of-violent-tendencies/pg/49/aid/118505 New research reveals kids who don't play video games at all are more at risk of violent tendencies</ref>

Multiple studies have shown a correlation between violent video games and increased levels of aggression, caused by playing some of the aforementioned video games.<ref>https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/014616702237649</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140197103000976</ref> However, in such cases, it is vital to keep in mind the fact that correlation does not equal causation. <ref>https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/false-cause</ref>

===Sexuality===
Although nudity is not prominent in [[western]] video games, there are various products containing sexually suggestive material. One reason for the relative lack of explicitly sexual material in western games may be the refusal of retailers including [[Wal-Mart]]<ref>http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=440903</ref> to sell games carrying an "Adults-Only" rating. One notable target of controversy is the ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' series after a third-party mod was released that allowed the player to engage in a mini-game containing explicit sexual material. Mods are, as "third-party" would imply, fan-made and are not the responsibility of the game's developer. Other sources of this criticism relate to the game ''[[Tomb Raider]]'', one of the first games to depict and advertise a female character (the protagonist) as a sex symbol.<ref>Ashley, Robert. "The Secret History of Videogame Sex." Official Playstation Magazine Feb. 2006: 96-99.</ref>

==Arguments for video game usage==
Video games have been suspected of giving otherwise liberal people some virtual conservative viewpoints.<ref>http://kotaku.com/5764327/5764327/are-video-games-turning-liberals-into-virtual-conservatives</ref> They have also been shown to help people to become more attuned to their surroundings and increase coordination, and in the future may be used to treat people with visual problems and to train soldiers.<ref>http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0528_030528_videogames.html</ref>

While evidence is somewhat conflicting, some also say that video games keep the participants engaged and more mentally active than alternative entertainment, such as watching television.

== Video Games & Society ==

As video games become more popular, their impact on society becomes ever more present. A prime example of this is the massive ad campaigns for the [[Halo (game)|Halo]] series, as well as [[Grand Theft Auto]]. Advertising, merchandising, and even social pressures have changed in the ever-growing influence of video gaming.

Due to their popularity, various corporations have begun placing advertisements for their products within the context of the game. [[Second Life]], an Internet-based virtual world, has attempted to blur the lines between real-world and virtual world, and companies such as Adidas, Reebok, and Dell have set up virtual stores selling real-world products within the game. [[Reuters]] also operates a news bureau reporting news in the game.

== Education in Video Games ==
It is unlikely that there is any educational value in video game usage, compared with better activities that could be pursued.

But Firaxis Games, a noteworthy video game development company, has been creating a video game series called ''Civilization'' for nearly a decade.<ref>http://www.firaxis.com/company/</ref> Civilization is a simulation game that allows the player to lead a nation from ancient times to modern-day. It features a dynamic military system, politics, trading, and historical content. It has been recognized for its unintentional educational properties.<ref>http://www.firaxis.com/community/teacher.php</ref>

Microsoft Flight Simulator is another example of a video game that may have some slight educational value.<ref>https://www.microsoft.com/Products/Games/FSInsider/product/Pages/InfoEducators.aspx</ref>

Some games are also created specifically as teaching tools. While they may not offer detailed, useful knowledge, they typically attempt at least to teach useful concepts or general information. An example of these is the now-dated game, Oregon Trail.

== Faith in Video Games ==
[[Faith]] in Video Gaming has, as a rule, either led to the creation of new and dynamic antagonists, or video games that are mediocre, such as ''Spiritual Warfare'' and ''Bible Adventure'' for the Nintendo, or ''The Bible Game'' for various systems. ''Bible Adventure'' in particular is infamous for its poor design and playability.

The Bible, or other such religious texts, tell a story spanning many different viewpoints. Turning these ideas into a video game, however, most often leads to games that tend to bore most video game audiences.

Religion has, however, taken a prominent place amongst the various heroes and villains in video games. The ''Breath of Fire'' series and the ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games, in particular, use a god as a main antagonist in many of its incarnations. Other games to use religion in some way include the ''Final Fantasy'' series, ''[[Left Behind: Eternal Forces]]'', ''Black and White'', ''Heaven and Hell'', ''Xenogears'', ''Okami'', and the ''Tales'' series, particularly ''Tales of Symphonia''. Unfortunately, many (not all) of the aforementioned games (And nearly any Role Playing game from East Asia) present religion (or it's respective church and followers) as evil, fake, or having ulterior and nefarious motives.

Games may include a fictional religion as part of the setting if the use of a real religion may invite undesirable controversy.

Video game reviewers have sometimes unjustly attacked and reviewed games where real-world religion plays a notable role. One of the most prominent examples of this is the game ''[[Left Behind: Eternal Forces]]''.<ref>http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/pc/left_behind</ref>

==See also==
*[[Young mass murderers]]
*[[Video game controversy]]
*[[Jack Thompson]]
*[[Video game industry]]
*[[Addiction]]

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

==External links==
*[http://www.whattheyplay.com/ What They Play - the parent's guide to video games]
*[http://www.leftbehindgames.com/index.php Left Behind Games - a Christian, family-friendly video game company]
*[https://www.theepochtimes.com/chapter-fourteen-popular-culture-a-decadent-indulgence_2685394.html Chapter Fourteen: Popular Culture–A Decadent Indulgence], ''The Epoch Times'' (from ''How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World'').

[[Category:Entertainment]]
[[Category:Video Games]]
[[Category:Computers]]

Ku Klux Klan

2020-11-02T01:40:56Z

Fire$hark: /* 21st Century */

Ku Klux Klan

2020-11-02T01:37:56Z

Fire$hark: /* First KKK */

[[File:Ku-Klux-Klan-By-Democrats-For-Democrats-600x600.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The Klan was founded as the militant terrorist arm of the [[Democratic party]].]]
The '''Ku Klux Klan''' ('''KKK''') is the traditional militant terrorist wing of the [[Democratic party|Democrat Party]]. In 2014 it was announced the Klan opened its doors to [[Jew]]s, [[homosexual]]s, [[black]]s and people of [[Hispanic]] origin.<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2828425/The-Ku-Klux-Klan-opens-door-Jews-black-people-homosexuals-new-recruits-wear-white-robes-hats.html</ref>

It had three incarnations in the USA. Several prominent Democrats were members of the KKK including Democrat [[Robert Byrd]], who was a U.S. Senator from [[West Virginia]] for more than 50 years and who had led his local KKK chapter, and Democrat [[Hugo Black]], who was appointed to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] by [[FDR]] and became the Justice most hostile to [[classroom prayer]] and [[Christianity]] in public life. Despite the Democrat-KKK connection, however, liberals (who falsely claim that the pre-1964 Democrats were a "conservative" party) similarly falsely claim the KKK to be a "right-wing" organization.

The Klan beginning in the 1860s was a violent effort by white Southern Democrats to fight [[Republican]] [[Reconstruction]] efforts and recognizing full citizenship rights of Blacks after the [[Civil War]]. Reconstruction was ended as a political compromise to resolve the exceedingly close presidential election of 1876. Owing to this, the Klan Democrats often targeted those belonging to the Republican Party with death.

The second Klan flourished nationwide for a few years in the 1920s as state and district organizers profited handsomely by signing up millions of members, selling them distinctive white-robe costumes. The Klan voiced strong support for prohibition, opposed sexual immorality and promoted [[racism]], anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism and immigration restriction. Dramatic scandals inside the organization and lack of organizational structure caused the Klan to collapse quickly in the late 1920s. By 1928 it was practically defunct.

The third Klan comprised unrelated hate groups that sprang up in the South in the 1960s to fight integration, but it largely fell apart with the defeat of [[President Jimmy Carter]] in 1980.<ref>http://www.fumento.com/arson/wsjfire.html</ref>

Violent [[leftist]]s, who founded the Klan and have been loyal [[Democrat]]s since its original inception, are now appealing to groups they had previously persecuted.<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2828425/The-Ku-Klux-Klan-opens-door-Jews-black-people-homosexuals-new-recruits-wear-white-robes-hats.html</ref>

==First KKK==
[[File:Lynch.jpg|thumb|450px|right|The first victims (yellow line) were Republican [[carpetbagger]]s; once they were driven out the Democrats turned on Blacks (blue line). Source: Historical Statistics of the U.S., and is based on the 1952 Negro year Book.]]
:{{See also|Insurrection_Act#Posse_Comitatus_Act}}
The first KKK was an movement of white Southerners who opposed [[Reconstruction]]. It was founded in 1866 by members of the [[Democrat Party]] to inflicting violence against black leaders and white Republicans.<ref>http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan</ref> Its purpose was to take control and return Democrats to power. One of the founders, and the first "Grand Wizard," was former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Attempts were made to break up the Klan by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and the U.S. Army using the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act).

Republicans stripped [[white]] [[male]]s who engaged in rebellion against the [[United States]] of the [[vote]], and gave it to Blacks. Newly freed Blacks held local, state and federal elected and non-elected positions as Republicans. The white males who were deprived of the vote were also barred from holding any civil service position and were universally Democrats. This disenfranchisement created enormous resentment among Democrats, so they formed the Ku Klux Klan to engage in voter intimidation and suppression.
[[Image:Artoon.jpg|left|200px|thumb|A political cartoon depicting the KKK and the Democrat Party as continuations of the Confederacy]]
The Ku Klux Klan started attacking Black Republican conventions. At the Republican convention in Louisiana, the Klan joined with [[New Orleans]] police and New Orleans' Democrat mayor. The New Orleans Republican convention was attacked. 40 Blacks and 20 whites were killed. Another 150 were wounded. In 1868 the Democrats put out push cards in South Carolina listing what they called the 'radical' members of the South Carolina legislature. A push card is about the size of a baseball card. The cards had the pictures of 63 legislators they wanted to kill. 50 of the legislators were Black and 13 were white. All 63 were Republicans. On the back of the was the name of the legislator.

In 1872 Congress held hearings on the Klan. Democrat leaders from Democrat States admitted under oath unequivocally that the Klan belonged to the Democrat party and their propose was to restore control in Southern states to the Democratic party. The Congressional Hearings make up 13 volumes. Black congressmen John Roy Lynch and Richard Cain went to Congress armed for fear of Klan attacks. Blacks testified that they instructed by the Klan and Democrats that, if they would stop voting the Republican ticket and would agree to vote the straight Democrat ticket, all the violence against Blacks would stop.

By 1876, the situation had become ungovernable for Republicans.<ref>"the Compromise of 1877, which resolved the disputed presidential election of 1876 by awarding the presidency to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes (who had lost the popular vote) in exchange for the removal of federal troops from the South after the Civil War (which benefited Democrats, who wished to end Reconstruction and return white supremacy to southern state governments)." [https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-gilded-age/gilded-age/a/gilded-age-politics-patronage Gilded Age politics: patronage]. khanacademy.org</ref> The Republicans had been able to pass the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments which guaranteed Blacks basic equality and civil rights, but eventually had to declare an amnesty for whites who engaged in rebellion. Reconstruction ended, and Republicans withdrew from [[social engineering]] which had divided the country so deeply and stirred up such bitterness and hatred among Democrats toward both Blacks and Republicans. Reconstruction earned Republicans the undying [[hatred]] of Democrats.<ref>See for example [https://youtu.be/-yY7g2jOquM James O'Keefe debate with Hairy Hillbilly Hippie] for an example of a partisan Democrat who votes against his own economic interests.</ref><ref>See excerpt from [[Dinesh D'Souza]]'s, ''[https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dinesh-dsouza-the-secret-history-of-the-democratic-party Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party]'', Regnery Publishing, July 18, 2016.</ref>

[[African American]]s in the South were left to the mercy of increasingly hostile state governments dominated by white Democratic legislatures; neither the legislatures, law enforcement or the courts worked to protect freedmen.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties|author=Finkelman, Paul|year=2006}}</ref> As [[Democrats]] regained power in the late 1870s, they struggled to suppress black voting through intimidation and fraud at the polls. [[Paramilitary]] groups such as the [[Red Shirts]] acted on behalf of the Democrats to suppress black voting. From 1890 to 1908, 10 of the 11 former Confederate states passed disfranchising constitutions or amendments,<ref>{{cite book|title=Democracy's Privileged Few|author=Chafetz, Joshua Aaron|year=2007}}</ref> with provisions for [[poll tax]]es,<ref name="Klarman, Michael J. 2004">{{cite book|title=From Jim Crow to Civil Rights|author=Klarman, Michael J.|year=2004}}</ref> residency requirements, [[literacy test]]s,<ref name="Klarman, Michael J. 2004"/> and [[grandfather clause]]s that effectively disfranchised most black voters and many poor white people. The disfranchisement also meant that black people could not serve on juries or hold any political office, which were restricted to voters; those who could not vote were excluded from the political system.
[[File:FDR Truman and KKK.jpeg|right|200px|thumb|Despite historical revisionism, FDR and Truman were in bed with the Klan.]]
According to the BrainPOP movie about Reconstruction, the first iteration of the KKK began to decline during the presidency of [[Rutherford Birchard Hayes]].

==Second KKK: The 1920s==
The second KKK was a nonviolent membership organization in the 1920s that reached hundreds of thousands—possibly millions—of men in every state. It was mostly a [[Ponzi scheme]], whereby the organizers took all the money (for initiation fees and costumes). When they had organized an area they moved on, leaving local chapters without money or leadership. No prominent American admitted he was a member at the time, but state organizers claimed vast powers. There is a possibility that some local Klans in the deep South engaged in violence against blacks, but historians are unsure; allegations of systematic violence were common but have not been verified. In recent years historians have found enough records to show that local chapters were primarily discussion groups, often with speakers who denounced Catholics, Jews, crime and violation of the prohibition laws.

A series of scandals rocked the KKK's reputation and the group somewhat faded after the 1924 Democratic National Convention.

In 1937 President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] appointed Alabama Senator [[Hugo Black]] to the Supreme Court. Black was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and built his career campaigning at Klan meetings. In ''Korematsu v. the United States'', Black voted to uphold [[President Roosevelt]]'s mass arrests and incarceration of [[Japanese]] men, women, and children based on [[race]].

==Third Klan==
The third Klan currently exists and comprises a few thousand members in local chapters. There is no real organization, and the group sponsors vehement hate talk as well as occasional violent threats and actions. It is racist and aims at the suppression of African-American, Jewish, homosexual, and Catholic interests. The current Klan presents itself as a "Christian" organization, but all denominations have rejected it as inherently non-Christian. Some Klansmen today practice [[Christian Identity]], which has also been condemned by every other [[Christian]] denomination.
[[File:KKKrally1946.JPG|left|300px|thumb|Ku Klux Klan rally, unknown location, August, 1951]]
Democrat Sen. [[Robert Byrd]] joined the Klan in the 1940s and was unanimously elected to the rank of [[Exalted Cyclops]] for his inborn leadership skills.<ref name="washingtonpost.com">Pianin, Eric. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html A Senator's Shame: Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK]. Washington Post, 2005-06-19, pp. A01</ref><ref>https://allthatsinteresting.com/famous-kkk-members</ref> He repeatedly expressed his desire for the Klan to expand to its previous size and power, once remarking in a letter that "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the nation." <ref>King, Colbert I. [http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/commentary/works/king2.html Sen. Byrd: The view from Darrell's barbershop], Washington Post, March 2, 2002</ref>
[[File:RR-KKK.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Ronald Reagan]] starred as the crusading district attorney battling the Klan in this 1951 film.<ref>See [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044075/usercomments analysis of film]</ref>]]
Byrd commented on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military. In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'', Graham Smith referred to a letter written that year by Byrd, when he was 28 years old, to fellow Klansman Sen. [[Theodore Bilbo]] of [[Mississippi]], in which Byrd vowed never to fight: {{Cquote|Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.}} Bilbo told ''[[Meet the Press]]'' in a 1949 interview: {{cquote|No man can leave the Klan. He takes an oath not to do that. Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux.<ref>[http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf Robert L. Fleegler, "Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938–1947"],''The Journal of Mississippi History'', Spring 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160103063503/http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf]</ref>}}
Democrats tried to block passage of the [[bi-partisan]] [[1964 Civil Rights Act]] by filibustering for 75 hours, led by a 14-hour and 13-minute speech by the Exalted Cyclops Sen. Byrd.<ref>{{cite news|title=Byrd Says He Regrets Voting For Patriot Act |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Common Dreams NewsCenter|Common Dreams]] |date=February 28, 2006 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |accessdate=|deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919043913/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |archivedate=September 19, 2006 }}</ref> The law was intended to block Republican gains in the South followed by buying off Blacks with [[Great Society]] [[welfare]] and [[affirmative action]] programs. By the 1960s the Klan was so thoroughly infiltrated by [[FBI]] informers, the joke existed that a Klan cell of 6 members often consisted of 5 FBI informants and one klansman. In 1981 when the Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in 28 years, the Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd was again elected Democrat Senate Leader to oppose [[Ronald Reagan]].

[[David Duke]] was a [[Democrat]] at the time of his official membership with the Klan and founded the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP). Duke quit the Klan and the Democrat party and was elected to the Louisiana state legislature. When Duke registered to run for higher office in a Republican primary, the [[Republican National Committee]] disavowed Duke and repudiated his racist views.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-1176548.html RNC Condemns Ex-Klansman Duke], ''[[Washington Post]]'', February 25, 1989. {{dead link}}</ref>

==21st Century==
By the 1990s there were fewer than 10,000 members of the Klan. Many so-called "chapters" or "hate groups," as measured by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]'s newsletter ''Klanwatch'', consisted of a single individual. The threat emanating from the Klan was often exaggerated to serve as a fundraising tool for anti-racist watchdog organizations. Chat rooms and discussion boards were set up by anti-racist watchdog groups in the hopes of baiting in a young person to identify who may be susceptible to extremist recruiting. These chat rooms and discussion groups also served the dual purpose of making the Klan threat appear larger than it actually was for fundraising purposes.
[[File:Blmhillary (1).jpg|left|350px|thumb|The teaching of [[Black history]] has led to a new appreciation of the [[Democratic party]]'s role in relationship to Blacks.]]
During the [[2016 U.S. presidential election]], the KKK (along with former Klansman [[David Duke]]), in possible [[collusion]] with the Democrat Party, pretended to "support" [[Donald Trump]] for President as part of a strategy to discredit Trump and make sure he would lose the election by making a false connection between the KKK and the Republicans (as the Democrats have done since 1964<ref>[http://www.blackandblondemedia.com/2009/01/14/democrat-race-lie/ The Democrat Race Lie] at Black & Right</ref>). However, because the Republicans have always opposed the KKK and despise what it stands for,<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/2016/07/the-ugly-history-of-democratic-suppression-of-blacks/ The Ugly History of Democratic Suppression of Blacks] at WND</ref> and because the Democrat-KKK connection is public knowledge despite the efforts of Democrats and liberals (particularly in the [[mainstream media]]) to bury and deny this historic fact,<ref>[http://blackrepublican.blogspot.ca/2015/10/the-ku-klux-klan-was-terrorist-arm-of_56.html The Ku Klux Klan was the Terrorist Arm of the Democrat Party]</ref> the KKK scheme to try to discredit Trump by publicly pretending to endorse him backfired as he rejected the "endorsement" and the public saw through the KKK's ruse, leading KKK Grand Dragon Will Quigg, who formerly pretended to support Trump, to show his and his organization's true colors, and those of the Democrats, by now publicly supporting Democrat nominee [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>[https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-14/ku-klux-klan-grand-dragon-will-quigg-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Will Quigg Endorses Hillary Clinton for President] at U.S. News & World Report</ref> Hillary, who has [[Hillary Rodham Clinton#Racism|her own history of racism]] and whose mentor, late Democrat senator Robert Byrd, was himself a longtime KKK member,<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> did not reject the KKK's campaign endorsement of her, which was one of the contributing factors toward her downfall in the election as Trump won the presidency, ultimately making the Democrat-KKK scheme against him fruitless. In multiple [[George Soros]] funded protests against Trump, many liberals dressed themselves in KKK robes and pretended to "support" Trump, holding signs that said "KKK wants Trump" and "Make America White Again" while the DNC created an attack ad claiming that the KKK is "actively supporting" Trump.<ref>https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bQOYADCDSyY</ref>

==Bibliography==
* Newton, Michael, and Judy Ann Newton. ''The Ku Klux Klan: An Encyclopedia''. (1991).
* Alexander, Charles. “Kleagles and Cash.” . ''The Business History Review.'' (1965) Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 348–367
* Chalmers, David. ''Hooded Americanism.'' (1987), an older survey
* Dray, Philip. ''At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America'', (2002).
* Feldman, Glenn. ''Politics, Society, and the Klan in Alabama, 1915-1949''. (1999).
* Fryer, Jr. Roland G. and Steven D. Levitt. "Hatred and Profits: Getting under the Hood of the Ku Klux Klan," ''National Bureau of Economic Research,'' September 2007, [http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/13417.html abstract]; [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:cyuQ-5WfsXAJ:www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers/Hatred%2520and%2520Profits,%2520Getting%2520Under%2520the%2520Hood%2520of%2520the%2520Ku%2520Klux%2520Klan.pdf+%22Hatred+and+Profits%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us full text online]
* George, John, and Laird Wilcox. ''American Extremists: Militias, Supremacists, Klansmen, Communists & Others'' (1996) 443 pgs. [http://www.questia.com/library/book/american-extremists-militias-supremacists-klansmen-communists-and-others-by-john-george-laird-wilcox.jsp online edition]
* Glaeser, Edward L. “The Political Economy of Hatred.” ''Quarterly Journal of Economics.'' 2005. Vol. 120, No. 1, pp. 45–86. [http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/qjec.2005.120.1.45 abstract], goes well beyond the KKK
* Goldberg, Robert Alan. ''Hooded Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado.'' (1981).
* Horn, Stanley F. ''Invisible Empire: The Story of the Ku Klux Klan, 1866-1871'', (1939)
::Horn, born in 1889, was a Southern historian who was sympathetic to the first Klan, which, in a 1976 oral interview,<ref>http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/Research/ohisrch.html</ref> he was careful to distinguish from the later "spurious Ku Klux organization which was in ill-repute—and, of course, had no connection whatsoever with the Klan of Reconstruction days."
* Jackson, Kenneth T. ''The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930.'' (1992)
* MacLean, Nancy. ''Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan.'' (1994)
* McVeigh, Rory. “Power Devaluation, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Democratic National Convention of 1924.” ''Sociological Forum'' 2001. 16(1):1-30.
* Moore, Leonard J. ''Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921-1928'' (1991). [http://www.questia.com/library/book/citizen-klansmen-the-ku-klux-klan-in-indiana-1921-1928-by-leonard-j-moore.jsp online edition]
* Parsons, Elaine Frantz, "Midnight Rangers: Costume and Performance in the Reconstruction-Era Ku Klux Klan." ''The Journal of American History'' 92.3 (2005): 811–36. [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/92.3/parsons.html in History Cooperative]
* Pegram, Thomas R. "Hoodwinked: The Anti-Saloon League and the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Prohibition Enforcement." ''Journal of Gilded Age and Progressive era'' 7.1 (2008): [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jga/7.1/pegram.html online].
* Rhodes, James Ford. ''History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896. Volume: 7.'' (1920)
* Trelease, Allen W. ''White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction'' (1995).
* Wade, Wyn Craig. ''The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America''. (1987); a highly negative account of all three Klans, based on extensive research but not familiar with recent scholarship.

==References==
<references/>

==Critical external links==
* [http://reactor-core.org/original-kkk.html The History of the Original Ku Klux Klan] - by an anonymous author sympathetic to the original Klan {{dead link}}
* W. S. Simkins, "Why the Ku Klux," 4 ''The Alcalde'' (June 1916): 735–748. [http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/simkins.html online]; Simkins (1842-1929) was an organizer of the KKK in Florida in 1868, and a law professor when he wrote this memoir.
* [http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixA.htm Full text of the Klan Act of 1871]
**[http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixB.htm simplified version]
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-694 Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era] (New Georgia Encyclopedia)
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2730 Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century] (New Georgia Encyclopedia)

[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Hate Groups]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Liberalism]]
[[Category:United States Political Scandals]]
[[Category:Reconstruction]]
[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Terrorism]]
[[Category:Racist Organizations]]
[[Category:Gangs]]
[[Category:Anti Second Amendment]]
[[Category:Gun Control]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Biden Supporters]]

Wikipedia

2020-11-02T01:21:31Z

Fire$hark: Added section about the three core policies of Wikipedia, which it evidently doesn't care about.

[[Image:Wpp.png|thumb|right|200px|The multilingual Wikipedia home page]]
'''Wikipedia''' is an [[internet|online]] [[wiki]]-based [[encyclopedia]] hosted and owned by the non-profit organization [[Wikimedia Foundation]] and financially supported by grants from left-leaning foundations plus an aggressive annual online fundraising drive.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20180527010133/http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_announces_tenth_annual_fundraising_campaign</ref> Most of Wikipedia's articles can be edited publicly by both registered and anonymous editors,<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=wMhBQ0WdjF4C&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref> mostly consisting of teenagers and the unemployed.<ref name="theregister.co.uk">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/18/sanger_forks_wikipedia/</ref> As such, it tends to project a [[liberal]]—and, in some cases, even [[socialist]], [[Communist]], and [[Nazi]]-sympathising—worldview, which is totally at odds with [[conservative]] [[reality]] and rationality.

Wikipedia was co-founded by [[Jimbo Wales]] (an [[Atheism|atheist]], [[libertarian]], and [[objectivist]]), and philosophy professor [[Larry Sanger]] in 2001. The website was originally created to complement the now-defunct peer-reviewed online encyclopedia [[Nupedia]] as a way for collaboration on articles. However, Wikipedia overtook Nupedia and became an independent project hosted by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]], which also hosts various related websites, known as "sister projects", such as ''Wikinews'' and ''Wikibooks''. Co-founder Larry Sanger later acknowledged that Wikipedia does not follow its own neutrality policy.<ref name="SangerNeutrality">[https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/larry-sanger-co-founder-of-wikipedia-agrees-that-it-does-not-follow-its-own-neutrality-policy/ Uncommon Descent, December 1, 2016, Posted by Barry Arrington]</ref>

Critics of Wikipedia state that Wikipedia's articles contain [[Examples of bias in Wikipedia|systemic bias]],<ref name=howtheleft>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/david-swindle/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref> and that the information included within its articles are a mixture of truths, [[half-truth]]s, and falsehoods.<ref name=hnn>http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/125437</ref> The nature of Wikipedia also makes it subject to spin and [[bias]], examples of which include paid public relations advocacy and inserting libelous content into the biographies of politicians for a political purpose.<ref name=hnn/> Wikipedia was also criticized for having a [[liberal bias]] in its articles about politics, despite Wikipedia's "neutral point of view" policy.<ref name=howtheleft/>

__TOC__

== Continuing loss of influence ==

Wikipedia's traffic level stems from its high placement in Google searches, and that many people rely upon it for quick research regarding trivial facts. However, users are turning to alternatives such as the voice-based iPhone application [[Siri]] or the Knowledge Graph display on Google search result pages of key facts about search targets.<ref name=timesindia>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Google-eating-into-Wikipedia-page-views/articleshow/29072825.cms?referral=PM|title=Google eating into Wikipedia page views?|work=Times of India|first=Subodh |last=Varma|date=January 20, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> Wikipedia page-views dropped by 2 billion between December 2012 and December 2013. Wikipedia's most popular versions are leading the decline: page-views of the English Wikipedia dropped by 12 percent, those of German version slid by 17 percent and the Japanese version lost 9 percent.<ref name=timesindia/>

In addition to the number of visitors declining, there continues to be a drop in active editors as well. In August 2012, it was reported that Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus [[Quora]] is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref> At the same time, ''Business Insider'' indicated [[Quora]] was "Wikipedia's worst nightmare".<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus Quora is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref>

== Unreliability of Wikipedia ==
Wikipedia relies on self-selected "editors" to write and compile articles, with no preference given for scholars in the fields about which they are writing. This fact may disqualify Wikipedia from being considered a genuine encyclopedia, ironically even by its own standards. An encyclopedia is supposed to be a collection of articles by "well-educated, well-informed content experts."<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia</ref> Theoretically, Wikipedia is supposed to compensate for this weakness by requiring references to reputable secondary sources. But editors can delete, without collaboration, any text or entry they dislike, citing one of the many Wikipedia guidelines for doing so. Entries posted by scholars in the field, based on peer-reviewed, academic articles are deleted by editors with an ideological bias. Wikipedia, then, only represents the majority view of its editors.

As the contribution of volunteer editors has declined, some of the void has been replaced by paid public relations professionals. These paid editors seek to present their client companies or individuals in the best possible light. This has resulted in many articles being transformed into paid advertising pieces that take advantage of the English Wikipedia's high placement on Google search results. This chronic problem has become so severe that the Wikimedia Foundation has proposed amending its terms of service to require disclosures of paid editing conflicts of interest.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use/Paid_contributions_amendment|title=Terms of use/Paid contributions amendment|date=February 21, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> In the competition to control content, the paid PR editors win out because they are monitoring pages as a full-time job, while editors seeking to keep content more balanced are only part-time volunteers.

In 2008, the ''American Journalism Review'' declared concerning Wikipedia:
{{cquote|"An even more blunt assessment appears in the encyclopedia's "Ten things you may not know about Wikipedia" posting: "We do not expect you to trust us. It is in the nature of an ever-changing work like Wikipedia that, while some articles are of the highest quality of scholarship, others are admittedly complete rubbish." It also reminds users not to use Wikipedia as a primary source or for making "critical decisions."<ref>http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4461</ref>}}
Despite its official "neutrality policy," [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia|Wikipedia has a strong liberal bias.]] In an article entitled "Wikipedia Lies, Slander Continue," [[journalism|journalist]] [[Joseph Farah]] stated Wikipedia "is not only a provider of inaccuracy and bias. It is a wholesale purveyor of lies and slander unlike any other the world has ever known."<ref name="wnd.com">http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83640</ref> Mr. Farah has repeatedly been the victim of defamation on Wikipedia.<ref name="wnd.com"/> In December 2010, [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] [[JP Holding]] called Wikipedia "the abomination that causes misinformation".<ref>http://tektonticker.blogspot.com/search/label/Wikipedia</ref>

Some say that Wikipedia's unreliability is systemic, citing Douglas Adams: "''In other words—and this is the rock-solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation’s Galaxywide success is founded—their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.'' Wikipedia, which is written by anyone, still struggles to solve the need for traditional quality controls characteristic of conventional [[encyclopedia]]s. The self-policing practices have produced results and accuracy some claim is far better than originally expected but still widely questioned. Research released in April 2012 claimed 60% of Wikipedia articles contain "inaccuracies", leading the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' to dub it "Iffy-Pedia".<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2131458/Up-articles-Wikipedia-contain-factual-errors.html</ref> The lack of consistency and uniform supervision leaves an ever-present shadow over any given piece of information. Many in the [[College|academy]] insist that it is an unreliable source for [[research]] and an unacceptable reference in many classrooms. However, Wikipedia steers people to original [[Source|source material]], and with the use of hyperlinks and [[search engine]]s, it has become the most widely used intermediary reference tool on the [[Internet]].

According to the style manual for the [[Associated Press]], the largest news agency in the United States, Wikipedia should not be used as a primary source, but the hyperlinks in articles may be helpful as sources.

Wikipedia has millions of entries on trivia and mundane topics ranging from an explanation for "duh"<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duh (only after Conservapedia criticized the entry on the English word "duh" did Wikipedia eventually remove it)</ref> to singles by obscure rock bands<ref>such as ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honk_If_You_Love_Fred_Durst Honk If You Love Fred Durst]'' (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> to arcane British nobility.<ref>Part of the article about [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Liddell Henry Liddell], a 19th-century Vice-chancellor of Oxford University and author, includes that his grandfather was the youngest son of the 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and that his daughter was the child ''Alice in Wonderland'' was written for (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> There are editions of Wikipedia in 250 languages, and 130 have more than 1000 articles.<ref>[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias List of Wikipedias - Wikimedia], accessed April 1, 2007.</ref> After about four years Wikipedia had about 450,000 entries,<ref>Aaron Weiss, The Unassociated Press, N.Y. Times, Feb. 10, 2005, at G5.</ref> and after six years it had about 1.7 million entries.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed April 1, 2007</ref> Four years later this number had more than doubled again: in November 2011, there were more than 3.8 million content pages.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed May 6, 2011</ref> As of February 2014, there are more than 4.4 million "content" pages, many of which lack educational value. On important topics, the information is often misleading due to the unchecked, [[Wikipedia#Leftist bias|systematic liberal bias]] that dominates Wikipedia.

The quality of Wikipedia articles can vary greatly. Some articles, particularly about narrow topics and those of little interest, are well written and appear to have input from one or more subject matter experts. Articles about broader topics and with high viewership naturally have more editors, many of whom are not well versed in the subject matter. In determining the quality of an article it is helpful to check the sources or references to see if one or more of the standard references for the topic is frequently cited. Often the most valuable feature of an article will be to direct the reader to good quality references, if they exist.

==Origins==
Initially, Wikipedia was hosted on servers operated by Bomis, Inc., a company that also sold pornographic pictures.<ref>Martin Hickman and Genevieve Roberts, "WIKIPEDIA," The Independent (London) p. 12 (Feb 13, 2006)</ref> The majority owner of Bomis had lost his fortune in a lawsuit, and the Wikipedia volunteers feared that if all of Bomis' assets were seized, ownership of Wikipedia would be transferred. In 2003, Jimbo Wales addressed this risk by founding the Wikimedia Foundation to take control of Wikipedia's assets. The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides support for Wikipedia and other similar projects,<ref>[http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home Wikimedia Foundation] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> and also the free MediaWiki software that runs Wikipedia and Conservapedia.<ref>[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki home] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> It also gives out millions of dollars in grants each year to liberal causes that recruit liberals to edit Wikipedia so as to reflect their biases.

== Leftist bias ==

{{See also|Leftist roots of Wikipedia}}

''See also:'' [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]

Wikipedia shows a systematic bias in the proportion of articles which treat controversial issues. It ignores its own [[NPOV]] policy when it allows contributors to "delete well-referenced information" merely because it comes from a [[scientist]] who holds a minority view. It would only be a violation, if the article used the information to give a false impression of the proportion of scientists adhering to that view, but liberals use "undue weight" like a sledge hammer. They are either unaware or unconcerned about their bias.

This is not surprising, given this [[Zogby]] poll:

While 97% of [[Republican]]s surveyed said the media are [[liberal]], two-thirds of [[political independent]]s feel the same, but fewer than one in four independents (23%) said they saw a "conservative bias". [[Democrat]]s, while much more likely to perceive a conservative bias than other groups, were not nearly as sure the [[media]] was against them as were the Republicans. While Republicans were unified in their perception of a [[left-wing]] media, just two-thirds of Democrats were certain the media skewed [[right-wing|right]] – and 17% said the bias favored the left.<ref>http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1262</ref>

David Swindle writes at [[FrontPage Magazine]]:
{{cquote|There was not a single ideological vision driving Wikipedia’s founders and core contributors as they launched the project. Jimmy Wales, who would become the face of the project and its “benevolent dictator,” according to Andrew Lih’s ''The Wikipedia Revolution'', is a libertarian and [[Ayn Rand|Ayn Randian]] [[Objectivism|Objectivist]]. Also important in shaping Wikipedia was the so-called “hacker ethos,” the culture that has developed amongst computer programmers over the last 40 years and been shaped by the Left, the counterculture, popular culture, and [[anarchism|anarchist]] thought.

What binds together these ideologies is a [[utopia]]n ideal that human beings are more prone to [[altruism]] rather than self-interest. In Wikipedia Revolution Wales is quoted as saying, “Generally we find most people out there on the internet are good… It’s one of the wonderful humanitarian discoveries in Wikipedia, that most people only want to help us and build this free nonprofit, charitable resource.” Ward Cunningham was the programmer who created the wiki concept and software. According to Lih, he believed in the Wiki because “People are generally good.”

Lih explains how this philosophy is embedded within Wikipedia’s rules:

A core idea Wikipedia embraced.. was to assume good faith when interacting with others. The guideline promoted optimistic production rather than pessimistic nay-saying, and reads, “Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it; avoid accusing others of harmful motives without particularly strong evidence.

But as it worked out, Wikipedia in practice has strayed from these utopian ideas because of the ease with which political and social bias trumps altruism.

After almost a decade of rapid growth and free-wheeling experimentation the situation at the site by the Summer of 2009 was chaos. Political operatives would sabotage one another in electoral contests by vandalizing pages. More malicious misinformation filtered in freely, with living historical figures accused of involvement in conspiratorial plots.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref>}}

Wikipedia co-founder [[Larry Sanger]], who left the site, later acknowledged that Wikipedia does not follow its own neutrality policy.<ref name="SangerNeutrality"/>

[[File:Peter-Singer.jpg|right|thumbnail|250px|The atheist philosopher [[Peter Singer]] defends the practice of [[bestiality]] (as well as [[abortion]], infanticide and [[euthanasia]]). Despite holding these immoral views the [[liberal]] and pro-[[evolution]] academic establishment rewarded his views with a bioethics chair at [[Princeton University]].<ref>
*[https://creation.com/the-basis-of-a-christian-worldview The Basis of a Christian Worldview - Creation Ministries International]
*[https://creation.com/answer-to-philosophy-religion-professor-on-biblical-exegesis-and-the-problem-of-evil CMI answers philosophy/religion professor on biblical exegesis and the problem of evil]
*[http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2011/06/the-dangerous-mind-of-peter-singer ''The Dangerous Mind''] by Joe Carter, ''[[First Things]]''</ref> See: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] ]]

Wikipedia also has an automatic Wikimedia Commons editing software called "Commonist," which allows the user to upload multiple files at once. The symbol of [[communism]] - the "hammer and sickle" of the leftist ideology which murdered millions in the former [[Soviet Union]] - is featured prominently on the instruction page as well as the tags that mark each uploaded image.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Commonist</ref>

=== Research ===

On August 23, 2011, David Swindle published an article at ''[[FrontPage Magazine]]'' detailing how Wikipedia has been taken over by the [[Leftist|political left]] and he cited statistics relating to Wikipedia's articles on [[Anne Coulter]], [[Michael Moore]], [[Glenn Beck]] and [[Keith Olbermann]] which helped demonstrate the Wikipedia has a leftist/liberal bias plus he discussed the liberal/leftist cultural foundations of Wikipedia.<ref name="frontpagemag.com">[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/ How the left conquered Wikipedia - Part 1]</ref>

For example, Swindle wrote:

<blockquote>"Consider Ann Coulter versus Michael Moore. Coulter’s entry (on August 9, 2011) was 9028 words long.* Of this longer-than-usual entry, 3220 words were devoted to “Controversies and criticism” in which a series of incidents involving Coulter and quotes from her are cited with accompanying condemnations, primarily from her opponents on the Left. That’s 35.6 percent of Coulter’s entry devoted to making her look bad. By contrast, Moore’s entry is 2876 words (the more standard length for entries on political commentators), with 130 devoted to “Controversy.” That’s 4.5% of the word count, a fraction of Coulter’s. Does this mean that an “unbiased” commentator would find Coulter eight times as “controversial” as Moore?"<ref name="frontpagemag.com"/></blockquote>

=== Talk Pages ===

A lot of Wikipedia's leftist bias is clearly evident from their talk pages.

For example, when an article about the Barcelona May Days<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:May_Days&oldid=903699178</ref> (an event during the Spanish Civil War where hundreds of anti-Stalinist Trotskyists and anarchists were gunned down by the pro-Stalin Republican government) portrayed the anti-Stalinist side, which contained author George Orwell, in a generally favourable light, Stalinists filled the talk page with childish attacks on the authors of the article, including expletives, as is characteristic of Wikipedia.

==Purported "Tertiary" Source and Arbitrary Standards==
Wikipedia purports to be a "tertiary" source, relying on edited work from reputable sources. The policy is meant to build on the work of qualified editors of secondary sources. Some accuse Wikipedia, therefore, of relying on [[hearsay]], and discouraging the application of [[logic]] and new development of new insights. The result is an agglomeration of reheated "consensus" with little or no intellectual merit of its own; in particular, it is impossible to challenge orthodoxy, received wisdom or commonly held misconceptions through the Wikipedia system, no matter how factually incorrect those orthodoxies might be.

Supporters of Wikipedia would claim that relying on secondary sources encourages reliability and objectivity. However, there are cases of Wikipedia applying it's standards arbitrarily. For example, the case of Wikipedia editor "Yeoberry" (user ID 3606936), an editor with a Ph.D. in church history who first posted materials about "Icons" on August 6, 2012, with multiple citations to historical documents. The material was removed and Yeoberry was told that Wikipedia is a "tertiary" source and so he needed to find reliable secondary sources. On April 4, 2013, Yeoberry again added largely the same material, this time citing a newly published academic paper in a peer-reviewed journal. The information was again removed, with editors, at least some of whom religiously affiliated with the organization supporting icons, claiming the editor had a "COI" (conflict of interest). Neither time did the editors removing Yeoberry's material consult Yeoberry. But when Yeoberry reverted to his edition, he was charged with "edit warring." When Yeoberry challenged the arbitrary use of Wikipedia criteria he was blocked from editing indefinitely and then his access to his own talk page was also blocked.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=548948980#Proposal:_Indefinite_Block</ref>

Wikipedia articles, especially on controversial or political and religious topics, are often guarded by editors who have an interest in slanting the content of the article, may have no formal education on the topic, and can find a so-called reason for suppressing the information they want to suppress. Editors can claim the source is unreliable (as they interpret that); that information gives "UNDUE" weight to the topic the information is about; peer-reviewed, academic articles written by scholars can be removed by editors if, in the opinion of an editor, the view expressed is "Fringe" or if the contributor has a "COI" (conflict of interest) if he's the author of the secondary source or has an advanced education or other interest in the topic; etc. Editors with advanced education in a topic, citing sources from peer-reviewed journals, can have their contributions deleted and their participation prohibited if a few other editors, without such qualification but with enough knowledge of the Wikipedia jargon, decide to suppress him or her.

Originally, encyclopedias were written by scholars, either by one or a few whose knowledge is considered "encyclopedic" (i.e. very broad) or each article is written by an expert in the field. But in Wikipedia, expertise in a given field can disqualify one from contributing in that field resulting in Wikipedia being accused of being a "[[idiocracy]]".

==Economics==

Though Wikipedia is non-profit, the [[Wikia]] project of its co-founder is very much for-profit and has raised millions of dollars in [[venture capital]]. Already Wikipedia has been criticized for favoring Wikia. When Wikipedia community voted 61-39% percent to treat all links to other sites equally by removing nofollow (Google-ignored) tags for all of them, the Wikipedia co-founder overruled this decision and Wikipedia now favors Wikia in its treatment of nofollow tags.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/28/wikipedia-special-treatment-for-wikia-and-other-wikis/|title=Wikipedia: Special Treatment for Wikia and some other Wikis|author=Nik Cubrilovic|date=April 28, 2007|accessdate=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-January/061137.html</ref>

''The Register'' said:<ref name="theregister.co.uk"/>
:Wikipedia has tried to balance the Utopian goal of "an encyclopedia anyone can edit" with the more utilitarian goal of "a website anyone would want to read". With over a million articles, and a rulebook almost as dense, Wikipedia has demonstrated an insatiable desire to participate, create lists and generate procedures. The result is a huge silo of recorded trivia, and perhaps the world's largest, most distributed bureaucracy - mostly manned by a casual staff of teenagers and the unemployed.

For the past few years, Wikipedia has added banners begging for money from its viewers. The site claims to be in need of more funding, but in fact it is "awash with cash - and raises far more money each year than it needs to keep operating."<ref>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/20/cash_rich_wikipedia_chugging/ Wikipedia doesn't need your money - so why does it keep pestering you?], 20 December 2012</ref>

Wikipedia, a registered trademark of Wikimedia Foundation, is used also by services like WikiExperts.us, which is declared as not being affiliated with it.
WikiExperts.us accepts money to write Wikipedia entries for businesses and is included in American business ventures of Alex Konanykhin, the Former Russian oligarch, who has been wanted in Russia since Yeltsin's days to face charges relating to embezzlement and financial fraud.<ref>{{cite web |title='Not terrorists': Hysteria over MH17 fails to take account of both law and facts |author=Roslyn Fuller |date=July 25, 2014 |accessdate=July 26, 2014 |url=http://rt.com/op-edge/175496-hysteria-mh17-ukraine-facts-terrorists/}}</ref>

==Scandals and decline==

[[Image:Wikipedia scandals.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Decline in Wikimedia Foundation donations.<ref>[http://centiare.com/Wikipedia_scandals Wikipedia scandals]. Retrieved from centiare.com October 10, 2007.</ref> Graph courtesy [http://www.centiare.com/Directory:Gregory_J._Kohs Gregory Kohs]. Used with Permission.]]The cumulative effect of multiple scandals and revelations has led to declining activity on the English Wikipedia. The rate of new account creation peaked in early 2007 and has declined ~30% since. Overall editing activity showed a steady decline beginning in February 2007. An independent analysis reported, "The rate at which edits were being made to Wikipedia articles appears to have peaked in February to April 2007 and declined since. This decline is unprecedented in Wikipedia's history.... Though it may be purely coincidental, this time frame also corresponds to the Essjay controversy appearing in the press."<ref>[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2007-October/033661.html Statistical Decline of the English Wikipedia], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dragons_flight/Log_analysis Dragons flight/Log analysis], October 9, 2007.</ref>

Even after the hoax was revealed of high level intimates promoted by the Wikimedia Foundation as experts in fields that they were not, to persuade college professors to allow students to cite Wikipedia as a reliable source, and entrusted with the ability to invade users privacy which could affect, in their words, "life and death," Wikipedia still appealed to students with a Jim and Tammy Faye Baker-style fundraising slogan across one million project space pages that read, "OMG! Wikipedia is gone! I’ll flunk my exams!" [http://whygive.wikimedia.org/2007/11/24/omg-wikipedia-is-gone-ill-flunk-my-exams/]

Further evidence of the decline in Wikipedia is that the number of editors who voted in the 2012 Arbitration Committee elections has dropped to 858.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Committee_Elections_December_2012#Turnout|title=Arbitration Commitee Elections December 2012|accessdate=December 18, 2012}}</ref> For a website that claims to have thousands of active editors, this is very low. Active editors are discouraged from voting because all voters are subject to automatic investigation and invasion of their privacy to determine if they are "sockpuppets" of other voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.is/6tiF8|title=Wikipedia's "scrutineers" snoop on living arrangements of contributors|work=Examiner|first=Greg|last=Kohs|date=December 11, 2013|accessdate=December 15, 2014}}</ref>

==Shane Fitzgerald Hoax==

After the death of composer Maurice Jarre, a Wikipedia editor named Shane Fitzgerald attached a quote to Jarre's page: "One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack. Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head, that only I can hear."<ref>http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_maurice_jarre_wikipedia_hoax/</ref> The words are poetic, yet were never spoken by Jarre, and meant to appeal to news journalists seeking information. It was cited in many newspapers as a genuine quote before its removal.<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/id/30699302/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/t/student-hoaxes-worlds-media-wikipedia/#.WLNTW5ArLrc</ref>

Had Fitzgerald not confessed to the lie and informed major newspapers, it is likely that the quote would have been cited to one of them. In the days following, only one newspaper (''[[The Guardian]]'') publicly apologized for the use of a source that can be a tool for duping the public.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/may/04/journalism-obituaries-shane-fitzgerald</ref> Other newspapers, such as the [[Washington Post]], simply deleted their articles from online archives.

==False claim about Brent Bozell==

In March 2007, [[Brent Bozell]] described this falsehood in Wikipedia:<ref>http://archive.mrc.org/BozellColumns/newscolumn/2007/col20070320.asp</ref>

:The other day, [[Bernie Goldberg]] emailed me, upset. He pointed me to his Wikipedia entry. To read what was written was to conclude that apparently I must hate his guts. But we are friends. He is a man for whom I have profound respect, professional and personal. He knew there was foul play.

:Right there on the screen, under the heading "Criticism," it stated that I had attacked him, "claiming that Goldberg merely lifted material he had been producing for years, and only published the book because he had an ax to grind with his former employers and was attempting to make a 'quick buck,' noting that Goldberg never mentioned the alleged liberal bias of the media until it was 'convenient' and 'profitable' for him to do so."...

:In fact, those words have never been uttered by me. The accusation would be false. Back in 1996, Goldberg used the op-ed pages of ''The Wall Street Journal'' publicly to castigate his own network for its one-sided oafish bashing of [[Steve Forbes]]. It was anything but "convenient" or "profitable" for him. It ruined his friendship with [[Dan Rather]] and put him on a path to the outer fringes of CBS News. Ultimately, it ruined his newscaster career.

:My attorney contacted Wikipedia by email demanding the removal of this false entry. No response. So we edited out the offensive material ourselves, after which in writing counsel alerted Wikipedia to the legal action that might befall them should this be repeated. Here's full disclosure, Wikipedia-style: You can see how each article is altered, sometimes hour by hour, in its "History" section. But there is no mention of the attorney's complaints. In the Goldberg article's history, an editor simply now scolds: "Bozell's article is a mock-jealous swipe at Goldberg's opportunism. PLEASE REREAD IT." (Capitals theirs.)

:Goldberg and I are not alone. The website Conservapedia.com has a [[Bias in Wikipedia|long list]] of 41 allegations of bias and factual errors at Wikipedia. You can add to that the problem with the credentials of its staff. One of its editors, named only "Essjay" online and described on his user profile "as a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law," was recently exposed as a 24-year-old college kid in Kentucky. He resigned in disgrace — even though Wikipedia tried to retain him, claiming he'd edited thousands of articles with flair.

Instead of apologizing to Brent Bozell, '''Wikipedia instead says "Bozell points to Conservapedia as a resource that documents Wikipedia's faults in this regard, presumably holding it as a more authoritative reference less vulnerable to vandalism."'''<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Bozell accessed April 1, 2007</ref>

==Rewriting its own history==

The Associated Press and others credit Larry Sanger as the co-founder of Wikipedia.<ref>http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2007/mar/25/032502465.html
</ref> But the Associated Press quotes Jimmy Wales as denying it:<ref>''id.''</ref>

:"When you write this up please do not uncritically repeat Sanger's absurd claim to be the co-founder of Wikipedia."

:"I know of no one who was there at the company at the beginning who would think it anything other than laughable," he added. This is an interesting comment, considering that Larry Sanger takes credit for coining the name, "Wikipedia."<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales/Archive_20#Sorry.2C_Jimbo.2C_but_not_buying_it. User talk:Jimbo Wales/Archive 20, Larry Sanger 03:26, 5 March 2007 (UTC)]</ref>

:"I am not bent out of shape about it," he wrote. "The facts are on my side, which is why I bother so little about it."

According to the Associated Press, Jimmy Wales "has repeatedly tried to address this - even going so far as editing his own Wikipedia biography to tone down credit for Sanger. Such autobiographical contributions are frowned upon in Wikipedia's community, and Wales apologized after his changes were noticed and publicized by blogger Rogers Cadenhead in 2005."<ref>''id.''</ref> Wales' booking agent for speaking engagements claims that Wales is "the founder" of Wikipedia, which results in surprised clients when that claim is challenged. The false "founder" claim is on Wales' webpage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jimmywales.com/about-jimmy/|title=About Jimmy|accessdate=February 6, 2015}}</ref>

Jimmy Wales has admitted that certain administrators, contrary to their own rules, have at times completely removed editing evidence.

== Seigenthaler scandal ==

In early October 2005, a prominent and respected journalist [[John Seigenthaler Sr.]], contacted Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] about false and libelous content in his biographical entry. Essjay, a 24-year-old Wikipedia Administrator who was advancing rapidly in the organization, was dispatched to handle the situation.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter">[http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=User:Essjay/Letter User:Essjay/Letter]. Retrieved from WikiTruth, November 3, 2007.</ref> An anonymous contributor added to Seigenthaler's biography the previous May,
:"John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General [[Robert Kennedy]] in the early 1960s. For a short time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both [[John F. Kennedy|John]], and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven," and "John Seigenthaler moved to the [[Soviet Union]] in 1971, and returned to the [[United States]] in 1984. He started one of the country's largest public relations firms shortly thereafter."

Wales told Seigenthaler that Wikipedia is "accountable" and corrects mistakes immediately, but that the internet service provider of the anonymous user probably would not be helpful in identifying who placed the content.<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds">[http://www.journalism.org/node/1673 Seigenthaler's Op-Eds], October 1, 2005. Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org November 12, 2007.</ref> Accountability activist [[Daniel Brandt]], a victim of a spurious biographical entry by Wikipedia Administrators, identified the place of employment of the anonymous user, and from there the person accountable was identified.<ref>http://www.journalism.cf.ac.uk/2006/online/index.php?id=parse-195-0-0-251&article=336&author=India+Camm</ref>

Seigenthaler returned to the editorial pages of ''USA Today'' from which he retired as its first editorial manager to write an Op-Ed piece critical of Wikipedia and the threat it poses to free speech due of its overt provocation of government regulation, its irresponsible self-regulation and lack of accountability.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm A false Wikipedia 'biography'], By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>

=== CNN interview ===

On December 5, 2005 Wales and Seigenthaler appeared on [[CNN]]. An exchange between CNN moderator [[Kyra Phillips]] and Wales went like this:
{{Cquote|PHILLIPS:...I ran my name. I was shocked to see what was under my name. ...I'm telling you right now, Jimmy, that's not how I want people to see me and understand me. And what I'm about, and what I write about in my interviews, ''et cetera''. So, you know, it's not just individuals like John, but me and many other people, that just have concerns that this is creating gossip that can be very harmful. And people go to these sites thinking that this is the truth.}}
{{Cquote|WALES: Well, I mean, I think the real key is that the site matures over time, the -- all of the articles are edited over and over and over, and improved. Anyone's free to contribute. You're free to go and contribute.}}

This in fact is not the case. Phillips was not free to remove objectionable content within her biographical entry, as Daniel Brandt at that exact moment was discovering. Not four days prior, Wales told ''Editor & Publisher'' magazine regarding Brandt's objections to a false Wikipedia biography created by Wikipedia Administrators about him, "I find it hard to take him very seriously at all," and libelous slanders remained in Brandt's biography for a year and half. Wales told CNN, "we are very, very responsive to complaints and concerns."

Seigenthaler told the audience "with accountability comes credibility" and expressed fear that, "I'm afraid we're going to get regulated media as a result."<ref>http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/05/lol.02.html</ref>

On December 9, Seigenthaler appeared on C-SPAN's ''Washington Journal'' with Brian Lamb and articulated his concern that members of Congress or other powerful figures in government may likewise be targeted. On November 2, 2006, days before the mid-term Congressional elections, an anonymous IP address traced to the ''[[New York Times]]'' changed [[U.S. House of Representatives]] [[Majority Leader]] [[Tom DeLay]]'s Wikipedia biographical entry from "a prominent member of the [[Republican Party]]" to "Grand Dragon of the Republican Party."<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_DeLay&diff=prev&oldid=85320018 Wikipedia/Tom DeLay, Revision as of 20:19, 2 November 2006, IP 199.181.174.146]</ref><ref>[http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/name2ip.php?orgname=New+York+Times&location= WikiScanner]</ref>

Seigenthaler wrote a more expansive column in the ''The Tennessean'' after the November 30 ''USA Today'' piece appeared,
{{Cquote|a sudden stream of invective — homophobic, anti-Semitic and racist — spilled, as if from a sewer, onto the Wikipedia page under my name. ..It identified me as ...a "Nazi," "fascist-oriented" ....murderer ...there also was the profile picture of Adolf Hitler over the caption, "Press photo of Seigenthaler." The accompanying line: "He is secretly responsible for killing all the Jews." }}

=== Accountability and Section 230 ===
[[Image:Wikifascists.JPG|thumb|275px|right|From Wikipedia Watch. [http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/] The inscription reads, ''"Two wikifascists find someone without a biography."'']]
Upon his retirement from ''USA Today'', Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center, an organization dedicated to a national dialogue about [[First Amendment]] rights and values. Seigenthaler criticized passage of [[Section 230]] of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Section 230 states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker." Unlike print and broadcast companies, internet service providers (ISP's) cannot be sued for disseminating defamatory attacks on citizens posted by others. Seigenthaler noted [[Jimbo Wales]] told [[Brian Lamb]] in a [[C-SPAN]] interview that Wikipedia is accountable and that mistakes are corrected within minutes, but the false information remained in Seigenthaler's biography for five months. Seigenthaler concluded,
{{Cquote|And so we live in a universe of new media with phenomenal opportunities for worldwide communications and research — but populated by volunteer vandals with poison-pen intellects.<ref>A false Wikipedia 'biography', By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>}}

In the case of ''Zeran v. AOL'', Zeran sued AOL for refusing to screen and remove defamatory messages, even after Zeran notified the ISP of their existence. The lower court ruled for the service provider and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the decision, noting that the intent of Section 230 was to (1) remove incentives on service providers to restrict speech on the Internet and (2) encourage self-regulation by service providers.<ref>http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=916529</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/Civil_Rights/newcyber.pdf</ref>

An American citizen who posts material on the Internet that is illegal in a foreign country could be prosecuted if he subjected himself to the jurisdiction of that country. Internet users who export material that is illegal, that is to say, post material that is accessible and illegal in some foreign countries may be subject to prosecution in that country. However, under American law, the United States will not extradite a person for engaging in a constitutionally protected activity even if that activity violates a criminal law elsewhere.<ref>http://www.rjayco.com/obrien/nazism.pdf</ref>

=== Essjay given oversight ===
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Essjay scandal]]

Essjay wrote a professor to persuade her to allow her students to use Wikipedia as a viable source of information and posted a verbatim copy of the email for others to use. Essjay stated, "I was the administrator who deleted the inappropriate revisions when Mr. Seigenthaler contacted our founder, [[Jimmy Wales]]; it is quite unfortunate that a relatively minor issue on a relatively minor figure has provided so much negative publicity.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter"/> Seigenthaler noted in his Op-Ed piece, "The motive for the salacious stuff directed at me is reasonably obvious," and quoted some comments, "We all at Wikipedia think he (Seigenthaler) is a horrible, stupid p...k for complaining about small inaccuracies in his biography."<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds"/>

Others said, "Mr. Seigenthaler's attitude and actions are reprehensible and ill-formed," and “if there is an error whether large or small, he can correct it.” This again, was not true. Even prior to the Wikipedia policy, '''Biographies of Living Persons''', [[conflict of interest]] restrictions existed on the subject of an article editing their own entry. Another wrote: "Rather than fixing the article himself, he made a legal threat."<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/02/12/bias_sabotage_haunt_wikipedias_free_world/?page=3</ref>
[[Image:Seigraph.gif|400px|thumb|right|The Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia" as curiosity seekers to view the [[misinformation]] skyrocketed Alexa rankings.]]
Despite the damage to an innocent person and divulgence of Wikipedia's precarious claim as a viable source, the Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as a triumph and considered "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia,"<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:John_Seigenthaler,_Sr.#The_best_thing_that_ever_happened_to_Wikipedia Talk:John Seigenthaler Sr.#The best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia], retrieved 23 March 2007.</ref> catapulting it into a top ten most visited website as curiosity seekers responded to the negative publicity.<ref>[http://wikipediareview.com/lofiversion/index.php?t1100.html Wikipedia: A Nightmare Of Libel and Slander], Joel Leyden, Israel News Agency, 8 May 2006.</ref>

The scandal was originally billed as a "hoax", then "controversy," then downgraded to "incident," and now re-upgraded to "controversy," evidently in response to criticism. The Wikipedia entry on "Seigenthaler controversy" contains [[disinformation]], making the claim, "After the incident, Wikipedia took steps to prevent a recurrence, including barring unregistered users from creating new pages." No actions were ever taken to require disclosure of the real life identities of contributors. Barring unregistered users from creating new pages had nothing to do with the Seigenthaler scandal—the page already existed when an anonymous IP added the false information. Registration of accounts requires no accountability of the real life identity of the contributor. Indeed, many experienced Wikipedia editors and Administrators have dozens of registered accounts, called "sockpuppet accounts." Protecting the identities of anonymous high-level Administrators has always been more of a priority to the WikiMedia Foundation than the propagation of false information about real life persons whose identities are known. Wales was asked by ''BusinessWeek'' magazine, “Why do you feel it is important to allow contributors and site administrators to remain anonymous?” Wales responded, “there are definitely people working in Wikipedia who may have privacy reasons for not wanting their name on the site….there are lots of reasons for privacy online that aren’t nefarious.”<ref>http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051214_441708.htm</ref> In the Seigenthaler case, it was the odd circumstance that a victim of false information had a large enough platform to respond, coupled with the welcome fact that the victim fundamentally opposes government regulation of internet speech.

Wikipedia's "Seigenthaler controversy" also states, "The Foundation added a new level of "oversight" features to the MediaWiki software,[12] accessible as of 2006 to around 20 experienced editors nominated by Wales,"<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seigenthaler_Sr._Wikipedia_biography_controversy#Wikimedia_Foundation_reaction Seigenthaler controversy#Wikimedia Foundation reaction].</ref> one of whom was Essjay.

This ban on anonymous page creation “reform” was abandoned less than two years later as Wikipedia's usage and ratings slumped in the wake of yet more scandals and questions about Wikipedia's culture, core content policies, and endemic lack of accountability.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/084292.html</ref>

==Brandt / Berlet feud==
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Daniel Brandt controversy]]
An ugly [[far-left]] sectarian dispute<ref>[http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/wilcox/5.html Laird Wilcox], ''The Watchdogs: A Close Look at Anti-Racist "Watchdog" Groups'', Second Edition, Part 2, Editorial Research Service, 1999, p. 21. ISBN 0-993592-96-5.</ref> reared its head in 2005 with disastrous consequences for the site's credibility. The feud had been dormant for many years until the need to elevate a “controversial and notable expert” above the level of “partisan and extreme” defined by its own policies became apparent which would have precluded the so-called “expert” as "a source for anything other than himself,” as Wikipedia's ever fluid policies dictate.

Daniel Brandt, founder of Namebase,<ref>http://www.namebase.org/</ref> Google Watch, and Wikipedia Watch, removed Chip Berlet from his Board of Advisors in 1991 when Berlet refused to sit on the same Board which included Fletcher Prouty." Prouty, a retired Air Force colonel whose intelligence career stretched back to accompanying President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] to the [[Teheran conference]], was allegorically portrayed as the mysterious “Man X”<ref>[http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lfprouty.htm Leroy Fletcher Prouty, Jr., Colonel, United States Air Force], [[Arlington National Cemetery]] Website, Retrieved November 4, 2007.</ref> by Donald Southerland in [[Oliver Stone]]'s film, [[JFK]]. A Brandt biographical page was created using Berlet as the source for unsavory attacks on Brandt. Brandt describes himself as an "accountability activist"<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/04/your_take_roundupbelievers_neg.html Believers, Negativists Debate Wikipedia’s Trustworthiness], by Mark Glaser, 20 April 2006. Retrieved from pbs.org October 29, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Brandt Wikiquote/Daniel Brandt#Sourced]</ref> and claims he originally began working with Wikipedia editors in good faith during October 2005 but any biographical information he revealed was spun against him to depict him in a negative light. Brandt states,
{{Cquote|I soon realized that it was also about Berlet, who was still bent on undermining me. Berlet was using Wikipedia as part of his political agenda, and he was successful in this.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=5641&st=40&p=21441&mode=linear#entry21441</ref>}}
Berlet's biography underwent an extensive revision with most of the substantive NPOV criticism cut out. The revising editor commented, "I kept Daniel Brandt, not because I feel he's a credible source, but because there's so little published criticism of Berlet, that I felt I had to retain something."<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Chip_Berlet&diff=prev&oldid=9161554 Chip Berlet/Talk, SlimVirgin 00:19, 7 January 2005].</ref> This is an extraordinary statement and raises the question why the same high-level Administrator and author of several of Wikipedia's core content and citation policies, including '''Wikipedia:Reliable Sources''' and '''Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons''' ('''BLP'''),<ref name="en.wikipedia.org">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons&diff=31947681&oldid=31753956</ref> would use a source she did not consider credible.

===Biographies of living persons===

Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons (WP:BLP) policy did not come into being because of the Seigenthaler scandal, but rather over the Brandt controversy, as the originating editor noted in an edit summary.<ref name="en.wikipedia.org"/> Brandt requested Wikipedia delete his biographical entry, and ceased working with editors he suspected of working to further the propagation of false information about him.

''Editor & Publisher'' magazine bills itself as the nation's oldest trade journal serving the newspaper industry with roots dating back to 1884. Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] responded to questions from ''Editor & Publisher'' in a prepared statement on December 1, 2005 about Daniel Brandt saying,
{{Cquote|I don't regard him as a valid source about anything at all<ref>[http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/article_brief/eandp/1/1001612839 Wikipedia Founder, Readers Respond to Seigenthaler Article], Jay DeFoore, ''Editor & Publisher'', December 01, 2005.</ref>}}

Wales comments added '''undue weight'''<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:UNDUE#Undue_weight</ref> ('''WP:UNDUE''') to criticism of Brandt when placed within his biographical entry. Brandt demanded accountability from the army of unidentified Wikipedia Administrators furthering Chip Berlet's agenda to destroy Brandt's credibility, and elevate Berlet's own as a Wikipedia "expert."
[[Image:294577483 90fd22f5cd m.jpg|thumb|300px|right|From '''WikiTruth''', the inscription reads, 
"''The Big Bad Brandt is Gonna Getcha!'']]
Brandt became known as the scourge of the Wikipedia Admin community. WikiTruth says in its ''Brandt the Boogeyman'' entry,
{{Cquote|he dates back to a time when people would look up facts in books and would verify information without just doing a copy and paste from an AP news article and thinking they were done. He compares writing styles, he calls government agencies, and he writes letters. And when he's done, he tends to know. Or at least, he knows where he stands in terms of information. He's rather tenacious about getting stuff right.

Wikipedia, of course, doesn't do this much at all: depending on the day, they'll laud a link to a website as being absolutely useless (it's on the WEB, of course) and then the next minute link to a different website to back a "fact" up. Citing books and printed materials is often a no-go, because nobody can read the original citation, so it gets swept away as well. Really, you have no idea what's good and what's bad, and it's all one big happy soup-hug.

Therefore, guys like Daniel Brandt are horrible for Wikipedia: he researches. He finds laws that pertain to situations. He asks the tough questions that could upset the whole Wiki-cart.}}

Wikipedia continues to publish inaccurate and defamatory articles about living persons, written by anonymous contributors, based on other unreliable sources, and refuses to withdraw or change them. The victims of its libels have no legal means of compelling Wikipedia to make any changes. It is not answerable to any court or libel laws and simply behaves as if it is above the law.

==The Wordbomb Saga==
[[Image:Patrick byrne overstock small.jpg|thumb|right|Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne [http://www.overstock.com/Patrick-Byrne-and-naked-short-selling/7371/static.html]]]
One of Wikipedia's most bitter and drawn-out disputes, chronicled in ''The Register,''<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/</ref> centers around the assertion by representatives of Overstock.com<ref>http://www.overstock.com/community</ref> that a [[Mainstream media|mainstream financial journalist]] Gary Weiss had been editing Wikipedia to impose his point of view on a series of articles relevant to the company. Weiss was once a reporter with BusinessWeek, in 2007 became a columnist with Forbes, and had for over 10 years been posting under fake names to confuse, distort, hijack Usenet groups, stock message boards, and Wikipedia, to prevent the public from understanding criminal activity.<ref>http://www.deepcapture.com/gary-weiss-scaramouch-psychopath/</ref> Weiss was notorious around the Internet for his public feud with Overstock<ref>http://garyweiss.blogspot.com/2007/05/overstockcoms-ethical-dilemma.html</ref> and its CEO [[Patrick Byrne]],<ref>http://allantyoung.com/2008/09/22/patrick-byrne-vindicated/</ref> ridiculing their campaign against the controversial practice of [[Naked Short Selling]].

In 2006, Judd Bagley, an ally of Overstock's Patrick Byrne having interviewed the CEO for a personal project, began editing Wikipedia to counter what was perceived to be a skewed representation of Naked Short Selling and Overstock.com. He was swiftly dispatched by influential Wikipedia administrators.

Shortly after, Bagley became Overstock's Director of Communications, and embarked on an aggressive campaign to publicize the dispute on various websites, aiming to expose the administrators he held responsible for protecting Weiss. Using the moniker “Wordbomb”, Bagley presented evidence<ref>http://antisocialmedia.net/final-word-on-weiss/</ref> suggesting that not only was Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia using the name “User:Mantanmoreland“,<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mantanmoreland</ref> but that he was operating other accounts to manipulate consensus and protect his interests in the dispute. Mantanmoreland violated Wikipedia policies against Conflict of Interest and No Self Promotion by creating an article about himself.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gary_Weiss&diff=prev&oldid=48341962</ref> Bagley proved Weiss had edited Wikipedia from one of two main IPs used by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC),<ref>http://www.dtcc.com/about/business/index.php</ref> the organization charged with settling about a quadrillion stock trades each year. The DTCC is also the organization Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said acts an enabler of perpetrators of illegal naked short selling of many public companies.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=10360&st=0&p=36485&mode=linear#entry36485</ref>

Wikipedia responded to Bagley's campaign in typical schoolyard fashion. The dispute was escalated by a small clique of powerful Wikipedians who seemed less interested in the truth of Bagley's assertions, and more concerned with attacking perceived threats to the status quo at Wikipedia. With the approval of [[Jimbo Wales]], administrators sided with “Mantanmoreland” / Gary Weiss, and anointed Bagley / Wordbomb an “Enemy Of The Wiki” who needed to be silenced — a “stalker” and a “harasser” for publicizing the details of the person who had been editing relevant articles on Wikipedia, and the people who had been stopping him from doing the same.

For nearly two years, Bagley's name was invoked to inspire paranoia in the Wikipedia Admin Community to keep questioning editors in line. It became a textbook case for analysis of the intense group-think Wikipedia has become notorious for.
[[Image:Judd bagley overstock.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Judd Bagley was made a target at the highest levels of Wikipedia and became a victim of a global [[witchhunt]] by the Wikipedia Admin Community for daring to expose an unholy alliance of abuse and [[corruption]] on [[Wall Street]] and in the Wikipedia cabal. [http://antisocialmedia.net/] ]]
Bagley was repeatedly disparaged<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=15897</ref> by a cabal of out-of-control administrators such as Guy Chapman, who denounced Bagley as “lunatic” and “evil” when it suited. UK Wikimedia representative David Gerard banned an entire area of Utah to prevent Bagley raising his issues and made personally disparaging remarks.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:David_Gerard/archive_5#User:204.15.84.2</ref> Wikipedia Arbitrator Fred Bauder claimed that Bagley's blog AntiSocialMedia.net showed “moral depravity”<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision&diff=158954587&oldid=158809362</ref> for challenging the Wiki-elite. Administrator Phil Sandifer dismissed Bagley in highly personal and offensive language while boasting<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083509.html</ref> that he himself had become a “powerful and trusted administrator on the 9th biggest website in the world.”

Other editors who raised Overstock's quite legitimate complaints were banned as proxies of Judd Bagley. Paranoia had taken such a hold that editors with productive records from all over the US, and as far afield as Europe and Asia found themselves accused of being Bagley. When the editor Cla68<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Mantanmoreland/Evidence#Evidence_presented_by_Cla68</ref> questioned the issue of Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia, he was swiftly blocked by administrator Durova on the orders of Jimbo Wales who wrote,<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Gary_Weiss&diff=165916446&oldid=165916313</ref> “Durova and Guy have my full support here. No nonsense, zero tolerance, shoot on sight. No kidding, this has gone on long enough”.

A study<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SirFozzie/Investigation</ref> undertaken by concerned administrators into the editing patterns of “Mantanmoreland” came to fruition. Despite the “Mantanmoreland” account ceasing edits on Overstock / Naked Short Selling articles in September 2007, the study revealed evidence beyond reasonable doubt that the same person had been operating several accounts to “control” articles. Thus affirming Bagley's claims.

More worryingly for good faith Wikipedians was the revelation<ref>http://www.wikback.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2762#Post2757</ref><ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/wikipedia_and_naked_shorting/print.html</ref> that Jimbo Wales, alongside leading administrators, had considered that this person was almost certainly Gary Weiss in a private discussion as long ago as September 2007 (the same month the “Mantanmoreland” account quit editing the relevant articles). Meaning that behind the scenes, they were admitting that Bagley was probably right all along, yet in public were vilifying or blocking anyone who publicly stated so.

After the [[financial meltdown of 2008]], the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] issued directives aimed at curbing abusive naked short selling.<ref>[http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20090728_SEC_short-selling_rule_is_permanent.html]</ref> Patrick Byrne has been widely recognized as in the forefront of the movement aimed at curbing such abuses.<ref>http://www.investigatethesec.com/drupal-5.5/?q=node/425</ref>

==Michael Moore==
[[Image:Moorecagan.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Moore with [[Leslie Cagan]] [[United For Peace and Justice]] [http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=629] ]]
The website MichaelMoore.com, dissatisfied with a Wikipedia editor's edits to ''[[Sicko]]'', published an image of a Wikipedia user on its main page. This was combined with links to edit both ''Sicko'' and the editor's user page.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision#Michael_Moore] Several Wikipedia editors and Administrators regarded this action on the part of [[Michael Moore]]'s official website as an egregious violation of a well publicized ruling to protect Wikipedia editors from outside harassment. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore_2] The consensus, per Wikipedia's policy was to remove links from Wikipedia to Michael Moore's attack site which was urging vengeance and reprisals against an editor who posted criticism of Moore's film.

In Arbitration, Wikipedia's internal policy making and dispute resolution arm, the Arbitration chairman publicly admitted,
{{Cquote|No question it contained an attack, including a link to edit our user's page. The problem is that many of us like Michael Moore very much and don't care much for the viewpoint of the user involved. Applying our policy in a rote manner (Without consideration of '''the unwritten rule that we support prominent subjects that we like''') yields removal of the link (At least while it contained the personal attack).<ref>Wikien-1 [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082980.html Harassment sites], Fred Bauder, Sun Oct 14 19:03:28 UTC 2007.</ref>}}

Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View (NPOV), laid down by founder Jimbo Wales allegedly is "absolute and non-negotiable." Few people find the claim convincing.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#_note-0] The ArbCom chairman further stated, "Obviously we need to make an exception for prominent people whose viewpoint we support." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082987.html] When asked, "How, then, is this remotely compatible with NPOV?", the ArbCom chairman responded, "Not at all." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082993.html] The editor whom Michaelmoore.com was urging its viewers to attack and harass is described as "a Fellow at the [[American Enterprise Institute]], a [[conservative]] [[think tank]]."[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083230.html]

==Sinbad hoax==
On March 16, 2007, Wikipedia entry on the 50-year old entertainer Sinbad, born David Adkins, stated: "He succumbed to a fatal heart attack on the morning of March 14, 2007." This hoax was widely reported in the media.<ref>http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2891&iArticleId=3734818</ref>

==Robert Clark Young revenge edits==
From 2006 to 2013, Robert Clark Young, an author who had only published one novel to mixed reviews, edited Wikipedia extensively with 13,000 edits under username "Qworty." He engaged in aggressive behavior making revenge edits to biographical articles of his rival authors and other people against whom he held grudges. He also puffed up his own Wikipedia autobiography, and repeatedly denied that he was connected to Young. He also created other single purpose accounts to further his campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_checkuser/Case/Geri_Litton|title=Geri Litton sockpuppet investigation|date=2007|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/Qworty/Archive|title=Quorty sockpuppet inviestigant|date=2013|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref> Only after his true identity was revealed in a salon.com article,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.salon.com/2013/05/17/revenge_ego_and_the_corruption_of_wikipedia/|title=Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia|date=May 17, 2013|work=salon.com|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> was Young banned<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/IncidentArchive797#User:Qworty|title=Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive797|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> and efforts made to reverse his vindictive edits. In essence, he would remove favorable items from the biographies of his enemies or nominate them for deletion. The salon.com article concluded,
<blockquote>But Qworty’s example tells us that even when people call attention to a rogue editor, even when that editor’s temper tantrums come to the attention of the founder of Wikipedia, it’s quite possible that no action will be taken.</blockquote>

==Rutgers-Ivy League hoax==
A Wikipedia entry falsely stated that Rutgers was once invited to join the Ivy League. Although that false statement was eventually removed from Wikipedia, it was not removed before the ''Daily News'' relied on it in this story:

:You don't have to define your college with your football team, but Rutgers long ago decided to give it a try. Back in 1954, when it was considered a 'public Ivy,' Rutgers might have joined the fledgling Ivy League and altered its destiny. But the school declined the offer - arguably the dumbest mistake in its history. Ever since then, Rutgers has scrambled to prove itself worthy of playing football with the big boys."<ref>Bondy, Filip. "They Can Finally Say They Belong Here", New York Daily News, 2006-11-10, p. 92. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.</ref>

==Barbara Bauer vs. Wikimedia Foundation==
Wikimedia Foundation is one of 17 defendants in a lawsuit suit filed in New Jersey, by Barbara Bauer and her literary agency. Her Wikipedia article was deleted on March 25, 2007 by Wikipedia administrator Doc Glasgow as a "bloody disgrace".<ref name="wikipedia-watch.org">http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauertc.html</ref>{{dead link}}<ref name="wikipedia-watch.org"/><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert1.html</ref><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert2.html</ref>{{dead link}}

==GFDL License Issue==
Wikipedia's practice of complete deletion of articles<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Brian+Peppers</ref> without reference to the original article, the author(s)/publisher(s) of the article, and the history and title(s) of the article, including modification history, description and appropriate dates, is a direct violation of at least GFDL version 1.2. Additionally, the GFDL License states that if the article/document contains Copyright notices, that said notices must be preserved at all times. If those notices are removed, then they are in violation of Copyright Law, as well as the terms of the GFDL license. Furthermore, the question of them removing anything outright at all comes into quite a grey area. If one reads the GFDL License literally, then it implies that once the article document is posted, it is in distribution, and technical measures are not allowed to be taken to prevent the use of the document in question, and that no other conditions whatsoever can be added by the user to those of the GFDL license.<ref>http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=Wikipocalypse:GF'DL</ref><ref>http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html#TOC1</ref>

However, beginning June 15, 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation began transitioning content on Wikipedia to be dual-licensed under both the GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-06-15/News_and_notes</ref>

==Censorship==
Among the many userboxes that are used by editors in Wikipedia, there is one that claims "Wikipedia is not censored".<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Disavian/Userboxes/Not_Censored "Wikipedia is not censored" userbox] at Wikipedia</ref> This is a lie, as Wikipedia routinely engages in censorship against any edits [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia|its editors and administrators do not like for political/ideological reasons]] (particularly involving political articles, the "[[global warming]]" article, the [[GamerGate]] controversy article and articles involving gender-confused individuals and those claiming to be "non-binary") and its leftist editors/administrators have been very quick to revert/censor such edits and to quickly block editors who make such edits to fit reality instead of the leftist editors' personal and ideological preference, wishful thinking and political correctness in defiance of reality and logic.

==Cyberbullying==
The press have reported on incidents of [[cyberbullying]] on Wikipedia.<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news| url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/29/local/me-wikipedia29 | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Molly | last=Hennessy-Fiske | title=Wikipedia threats went unchecked – Los Angeles Times | date=29 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="ABCLocal">[http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=6087243 Hacienda Heights school receives possible threat | abc7.com]</ref><ref name="LATimes2">{{cite news |title=Student arrested for violent threats on Wikipedia |first= |last= |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/04/wiki.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef011571abd811970b |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=29 April 2008}}</ref> An editor threatened an Asian student at the Glen A. Wilson High School in 2008,<ref name="LATimes" /><ref name="ABCLocal" /><ref name="LATimes2" /> and a 14-year-old boy was arrested for making a threat against Niles West High School on Wikipedia in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_baef01f3-e56f-52e1-b9af-e90eb83e811b.html|title=Teen charged after threat to school on Wikipedia|date=31 October 2006|agency=Associated Press |publisher=Pantagraph.com|accessdate=26 January 2011|location=Bloomington, IL}}</ref>

María Sefidari, the female Chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Directors, is involved in a lesbian relationship with Wikipedia editor Laura Hale, which creates an inherent conflict of interest in the following controversy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canberra.edu.au/researchrepository/items/d2d1d08e-20c3-4781-9072-57c8960c6c91/1/introductory_pages.pdf?attachment.uuid=a046d5df-9395-4700-a345-ebda1f122cc6|title=Thesis Acknowledgements|page=4|accessdate=July 15, 2019}}</ref> Ms. Hale has a long history, dating back to 2011 of incompetent edits and abusing male editors while making false accusations of "misogyny" against editors who correct her edits. A long-time male administrator, Fram, followed Ms. Hale around making corrections to her problematic edits. In turn, Ms. Hale complained to the Trust & Security staff of the Wikimedia Foundation, rather than to the volunteer-staffed complaint mechanisms on Wikipedia. Although the Trust & Security staff has previously banned a few editors for problems involving illegal conduct such as pedophilia, in June 2019, for the first time, they suspended Fram for one year for alleged "incivility". In response, an English Wikipedia administrator lifted the block and was in turn stripped of his administratorship by the Foundation, and several other administrators resigned in protest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_response_to_the_Wikimedia_Foundation%27s_ban_of_Fram|title=Wikipedia:Community response to the Wikimedia Foundation's ban of Fram|accessdate=June 24, 2019}}</ref> In response to a Buzzfeed article about the controversy,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/wikipedia-ban-editor-culture-war|title=The Culture War Has Finally Come For Wikipedia|date=July 27, 2019|accessdate=July 28, 2019|work=Buzzfeed News}}</ref> Wikimedia Foundation executive director Katharine Maher sent a tweet calling the article "s***ty", which drew heavy criticism against her on her Twitter account from other Wikipedia editors for what they indicated was her dismissive and elitist attitude toward those opposed to the Foundation's unilateral abuse of power.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/krmaher/status/1144394019893460993|title=tweet|accessdate=June 28, 2019}}</ref> As more Wikipedia Administrators and Bureaucrats resign or go on strike, the crisis has also been reported by Breitbart.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/06/28/wikipedia-editors-revolt-over-sites-ban-of-veteran-administrator/|title=Wikipedia Editors Revolt over Site’s Ban of Veteran Administrator|date=July 28, 2019|work=Breitbart|accessdate=July 28, 2019}}</ref>

== Wikipedia on bestiality ==

''See also:'' [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] and [[Atheism and bestiality]]

As noted earlier, the Wikipedia project was initiated by [[atheism|atheists]] and [[entrepreneur]] Jimmy Wales and the [[agnosticism|agnostic]] [[philosophy]] [[professor]] [[Larry Sanger]] on January 15, 2001.<ref>http://www.nndb.com/lists/288/000092012/</ref>

[[Bestiality]] is the act of engaging in sexual relations with an animal. As of July 18, 2012, Wikipedia's article on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia zoophilia/bestiality] has an entire section on "arguments for zoophilia" plus pictures depicting zoophilia as well as a section on "arguments against zoophilia". As of September 24, 2011, Wikipedia has a "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law Zoophilia and the law"] article which has a section on the impact of zoophilia laws where eight alleged negative impacts of zoophilia laws are given, but no positive impacts of the laws are given.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law#Impact_of_laws|title=Impact of laws section of "Zoophilia and the law"|date=July 17, 2012|accessdate=July 18, 2012}}</ref>

See also: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Evolutionary belief and bestiality]]
== Trademarks and domain names ==
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) uses the licensing of its trademarks as a tool to control local chapters. Although each local chapter is in theory an autonomous organization, each chapter signs a contract with the WMF as a condition for using its trademarks. The WMF also tried to stake out control over many domain names that contain the word "wiki" including "[[wikileaks]]". WikiLeaks and Wikipedia have no affiliation with each other. ("Wiki" describes a type of website and is not a trademark.)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiLeaks_is_not_part_of_Wikipedia |title=Wikipedia:WikiLeaks is not part of Wikipedia |work=Wikipedia |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/wiki-giants-on-a-collision-course-over-shared-name-2065561.html |title=Wiki giants on a collision course over shared name |last1=Rawlinson |first1=Kevin |first2=Tom |last2=Peck |date=30 August 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia did purchase several WikiLeaks-related domain names (including wikileaks.com and wikileaks.net) as a "protective brand measure" in 2007.<ref name=wikia>{{cite web |url=http://www.wikia.com/Press:Wikia_Does_Not_Own_Wikileaks_Domain_Names |title=Press:Wikia Does Not Own Wikileaks Domain Names |work=[[Wikia]] |publisher=[[Wikia]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia started to transfer those domain names to WikiLeaks on June 14, 2007, but the transfer was never completed, and Wikia held those domain names when the "Wikileaks scandal" broke.<ref name=wikia/>

== Humorous quotes concerning Wikipedia ==

"...dealing with the Wikipedians is like walking into a mental hospital: the floors are carpeted, the walls are nicely padded, but you know there’s a pretty good chance at any given moment one of the inmates will pick up a knife.” - quote from a ''[[New York Times]]'' article on Wikipedia written by the journalist and author Judith Newman<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/fashion/Wikipedia-Judith-Newman.html?smid=pl-share Wikipedia-Mania: Wikipedia, What Does Judith Newman Have to Do to Get a Page?]</ref>

An article entitled ''Wikipedia Gridlocked by Wikipedia Nerds'' declared:
{{Cquote|So who are these Gatekeepers to all the internet's knowledge?

A survey the foundation conducted last year determined that the average age of an editor is 26.8 years, and that 87% of them are men.

As you suspected: [[nerd]]s.<ref>http://gawker.com/5410917/wikipedia-gridlocked-by-wikipedia-nerds</ref>}}

Jimmy Wales said the typical profile of a Wikipedia contributor is "a 26-year-old geeky male" who moves on to other ventures, gets married, and leaves the website.<ref>[http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/5397593/Wikipedia-losing-contributors-founder-says Wikipedia losing contributors, founder says]</ref>

Seth Meyers noted on his ''Late Night'' program, "Wikipedia is now accepting donations using the online currency Bitcoin. So now you can support information you're not sure is true with currency you're not sure is money."<ref>http://www.thespec.com/living-story/4733681-tuesdayfile/ Retrieved August 8, 2014</ref>

When obscure author Patrick Modiano was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in October 2014, few journalists knew much about him. The person updating his Wikipedia biography to reflect the prize added this warning to the article, "To the Reporter Now Copying From Wikipedia: Be careful boy. Primary sources are still best for journos."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/10/09/nobel_prize_winner_patrick_modiano_s_wikipedia_page_changed_to_add_note.html|title=A Reminder to Journalists Writing About the New Nobel Prize Winner, From Wikipedia|first=Forrest |last=Wickman|date=October 9, 2014|work=Slate|accessdate=October 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patrick_Modiano&diff=prev&oldid=628920987</ref>

==Unbiased editor recruitment==
Wikipedia claims that anyone can edit it. That is true to an extent,but its editor pool is self-selecting. However, on January 25–29, 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation paid for Gregory Varnum and others to attend and staff a booth at the "24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change" conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The purpose of the Wikimedia booth was to recruit more LGBT activists to edit Wikipedia. Although Wikimedia has outreach efforts at other conferences, there has been no outreach at conservative events.

Wikipedia editor [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch Sarah Stierch] was the volunteer moderator of the Gender Gap email list where she departed from discussing Wikipedia to freely share her negative experiences with men in her life. In fall 2011, she was hired by the WMF as a Community Fellow to work on creating a "Teahouse" for newer Wikipedia editors. The report on the Teahouse Pilot Project<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Research:Teahouse/Pilot_Report&oldid=3832292|title=Teahouse: Pilot Report|date=June 14, 2012}}</ref> explained, "If you click through to the Teahouse, it’s clearly aiming to broaden female participation - just look at the pastel background and references to tea." Stierch tried to use Twitter to recruit more female editors into Teahouse and the English Wikipedia. The report concluded, "Because so much time and energy needed to be spend during the pilot on setting up and maintaining the space, we weren't able to focus as much as we'd have liked on gender-targeted strategies for recruiting female guests and hosts. There are clearly more experiments that need to be run in order to better integrate the space with other gender gap efforts and WikiWomen's calls to actions." The WMF terminated Stierch on January 9, 2014 following complaints of her moonlighting as a paid editor.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref>

On August 18, 2014, during the Congressional summer recess, the [[Cato Institute]] and Wikimedia DC jointly conducted a seminar to encourage Congressional staff members to edit Wikipedia about pending legislation and policy issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/08/18/a-call-to-edit-congress-and-wikipedia-told-to-peacefully-co-exist/|title=A call to edit: Congress and Wikipedia told to peacefully co-exist|first=Nancy|last=Scola|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|work=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?321030-1/discussion-wikipedia-government-transparency|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|title=Wikipedia and Congress|work=C-SPAN}}</ref> The panel discussion included Michelle Newby, a full-time Cato employee who edits Wikipedia as a part of her job. She promised to work with any Congressional Staff that would be interested in editing.

==Flaws in governance structure==
Perhaps Wikipedia's greatest structural problem is Jimmy Wales' inability to remove himself from the process. He calls himself a "God-King" and rules the site with the style of [[monarchy]], robbing it of its potential to achieve some form of [[Jeffersonian]] [[democracy]] and accountability. Wales once speculated that all significant productivity emerged from his circle of a few hundred personal friends while the rest of the world groped along doing only spelling and punctuation mark corrections and other trivial modifications. The computer programmer and activist Aaron Swartz did a proper analysis and showed that the productivity was the results of many, many thousands of anonymous users. Swartz later committed [[suicide]].

Wales delegated the run-of-the-mill decision-marking to a hand-picked group he called the Arbitration Committee. They take months to make any decisions and dole out multi-month to multi-year or permanent intervention solutions. A reputable encyclopedia usually simply chooses an Editor-in-Chief, i.e. one reputable, mature and experienced person with one mind to make high-quality decisions rapidly and perhaps dispense moderate penalties when needed. Sanger served as such, but Wales, an [[Objectivist]] economics major and former stock options trader, opted to drastically reduce his salary when it became clear that the project would be a success, thus forcing him out. Wales has since been making a living, in part, by promoting his notions of governance of Internet-based projects, often emphasizing that users should remain anonymous and thus without any serious form of credential or reputation.

The problems are in the structure and in the personality flaws of Wales himself. Wales takes advantage of this vast pool of free labor to hunt his perceived enemies, somewhat in the style of [[L. Ron Hubbard]] or other such supposed founders of movements.{{fact}}

Equally important are the flawed steps that Wales took to separate the community of volunteer Wikipedia editors from the financial control of the enterprise. The servers and software are owned by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] (WMF), a non-profit organization that at first was set up as a membership organization, but quickly changed to a non-membership organization so that members would not have any legal say regarding the organization. Although people who have made a required minimum number of edits per year can vote for members of the Arbitration Committee and for a minority of the WMF Board seats, at least one community-elected Board member was removed because he did not agree with the majority of the Board. Of course, Wales is guaranteed a perpetual WMF Board seat as a co-founder.

Originally, revenue from fundraising banners in the United States went to the WMF, but banner revenue in foreign countries went to the chapters located in those countries. In recent years, the WMF has consolidated all fundraising revenues, with national chapters being forced to apply for specific grants from the WMF.

To further complicate the financial controls, the WMF established a separate endowment at the [[Tides Foundation]] which is controlled by that foundation in consultation with an advisory board. Instead of having a community-selected advisory board or the entire WMF Board serving as the advisory board, the Tides Foundation appointed a new group with Wales and large donors serving. When the endowment reaches its fundraising target, the advisory board decides whether the funds should stay at the Tides Foundation, be transferred to the WMF, or used in some other way. So, if Wales has a falling out with the WMF Board over the next ten years, he and his hand-picked advisory board could take the Wikipedia endowment somewhere else. The editing community has no say in the endowment—who manages it or how the income will be spent.
==Core Policies==
Wikipedia has three policies that it calls its core policies. These are Neutral Point of View, Verifiability, and No Original Research. Despite designating these three policies as "core", Wikipedia barely even cares about them, especially with cases in regard to atheism. Wikipedia has reverted well-substantiated edits for disagreeing with atheism numerous times, gone several paragraphs on pro-atheism topics without citing a single source, banned Creation Ministries International employees for an indefinite amount of times despite said employees having not violated any written policy, and more.

==See also ==
*[[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]
*[[Previous Breaking News/Wikipedia|Articles about '''Wikipedia''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Essay:The Protocols of Ritual Defamation]]
*[[Wikipedia prejudice and KAL 007]] (Wikipedia deletion material related to [[New World Order]] and [[Larry McDonald]], touching [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]])
*[[Deletionpedia]]
*[[Essay:Wikipedia and Citizendium]]

==Further reading==
*[https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/21/conservatives-miss-wikipedias-threat/ SHEFFIELD: Conservatives miss Wikipedia's threat] by [[Washington Times]], August 21, 2008
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/print.html Wikipedia black helicopters circle Utah's Traverse Mountain], By Cade Metz, ''The Register'', 6 December 2007.
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/15/wikipedia_can_damage_your_grades/ Avoid Wikipedia, warns Wikipedia chief - It can seriously damage your grades] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', June 15, 2006
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/18/wikipedia_quality_problem/ Wikipedia founder admits to serious quality problems] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', October 18, 2005
*[http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/whowriteswikipedia Who Writes Wikipedia?] by Aaron Swartz, 2006
*[https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/07/05/wikipedias-seven-worst-moments/ Wikipedia’s Seven Worst Moments] by Charlie Nash, ''Breitbart News'', July 5, 2016.
*[https://evolutionnews.org/2017/11/wikipedia-and-astroturf/ Wikipedia and “Astroturf”] Sarah Chaffee, Evolution News. November 30, 2017 (Journalist [[Sharyl Attkisson]]).
*[https://oedb.org/ilibrarian/top-7-alternatives-to-wikipedia/ Top 7 Alternatives to Wikipedia] Open Education Database. (Includes Conservapedia along with six other online encyclopedias, criticizes Wikipedia for inaccuracies and hypocrisy.)

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[https://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]
*[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-is-starting-off-to-be-bad-year-for.html Study shows that the world's biggest pro-evolution website is driving away newcomer editors! Also, video shows evolutionists at Wikipedia are clowns!]
*[http://www.wikipediocracy.com Wikipediocracy]
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedia_controversies Wikipedia's List of Wikipedia controversies]
*[http://www.mises.org/story/2704 Wikipedia: What Is It Good For?], By Dick Clark, 9/19/2007. Retrieved from The Ludwig von Mises Institute, http://www.mises.org/ November 5, 2007.
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MoVLl_ne2Y Wikipedias' Own Cofounder Lambastes the Site for Bias]
{{Liberalism}}
[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
[[Category:Encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]

Genesis

2020-06-20T22:20:49Z

Fire$hark: Added more line spacing.

[[Image:Creation of the sun.JPG|right|thumb|250px|''Creation of the Sun'', by [[Michelangelo]]]]
'''Genesis''' [Hebrew: '''בראשית'''] ([[Greek language|Greek]]: "birth", "origin"), is the 'book of beginnings', and the first book of both the [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[Torah]] and the [[Bible]], recounts the beginning of the [[universe]], living things including [[homo sapiens|mankind]], and mankind's [[Society|social]] and [[Culture|cultural]] formations. It stands as the introduction of the entire body of the Bible, of the creation of the original nation of [[Israel]], and of the earliest promises of the coming [[Jesus Christ|Redeemer]]. It provides explanations for modern scientific phenomena, such as [[quantum mechanics]], and is a source of [[Biblical scientific foreknowledge]].

There many dozens of references to Genesis in the [[New Testament]], including direct quotations of Genesis by [[Jesus]].

The Hebrew word for God is plural, and the creation of man was by a plural form of God (Genesis 1:26: "And God said, Let '''us''' make man in '''our''' image, after '''our''' likeness"). The meaning of the plural form was not fully understood until the emergence of Christianity and the acceptance of the [[Holy Trinity]].<ref>http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-oneness-unity-plural-nouns-pronouns-verbs-adverbs.htm</ref> The Book of Genesis also contains a wonderful Theophany of the Three Divine Persons appearing to men in visible forms, that of the Three Persons in Genesis 18. It is said the Lord God appeared to Abraham, then that he perceived The Three Persons of the Holy Trinity as Three Men. Finally, that he adored Them And yet spoke to Three Persons as to One Lord God, and thus the Holy Bible here clearly demonstrates that the Holy Trinity is One Lord God.

Gen 18:1 "And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,3 And said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:"

In the Eastern Liturgies, it is commonly taken for granted that this was a Theophany (a visible manifestation of the invisible God). For e.g "God in Three Persons appeared to Abraham at the oak of Mambre, and through mercy he was given as reward for his hospitality Isaac. That God we now glorify him as God of our Fathers."<ref>Octoechos, Sunday, Tone 3, Midnight Office, Ode 7.</ref><ref>https://www.academia.edu/13190369/The_Early_Christian_Reception_of_Genesis_18_From_Theophany_to_Trinitarian_Symbolism</ref>

Genesis is intended to be interpreted as plain historical narrative rather than poetry or in a figurative sense.<ref>Multiple references:
*Johnson, James J.S. (2011). [https://www.icr.org/article/genesis-history-poetry-exposing-hidden/ Genesis Is History, Not Poetry: Exposing Hidden Assumptions about What Hebrew Poetry Is and Is Not]. ''Institute for Creation Research'' (from ''Acts & Facts''. 40 (6): 8-9). Retrieved January 18, 2018.
*Sarfati, Jonathan (April 2015). [https://creation.com/genesis-is-history Genesis is history!]. ''Creation Ministries International'' (from ''Creation'' 37(2):50–52). Retrieved January 18, 2018.
*Batten, Don; Catchpoole, David; Sarfati, Jonathan D.; Wieland, Carl (November 30, 2007). [https://creation.com/is-genesis-poetry-figurative-a-theological-argument-polemic-and-thus-not-history Is Genesis poetry / figurative, a theological argument (polemic) and thus not history?] ''Creation Ministries International''. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
*Turpin, Simon (May 2, 2016). [https://answersingenesis.org/hermeneutics/is-genesis-1-literal-literalism-or-literalistic/ Is Genesis 1 Literal, Literalism, or Literalistic?] ''Answers in Genesis''. Retrieved January 18, 2018.</ref>

==Name==
The [[Hebrews]] had called the first book of [[Moses]] by the name of ''bereisheet'', meaning "in the beginning", based on the three words which start Genesis. The [[Septuagint]], the ancient Greek-language translation of the [[Old Testament]], rendered this title under the name ''he biblos geneseos'', from which came the current title of ''Genesis'', meaning "origin".<ref>Unger, 1966, p.396</ref>

==Overview==
The fifty chapters of the book of Genesis can be divided into two parts: the early, primeval history of man from the [[Creation]] to the fall of the [[Tower of Babel]] (Genesis 1-11), and the [[Patriarchs|Patriarchal History of Israel]] from [[Abraham]] and his son [[Isaac]], grandson [[Jacob]], and Jacob's sons, primarily [[Joseph]] (Genesis 12-50), although there is a continuous genealogy connecting both parts.

===The Creation===
''For more detailed treatments, see [[creation week]], [[creation story]], and [[Biblical creation account]].''

''In the beginning, God [[creation|created]] the [[heaven]]s and earth''. This is one of the most famous statements in the Bible, and it starts the account of God's creation. Genesis 1:1 through 2:3 involved the first seven days in history:<ref>Not all Christians accept that the days were literal days. See also [[Creation Week]], [[Gap theory]], and [[Old Earth Creationism]].</ref>
*The first day, the creation of the heavens and the Earth, and light ({{bible ref|Genesis|1|1-5}}).
*The second day, the creation of a "firmament" or ''expanse'', separating the waters ({{bible ref|Genesis|1|6-8}}).
*The third day, the creation of dry earth and plant life ({{Bible ref|Genesis|1|9-13}}).
*The fourth day, the creation of the Sun, the moon, and the stars, to mark the seasons ({{bible ref|Genesis|1|14-19}}).
*The fifth day, the creation of the creatures of the sea and the fowl of the air ({{bible ref|Genesis|1|20-23}}).
*The sixth day, the creation of the animals of the land, and the creation of Man ({{bible ref|Genesis|1|24-31}}).
*The seventh day, on which God rested from his task of creating ({{bible ref|Genesis|2|1-3}}).

The rest of chapter 2 through to the end of chapter 4 tell the story of Adam and Eve, the [[Garden of Eden]], and Adam and Steve's sons [[Cain]], [[Abel]], and [[Seth]].

The fall of mankind into [[sin]] began when the serpent questioned one of God's commands, namely not to eat of the [[tree of knowledge of good and evil]], and convinced Eve to eat the fruit, followed by [[Adam]]. The result of disobeying this command resulted in the driving away of Adam and Eve from the Garden to live a life of subsistence farming, and eventually dying. Eve was additionally cursed with painful childbearing, and to be subservient to Adam. All of these curses were also applied to Adam and Eve's descendants. {{bible ref|Genesis|3|15}} is cited as being the first reference to the coming [[Messiah]].

Chapter 5 is a [[chronogenealogy]] from Adam to [[Noah]] and his sons.

===The Flood===
Chapters 6 to 9 tell the story of the [[great flood]].

The wickedness of mankind becomes so great that God 'repents' of His creation and decides to destroy it all through a [[flood]]. Only Noah is righteous before God, and He instruct Noah to build an [[Noah's Ark|ark]] to carry himself, his family, and pairs of every creature on earth and in the air. God then destroys the earth with [[water]], the ark riding the waves until the waters abate and it comes to rest at the mountains of [[Ararat]]. God makes a promise never to destroy the earth by flood again, and shows Noah the sign of that covenant, a [[rainbow]].

Noah is also the first planter of a [[vineyard]], and during a drunken sleep one of his sons ([[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]]) sees him naked. Noah awakes with the knowledge as to what he had done, and places a curse upon Ham's son Canaan, declaring that Canaan and his descendants would be slaves to the his brothers [[Shem]] and [[Japheth]]. All three sons would have their names and their descendants listed on the [[Table of Nations]], which is contained in chapter 10.

Some people argue that the flood account was taken from ancient Babylonian legends. This claim, however popular, is anachronistic. There are two proposed dates for the time Genesis was written, around 1440 BC and somewhere from 539 to 424 BC. The reason the claim that the Genesis flood narrative was taken from Babylonian legends is anachronistic are as follows:

If the older date is correct, this means that Genesis was written over eight centuries before the Hebrews made any contact with Babylon that had the potential for Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings. Since Genesis was written too early to have been affected by any Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings, it could not have taken from Babylonian legends, and the claim that it did is an anachronism.

If, however, the newer date is correct, this means that Genesis was written after Babylon had been conquered by Persia. Any Babylonian culture and influence would be uprooted and replaced with the Achaemenid Persian culture and influence. Since Genesis was written after the Babylonian culture and influence had been replaced with Achaemenid Persian culture and influence, it was written too late to have been affected by any Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings. Since Genesis was written too late to have been affected by any Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings, it could not have taken from Babylonian legends, and the claim that it did is an anachronism.

Therefore, if the earlier date is correct, than Genesis was written before any contact with Babylon and too early to have been affected by Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings. This means that it could not have taken from Babylonian legends, and the claim that it did is an anachronism. If the later date is correct, than Genesis was written after the Babylonian culture and influence had been replaced by Persian culture and influence and too late to have been affected by Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings. This means that it could not have taken from Babylonian legends, and the claim that it did is an anachronism. Either way, the claim that the Genesis flood account was taken from Babylonian legends is an anachronism. Since a statement cannot be both true and anachronistic at the same time, and the claim that the Genesis flood story was taken from Babylonian legends is anachronistic, it therefore cannot be true.

===Abraham===
Chapters 11 to 23 and the start of chapter 25 tells the story of Abram

Abram leaves the city of [[Ur]] with his wife, Sarai, on a journey towards [[Canaan]], where God has shown him what He was going to do: ''I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.''

Sarai, being unable to have children, tells Abram to take [[Hagar]], his [[Egypt]]ian maid, as his [[wife]]. Hagar becomes pregnant with [[Ishmael]], and God makes a promise that the child will be "a wild ass of a man, his hand against every man and every man's hand against him," with descendants beyond number.

God also makes a covenant with Abram: Abram will have many descendants as well as possession of the land of Canaan. Abram's name is changed to "[[Abraham]]”, and Sarai becomes "[[Sarah]]." A sign of the new covenant is the [[circumcision]] of all males. Abraham is also told that Sarah will bear a son who will be named [[Isaac]], and it is through Isaac and his descendants that the covenant will be established; although Ishmael is to be a great nation, he is left out of God’s covenant.

Two [[angel]]s appeared to Abraham and told him that Sarah, barren for years, will bear a son. They also tell him that the wickedness of the cities of [[Sodom]] and [[Gomorrah]] is very great, and God will shortly punish them.
Abraham asks if the cities can be spared if so much as ten righteous men are found inside.

The two angels are received by Abraham's nephew [[Lot]], much to the consternation of the townspeople who surround the house and demand sexual acts with the strangers.
The townspeople are blinded, and the angels warn Lot and his family to flee immediately for the mountains and never look back. Both Sodom and Gomorrah are consumed by [[fire]] and [[brimstone]].
Lot’s wife turns back to look and is turned to a pillar of salt.

Sarah gives birth to Isaac, and at her insistence demands that Hagar and Ishmael are driven into the wilderness. While Ishmael is near dying, an angel speaks to Hagar and promises that God will not forget them, and will make the descendants of Ishmael a great nation.

God puts Abraham to the test by demanding the sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham sets out to obey God by carrying out is request.
But just as he is about to thrust the knife into Isaac, God restrains him, and promises descendants beyond numbering. Abraham dies later, "full of years", and is laid to rest in the Tomb of Machpelah in [[Hebron]], which he had purchased shortly before as a place of rest for Sarah.

===Isaac and Jacob===
Isaac had prayed to God that He would give his wife [[Rebekah]] a child, even though Rebekah was unable to get [[pregnancy|pregnant]]. God grants Isaac's request, and Rebekah gives birth to the twins [[Esau]] and [[Jacob]]
However, prior to the birth God predicted division between the two, with the elder serving the younger. Esau, the elder, despised his own birthright and sold it to Jacob for a bowl of red porridge, allowing Jacob to enter his father’s tent and deceitfully take the blessing intended for Esau. He flees to [[Haran]], the home of his uncle [[Laban]]. Along the way he has a dream of a ladder to Heaven, where God tells him of prosperity for himself and his descendants. Jacob names the spot [[Bethel]] in commemoration.

Jacob had two wives, [[Leah]] and [[Rachel]], and two [[concubine]]s, [[Zilpah]] (Leah's handmaid), and [[Bilhah]] (Rachel's handmaid). Together they bore Jacob twelve sons:
*From Leah: [[Reuben]], [[Simeon]], [[Levi]], [[Judah]], [[Issachar]], [[Zebulun]].
*From Rachel: [[Joseph]], [[Benjamin]].
*From Zilpah: [[Gad]], [[Asher]].
*From Bilhah: [[Dan]], [[Naphtali]].

===Joseph===
Joseph was Jacob's favorite son and was given a special colorful [[coat]], which provoked jealousy in his brothers, who were also angered by Joseph's dreams indicating his brothers would bow down before him.
So his brothers took the opportunity one day to sell him into [[slavery]] and claim to a distraught Jacob that Joseph was killed by a wild animal.

His ability to explain [[dream]]s while a slave in Egypt came to the attention of [[Pharaoh]], who was troubled by a dream of seven skinny [[cattle|cows]] and withered stalks of [[corn]] which ate seven fat cows and healthy stalks of corn. Joseph interpreted the dream as that of Egypt going through seven years of plentiful [[harvest]]s, followed by seven years of severe [[famine]], and followed it up by recommending that Pharaoh appoint a wise man over Egypt to ensure enough is collected and stored during the plentiful years to act as a hedge against the years of famine. Pharaoh responds by appointing Joseph himself to this position.
During the famine "all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth."

Jacob, not knowing Joseph was still alive, sent his sons to buy [[grain]] in Egypt. The brothers appeared before Joseph, but did not recognize him.
Joseph however, recognized them, and after a series of tests which convinced Joseph their characters had changed, revealed himself to them, convinces them that what happened in the past was God’s plan, and told them to bring Jacob and their families to live in Egypt.

Genesis ends with the blessing of Jacob’s children, his death, and the death of Joseph, who exhorts his brothers to carry his bones to the [[Promised Land]] when they eventually reach there.

==Authorship==
Biblical tradition within and without the [[Old Testament]], [[Jesus]] in the [[New Testament]], as well as extra-Biblical writers such as [[Josephus]], [[Origen]], the early church fathers and many others, have claimed [[Moses]] as the author of Genesis, written during the time of the [[Hebrew]] wanderings in the Wilderness, between 1440-1400 B.C. Certainly, Moses was well able to have written Genesis in Hebrew, [[Akkadian]], or Egyptian. He was well educated and trained in the Egyptian court. [[Archaeology]] demonstrates that such a man would have the education necessary to accomplish this during that time in history.<ref>Unger, pp. 35-35</ref>

The higher critical view is that Moses did not write Genesis. Some biblical scholars identified five separate authors of the five 'books of Moses'.<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_tora.htm Who Wrote The Pentateuch, The Five Books of Moses?]</ref><ref>[http://lectionary.org/EXEG-English/OT/EOT01-Gen/Authorship-Genesis%20&%20Pentateuch.html Introduction to Genesis & the Pentateuch]</ref> This idea is called the ''Documentary Hypothesis''. Although unidentified, each of these authors has been given the name of a letter:
* J who calls God ''YHWH'' (the ''Jehovist'' account), and who possibly wrote in the south of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], written c. 850 B.C.
* E who uses ''Elohim'' ('the gods', 'the spirits') as God's name, and possibly wrote in [[Ephraim]], written c. 750 B.C.
* D who wrote the book of [[Deuteronomy]], about 650 B.C.
* P who wrote an alternate history in what was called the ''Priestly Code'', about 550 B.C.
* R who joined the writings of J, E, D and P to form a single work.
**(Though recent Scholarship has moved toward a four source hypothesis, with the Priestly writer functioning as final contributor and editor.)
Under this hypothesis, looking at the Creation story
* Genesis 1:1 through 2:3 were written by P.
* Genesis 2:4 was written by R
* Genesis 2:5 through 4:26 were written by J.
This idea has gained in popularity among critics since it was first proposed in the late 19th century. However, it is inevitably a product of modern rationalistic research and the application of literary criteria. Opponents of this research point to the fact that it is difficult to reconcile with the historical, miraculous, and prophetic elements which they claim to be basic to the first five books of the Bible.<ref>Unger, p. 397; Young, pp. 183-276</ref>

== See also ==

*[[Sistine Chapel]]
*[[Dead Sea Scrolls]]
*[[Midrash]] for the treatment in Jewish literature of the offering by Abraham of his son Isaac.
*For the rock band Genesis, please see [[Genesis (band)]]
*[[Genesis (Translated)]]

==References==

<references/>

==Sources==
*Holy Bible, King James Version (''Thompson Chain Reference''), B.B. Kirkbride Bible Co. Indianapolis, IN 1982.
*Unger, Merril F. ''Unger's Bible Dictionary'', Moody Press, Chicago, IL 1966.
*Unger, Merril F. ''Unger's Bible Handbook'', Moody Press, Chicago, IL 1967.
*Young, Edward J. ''Introduction to the Old Testament'', W.B. Eardmans Pub. Co. Grand Rapids, MI 1949.

==Links==
*[http://www.creationapologetics.org/table.html Table of Nations chart]
*[http://www.creationapologetics.org/creation.html Creation timeline]

{{Old Testament Books}}

[[Category:Old Testament Books| 1]]
[[Category:Book of Genesis| ]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]

Genesis

2020-06-20T22:19:56Z

Fire$hark: Added information related to people who accuse this story of being taken from Babylonian legends,, and how they are wrong.

[[Image:Creation of the sun.JPG|right|thumb|250px|''Creation of the Sun'', by [[Michelangelo]]]]
'''Genesis''' [Hebrew: '''בראשית'''] ([[Greek language|Greek]]: "birth", "origin"), is the 'book of beginnings', and the first book of both the [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[Torah]] and the [[Bible]], recounts the beginning of the [[universe]], living things including [[homo sapiens|mankind]], and mankind's [[Society|social]] and [[Culture|cultural]] formations. It stands as the introduction of the entire body of the Bible, of the creation of the original nation of [[Israel]], and of the earliest promises of the coming [[Jesus Christ|Redeemer]]. It provides explanations for modern scientific phenomena, such as [[quantum mechanics]], and is a source of [[Biblical scientific foreknowledge]].

There many dozens of references to Genesis in the [[New Testament]], including direct quotations of Genesis by [[Jesus]].

The Hebrew word for God is plural, and the creation of man was by a plural form of God (Genesis 1:26: "And God said, Let '''us''' make man in '''our''' image, after '''our''' likeness"). The meaning of the plural form was not fully understood until the emergence of Christianity and the acceptance of the [[Holy Trinity]].<ref>http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-oneness-unity-plural-nouns-pronouns-verbs-adverbs.htm</ref> The Book of Genesis also contains a wonderful Theophany of the Three Divine Persons appearing to men in visible forms, that of the Three Persons in Genesis 18. It is said the Lord God appeared to Abraham, then that he perceived The Three Persons of the Holy Trinity as Three Men. Finally, that he adored Them And yet spoke to Three Persons as to One Lord God, and thus the Holy Bible here clearly demonstrates that the Holy Trinity is One Lord God.

Gen 18:1 "And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,3 And said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:"

In the Eastern Liturgies, it is commonly taken for granted that this was a Theophany (a visible manifestation of the invisible God). For e.g "God in Three Persons appeared to Abraham at the oak of Mambre, and through mercy he was given as reward for his hospitality Isaac. That God we now glorify him as God of our Fathers."<ref>Octoechos, Sunday, Tone 3, Midnight Office, Ode 7.</ref><ref>https://www.academia.edu/13190369/The_Early_Christian_Reception_of_Genesis_18_From_Theophany_to_Trinitarian_Symbolism</ref>

Genesis is intended to be interpreted as plain historical narrative rather than poetry or in a figurative sense.<ref>Multiple references:
*Johnson, James J.S. (2011). [https://www.icr.org/article/genesis-history-poetry-exposing-hidden/ Genesis Is History, Not Poetry: Exposing Hidden Assumptions about What Hebrew Poetry Is and Is Not]. ''Institute for Creation Research'' (from ''Acts & Facts''. 40 (6): 8-9). Retrieved January 18, 2018.
*Sarfati, Jonathan (April 2015). [https://creation.com/genesis-is-history Genesis is history!]. ''Creation Ministries International'' (from ''Creation'' 37(2):50–52). Retrieved January 18, 2018.
*Batten, Don; Catchpoole, David; Sarfati, Jonathan D.; Wieland, Carl (November 30, 2007). [https://creation.com/is-genesis-poetry-figurative-a-theological-argument-polemic-and-thus-not-history Is Genesis poetry / figurative, a theological argument (polemic) and thus not history?] ''Creation Ministries International''. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
*Turpin, Simon (May 2, 2016). [https://answersingenesis.org/hermeneutics/is-genesis-1-literal-literalism-or-literalistic/ Is Genesis 1 Literal, Literalism, or Literalistic?] ''Answers in Genesis''. Retrieved January 18, 2018.</ref>

==Name==
The [[Hebrews]] had called the first book of [[Moses]] by the name of ''bereisheet'', meaning "in the beginning", based on the three words which start Genesis. The [[Septuagint]], the ancient Greek-language translation of the [[Old Testament]], rendered this title under the name ''he biblos geneseos'', from which came the current title of ''Genesis'', meaning "origin".<ref>Unger, 1966, p.396</ref>

==Overview==
The fifty chapters of the book of Genesis can be divided into two parts: the early, primeval history of man from the [[Creation]] to the fall of the [[Tower of Babel]] (Genesis 1-11), and the [[Patriarchs|Patriarchal History of Israel]] from [[Abraham]] and his son [[Isaac]], grandson [[Jacob]], and Jacob's sons, primarily [[Joseph]] (Genesis 12-50), although there is a continuous genealogy connecting both parts.

===The Creation===
''For more detailed treatments, see [[creation week]], [[creation story]], and [[Biblical creation account]].''

''In the beginning, God [[creation|created]] the [[heaven]]s and earth''. This is one of the most famous statements in the Bible, and it starts the account of God's creation. Genesis 1:1 through 2:3 involved the first seven days in history:<ref>Not all Christians accept that the days were literal days. See also [[Creation Week]], [[Gap theory]], and [[Old Earth Creationism]].</ref>
*The first day, the creation of the heavens and the Earth, and light ({{bible ref|Genesis|1|1-5}}).
*The second day, the creation of a "firmament" or ''expanse'', separating the waters ({{bible ref|Genesis|1|6-8}}).
*The third day, the creation of dry earth and plant life ({{Bible ref|Genesis|1|9-13}}).
*The fourth day, the creation of the Sun, the moon, and the stars, to mark the seasons ({{bible ref|Genesis|1|14-19}}).
*The fifth day, the creation of the creatures of the sea and the fowl of the air ({{bible ref|Genesis|1|20-23}}).
*The sixth day, the creation of the animals of the land, and the creation of Man ({{bible ref|Genesis|1|24-31}}).
*The seventh day, on which God rested from his task of creating ({{bible ref|Genesis|2|1-3}}).

The rest of chapter 2 through to the end of chapter 4 tell the story of Adam and Eve, the [[Garden of Eden]], and Adam and Steve's sons [[Cain]], [[Abel]], and [[Seth]].

The fall of mankind into [[sin]] began when the serpent questioned one of God's commands, namely not to eat of the [[tree of knowledge of good and evil]], and convinced Eve to eat the fruit, followed by [[Adam]]. The result of disobeying this command resulted in the driving away of Adam and Eve from the Garden to live a life of subsistence farming, and eventually dying. Eve was additionally cursed with painful childbearing, and to be subservient to Adam. All of these curses were also applied to Adam and Eve's descendants. {{bible ref|Genesis|3|15}} is cited as being the first reference to the coming [[Messiah]].

Chapter 5 is a [[chronogenealogy]] from Adam to [[Noah]] and his sons.

===The Flood===
Chapters 6 to 9 tell the story of the [[great flood]].

The wickedness of mankind becomes so great that God 'repents' of His creation and decides to destroy it all through a [[flood]]. Only Noah is righteous before God, and He instruct Noah to build an [[Noah's Ark|ark]] to carry himself, his family, and pairs of every creature on earth and in the air. God then destroys the earth with [[water]], the ark riding the waves until the waters abate and it comes to rest at the mountains of [[Ararat]]. God makes a promise never to destroy the earth by flood again, and shows Noah the sign of that covenant, a [[rainbow]].

Noah is also the first planter of a [[vineyard]], and during a drunken sleep one of his sons ([[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]]) sees him naked. Noah awakes with the knowledge as to what he had done, and places a curse upon Ham's son Canaan, declaring that Canaan and his descendants would be slaves to the his brothers [[Shem]] and [[Japheth]]. All three sons would have their names and their descendants listed on the [[Table of Nations]], which is contained in chapter 10.
Some people argue that the flood account was taken from ancient Babylonian legends. This claim, however popular, is anachronistic. There are two proposed dates for the time Genesis was written, around 1440 BC and somewhere from 539 to 424 BC. The reason the claim that the Genesis flood narrative was taken from Babylonian legends is anachronistic are as follows:
If the older date is correct, this means that Genesis was written over eight centuries before the Hebrews made any contact with Babylon that had the potential for Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings. Since Genesis was written too early to have been affected by any Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings, it could not have taken from Babylonian legends, and the claim that it did is an anachronism.
If, however, the newer date is correct, this means that Genesis was written after Babylon had been conquered by Persia. Any Babylonian culture and influence would be uprooted and replaced with the Achaemenid Persian culture and influence. Since Genesis was written after the Babylonian culture and influence had been replaced with Achaemenid Persian culture and influence, it was written too late to have been affected by any Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings. Since Genesis was written too late to have been affected by any Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings, it could not have taken from Babylonian legends, and the claim that it did is an anachronism.
Therefore, if the earlier date is correct, than Genesis was written before any contact with Babylon and too early to have been affected by Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings. This means that it could not have taken from Babylonian legends, and the claim that it did is an anachronism. If the later date is correct, than Genesis was written after the Babylonian culture and influence had been replaced by Persian culture and influence and too late to have been affected by Babylonian influence on Hebrew writings. This means that it could not have taken from Babylonian legends, and the claim that it did is an anachronism. Either way, the claim that the Genesis flood account was taken from Babylonian legends is an anachronism. Since a statement cannot be both true and anachronistic at the same time, and the claim that the Genesis flood story was taken from Babylonian legends is anachronistic, it therefore cannot be true.

===Abraham===
Chapters 11 to 23 and the start of chapter 25 tells the story of Abram

Abram leaves the city of [[Ur]] with his wife, Sarai, on a journey towards [[Canaan]], where God has shown him what He was going to do: ''I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.''

Sarai, being unable to have children, tells Abram to take [[Hagar]], his [[Egypt]]ian maid, as his [[wife]]. Hagar becomes pregnant with [[Ishmael]], and God makes a promise that the child will be "a wild ass of a man, his hand against every man and every man's hand against him," with descendants beyond number.

God also makes a covenant with Abram: Abram will have many descendants as well as possession of the land of Canaan. Abram's name is changed to "[[Abraham]]”, and Sarai becomes "[[Sarah]]." A sign of the new covenant is the [[circumcision]] of all males. Abraham is also told that Sarah will bear a son who will be named [[Isaac]], and it is through Isaac and his descendants that the covenant will be established; although Ishmael is to be a great nation, he is left out of God’s covenant.

Two [[angel]]s appeared to Abraham and told him that Sarah, barren for years, will bear a son. They also tell him that the wickedness of the cities of [[Sodom]] and [[Gomorrah]] is very great, and God will shortly punish them.
Abraham asks if the cities can be spared if so much as ten righteous men are found inside.

The two angels are received by Abraham's nephew [[Lot]], much to the consternation of the townspeople who surround the house and demand sexual acts with the strangers.
The townspeople are blinded, and the angels warn Lot and his family to flee immediately for the mountains and never look back. Both Sodom and Gomorrah are consumed by [[fire]] and [[brimstone]].
Lot’s wife turns back to look and is turned to a pillar of salt.

Sarah gives birth to Isaac, and at her insistence demands that Hagar and Ishmael are driven into the wilderness. While Ishmael is near dying, an angel speaks to Hagar and promises that God will not forget them, and will make the descendants of Ishmael a great nation.

God puts Abraham to the test by demanding the sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham sets out to obey God by carrying out is request.
But just as he is about to thrust the knife into Isaac, God restrains him, and promises descendants beyond numbering. Abraham dies later, "full of years", and is laid to rest in the Tomb of Machpelah in [[Hebron]], which he had purchased shortly before as a place of rest for Sarah.

===Isaac and Jacob===
Isaac had prayed to God that He would give his wife [[Rebekah]] a child, even though Rebekah was unable to get [[pregnancy|pregnant]]. God grants Isaac's request, and Rebekah gives birth to the twins [[Esau]] and [[Jacob]]
However, prior to the birth God predicted division between the two, with the elder serving the younger. Esau, the elder, despised his own birthright and sold it to Jacob for a bowl of red porridge, allowing Jacob to enter his father’s tent and deceitfully take the blessing intended for Esau. He flees to [[Haran]], the home of his uncle [[Laban]]. Along the way he has a dream of a ladder to Heaven, where God tells him of prosperity for himself and his descendants. Jacob names the spot [[Bethel]] in commemoration.

Jacob had two wives, [[Leah]] and [[Rachel]], and two [[concubine]]s, [[Zilpah]] (Leah's handmaid), and [[Bilhah]] (Rachel's handmaid). Together they bore Jacob twelve sons:
*From Leah: [[Reuben]], [[Simeon]], [[Levi]], [[Judah]], [[Issachar]], [[Zebulun]].
*From Rachel: [[Joseph]], [[Benjamin]].
*From Zilpah: [[Gad]], [[Asher]].
*From Bilhah: [[Dan]], [[Naphtali]].

===Joseph===
Joseph was Jacob's favorite son and was given a special colorful [[coat]], which provoked jealousy in his brothers, who were also angered by Joseph's dreams indicating his brothers would bow down before him.
So his brothers took the opportunity one day to sell him into [[slavery]] and claim to a distraught Jacob that Joseph was killed by a wild animal.

His ability to explain [[dream]]s while a slave in Egypt came to the attention of [[Pharaoh]], who was troubled by a dream of seven skinny [[cattle|cows]] and withered stalks of [[corn]] which ate seven fat cows and healthy stalks of corn. Joseph interpreted the dream as that of Egypt going through seven years of plentiful [[harvest]]s, followed by seven years of severe [[famine]], and followed it up by recommending that Pharaoh appoint a wise man over Egypt to ensure enough is collected and stored during the plentiful years to act as a hedge against the years of famine. Pharaoh responds by appointing Joseph himself to this position.
During the famine "all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth."

Jacob, not knowing Joseph was still alive, sent his sons to buy [[grain]] in Egypt. The brothers appeared before Joseph, but did not recognize him.
Joseph however, recognized them, and after a series of tests which convinced Joseph their characters had changed, revealed himself to them, convinces them that what happened in the past was God’s plan, and told them to bring Jacob and their families to live in Egypt.

Genesis ends with the blessing of Jacob’s children, his death, and the death of Joseph, who exhorts his brothers to carry his bones to the [[Promised Land]] when they eventually reach there.

==Authorship==
Biblical tradition within and without the [[Old Testament]], [[Jesus]] in the [[New Testament]], as well as extra-Biblical writers such as [[Josephus]], [[Origen]], the early church fathers and many others, have claimed [[Moses]] as the author of Genesis, written during the time of the [[Hebrew]] wanderings in the Wilderness, between 1440-1400 B.C. Certainly, Moses was well able to have written Genesis in Hebrew, [[Akkadian]], or Egyptian. He was well educated and trained in the Egyptian court. [[Archaeology]] demonstrates that such a man would have the education necessary to accomplish this during that time in history.<ref>Unger, pp. 35-35</ref>

The higher critical view is that Moses did not write Genesis. Some biblical scholars identified five separate authors of the five 'books of Moses'.<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_tora.htm Who Wrote The Pentateuch, The Five Books of Moses?]</ref><ref>[http://lectionary.org/EXEG-English/OT/EOT01-Gen/Authorship-Genesis%20&%20Pentateuch.html Introduction to Genesis & the Pentateuch]</ref> This idea is called the ''Documentary Hypothesis''. Although unidentified, each of these authors has been given the name of a letter:
* J who calls God ''YHWH'' (the ''Jehovist'' account), and who possibly wrote in the south of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], written c. 850 B.C.
* E who uses ''Elohim'' ('the gods', 'the spirits') as God's name, and possibly wrote in [[Ephraim]], written c. 750 B.C.
* D who wrote the book of [[Deuteronomy]], about 650 B.C.
* P who wrote an alternate history in what was called the ''Priestly Code'', about 550 B.C.
* R who joined the writings of J, E, D and P to form a single work.
**(Though recent Scholarship has moved toward a four source hypothesis, with the Priestly writer functioning as final contributor and editor.)
Under this hypothesis, looking at the Creation story
* Genesis 1:1 through 2:3 were written by P.
* Genesis 2:4 was written by R
* Genesis 2:5 through 4:26 were written by J.
This idea has gained in popularity among critics since it was first proposed in the late 19th century. However, it is inevitably a product of modern rationalistic research and the application of literary criteria. Opponents of this research point to the fact that it is difficult to reconcile with the historical, miraculous, and prophetic elements which they claim to be basic to the first five books of the Bible.<ref>Unger, p. 397; Young, pp. 183-276</ref>

== See also ==

*[[Sistine Chapel]]
*[[Dead Sea Scrolls]]
*[[Midrash]] for the treatment in Jewish literature of the offering by Abraham of his son Isaac.
*For the rock band Genesis, please see [[Genesis (band)]]
*[[Genesis (Translated)]]

==References==

<references/>

==Sources==
*Holy Bible, King James Version (''Thompson Chain Reference''), B.B. Kirkbride Bible Co. Indianapolis, IN 1982.
*Unger, Merril F. ''Unger's Bible Dictionary'', Moody Press, Chicago, IL 1966.
*Unger, Merril F. ''Unger's Bible Handbook'', Moody Press, Chicago, IL 1967.
*Young, Edward J. ''Introduction to the Old Testament'', W.B. Eardmans Pub. Co. Grand Rapids, MI 1949.

==Links==
*[http://www.creationapologetics.org/table.html Table of Nations chart]
*[http://www.creationapologetics.org/creation.html Creation timeline]

{{Old Testament Books}}

[[Category:Old Testament Books| 1]]
[[Category:Book of Genesis| ]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]

Vaccine

2020-06-19T23:10:53Z

Fire$hark: Correlation does not equal causation.

[[Image:Vaccine.jpg|right|thumb|350px|[[Avian flu]] vaccine development]]
A '''vaccine''' is a pharmaceutical product containing an [[antigen]] designed to stimulate the production of antibodies against a particular disease or diseases.<ref>https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/explainer-what-vaccine</ref> While this sounds like a beneficial thing in theory, there is significant controversy on this topic. There are numerous reasons why some people prefer to avoid taking vaccines, but laws and other rules (often pushed into place by those who stand to make significant profit) frequently mandate them.

Vaccine manufacturers themselves admit to numerous severe harms caused by their products, in their packaging information which parents rarely see.

==Mechanism==
If the body produces an antibody against a particular disease or toxin it can identify the infection early on and the [[immune system]] can destroy it. Vaccines work by exposing the body to a form of the disease in such a way that it is much less likely to cause illness but still allows antibodies to develop. This confers a level of immunity to the person or animal vaccinated.<ref>http://www.howstuffworks.com/immune-system7.htm How stuff works: Antibodies</ref>

Since the adoption of mass vaccination programs, many diseases have been curbed. [[Smallpox]], a contagious disease that killed 30 percent of those it infected, has been entirely eliminated through vaccination, excepting some strains maintained in labs for research purposes. Vaccination programs of the 19th and 20th century were effective at curbing the disease, and in 1979 the World Health Organization declared smallpox to be eradicated.<ref>https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html</ref>

Another disease that has been eliminated from the US is [[Polio]], which killed over 3,000 people in the United States in 1952,<ref>https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsus/VSUS_1952_2.pdf</ref> and afflicted such noted persons as President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]], actor Alan Alda, and musician Itzak Perlman. When doctors began using a vaccine to fight polio, it practically eradicated the disease in the developed world.<ref>https://www.cdc.gov/polio/progress/index.htm</ref>

The incidence of other diseases such as [[diphtheria]], [[pertussis]], and [[measles]], has decreased greatly from improvements in sanitation, increased awareness of the benefits of hand-washing and other preventive measures, and the invention of vaccines against these diseases.<ref>https://www.unicef.org/pon96/hevaccin.htm</ref>

While vaccines have been successful at preventing infectious disease, they have also resulted in controversy regarding their safety and effectiveness, legal and ethical issues surrounding mandatory vaccination, and whether children should be vaccinated against STDs<ref>https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/ethical-issues-and-vaccines</ref><ref>https://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/January-2018/are-vaccine-ingredients-safe.aspx</ref>

There are five major types of vaccines and they are differentiated by what type of antigen is used. Live attenuated vaccines are created from the actual disease in question, however before injection the [[pathogen]] is [[attenuated]] (weakened) by growing successive generations of the pathogen in poor nutrient conditions. Because they contain live pathogens, it is still possible for these vaccines to cause infection, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. Inactivated vaccines are created from pathogens that have been killed, usually with [[formaldehyde]]. Toxoid vaccines are created by using toxins produced by the pathogen, these toxins are exposed to heat and/or chemicals such as formaldehyde to inactivate the toxins, but [[antibodies]] that are produced to these deactivated toxins will also protect against the real toxin. Subunit vaccines use pieces of the pathogen in the vaccine. These pieces often consist of unique protein segments that stimulate the production of antibodies. Finally, conjugate vaccines protect against bacteria that are encapsulated in polysaccharides (complex sugars), which disguise the bacteria, making it hard for the immune system to recognize them. Conjugate vaccines overcome this by attaching the sugar to a protein the does stimulate the immune system, thus triggering the immune system to react to the sugar in the future even if it is not accompanied by the protein.<ref>https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/conversations/downloads/vacsafe-understand-color-office.pdf</ref>

==Influenza Vaccine==
The flu vaccine is an example of modern vaccination. Due to the change in [[allele]] frequency over time in the population of the influenza virus, new influenza vaccines are created each year. In some years the vaccines are less effective than in other years. According to the CDC,<ref>"Inactivated Influenza Vaccine, What you need to know," a publication of the Center for Disease Control, 2006. Available online at: https://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/VIS/vis-flu.pdf</ref>
<blockquote>
Influenza viruses are always changing. Therefore, influenza vaccines are updated every year, and annual vaccination is recommended.
</blockquote>
Since the production of the vaccine must begin many months before the influenza season starts models of the population genetics of the virus must be produced.<ref>http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v5/n3/full/nrd1988.html Influenza vaccines</ref> The success of vaccinations programs is dependent on the accuracy of these predictions.<ref>http://www.nature.com/news/2003/030324/full/030324-5.html Flu changes modeled</ref> The National Institute of Health recently assigned $26 million to establish a research center to better develop molecular models of influenza.<ref>http://www.spiritindia.com/health-care-news-articles-8024.html $26 million NIH contract to establish new flu/bird flu Center of Excellence</ref>

==Problems==
Vaccination requirements are inserted into laws, often unjustifiably, by [[Big Pharma]] for profits and by governmental officials to increase their control. It is common for advocates of vaccination to receive undisclosed compensation from Big Pharma, either directly or through a spouse. This medial offering which was initially developed and released as something to benefit society has become a point of tension and even oppression to many individuals.

Many injuries from vaccination are admitted by the government, and severe potential side effects are disclosed on packaging labels that most parents never see. "The new estimate represents a 15% increase from two years prior and a 150% increase since 2000."<ref>https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/26/health/autism-prevalence-cdc/index.html</ref> ''See generally'' [[vaccines and autism]].

Traditionally a few highly tested vaccines were recommended for children to protect against deadly or severe diseases, such as [[smallpox]] and [[polio]]. Beginning in the 1990s, however, profit-driven vaccine manufacturers lobbied states and pediatrician organizations to compel numerous additional vaccines for sexually transmitted or less dangerous diseases. In addition, emotion based on inadequate information can cause over-vaccination.

17 US states have philosophical exemptions allowing parents to decline the vaccines; 47 states have religious exemptions; all states have medical exemptions,<ref>https://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Laws/state-vaccine-requirements.aspx</ref><ref>http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/cc-exem.htm</ref> but they are hardest to obtain. Some parents choose to [[homeschooling|homeschool]] rather than submit their children to numerous vaccinations as required by state laws, due to lobbying by vaccine manufacturers, as a condition of being in school.

=== Adverse Reactions ===
{{See also|Vaccine Injury Compensation Program|Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System}}
Vaccines have substantial side effects, and many vaccines have significant morbidity and mortality associated with them. In the fiscal year 2017 alone, it is estimated that $220 million will be paid to victims of vaccines, and underpayments or improper denials of payment are common.<ref>http://www.wakingtimes.com/2017/05/09/whopping-vaccine-injury-payouts-us-fiscal-year-2017-released/</ref> More than Postvaccinial encephalitis is a known hazard of [[smallpox]] vaccine, for example. A recently introduced vaccine against human papilloma virus, the causative agent of cancer of the [[uterus|uterine]] cervix, has now been linked to a number of sudden deaths reported within days of its administration.<ref name=GardasilMM>Cockcroft, Lucy, "[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/29/njab129.xml Cervical cancer drug Gardasil linked to deaths]," ''[[London]] Daily Telegraph'', October 29, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2007.</ref>

Bulging or swollen [[fontanelle]]s have been linked with many vaccines commonly given to infants, such as the diphtheria-[[tetanus]] (DPT) vaccine. Many families, out of concern for their child's health, have sought legal justice for the potential health damage.<ref>http://legaljustice4john.com/fontanellebulging.htm</ref>

Only live attenuated vaccines can still cause infection. All vaccines can cause illness, but this is commonly a hypersensitivity reaction (similar to an allergic response), not due to the disease itself. Very rarely a serious disease known as eczema vaccinatum can be caused by the smallpox vaccine. Vaccines that use pieces of pathogens often use a carrier virus in the injection. Those with very weak immune systems that are exposed to such a vaccine can become infected with the carrier virus and develop [[eczema]]. A recent case of this was reported in the United States after a military man was vaccinated with smallpox and his two-year-old son became ill.<ref>http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/183349/soldier_infects_toddler_son_with_lifethreatening.html AP article on eczema vaccinatum</ref>

A number of vaccination reactions are deemed serious enough to contraindicate further vaccinations of the same type. These include extensive swelling and redness at the injection site, prolonged fever, bronchospasm and laryngeal [[edema]] (narrowing of the airways causing difficulty in breathing), and collapse/seizures with or without unconsciousness and/or encephalitis.<ref>[http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=2067071044 General Practice Notebook - vaccine reactions]</ref>

===Published Adverse Reaction Rates===
Most medical journals and the CDC are heavily influenced by vaccine manufacturers, and hence their published information about side effects is one-sided. The packaging labels on vaccines are more candid.

This is what the CDC and medical journals claim:
*The Hepatitis B Vaccine (HBV) has a .000167% chance of causing [[anaphylaxis]] upon vaccination.<ref>[https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00046738.htm]</ref>
*There is no correlation between the HBV and multiple sclerosis.<ref>[http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/Profs/PUarticles/vaccinenews.htm]</ref>
*The Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine has a 25% chance of causing [[arthralgia]] (joint pain) and a 10% chance of causing [[arthritis]]-like symptoms in women who are past puberty. This pain and stiffness begin 1–3 weeks after vaccination, persisting for 1 day to 3 weeks.<ref>[https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/combo-vaccines/mmr/faqs-mmr-hcp.htm]</ref>
*The MMR vaccine has a .00484% chance of causing [[thrombocytopenia]]. However, the measles and rubella both have much higher chances of causing thrombocytopenia.<ref>[http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/84/3/227 E Miller et al., Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and MMR vaccine in ''Archives of Disease In Childhood'', 84:227-229]</ref>

=== Common Misconceptions Surrounding Vaccines ===
Many people assume that official vaccine recommendations are based on recommendations of independent panels of experts after reviewing risk-benefit and cost-benefit analyses. They are not. The government panels are dominated by vaccine industry representatives and they have no consumer representatives.{{cn}}

Vaccines have injured many in the developing world, sometimes due to contamination in donated stale vaccines. The vaccine was banned for over a year in Nigeria after concerns about safety were raised. The ban has since been lifted, but the vaccination rate remains low.{{cn}}

==Herd immunity and mandatory vaccination==
When a certain percentage of a population is vaccinated, those within the population who are not vaccinated are protected from the disease, this is called [[herd immunity]]. If 90 percent of a population is immune, then the chances that a carrier of the disease will come into contact with a non-immune member of the population (or "herd") is low.<ref>http://www.mathepi.com/maindir/herd.html The mathematics of herd immunity</ref> Herd immunity is the goal of most vaccination programs as it is the point where disease can start to be eliminated from a population altogether.

For example, in 1962 Japan instituted mandatory vaccination against influenza in school children. This continued until 1987 when the program was changed to optional; it was abandoned in 1994. Approximately 85 percent of children were estimated to have been vaccinated.<ref>{{hnb|Glezen|2004}}</ref> Several studies examined the mortality rates due to influenza during this period of time and revealed that the death rates due to influenza in all population groups were drastically decreased, including older adult populations. Since there was no increased rate of vaccination in these populations, the decreased mortality was caused by herd immunity effects of vaccinating so many children.<ref>http://www.newsrx.com/newsletters/Vaccine-Weekly/2001-04-11/200104113335VW.html Mandatory Vaccination of Japanese Schoolchildren Demonstrates "Herd Immunity"</ref> Many researchers have written that this and other evidence argues strongly for mandatory vaccination programs worldwide as a means of controlling many diseases and preventing a [[pandemic]].<ref>http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1360502 Herd Immunity</ref>

The USA has federal vaccination recommendations according to an official CDC schedule. Requirements are up to the states. Most states have medical and religious exemptions. Some states make it very easy to opt-out of vaccines, while other states strictly enforce compliance for school attendance. The difference in vaccination rates between these states is actually very slight, and usually not nearly enough to affect herd immunity.{{cn}}

As of February 2008, the CDC noted that "fewer than 100 measles cases are now reported annually in the United States and virtually all of those are linked to imported cases" in which someone is infected during overseas travel. The USA maintains herd immunity for measles, even in states where it is easy to opt-out of vaccination requirements.<ref>[https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5708a3.htm]</ref> Measles can be serious; according to an article in The Times, "About one in every 15 children has complications that can include [[meningitis]], [[pneumonia]], [[fits]], [[encephalitis]] (swelling of the brain), [[blindness]] and [[brain damage]]."<ref>The Sunday Times, ''How the MMR scare led to the return of measles'', February 8, 2009 [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5683687.ece]</ref> In the England and Wales, there were 1,348 cases of measles in 2008; two children died of the disease.<ref>The Sunday Times, ''MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield fixed data on autism'', by Brian Deer, February 8, 2009 [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5683671.ece]</ref>

The CDC notes that when a measles outbreak occurs, the cost to taxpayers can be substantial. Public health responsibilities include "identification of cases, isolation of patients and vaccination, administration of [[immune globulin]], and voluntary quarantine of contacts who have no evidence of measles immunity...In Iowa, the public health response to one imported measles case cost approximately $150,000."<ref>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, ''Outbreak of Measles --- San Diego, California, January--February 2008'', February 29, 2008 [https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5708a3.htm]</ref>

Other diseases besides the measles have also started not only to reappear but also to kill children. Hib (''[[Haemophilus influenzae]]'' type B) meningitis recently killed an infant in Minnesota. The child who died had not been vaccinated. Two others who had been either partially, but not fully, vaccinated, or who had an immune deficiency became seriously ill. The vaccine for Hib is less than twenty years old, but this is the first death due to the disease in the state of Minnesota since the vaccine was introduced.<ref>[http://children.webmd.com/vaccines/news/20090123/hib-outbreak-kills-unvaccinated-child Hib Outbreak Kills Unvaccinated Child]</ref>

===Herd Immunity in Britain===
Due to a decrease in vaccination, measles has become endemic in Britain. This means that measles does not need to be brought in by travelers, but instead has a large enough base of non-immune individuals for it to continuously spread inside the country. In London, only 71 percent of children receive the first dose of the vaccine and only 51 percent receive the second dose. Due to this decline, there were 461 measles cases in Britain in the first half of 2008. These cases have had tragic consequences, with the death of a 17-year-old reported in 2008.<ref>[http://www.healthdirect.co.uk/2008/07/measles-endemic-in-britain-official.html Health Direct NHS watch blog]</ref> This immunization failure is due to parents opting out of the MMR vaccine program in the wake of the false claims that the MMR vaccine causes autism.<ref>https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/no-doubt-the-mmr-vaccine-does-not-cause-autism-zpxk37ntzmh</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
== Sources ==
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = Balbier
| Given = Thomas E., Jr.
| Year = 1999
| Date = 1999-09-28
| Title = Statement on National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program by Thomas E. Balbier, Jr.
| Publisher = United States Government
| URL = http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/t990928b.html
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = Glezen
| Given = W. Paul
| Year = 2004
| Title = Control of Influenza
| volume = 31(1)
| pages = 39-41
| Publisher = Texas Heart Institute Journal
| URL = http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=387431
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = Pear
| Given = Robert
| Year = 2008
| Date = 2008-01-21
| Title = Threats and Responses: Leagal Risks; For Victims of Vaccine, Winning Case Will Be Hard
| Publisher = [[The New York Times]]
| URL = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E2DC1E3AF937A25751C1A9649C8B63
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = United States Department of Justice
| Given = USDOJ
| Year = 2000
| Date = 2000-11-27
| Title = About the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
| Publisher = United States Government
| URL = http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/torts/const/vicp/about.htm
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = United States Department of Health and Human Services
| Given = HRSA
| Year = 2008
| Title = Filing a Claim with the VICP
| Publisher = United States Government
| URL = http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/filing_claim.htm
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21
*{{Harvard reference
| Surname = United States Department of Health and Human Services
| Given = HRSA
| Year = 2007
| Date = 2007-04-20
| Title = National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) About VICP
| Publisher = United States Government
| URL = http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/
}} retrieved on 2008-01-21



== See also ==
*[[HPV vaccine]]
*[[Vaccine Injury Compensation Program]]
*[[Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System]]
*[[Acellular vaccine]]
*[[Vaccine FAQ]]

==External links==
*[http://www.909shot.com/ National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC)], a non-profit anti-vaccination organization
*[http://www.site.stopjenny.com/uploads/Compare_Risks.pdf Compare the Risks], A PDF detailing the risks between vaccination and non-vaccination
*[http://www.site.stopjenny.com/Home.html Stop Jenny McCarthy], A site devoted to fighting vaccine misinformation, contains many vaccine-related resources.

[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Medicine]]

Atheism and logical fallacies

2020-06-18T17:35:04Z

Fire$hark: Added an example I found on Quora of an atheist committing this fallacy.

[[Image:Bahnsen.jpg‎|thumb|200px|During his debate with [[Gordon Stein]], [[Greg Bahnsen]] pointed out that the [[atheist worldview]] cannot account for the [[laws of logic]], but the Christian worldview can.<ref name="youtube.com">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1hSx2evTGM Greg Bahnsen vs. Gordon Stein: The Great Debate (FULL)]</ref><ref name="The Great Debate: Does God Exist?">[http://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2006/12/05/greg-bahnsen-vs-gordon-stein-the-great-debate/ "The Great Debate: Does God Exist?"]</ref>]]
A common and legitimate criticism of the [[atheist worldview]] is that [[atheism]] is illogical and irrational (See also: [[Atheism and logic]] and [[Atheism and irrationality]])<ref>[http://carm.org/cut-atheism Atheism] by Matt Slick
*[http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0131a.html Putting the Atheist on the Defensive] by Kenneth R. Samples, Christian Research Institute Journal, Fall 1991, and Winter 1992, page 7.
*[http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2012/03/21/atheists-dont-own-reason/10924 Atheists don’t own reason] by Tom Gilson
* [http://www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth11.html Why the Burden of Proof is on the Atheist] by Professor Ralph McInerny
* [http://www.leaderu.com/truth/3truth02.html Theism, Atheism, and Rationality] by [[Alvin Plantinga]]
*''[http://www.voxday.net/mart/TIA_free.pdf The Irrational atheist]: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens by [[Vox Day]], Benbella Books, Dallas, TX, 2008'' , ISBN 1933771364; ISBN 978-1933771366
</ref>

Below are a number of logical fallacies that atheists commonly commit.

== Atheists and the fallacy of exclusion ==
''See also:'' [[Atheism and critical thinking]] and [[Christian apologetics websites|Evidence for Christianity]] and [[Christian apologetics]] and [[Arguments for the existence of God]]

[[Fallacy of exclusion]] — The fallacy of exclusion is a logical fallacy where "Important evidence which would undermine an inductive argument is excluded from consideration. The requirement that all relevant information be included is called the 'principle of total evidence'.".<ref>http://onegoodmove.org/fallacy/exclus.htm</ref> See also: [[Atheism and critical thinking]]

==== Fallacy of exclusion and the denial that Jesus existed ====
[[Image:David Christ on the Cross.jpg|right|150px|thumb|[[Jesus Christ|Christ]] on the Cross by [[Jacques Louis David]].]]
''See also:'' [[Historicity of Jesus]] and [[Atheists and historical illiteracy]]

A classic use of the exclusion fallacy committed by many atheists is the denial that [[Jesus]] Christ ever existed.

Despite their being an abundance of historical evidence for [[Jesus Christ]] living in the first century, many atheists embarrassingly claim the Jesus never existed (see: [[Historicity of Jesus]]).

In an article titled ''Scholarly opinions on the Jesus Myth'', Christopher Price wrote concerning individuals who insist that Jesus Christ was merely a mythical figure:
{{cquote|I have often been asked why more academics do not take the time to respond to the Jesus Myth theory. After looking into this question, I discovered that most historians and New Testament scholars relevant to the topic have concluded that Jesus Mythers are beyond reason and therefore decide that they have better things to do with their time.<ref>[http://www.bede.org.uk/price1.htm ''Scholarly opinions on the Jesus Myth'' by Christopher Price]</ref>}}

==== Unreasonable and inconsistent evidential standards ====
''See also:'' [[Atheism and irrationality]] and [[Atheist hypocrisy]]

Atheism, as defined by the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', and other [[philosophy]] reference works, is the denial of the existence of [[God]].<ref>Multiple references:
*Smart, J. J. C. (August 8, 2011). [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism "Atheism and agnosticism"]. ''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (Spring 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Retrieved July 17, 2014.
*Sarfati, Jonathan, Ph.D. (23 June 2007). [https://creation.com/atheism-is-more-rational "Atheism is more rational?"]. Retrieved July 17, 2014. See [[Creation Ministries International]], [[Jonathan Sarfati]].
*Day, Donn R. (2007). [http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism — etymology"]. Retrieved July 15, 2014.</ref> See also: [[Definition of atheism]] and [[Definitions of Atheist and Agnostic|Definitions of atheist and agnostic]] and [[Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism]]

Atheists demand proof and evidence for other worldviews, yet there is [[Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism|no proof and evidence]] that atheism is true. Also, despite the abundant [[Christian apologetics|evidence for Christianity]] and the lack of proof and evidence for atheism, atheist reject the truth of [[Christianity]]. Atheists refuse to go where the evidence clearly leads.

In addition, when atheist make claims related to [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]], make personal claims or make accusations against [[theism|theists]], they often employ lax evidential standards instead of employing rigorous evidential standards.<ref>
*[http://vimeo.com/102663614 Scientific Naturalism with J.P. Moreland, part 1]
*[http://vimeo.com/103277405 Scientific Naturalism with J.P. Moreland, part 2]
*[http://vimeo.com/103865278 Scientific Naturalism with J.P. Moreland, part 3]
*[http://vimeo.com/105068126 Scientific Naturalism with J.P. Moreland, part 4]</ref><ref name="creation.com">https://creation.com/a-designer-is-unscientificeven-if-all-the-evidence-supports-one</ref>

Professor [[Richard Lewontin]], a geneticist (and self-proclaimed Marxist), is one of the world’s leaders in [[evolution]]ary biology. He wrote a very revealing comment. It demonstrates the implicit philosophical bias against [[Genesis]] [[creation]] — regardless of whether or not the facts support it.<ref name="Amazing admission">[https://creation.com/amazing-admission-lewontin-quote Amazing admission]</ref>

[[File:113320508 2b86fdb94a.jpg|thumb|201px|left|The evolutionist and immunologist Dr. Scott Todd, an immunologist at [[Kansas State University]], perfectly epitomized the irrational evolutionary denial of the evidence for creation in his correspondence to the science journal ''Nature''. Dr. Scott wrote: "Even if all the data point to an [[intelligent design]]er, such an hypothesis is excluded from science because it is not [[naturalism|naturalistic]]".<ref name="creation.com"/> ]]
Lewtontin wrote:
{{cquote|Our willingness to accept scientific claims that are against common sense is the key to an understanding of the real struggle between science and the supernatural. We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.

It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.

The eminent Kant scholar Lewis Beck used to say that anyone who could believe in God could believe in anything. To appeal to an omnipotent deity is to allow that at any moment the regularities of nature may be ruptured, that Miracles may happen.<ref name="Amazing admission">[https://creation.com/amazing-admission-lewontin-quote Amazing admission]</ref>}}

The evolutionist and immunologist Dr. Scott Todd, an immunologist at [[Kansas State University]], perfectly epitomized the irrational evolutionary denial of the evidence for creation in his correspondence to the science journal ''Nature''. Dr. Scott wrote: "Even if all the data point to an [[intelligent design]]er, such an hypothesis is excluded from science because it is not [[naturalism|naturalistic]]".<ref name="creation.com"/>

===== Atheist community requested to provide proof and evidence that atheism is true =====
[[File:Zero scale.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|The popular YouTube Christian [[Shockofgod]] asked for proof and evidence that atheism is true. When atheism is weighed on the proof and evidence scale, it lacks evidential weight that it is a valid worldview. [[Christian apologetics website resources|Unlike Christianity]], there is no proof and evidence that atheism is true.]]

The popular Christian [[YouTube]] Christian [[Shockofgod]] likened atheism to a clown due to its hypocritical and foolish evidential standards.<ref name="ReferenceA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjS__cWr0Y0</ref> Shockofgod repeatedly asked the YouTube atheist community, "What proof and evidence do you have that atheism is accurate and correct?".

The YouTube atheist community became flustered and upset by his question.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Shockofgod declared concerning their reaction to his question: "The hostility I am getting over this question is unbelievable...It's like..picture this...Atheism is a clown and it didn't know it. And then I got the clown and I walked it over...I forced it to look itself in the mirror. And it sees itself in all its red hair, big nose, big shoes, polka dot glory."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

==== Atheism and extraordinary claims ====
Western Atheists often claim that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence", yet they have no proof and evidence that the extraordinary claim of non-life becoming the first life solely through natural processes is true (See: [[Origin of life]]).<ref>
*[http://carm.org/extraordinary-claims-require-extraordinary-evidence Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence]
*[http://theosophical.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/2830/ Do Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRvJ-4WmJwk William Lane Craig debunks the atheist's "Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence?]</ref>
__TOC__

== Atheists and the genetic fallacy ==
[[Genetic fallacy]] — The genetic fallacy is a [[logical fallacy]] wherein an argument is based on the circumstances of something's origin or history when that origin or history has nothing to do with the present value of that something.<ref>[http://www.fallacyfiles.org/genefall.html Fallacy Files: Genetic Fallacy]</ref> The fallacy is thus a fallacy of relevance.

Rather than address the evidence offered against atheist arguments from various sources, atheists often lodge illegitimate and illogical genetic fallacy complaints such as the source is a Christian website, etc.

The [[ex-atheists|ex-atheist]] [[C.S. Lewis]] wrote about the illegitimate and illogical use of the genetic fallacy in his essay titled ''Bulverism''.<ref>[http://www.barking-moonbat.com/God_in_the_Dock.html God in the Dock — Bulverism]</ref>

=== Atheists, family/societal origin of religious belief and the genetic fallacy ===
''See also:'' [[Atheists, origin of religious belief and the genetic fallacy]]
[[File:800px-Georgetown University -351.JPG|thumbnail|left|200px|In 2012, a [[Georgetown University]] study was published indicating that only about 30 percent of those who grow up in an atheist household remain atheists as adults.<ref name="christianpost.com">http://www.christianpost.com/news/study-atheists-have-lowest-retention-rate-compared-to-religious-groups-78029/ Study: Atheists Have Lowest 'Retention Rate' Compared to Religious Groups</ref>]]
Atheists have given themselves pretentious monikers such as [[Freethought|freethinker]], rationalist and "[[Brights Movement|bright]]" (see also: [[Atheism and arrogance]] and [[Atheism and intelligence]] and [[Causes of atheism]]).

Like many atheists/agnostics, the [[New Atheism|new atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]] often arrogantly claims that a person is an adherent of a particular religion purely due to their upbringing and environment.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mmskXXetcg Richard Dawkins — "What if you're wrong?"]</ref> These same atheists often complain that religion is purely the result of religious indoctrination while ignoring the existence of [[atheist indoctrination]].

This type fallacious thinking is an example of the [[genetic fallacy]] and ignores the existence of people changing their religion/worldview based on thoughtful consideration or due to divine intervention. For example, one of Christianity's greatest evangelist was the [[Saint Paul|Apostle Paul]] who was a zealous Jew who persecuted Christians until his experience with [[Jesus]] on the road to Damascus. In recent years, there are many reports of [[Islam|Muslims]] receiving dreams/visions and becoming Christians.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqHDUpIZO68 LAST DAYS! Muslims Coming To Jesus Through Visions!]</ref>

=== Atheism and its retention rate in individuals ===
''See also:'' [[Atheism and its retention rate in individuals]]

In 2012, a [[Georgetown University]] study was published indicating that only about 30 percent of those who grow up in an [[Atheism|atheist]] household remain atheists as adults.<ref name="christianpost.com"/>

==== Abandonment of atheism in atheistic communist countries ====
In addition, in atheistic [[Communism|Communist]] China, Christianity is experiencing explosive growth.<ref>http://www.millennialstar.org/christianity-exploding-in-china/</ref><ref>http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/shows/cwn/2008/August/Christianity-Growing-in-China-/</ref> On July 3, 2005, the [[New York Times]] reported concerning many countries in the former [[Soviet Union]]: "A return to religion in [[Romania]] and the region's other formerly Communist countries has in many places outrun the speed at which the church can screen and train clergy..."<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/03/international/europe/03romania.html</ref>

===== Collapse of atheism in the former Soviet Union =====
See: [[Collapse of atheism in the former Soviet Union]]

=== Allegation that all religion is superstitious and the genetic fallacy ===
[[Image:2384975035_230a0eac30.jpg‎‎|thumb|right|170px|The [[Wall Street Journal]] reported: "A comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows ...that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to [[superstition]], tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in [[pseudoscience]] than evangelical Christians."<ref name="online.wsj.com">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html</ref>]]
A commonly ploy of atheists is to attempt to disqualify biblical writers on the spurious ground that they were allegedly superstitious and therefore their testimony is unreliable. Yet, the irreligious population has significant problem with superstition (see: [[Irreligion and superstition]])<ref name="online.wsj.com">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html</ref>

In September 2008, the [[Wall Street Journal]] reported:
{{cquote|The reality is that the [[New Atheism|New Atheist]] campaign, by discouraging [[religion]], won't create a new group of intelligent, skeptical, enlightened beings. Far from it: It might actually encourage new levels of mass [[superstition]]. And that's not a conclusion to take on faith -- it's what the empirical data tell us.

"What Americans Really Believe," a comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows that [[Conservative Christianity|traditional Christian religion]] greatly decreases belief in everything from the efficacy of palm readers to the usefulness of [[astrology]]. It also shows that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to superstition, tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in [[pseudoscience]] than evangelical Christians....

This is not a new finding. In his 1983 book "The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener," skeptic and science writer Martin Gardner cited the decline of traditional religious belief among the better educated as one of the causes for an increase in pseudoscience, cults and superstition. He referenced a 1980 study published in the magazine ''Skeptical Inquirer'' that showed irreligious college students to be by far the most likely to embrace paranormal beliefs, while born-again Christian college students were the least likely.<ref name="online.wsj.com">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html</ref>}}

=== Atheists, the genetic fallacy and false accusations of mental illness ===
Atheists often falsely accuse theists (particularly those who criticize atheism) of mental illness,<ref>[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2012/10/mailvox-continuing-education.html Mailvos — Continuing education]</ref> despite the fact that atheists have higher incidences of depression and suicide (see: [[Atheism and suicide]] and [[Atheism and depression]] and [[Atheism and health]]).

Mental hospitals in the [[Soviet Union]] were used to persecute the religious.<ref>[http://www.roca.org/OA/5/5e.htm The Cry of the New Martyrs — Psychiatric “Treatment” of Christians]</ref>

===== Sigmund Freud's view of religion =====
[[Image:freud-thumb.jpg|left|200px|thumb|[[Sigmund Freud]] in his laboratory]]

''See also:'' [[Sigmund Freud's view of religion]]

[[Psychology|Psychologist]] [[Sigmund Freud]] was a proponent of atheism who argued that theism was detrimental to mental health.<ref name="christtoday">McGrath, Alister (February 28, 2005). [http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/003/21.36.html "The twilight of atheism"]. ''Christianity Today'' website. Retrieved on May 23, 2015.</ref> [[Oxford]] Professor [[Alister McGrath]], author of the book ''The Twilight of Atheism'', stated the following regarding Freud:
{{cquote|One of the most important criticisms that Sigmund Freud directed against religion was that it encourages unhealthy and dysfunctional outlooks on life. Having dismissed religion as an illusion, Freud went on to argue that it is a negative factor in personal development. At times, Freud's influence has been such that the elimination of a person's religious beliefs has been seen as a precondition for mental health.

Freud is now a fallen idol, the fall having been all the heavier for its postponement. There is now growing awareness of the importance of spirituality in health care, both as a positive factor in relation to well-being and as an issue to which patients have a right. The "Spirituality and Healing in Medicine" conference sponsored by [[Harvard]] Medical School in 1998 brought reports that 86 percent of Americans as a whole, 99 percent of family physicians, and 94 percent of HMO professionals believe that prayer, meditation, and other spiritual and religious practices exercise a major positive role within the healing process.<ref name="christtoday">http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/march/21.36.html</ref>}}
[[Image:Mayo-clinic-gondaoverview.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The [[Mayo Clinic]] found that that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better physical health, mental health, health-related quality of life and other health outcomes.<ref name="Mayo">Mueller, Dr. Paul S. et al. (December 2001). [http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196%2811%2962799-7/fulltext "Religious involvement, spirituality, and medicine: implications for clinical practice"]. ''Mayo Clinic Proceedings'' vol. 76:12, pp. 1225-1235. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic Proceedings website on July 20, 2014.</ref>]]
The [[Mayo Clinic]] reported on December 11, 2001:
{{cquote|In an article also published in this issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Clinic researchers reviewed published studies, meta-analyses, systematic reviews and subject reviews that examined the association between religious involvement and spirituality and physical health, mental health, health-related quality of life and other health outcomes.

The authors report a majority of the nearly 350 studies of physical health and 850 studies of mental health that have used religious and spiritual variables have found that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes.<ref name="Mayo"/>}}

Freud remains popular among [[postmodern]] literary academics, who use his [[anti-Christian]] pseudoscience as a basis for their own anti-Christianity and moral relativism, even though his theories were disproved decades ago.

== Atheists and the strawman fallacy ==
[[Strawman fallacy]] — Many atheists/[[evolution]]ist commonly use the strawman fallacy.<ref>[http://www.bethinking.org/atheism/understanding-the-new-atheism A New Breed of Atheism]</ref><ref>[https://creation.com/excellent-summary-of-so-many-strawman-arguments-used-by-anti-creationists ‘Excellent summary of so many strawman arguments used by anti-creationists’]</ref>

A straw man fallacy (or straw man argument) is a [[logical fallacy|fallacy]] which occurs by first incorrectly attributing an argument to someone, disproving this argument, then claiming that the person was wrong. It is a caricature of an opponent's [[argument]], a [[distortion]] which can easily be "knocked down", ''i.e.'', refuted, like a flimsy pile of straw.

A strawman argument is a weakened version of a debating opponent's argument, which lacks the potency of the opponent's actual argument. In debates attended by the unwary, a clever but unscrupulous debater can fool the audience into thinking that the opponent's position has been disproved. Knocking down the powerless straw man takes the place of an authentic contest with the real man.
An example of an atheist committing the strawman fallacy can be found in the Quora question "How do flat-Earthers explain Magellan." Quora atheist Lou Pettymore answered the question with:
I predict they will trot out the cut&paste they call science, and claim:

He was a stooge for NASA
He used CGI
He was possessed by the Devil and lied
Trust that the Bible and Ken Ham will be involved in their answer in some way.
Coury Koutz then commented, bringing up the fact that neither the Bible nor Ken Ham agree with a flat Earth. Lou replied by creating a false stereotype involving Christians and flat-Earthers. Coury then brought up several facts of history (eg. Christians who aren't flat-Earthers and flat-Earthers who aren't Christians), therefore disproving Lou's stereotype. Lou then strawmans Coury's disproval of the stereotype into a claim that there are no Christian flat-Earthers and tells him to debate who flat-Earthers on Quora, Steve Martin and Joseph Nazzaro. Lou also repeats the stereotype. Coury calls out the stereotype and strawman, while Lou just repeats the stereotype and strawman. Lou also ends up committing ad hominem, the appeal to shame type of ad baculum, hasty generalization, cherrypicking, and non-sequitur. <ref>https://www.quora.com/How-do-flat-Earthers-explain-Magellan/answer/Lou-Pettymore</ref> Coury later discovered that Steve Martin was, in fact, not a flat-Earther, meaning that Lou lied.<ref>https://www.quora.com/How-did-so-many-other-creatures-survive-the-asteroid-impact-that-completely-killed-all-the-dinosaurs/answer/Steve-Martin-325</ref>

== Atheists and the appeal to ridicule fallacy ==
''See also:'' [[Atheism and mockery]]

The [[appeal to ridicule]] fallacy, also known as the appeal to mockery and the horse laugh, is a [[logical fallacy|fallacy of relevance]]. It consists of mocking an opposing argument rather than considering it on the merits.
[[File:Prise de la Bastille.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|On July 14, 1789, the [[Bastille]] was stormed by a mob and its prisoners freed, which is regarded as the start of the [[French Revolution]]. ]]

=== Appeal to ridicule fallacy and the history of French atheism ===
The [[Reign of Terror]] of the [[French Revolution]] established a state which was anti-[[Roman Catholicism]]/Christian in nature <ref>
*Tallet, Frank [https://books.google.com/books?id=aL4lsWdd-rAC&dq=&hl=en Religion, Society and Politics in France Since 1789], pp. 1-17 1991 Continuum International Publishing
*SPIELVOGEL, Jackson [https://books.google.com/books?id=ni4PSpOxb6MC&dq Western Civilization: Combined Volume] p. 549, 2005,Thomson Wadsworth
*Latreille, A. FRENCH REVOLUTION, New Catholic Encyclopedia v. 5, pp. 972–973 (Second Ed. 2002 Thompson/Gale) ISBN 0-7876-4004-2</ref> (anti-clerical [[deism]] and anti-religious atheism and played a significant role in the French Revolution<ref>[https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap7c.html War, Terror and Resistence]</ref><ref>''Forging Freedom: The Life of Cerf Berr of M Delsheim'' by Margaret R. O'Leary, iUniverse (June 1, 2012), pages 1-2</ref>), with the official ideology being the [[Cult of Reason]]; during this time thousands of believers were suppressed and executed by the [[guillotine]].<ref>Multiple references:
*{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bf3m7IVAa9gC&pg=PA461&dq=France+atheism+guillotine++Christians+executed&hl=en&sa=X&ei=l4lUUaTRBufG0QGe0IHACA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=France%20atheism%20guillotine%20%20Christians%20executed&f=false|title =''Christianity: The eBook''|author=James Adair|publisher = JBE Online Books|year=2007|quote=Although the Civil Constitution called for religious liberty, which was extended to Jews as well as Christians, many revolutionaries pushed for the establishment of a new state religion, either the Cult of Reason (atheists) or the Cult of the Supreme Being (Deists). Changes to the calendar eliminated references to Christian holidays, and even the ancient seven-day week, and a list of officially recognized saints included such famous thinkers such as Socrates, Jesus, Marcus Aurelius, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. A period of political persecution, often with religious overtones, broke out, known as the Reign of Terror. Thousands of people were executed by the guillotine, including many of the original leaders of the French Revolution.|pages=461|accessdate = July 18, 2014}}
*{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9WkBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA105&dq=Reign+of+Terror+atheism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HoRUUcD0NeXX0gGNo4HIDQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Reign%20of%20Terror%20atheism&f=false|title =''Memoirs of the Reign of George III. to the Session of Parliament ending A.D. 1793'', Volume 5|page=105|author=William Belsham|publisher = G.G. & J. Robinson|year=1801|quote=In allusion to the monstrous transactions of this portentous period, it has been eloquently and energetically observed, 'that the reign of atheism in France was avowed the reign of terror. In the full madness of their career, in the highest climax of their horrors, they shut up the temples of God, abolished His worship, and proclaimed death to be an eternal sleep:—in the very centre of Christendom, Revelation underwent a total eclipse, while atheism, performing on a darkened theatre its strange and fearful tragedy, confounded the first elements of society, blended every age, rank, and sex, indiscriminate proscription and massacre, and convulsed all Europe to its centre, that the imperishable memorial of these events might teach the last generations of mankind to consider religion as the pillar of society, the parent of social order, and the safe-guard of nations.' "It is wonderful that, amid the horrors of this dismal period, while 'the death dance of democratic revolution' was still in rapid movement, among the tears of affliction, and the cries of despair, 'the masque, the song, the theatric scene, the buffoon laughter, went on as regularly as in the gay hour of festive peace.'|pages=105–6|accessdate = July 18, 2014}}
*{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Tt5rqiCP1p8C&pg=PA57&dq=Reign+of+Terror+atheism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HoRUUcD0NeXX0gGNo4HIDQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Reign%20of%20Terror%20atheism&f=false|title =''Christianity, Islam, and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West''|author=William Kilpatrick|publisher = Ignatius Press|year=2012|quote=Actually, it's helpful to think in terms of two Enlightenments: the Enlightenment that cut itself off from God. The former led to the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, the abolition of slavery, and the civil rights movement. The latter led to the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror, the suppression of church by state, and the godless philosophies of Marx and Nietzsche and their offspring—National Socialism and communism. More recently the abandonment of God has led to the regime of cultural relativism that regards rights as arbitrary constructions. "It's this second Enlightenment tradition that Cardinal Ratzinger referred to when he wrote, 'The radical detachment of the Enlightenment philosophy from its roots ultimately leads it to dispense with man.' Actually this transition happened not 'ultimately' but almost immediately. The first instance occurred when Enlightenment worship of abstract 'reason' and 'liberty' degenerated quickly into the mass murders committed during the antireligious Reign of Terror in France. 'Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name', said Madam Rolande as she faced the statue of Liberty in the Place de la Revolution movements before her death at the guillotine. She was one of the early victims of a succession of secular systems based on rootless notions of 'liberty', 'equality', and 'reason'. "As many historians have pointed out, the atheist regimes of modern times are guilty of far more crimes than any committed in the name of religion. Communist governments alone were guilty of more than one hundred million murders, most of them committed against their own people.|pages=57|accessdate = July 18, 2014}}</ref>

Kenneth Weinstein wrote in ''The American Interest'':
{{cquote|[[Charlie Hebdo]] has suddenly become the best-known example of a venerable French tradition: vituperative and unrelenting anti-religious satire, a provocative yet regular phenomenon of French public life. And now—not, alas, for the first time in that nation’s history—it has occasioned actual bloodshed.

Lampooning of the Bible, Christian doctrine, and clergy dates back almost 400 years to the “strong thinkers,” French learned skeptics in the 16th century. The primary target of anti-religious satire was France’s official religion, Catholicism, the Church’s ties to the state, and its control over education. And the ridiculing wit long directed against these targets would eventually play a central and crucial role in reducing the status and influence of religion in the French Republic...

The method of the forerunners of Charlie Hebdo—unrelenting and vicious satire of religion and clergy — proved so effective that France became a fully secular state, to such an extent that certain of its practices, laicité, would be regarded as unsettlingly alien and intolerant by most Americans.<ref>[Charlie Hebdo and France’s Irreligious Tradition Kenneth R. Weinstein]</ref>}}

The tactic of employing the ridicule instead of reason has been ineffective in stopping the rapid growth of [[Evangelicalism|evangelical Christianity]] in modern France.<ref name="csmonitor.com">[https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2012/0712/In-a-France-suspicious-of-religion-evangelicalism-s-message-strikes-a-chord In a France suspicious of religion, evangelicalism's message strikes a chord]</ref>

On July 12, 2012, the ''Christian Science Monitor'' reported:
{{cquote|French scholars say, evangelicalism is likely the fastest-growing religion in [[France]] – defying all stereotypes about Europe’s most secular nation...

Daniel Liechti, vice-president of the French National Evangelical Council, found that since 1970, a new evangelical church has opened in France every 10 days. The number of churches increased from 769 to 2,068 last year.<ref name="csmonitor.com">[https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2012/0712/In-a-France-suspicious-of-religion-evangelicalism-s-message-strikes-a-chord In a France suspicious of religion, evangelicalism's message strikes a chord]</ref>}}

Ridicule has been an ineffective tactic in modern France against the growth of Islam in France. The ''Washington Post'' declared in 2015: "One widely cited study by Pew from 2010 showed estimated that France had 4.7 million Muslims.<ref name="France’s growing Muslim population">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/09/map-frances-growing-muslim-population/ France’s growing Muslim population], Washington Post, January 9, 2015</ref> At 7.5 percent of the population, this meant France had the largest Muslim population in Western Europe. A 2010 estimate projects the Muslim population to be 10 percent of France's population by 2030.<ref name="France’s growing Muslim population"/>

In April of 2010, the British academic and [[agnosticism|agnostic]] Eric Kauffmann declared that "the rate of secularisation has flattened to zero in most of [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[Europe]] and [[France]]."<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2013/03/british-academic-eric-kaufmann-says.html British academic Eric Kaufmann says "the rate of secularisation has flattened to zero in most of Protestant Europe and France". Also, Kaufmann writes that secularism "appears exhausted and lacking in confidence"]</ref>
[[Image:Mbarber_b.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|[[Matt Barber]] ]]

=== Modern American/British militant atheists and the use of ridicule ===
The [[New Atheism|new atheist]] Richard Dawkins declared to this fellow atheists:
{{cquote|I suspect that most of our regular readers here would agree that ridicule, of a humorous nature, is likely to be more effective than the sort of snuggling-up and head-patting that Jerry is attacking. I lately started to think that we need to go further: go beyond humorous ridicule, sharpen our barbs to a point where they really hurt.<ref>[https://shadowtolight.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/dawkins-mock-them-ridicule-them-in-public/ Dawkins: Mock them. Ridicule them! In public]</ref>}}

In his article, ''Mockery — the M.O. for atheists'', [[Matt Barber]] discusses an incident in which the [[Freedom From Religion Foundation]] encouraged atheists to engage in tactics which Barber considers to be acts of hateful mockery.<ref>[http://onenewsnow.com/perspectives/matt-barber/2014/05/08/mockery-the-mo-for-atheists ''Mockery — the M.O. for atheists''] by [[Matt Barber]]</ref>

Hateful mockery can backfire, especially when a group in the minority. Atheists are the least-trusted group in America (see: [[Views on Atheists|Views on atheists]]).

=== Atheists and the ad hominem abusive logical fallacy ===
[[File:PzMyers2.jpg|thumbnail|201px|left|The atheist biologist Massimo Pigliucci said of [[PZ Myers]] (pictured above), "one cannot conclude this parade without mentioning P.Z. Myers, who has risen to fame because of a blog where the level of nastiness (both by the host and by his readers) is rarely matched anywhere else on the Internet...".<ref name="ieet.org">[http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/piggliucci20150513 Reflections on the skeptic and atheist movements] By Massimo Pigliucci ''Scientia Salon'', Posted: May 13, 2015</ref>

(photo obtained from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/reuvenim/4426093513/ Flickr], see [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en license agreement]) ]]
''See also:'' [[Atheism and social/interpersonal intelligence|Atheism and social skills]] and [[Atheist factions]]

The [[Ad hominem|Ad Hominem]] Abusive, "also known as: personal abuse, personal attacks, abusive fallacy, damning the source, name calling, needling [form of], refutation by character" is "attacking the person making the argument, rather than the argument itself, when the attack on the person is completely irrelevant to the argument the person is making."<ref>[http://www.logicallyfallacious.com/index.php/logical-fallacies/10-ad-hominem-abusive Ad Hominem (Abusive)]</ref>

Atheists, particularly [[Militant atheism|militant atheists]]/anti-theists, have developed a reputation for bullying and engaging in profanity (See: [[Atheist bullying]] and [[Atheism and profanity]]).

In February 2010, the news organization ''The Telegraph'' reported that the [[New Atheism|new atheist]] [[Richard Dawkins]] was "embroiled in a bitter online battle over plans to rid his popular internet forum for atheists of foul language, insults and 'frivolous gossip'."<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7322177/Richard-Dawkins-in-bitter-web-censorship-row-with-fellow-atheists.html Richard Dawkins in bitter web censorship row with fellow atheists: Professor Richard Dawkins is embroiled in a bitter online battle over plans to rid his popular internet forum for atheists of foul language, insults and “frivolous gossip], ''The Telegraph'' By Heidi Blake, 9:25AM GMT 26 Feb 2010</ref> Richard Dawkins [[Abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins|has a reputation for being abrasive]] so the behavior of his fans is not entirely surprising.

The atheist biologist Massimo Pigliucci said of the atheist [[PZ Myers]], "one cannot conclude this parade without mentioning P.Z. Myers, who has risen to fame because of a blog where the level of nastiness (both by the host and by his readers) is rarely matched anywhere else on the Internet...".<ref name="ieet.org"/>

The University of Illinois psychologist Ryan Ritter published a study in the journal ''Social Psychological and Personality Science'' which showed among other things that atheists used profanity significantly more than Christians do on Twitter and that Christians had happier dispositions on Twitter.<ref>[http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/06/18/1948550613492345.full.pdf+html Happy Tweets: Christians Are Happier, More Socially Connected, and Less Analytical Than Atheists on Twitter Social Psychological and Personality Science 1948550613492345, first published on June 18, 2013]</ref>

Militant atheists/anti-atheists frequently accuse Christians of "lying for Jesus" despite the fact that historically atheists/evolutionists have frequently engaged in deception to promote their ideology (see: [[Atheism and deception]] and [[Atheist indoctrination]]).

See also:
*[[Evolution and Cases of Fraud, Hoaxes and Speculation]]
*[[Evolutionary indoctrination]].

== Scientism is self-refuting ==

''See also:'' [[List of atheist and agnostic pseudosciences]] and [[Atheists and the National Academy of Sciences]]

According to [[Discovery Institute]] [[scientism]] is an effort to use the methods of science to explain and control every part of human life, in other words, the misguided effort to apply science to areas outside its proper bounds.<ref name="Magician">{{cite web |title=The Magician's Twin: C. S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society — Product Description|author=N/A |publisher=Discovery Institute Press |url=http://astore.amazon.com/discoveryinsti12-20/detail/1936599058 |accessdate= November 30, 2014 |quote=Beloved for his Narnian tales for children and his books of Christian apologetics for adults, best-selling author C.S. Lewis also was a prophetic critic of the growing power of scientism in modern society, the misguided effort to apply science to areas outside its proper bounds. In this wide-ranging book of essays, contemporary writers probe Lewis's warnings about the dehumanizing impact of scientism on ethics, politics, faith, reason, and science itself. Issues explored include Lewis's views on bioethics, eugenics, evolution, intelligent design, and what he called "scientocracy."}}</ref>

Scientism is self-refuting. [[William Lane Craig]] wrote: "Scientism tells us that we should not believe any proposition that cannot be scientifically proven. But what about that very proposition itself? It cannot itself be scientifically proven."<ref>[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/is-scientism-self-refuting Is scientism self-refuting?]</ref> The Christian apologist Jason Peterson similarly wrote: "Science has to presuppose the validity of mathematics, the laws of logic, and that our senses are valid. Science is unable to prove any of those things." <ref>[Christianity and Circular Reasoning] by Jason Petersen at Answers for Hope Ministry</ref> See also: [[Atheism and naturalistic intelligence]]

[[C.S. Lewis]] was sceptical and highly critical of scientism as an ideology which in his view was confused with science and which tried to [[Reductionism|reduce]] everything that we can learn scientifically to materialistic blind undirected causes.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Magician's Twin: C.S. Lewis and the Case against Scientism|publisher=DiscoveryInstitute|date= 18 Nov 2012|pages=02min:20sec|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPeyJvXU68k&list=PLF3F6DFC4CC901818|accessdate=27-April-2013}}</ref> He argued that scientism has the dehumanizing impact on [[ethics]], [[politics]], [[faith]], [[reason]], and science itself.<ref name="Magician"/>

== Appeal to the religious beliefs of National Academy of Sciences scientists ==

''See also:'' [[Atheists and the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[File:National Academy of Sciences building.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|[[National Academy of Sciences]] building in Washington, D.C.]]
Despite the poor survey design of the survey in question (which the atheist [[Eugenie C. Scott]] has acknowledged), atheist apologists commonly cite a survey of the religious beliefs of the scientists who are members of the [[National Academy of Sciences]] in order to justify their atheism (see: [[Atheists and the National Academy of Sciences]]).

According to the Oxford Dictionaries website, a category mistake is "The error of assigning to something a quality or action that can properly be assigned to things only of another category, for example, treating abstract concepts as though they had a physical location."<ref>[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/category-mistake Category mistake - Oxford dictionaries]</ref>

Strictly speaking, the existence of God is a [[Philosophy|philosophical]] question and not a [[science|scientific]] question since God is supernatural and thus outside of nature. Furthermore, in terms of expert opinion, the majority of philosophers of religion, or those who have extensively studied the issue of the [[Arguments for the existence of God|existence of God]], are [[theism|theists]] (72 percent).<ref>[http://www.strangenotions.com/atheist-scientists/ Does it matter that many scientists are atheists?]</ref>

In addition, there is experimental evidence supporting the proposition that the God of the Bible does answer prayers.<ref name="ReferenceB">[http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-apologist-10-reasons-for-the-fall-of-atheism-106531/ Christian Apologist: 10 Reasons for the Fall of Atheism] by [[Gary Habermas]]</ref> The Christian apologist [[Gary Habermas]] wrote: "Double-blind prayer experiments: where people pray for others with terminal illness. Habermas admitted that most such experiments have not worked, but the three that he knows of that have indeed worked were cases of orthodox-Christians praying for the sick."<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

Even if atheists were not committing a category mistake in relation to citing the religious beliefs of NAS scientists, it is an [[appeal to authority]] which is also a logical fallacy.

== Atheists and groupthink ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism and groupthink]]

[[Groupthink]] is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of individuals in which the quest for harmony/conformity within the group results in irrational and/or poor decision-making.

There are a number of notable cases of atheists engaging in groupthink (see: [[Atheism and groupthink]]).

== Atheists and the appeal to emotion logical fallacy ==
Many atheists use appeals to emotion/arguments from outrage when criticizing the Bible, especially when they are engaging in cultural imperialism.<ref>[http://www.tektonics.org/lp/outrage.php Bible critics and arguments from outrage] by [[JP Holding]]</ref><ref>[http://www.tribosblog.org/?p=1640 Atheists and arguments From outrage]</ref><ref>[http://www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=45 Is Yahweh a Moral Monster? The New Atheists and Old Testament Ethics] by Paul Copan</ref>

== Atheism and the fallacy of equivocation ==
''See also:'' [[Atheism and equivocation]]

Equivocation is the use of word with multiple meanings, and then using a different meaning in the conclusion than in the premise.

For example: "The coach said we should eat light, so take your heavy coat off."

Equivocation is a [[logical fallacy]].<ref>[http://onegoodmove.org/fallacy/equiv.htm Equivocation]</ref>

=== Atheism, equivocation and the origin in the universe ===
[[Creation science|Creationist scientists]] demonstrate that the [[First Law of Thermodynamics|first law of thermodynamics]] and [[second law of thermodynamics]] argue against an eternal [[universe]] and they also demonstrate that these laws point to the universe being supernaturally created.<ref>[http://godevidences.net/space/lawsofscience.php Evidences for God From Space—Laws of Science]</ref><ref>Thompson, Bert, [http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2329 So Long, Eternal Universe; Hello Beginning, Hello End!], 2001 (Apologetics Press)</ref><ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/AstroPhysicalSciences14.html</ref>
[[File:Lawrence Krauss at American Atheists conference.jpg|left|thumbnail|200px|right|Atheist [[Lawrence Krauss]] speaking at an [[American Atheists]] conference. ]]
The [[CARM|Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry]] (CARM) points out that the prominent atheist [[Lawrence Krauss]] uses the [[logical fallacy]] of [[equivocation]] in his failed attempt to explain the origin of the universe.<ref name="carm.org">[https://carm.org/lawrence-krauss-atheist-definition-of-nothing Lawrence Krauss and the Atheist Definition of Nothing], by Robin Schumacher, edited by Matt Slick</ref>

CARM declares:
{{cquote|But I have a bone to pick with Dr. Krauss about his latest book, A Universe from Nothing, which has the subtitle Why there is something rather than nothing? Those having taken an intro to philosophy class will recognize that Krauss’ subtitle is a rendition of the most basic philosophical question of existence, which has been attributed to truth seekers such as Gottfried Leibniz who asked, “Why do we have something rather than nothing at all?”....

You would think that by the title of Krauss’ book he answers the question that Leibniz posed, but he doesn’t. Instead, he redefines what ‘nothing’ is. ‘Nothing’ to Dr. Krauss would be empty space or the quantum vacuum....

Dictionary.com defines ‘nothing’ as:
[[File:Aristotle.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Aristotle]]]]

:1. no thing; not anything; naught: to say nothing.
:2. no part, share, or trace (usually followed by of ): The house showed nothing of its former magnificence.
:3. something that is nonexistent.
:4. nonexistence; nothingness: The sound faded to nothing.

But, I think the best definition of ‘nothing’ is [[Aristotle]]’s: “Nothing is what rocks dream about.”

Why does Krauss attempt to redefine ‘nothing’? Because Krauss is an atheist and a fairly acerbic one at that. He not only doesn’t believe in God but also doesn’t like God. Here is the problem Krauss faces: If nothing is really nothing and we have something (the universe) from a real nothing, then it points to the universe having a beginning. And as Stephen Hawking has observed, “Many people do not like the idea that time has a beginning, probably because it smacks of divine intervention.”

The problem is that empty space and/or the quantum vacuum aren’t nothing; they’re something. So Krauss’ book does absolutely ‘nothing’ to answer Leibniz’s question and leaves his readers no better off than they were before where the issue of the origin of the universe is concerned.

All the scientific evidence points to the universe exploding out of true nothingness, but atheists like Krauss hate this truth.<ref name="carm.org">[https://carm.org/lawrence-krauss-atheist-definition-of-nothing Lawrence Krauss and the Atheist Definition of Nothing], by Robin Schumacher, edited by Matt Slick</ref>}}

=== Atheism, evolution and the equivocation fallacy ===
[[File:Safarti3.jpg|alt=evolutionary theory opponent|thumb|200px|left|[[Jonathan Sarfati]]]]
Since [[World War II]] a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the [[evolution]]ary position which employs methodological naturalism have been atheists and [[agnosticism|agnostics]] (see also: [[Causes of evolutionary belief]])<ref name="A Who’s Who of evolutionists">* Dr. Don Batten, [https://creation.com/a-whos-who-of-evolutionists A ''Who’s Who'' of evolutionists] ''Creation'' 20(1):32, December 1997.
* [[Jonathan Sarfati]], Ph.D.,F.M., [http://www.creation.com/content/view/3830 ''Refuting Evolution'', Chapter 1, Facts and Bias]</ref>

Critics of evolution state that many of today's proponents of the evolutionary position have diluted the meaning of the term "evolution" to the point where it defined as or the definition includes change over time in the [[Genetics|gene]] pool of a population over time through such processes as [[mutation]], natural selection, and [[genetic drift]].<ref>
* [http://www.arn.org/docs/anderson/an_appb.htm Glossary Definitions of "Evolution"]
* [http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones/PoE/pe02phl4.html#lgclprblmsflcsqvctn Fallacies used to support evolution:Equivocation]
* [http://www.arn.org/docs/meyer/sm_meaningsofevolution.pdf The Meanings of Evolution]
* [[Jonathan Sarfati]],Ph.D., F.M. [http://www.creation.com/content/view/3262/ ''Refuting Evolution 2'', Chapter 1, Argument: Creationism is religion, not science]
</ref> Dr. [[Jonathan Sarfati]] of [[Creation Ministries International]] declares concerning the diluted definition of the word "evolution":
{{cquote|...many evolutionary propagandists are guilty of the deceitful practice of equivocation, that is, switching the meaning of a single word (evolution) part way through an argument. A common tactic, ‘bait-and-switch,’ is simply to produce examples of change over time, call this ‘evolution,’ then imply that the GTE [General Theory of Evolution] is thereby proven or even essential, and [[creation]] disproved. The PBS ''Evolution'' series and the ''[[Scientific American]]'' article are full of examples of this fallacy.<ref>[[Jonathan Sarfati]],Ph.D., F.M. [http://www.creation.com/content/view/3262/ ''Refuting Evolution 2'', Chapter 1, Argument: Creationism is religion, not science]</ref><ref>The PBS [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/ evolution website] bills itself as "The most comprehensive evolutionary science resource on the Internet" but it is very poorly done.</ref>}}

Throughout his book ''Why Evolution is True'', the atheist [[Jerry Coyne]] abuses the term evolution, defining it in multiple ways and [[equivocation|equivocating]] it.<ref>[http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=3543 Jerry Coyne and the “Fact” of Evolution] by Kyle Butt, Apologetics Press</ref> In addition, he shows a poor understanding of the [[creationism|creationist]]/[[creation science]] position.<ref>[https://creation.com/review-coyne-why-evolution-is-true Why evolution need not be true]: A review of Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne Viking Penguin, New York, 2009, reviewed by John Woodmorappe</ref>

== Atheism and the no true Scotsman fallacy ==
[[File:Shockofgod helmet.jpg|thumbnail|175px|right|Logo for the [[Shockofgod]] YouTube channel]]

''See also:'' [[Atheism and the no true Scotsman fallacy]]

The [[no true Scotsman]] fallacy is a [[logical fallacy]] and more specifically a special case of [[circular logic]]. It involves dismissing any counterexamples.<ref name="No True Scotsman Fallacy">[http://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/#NoTrueScotsman No True Scotsman Fallacy], ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zzSqL--d_I The "No True Scotsman" Fallacy], Idea Channel — PBS Digital Studios</ref>

The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' describes the no true Scotsman fallacy thusly:
{{cquote|No True Scotsman

This error is a kind of [[ad hoc rescue]] of one's generalization in which the reasoner re-characterizes the situation solely in order to escape refutation of the generalization.

Example:

Smith: All Scotsmen are loyal and brave.

Jones: But McDougal over there is a Scotsman, and he was arrested by his commanding officer for running from the enemy.

Smith: Well, if that's right, it just shows that McDougal wasn't a TRUE Scotsman.<ref name="No True Scotsman Fallacy">[http://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/#NoTrueScotsman No True Scotsman Fallacy], ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''</ref>}}

The no true Scotsman Fallacy was coined by the English philosopher [[Anthony Flew]] in his book ''Thinking about Thinking — or do I sincerely want to be right?''. At the time Flew wrote the book he was an atheist, but he later became a [[theism|theist]].

=== Atheists claiming ex-atheists were never atheists ===
[[John W. Loftus]], one of the more prominent atheists in the atheist community. The [[ex-atheists|ex-atheist]] Darrin Raspberry used to write for the atheist John Loftus’ blog site ''Debunking Christianity''.<ref name="jamesbishopblog.wordpress.com">[https://jamesbishopblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/arguments-for-gods-existence-leads-former-christ-hater-darrin-rasberry-to-christ-follower/ Arguments for God’s existence leads former “Christ-hater,” Darrin Rasberry, to Christ follower] by James Bishop</ref> After Raspberry became a Christian Loftus said that Raspberry “was never an atheist in the first place.”<ref name="jamesbishopblog.wordpress.com"/>

The popular Christian YouTube video creator [[Shockofgod]] is an ex-atheist who left atheism because it [[Rebuttals to atheist arguments|lacks proof]] and evidence that it is true, while Christianity offers an [[Christian apologetics websites|abundant amount]] of evidential support.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhr88HZtkmE Ex-atheist shares why he left the lie of Atheism]</ref> His YouTube videos have cumulatively received over 25 million views since his YouTube channel's inception.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/user/shockofgod</ref> Shockofgod won over 70 Christianity vs. [[atheism]] debates.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiGgOQ_aEvY Atheism loses a shocking 71 debates in a row]</ref> There are atheists who claim that Shockofgod was never an atheist.<ref>
*[http://www.pakistan.tv/videos-shockofgod-calls-into-atheist-radio-show-%5B7bBE1bos6JU%5D.cfm Shockofgod calls into Atheist Radio show — Hilarious! Part 1 Video]
*[https://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=ypO8qx9-5YA&lc=4KFJZ2armpynzsgytJFpDDS2iNJyXa1GFCN-U43FRa4 Shockofgod — "The Question That defeated The Atheist Show" — Debunked! by TheEducatedPrimate]
*[http://talkrational.org/showthread.php?t=28091 Forum thread at an atheism forum] post by user Ajje
</ref>

=== Atheists attempting to deny/minimize the roles of atheism/atheists in atheist atrocities ===
Atheist apologists commonly try to minimize or deny the role of atheism/atheists as far as atheist atrocites.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmrRC6zD4Zk Atheists Dodge Their History of Atrocities]</ref><ref>[https://creation.com/atheism Atheism]</ref><ref name="voxday.blogspot.com">[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/04/mailvox-no-true-atheist-defense.html Mailvox: the "No True Atheist" defense]</ref> It is as if no true atheist could be responsible for mass murder (see also: [[Atheism and Mass Murder|Atheism and mass murder]]).<ref name="voxday.blogspot.com"/>

Atheism was an integral tenet of Maxist-Lennism/[[Maoism|Maoist]]/[[Stalinism]] [[communism]] (see: [[Atheism and communism]]).

For more information, please see: [[Atheism and the no true Scotsman fallacy]]

=== Evolutionists who are atheists committing the no true Scottsman fallacy ===
''See also:'' [[Christianity and science]] and [[Atheism and the suppression of science]] and [[Creation science]]

[[Evolution]]ists who are atheists often claim that there are no real scientists who disbelieve evolution.<ref>[http://www.creationmoments.com/resources/blog/200902/many-scientists-do-not-accept-evolution Many Scientists Do Not Accept Evolution]</ref> In 2007, "[[Discovery Institute]]'s Center for Science and Culture...announced that over 700 scientists from around the world have now signed a statement expressing their skepticism about the contemporary theory of [[Charles Darwin|Darwinian]] evolution."<ref>http://www.discovery.org/a/2732</ref>

Since [[World War II]] a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the evolutionary position which employs methodological naturalism have been atheists and agnostics (see also: [[Causes of evolutionary belief]])<ref name="A Who’s Who of evolutionists"/>

=== Atheists, Adolf Hitler and the no true Scottsman fallacy ===
[[Atheists, Adolf Hitler and the no true Scottsman fallacy]]

== Atheist Phil Plait on the skeptical movement ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism and arrogance]]

The atheist Phil Plait said about the [[Philosophical skepticism|skeptical]] movement: "Hubris is running rampant. And egos are out of check. And sometimes logic is put by the wayside."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucDXvXqr_H8 Phil Plait, "Don't Be a Dick" (Part 2 of 3)]</ref>

== Transcendental argument for the non-existence of God ==
''See also:'' [[Transcendental argument for the non-existence of God]]

Dr. [[Greg Bahnsen]] became known as "the man atheists fear most" due to [[Michael Martin]]'s [[Press release concerning Michael Martin pulling out of Martin-Bahnsen debate|cancellation]] of their scheduled debate.<ref>[http://simpleapologetics.com/thegreatdebate.html The Great Debate: Greg Bahnsen vs Gordon Stein]</ref>

During his debate with Dr. Gordon Stein, Bahnsen pointed out that the [[atheist worldview]] cannot account for the [[laws of logic]], but the Christian worldview can.<ref name="youtube.com"/><ref name="The Great Debate: Does God Exist?"/> See also: [[Transcendental argument for the non-existence of God]]

== See also ==

*[[Atheism and critical thinking]]
*[[Atheism and incoherency]]
*[[Rebuttals to atheist arguments]]
*[[Christian apologetics websites|Evidence for Christianity]]
*[[Resources for leaving atheism and becoming a Christian]]
*[[Christian apologetics]]
*[[Atheism and reason]]
*[[Atheists and unreasonableness]]

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

[[Category:Atheism]]

Choice

2020-04-25T01:51:27Z

Fire$hark: Undo revision 1630189 by DavidB4 (talk) This section is not promotion.

'''Choice''' is the act of deciding what to do. It is also known as [[free will]]. [[Freedom]] is generally considered either the right or the ability to make decisions without coercion.

Choice is the basis of [[law]]. Choice is a fundamentally [[human]] activity, since law applying to animals does not apply to the choices made by animals. Instead, laws such as animal control and animal abuse laws apply to the choices of humans in regards to animals.

==Liberalism and choice==

===Abortion===

Choice has been used by proponents of [[abortion]] (pro-choice), who claim that a [[pregnancy|pregnant]] woman has the right to abort an unborn child. Opponents of abortion claim point out that someone does not have the "choice" whether someone else, such as an unborn child, should live. In the words of a popular bumper sticker, "It's a child, not a choice."

===Homosexuality===

In contrast, liberals argue that the decision to engage in [[homosexual activity]] is not at all a matter of choice, and that the lack of choice in this matter absolves them of all charges of sin.

===Gender Identity===

The liberal view on gender identity is similar to the liberal view of homosexuality, viewing it as not a choice. An example of this is a video making the ridiculous statement by YouTube user AMAZE Org. <ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9YwOE8ndnc</ref> Christian gaming Youtuber DeathLightning44 made two comments on this video comparing the statement that gender identity isn't something a person can choose or change with the statement that favorite color isn't something that a person can choose or change. He then proves that favorite color is changeable and uses modus tollens reasoning to imply that gender identity is both chooseable and changeable. He also posted a <ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xraE2eVQ4I</ref> reaction to the video in where he made a similar statement, but mentions religion instead of favorite color.

==Economics==

Liberals who swear up and down that "choice" must be respected (when it comes to deciding when and how to get pregnant or give birth) adamantly oppose [[free market]] principles.
For example, there are restrictions on private transportation aimed at protecting government-run public transit systems:
* ... many private transit options would become available (options now illegal in many areas) as a way of protecting the government transit monopoly <ref>http://americandreamcoalition.org/highways/congestionlocal.html</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Philosophy]]

Atheism and irrationality

2020-04-25T01:49:47Z

Fire$hark: /* Atheism, irrationality and open-mindedness */

[[File:113320508 2b86fdb94a.jpg|thumb|201px|right|A common and legitimate criticism of the [[atheist worldview]] is that [[atheism]] is irrational.<ref>[http://carm.org/cut-atheism Atheism] by Matt Slick
*[http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0131a.html Putting the Atheist on the Defensive] by Kenneth R. Samples, Christian Research Institute Journal, Fall 1991, and Winter 1992, page 7.
*[http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2012/03/21/atheists-dont-own-reason/10924 Atheists don’t own reason] by Tom Gilson
* [http://www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth11.html Why the Burden of Proof is on the Atheist] by Professor Ralph McInerny
* [http://www.leaderu.com/truth/3truth02.html Theism, Atheism, and Rationality] by [[Alvin Plantinga]]
*''[http://www.voxday.net/mart/TIA_free.pdf The Irrational atheist]: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens by [[Vox Day]], Benbella Books, Dallas, TX, 2008'' , ISBN 1933771364; ISBN 978-1933771366
</ref> ]]
A common and legitimate criticism of the [[atheist worldview]] is that [[atheism]] is irrational.<ref>[http://carm.org/cut-atheism Atheism] by Matt Slick
*[http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0131a.html Putting the Atheist on the Defensive] by Kenneth R. Samples, Christian Research Institute Journal, Fall 1991, and Winter 1992, page 7.
*[http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2012/03/21/atheists-dont-own-reason/10924 Atheists don’t own reason] by Tom Gilson
* [http://www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth11.html Why the Burden of Proof is on the Atheist] by Professor Ralph McInerny
* [http://www.leaderu.com/truth/3truth02.html Theism, Atheism, and Rationality] by [[Alvin Plantinga]]
*''[http://www.voxday.net/mart/TIA_free.pdf The Irrational atheist]: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens by [[Vox Day]], Benbella Books, Dallas, TX, 2008'' , ISBN 1933771364; ISBN 978-1933771366
</ref> In short, atheism is a fundamentally incoherent worldview with a number of inconsistencies.<ref>
*[http://grayknight.hubpages.com/hub/Top-10-Atheist-Inconsistencies 10 atheist inconsistencies]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4K_WZpIkM4 William Lane Craig on Scientific Naturalism] - video
*[http://www.scottmsullivan.com/why-atheism-is-incoherent/ Why atheism is inconsistent] by Dr. Scott Sullivan (podcast), August 19th, 2014
*[http://vimeo.com/102663614 The Summit Lecture Series: Scientific Naturalism Worldview with J.P. Moreland, part 1]
*[http://vimeo.com/103277405 The Summit Lecture Series: Scientific Naturalism with J.P. Moreland, part 2]
*[http://vimeo.com/103865278 The Summit Lecture Series: Scientific Naturalism with J.P. Moreland, part 3]
*[http://vimeo.com/105068126 The Summit Lecture Series: Scientific Naturalism Worldview with J.P. Moreland, part 4]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6cTlDn4PiU The Incoherence of Atheism] - video by [[Ravi Zacharias]]
*[http://justandsinner.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-incoherence-of-atheism.html The incoherence of atheism]
*[http://ephesians4-15.blogspot.com/2012/11/more-on-inconsistent-atheists.html More on inconsistent atheists]
*''The Atheist's Fatal Flaw: Exposing Conflicting Beliefs'' by [[Norman Geisler]] and Daniel J. McCoy, Baker Publishing Group, June 2014
</ref> See also: [[Atheism and critical thinking]]

== Atheism, irrationality and open-mindedness ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism and open-mindedness]] and [[Atheism and dogmatism]] and [[Atheism and intolerance]] and [[Atheism and groupthink]]

Making intelligent choices using [[critical thinking]] often requires open-mindedness and intellectual curiosity.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/eleven-common-traits-of-highly-intelligent-people-a7480246.html Eleven common traits of highly intelligent people] by Shana Lebowicz, The Independent, Friday 16 December 2016 18:24</ref>

Research indicates that [[atheism|atheists]] are less open-minded (see: [[Atheism and open-mindedness]]).

The atheist [[Luke Muehlhauser]] wrote about [[atheism and dogmatism]]:
{{Cquote|...I am reminded every day that we atheists are not particularly more rational than believers... We, too, abandon reason and evidence to support opinions that just 'feel right' to us."

I was reminded of this a few hundred times during the week when I asked atheists to explain what was wrong with my [July 16, 2010] post. A few people gestured toward a kind of argument, but it was clear they were more interested to condemn me than they were to work through the logic of the ethical issues at play.

Most of my critics made little attempt to understand what I had said. Instead, they blatantly misrepresented my stated positions so that they could smear me.

Others admitted freely they didn’t care about the arguments involved, they just knew that they knew that they knew I was wrong...
<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/07/i_have_been_objectified.php Atheism and Dogmatism] by Luke Muehlhauser] at Commonsenseatheism.com</ref>}}

In his YouTube video titled ''The Insanity That Is Atheism'', DeathLightning44 shows how absurd atheist logic is and even explicitly calls atheism retarded.

== Atheistic worldview cannot account for the laws of logic ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism and logic]] and [[Transcendental argument for the existence of God]]

The atheistic worldview cannot account for the laws of [[logic]] (See: [[Atheism and logic]]).<ref>
*[https://answersingenesis.org/world-religions/atheism/atheism-an-irrational-worldview/ Atheism: An irrational worldview] by Dr. Jason Lisle on October 10, 2007
*[http://carm.org/christian-worldview-atheist-worldview-and-logic The Christian Worldview, the Atheist Worldview, and Logic] by Matt Slick
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160807221254/http://answersforhope.org/can-atheism-coherently-explain-the-laws-of-logic/ Can Atheism Coherently Explain the Laws of Logic?] by Answers for Hope
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1hSx2evTGM The Great Debate: Does God Exist?] (YouTube video) or [http://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2006/12/05/greg-bahnsen-vs-gordon-stein-the-great-debate/ "The Great Debate: Does God Exist?"] - Dr. [[Greg Bahnsen]] versus Dr. Gordon Stein - Audio of a formal debate between Christian Greg Bahnsen and skeptic Gordon Stein at the University of California, Irvine.</ref>

== Atheist worldview cannot explain consciousness ==

''See also:'' [[Origin of human consciousness]] and [[Atheism and transhumanism]] and [[Atheism and cryonics]]

The atheist worldview cannot explain the existence of [[consciousness]] either and the [[theism|theistic]] worldview can offer a reasonable explanation.<ref>[http://www.johnpiippo.com/2012/03/argument-from-consciousness-for.html The Argument from Consciousness for the Existence of God] by John Piippo, 3/20/2012
*[http://www.johnpiippo.com/2014/04/one-of-atheisms-irresolvable-problems.html Consciousness: One of Atheism's Irresolvable Problems] by John Piippo, 4/14/2014</ref>

Atheist advocates of mind uploading (Mind uploading is the notion that someday mankind may be able to scan and upload their minds to computer storage mediums) are often strong advocates of [[cryonics]] as well (See also: [[Atheism and cryonics]]).<ref>[http://www.evidencebasedcryonics.org/tag/mind-uploading/ Mind uploading - Thought experiments as knowledge]</ref> Mind uploading is not a feasible hypothesis (See: [[Atheism and transhumanism]]).<ref>
*[http://hplusmagazine.com/2011/05/06/against-naive-uploadism-memory-consciousness-and-synaptic-homeostasis/ Against Naive Uploadism: Memory, Consciousness, and Synaptic Homeostasis], Seth Weisberg, ''H+ Magazine'', May 6, 2011
*[http://futurisms.thenewatlantis.com/2010/06/why-transhumanism-wont-work.html Why Transhumanism Won't Work], ''The New Atlantis'', June 10, 2010
*[http://neurologism.com/2013/12/11/will-we-ever-be-able-to-upload-our-minds-to-a-computer/ Will we ever be able to upload our minds to a computer?]
*[http://io9.com/you-ll-probably-never-upload-your-mind-into-a-computer-474941498 You Might Never Upload Your Brain Into a Computer] by George Dvorsky posted at 4/17/13 12:02pm at io9.com
*[https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2011/06/24/whats-the-likelihood-of-the-singularity-part-two-uploading-the-brain/ What's the Likelihood of the Singularity? Part Two: Uploading the Brain] by Alex Knapp, Forbes, 6/24/2011</ref>

== Naturalism is incompatible with reason ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism and reason]] and [[Causes of atheism]] and [[Atheist mindset]]

If naturalism is true, then we ought not to trust our capacity for reason for the human brain would be a byproduct of blind/unintelligent natural forces.
<ref>
*[http://creationevolutiondesign.blogspot.com/2006/09/cs-lewis-argument-from-reason.html C.S. Lewis' argument from reason]
*[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/11/cs_lewis_and_th079541.html C.S. Lewis and the Argument from Reason] by Jay W. Richards, November 25, 2013
*[http://www.acton.org/pub/religion-liberty/volume-6-number-6/cs-lewis-and-materialism C.S. Lewis and Materialism] by John G. West
*[http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=8669 C.S. Lewis On The Validity of Reasoning]
*[http://truthbomb.blogspot.com/2012/04/cs-lewis-on-rationality-and-materialism.html C.S. Lewis on Rationality and Materialism ]
*[http://str.typepad.com/weblog/2008/08/naturalisms-hot.html Naturalism's Hot Water]
</ref> Naturalism and reason are incompatible.<ref>
*[http://creationevolutiondesign.blogspot.com/2006/09/cs-lewis-argument-from-reason.html C.S. Lewis' argument from reason]
*[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/11/cs_lewis_and_th079541.html C.S. Lewis and the Argument from Reason] by Jay W. Richards, November 25, 2013
*[http://www.acton.org/pub/religion-liberty/volume-6-number-6/cs-lewis-and-materialism C.S. Lewis and Materialism] by John G. West
*[http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=8669 C.S. Lewis On The Validity of Reasoning]
*[http://truthbomb.blogspot.com/2012/04/cs-lewis-on-rationality-and-materialism.html C.S. Lewis on Rationality and Materialism ]
*[http://str.typepad.com/weblog/2008/08/naturalisms-hot.html Naturalism's Hot Water]
</ref> Therefore, believing in naturalism is self-defeating.

== Irreligion and superstition ==

''See also:'' [[Irreligion and superstition]]

[[Image:2384975035_230a0eac30.jpg‎‎|thumb|left|170px|The [[Wall Street Journal]] reported: "A comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows ...that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to [[superstition]], tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in [[pseudoscience]] than evangelical Christians."<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html</ref>]]
In September 2008, the [[Wall Street Journal]] reported:
{{cquote|The reality is that the [[New Atheism|New Atheist]] campaign, by discouraging [[religion]], won't create a new group of intelligent, skeptical, enlightened beings. Far from it: It might actually encourage new levels of mass [[superstition]]. And that's not a conclusion to take on faith -- it's what the empirical data tell us.

"What Americans Really Believe," a comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows that [[Conservative Christianity|traditional Christian religion]] greatly decreases belief in everything from the efficacy of palm readers to the usefulness of [[astrology]]. It also shows that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to superstition, tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in [[pseudoscience]] than evangelical Christians....

This is not a new finding. In his 1983 book "The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener," skeptic and science writer Martin Gardner cited the decline of traditional religious belief among the better educated as one of the causes for an increase in pseudoscience, cults and superstition. He referenced a 1980 study published in the magazine ''Skeptical Inquirer'' that showed irreligious college students to be by far the most likely to embrace paranormal beliefs, while born-again Christian college students were the least likely.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html</ref>}}

For more information, please see: [[Irreligion and superstition]]

== Atheists commonly use logical fallacies in their arguments ==

Atheists commonly use [[logical fallacy|logical fallacies]] in their arguments.<ref>
*[http://pastorbrianchilton.wordpress.com/2014/07/28/33-logical-fallacies-everyone-should-know/ Fallacies everyone should know] - Pastor Chilton explains various logical fallacies and gives some examples of atheists using them
*[http://atheism-analyzed.blogspot.com/2011/12/ten-fallacies-of-atheism.html Ten fallacies of atheism]
*[http://citizenfitz09.blogspot.com/2012/11/some-atheistic-logical-fallacies.html Atheistic logical fallacies]
*[http://atheism-analyzed.blogspot.com/2011/12/ten-fallacies-of-atheism.html Ten fallacies of atheism]
*[http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/look-both-ways-two-atheistic-logical-fallacies Look Both Ways: Two Atheistic Logical Fallacies]</ref>

One of the most common [[logical fallacy|logical fallacies]] atheists, [[agnosticism|agnostics]] and [[evolution]]ists employ is the [[fallacy of exclusion]]. For example, the [[evolution]]ist Dr. Scott Todd, an immunologist at [[Kansas State University]], wrote: "Even if all the data point to an [[intelligent design]]er, such an hypothesis is excluded from science because it is not [[naturalism|naturalistic]]".<ref>https://creation.com/a-designer-is-unscientificeven-if-all-the-evidence-supports-one</ref> See: [[Methodological naturalism]] and [[Atheism and naturalistic intelligence]]

List of logical fallacies that atheists commonly commit: [[Atheism and logical fallacies]]

== Debates and the lack of confidence of atheists ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism debates]]

Despite atheists commonly adopting pretentious monikers such as rationalist, freethinker and brights (see: [[Atheism and arrogance]]), in recent years there has been a number of conspicuous examples of atheists showing a reluctance to intellectually defend atheism in formal debate (see: [[Atheism and cowardice]]).

As far as atheists lacking confidence, in 2010, Professor [[Eric Kaufmann]], who specializes in religion/irreligion/demographics/politics, wrote:
{{cquote|Worldwide, the [[Desecularization|march of religion]] can probably only be reversed by a renewed, self-aware secularism. Today, it appears [[Decline of the atheist movement|exhausted and lacking in confidence]]... Secularism's greatest triumphs owe less to science than to popular social movements like nationalism, socialism and 1960s anarchist-liberalism. Ironically, secularism's [[Global atheism|demographic deficit]] means that it will probably only succeed in the twenty-first century if it can create a secular form of 'religious' enthusiasm."<ref>[http://www.sneps.net/uploadsepk/JQR%20Demography.pdf Shall the religious inherit the earth? - Eric Kaufmann]</ref>}}
__TOC__

== Irrationality of the atheism and the logic of belief in the existence of God ==

General articles:

*[http://carm.org/cut-atheism Atheism] by Matt Slick
*[http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0131a.html Putting the Atheist on the Defensive] by Kenneth R. Samples, ''Christian Research Institute Journal''
*[https://creation.com/atheism-is-more-rational Atheism is more rational?]
*[http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2012/03/21/atheists-dont-own-reason/10924 Atheists don’t own reason] by Tom Gilson
*[https://creation.com/christianity-as-progress Christianity as progress: A review of ''The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success'' by Rodney Stark]
* [http://www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth11.html Why the Burden of Proof is on the Atheist] by Professor Ralph McInerny
* [http://www.leaderu.com/truth/3truth02.html Theism, Atheism, and Rationality] by [[Alvin Plantinga]]
*''[http://www.voxday.net/mart/TIA_free.pdf The Irrational atheist]: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens by [[Vox Day]]
*[http://str.typepad.com/weblog/2008/08/naturalisms-hot.html Naturalism's Hot Water]
 
=== Atheism and the laws of logic ===

*[https://answersingenesis.org/world-religions/atheism/atheism-an-irrational-worldview/ Atheism: An irrational worldview] by Dr. Jason Lisle
*[http://carm.org/christian-worldview-atheist-worldview-and-logic The Christian Worldview, the Atheist Worldview, and Logic] by Matt Slick
*[http://answersforhope.org/portfolio_item/can-atheism-coherently-explain-the-laws-of-logic/ Can Atheism Coherently Explain the Laws of Logic?] by Answers for Hope
 
=== Transcendental argument for the existence of God ===
[[Image:Bahnsen.jpg‎|thumb|200px|Dr. [[Greg Bahnsen]] became known as "the man [[atheism|atheists]] fear most" due to [[Michael Martin]]'s [[Press release concerning Michael Martin pulling out of Martin-Bahnsen debate|cancellation]] of their scheduled debate.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=O1gPpUMzcEQC&pg=PA286&lpg=PA286&dq=%22the+man+atheists+fear+most%22+bahnsen&source=bl&ots=PyGQBd8Xrl&sig=ACfU3U1DpS53GaAc_ZfKLnfD6jrP1gozDQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQqrLRu6vgAhXIqlkKHfuaBcQQ6AEwCHoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22the%20man%20atheists%20fear%20most%22%20bahnsen&f=false Pushing the Antithesis] on Greg Bahnsen</ref>]]
''See also:'' [[Transcendental argument for the existence of God]]

*[https://www.gotquestions.org/transcendental-argument.html What is the transcendental argument for the existence of God?]
*[http://www.reformed.org/apologetics/index.html?mainframe=/apologetics/martin_TAG.html Responses to Atheist Philosopher, Michael Martin]
*[http://www.calvin.edu/academic/philosophy/virtual_library/articles/plantinga_alvin/naturalism_defeated.pdf Naturalism Defeated] A recent transcendental argument by [[Alvin Plantinga]].
*[http://thirdmill.org/files/reformedperspectives/hall_of_frame/HOF.Hale.Derrida%20and%20VanTil.6.30.04.html Derrida, Van Til and the Metaphysics of Postmodernism] An appraisal of Postmodernism, specifically Deconstruction, in light of Van Til by Jacob Gabriel Hale.
*[http://www.butler-harris.org/tag The Transcendental Argument for God's Existence] by Michael Butler.
*[http://carm.org/transcendental-argument The Transcendental Argument for the Existence of God] by Matt Slick.
 
==== Debates on the transcendental argument for the existence of God ====

* [http://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2006/12/05/greg-bahnsen-vs-gordon-stein-the-great-debate/ "The Great Debate: Does God Exist?"] or [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1hSx2evTGM The Great Debate: Does God Exist?] (YouTube video) - Dr. [[Greg Bahnsen]] versus Dr. Gordon Stein - Audio of a formal debate between Christian Greg Bahnsen and skeptic Gordon Stein at the University of California, Irvine.
* [http://www.frame-poythress.org/debate-with-michael-martin-on-the-transcendental-argument-for-the-non-existence-of-god/ The Martin-Frame Debate] A written debate between skeptic [[Michael Martin]] and Christian John Frame on the transcendental argument for the existence of God.
* [http://reformed.org/webfiles/antithesis/v2n4/ "Is Non-Christian Thought Futile?"] A written debate between Christian Doug Jones and skeptics Keith Parsons and Michael Martin in ''Antithesis'' magazine (vol. 2, no. 4).
 

[[File:4335281098 237ce959bd.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|"The heavens are telling of the glory of [[God]]. And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." (Psalm 19:1 NASB)]]

=== Existence of the universe ===

*[http://carm.org/failure-atheism-account-existence The failure of atheism to account for existence]

*[http://www.creationencounter.com/space/lawsofscience.php Can the laws of science explain the origin of the universe?]

*[https://creation.com/god-created-not-quantum-fluctuation In the beginning God created—or was it a quantum fluctuation?]

*[http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2011/03/why-is-there-something-rather-than-nothing-the-only-six-options/ Why is There Something Rather than Nothing? The Only Six Options]
 
==== Argument from contingency ====

*[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/argument-from-contingency Argument from contingency]
*[http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/2006/10/aquinas-argument-from-contingency.html Aquinas' Argument from Contingency]
 

=== Existence of consciousness ===

*[http://www.johnpiippo.com/2012/03/argument-from-consciousness-for.html The Argument from Consciousness for the Existence of God] by John Piippo
*[http://www.johnpiippo.com/2014/04/one-of-atheisms-irresolvable-problems.html Consciousness: One of Atheism's Irresolvable Problems] by John Piippo
*[http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/magazines/2014/september-october/the-enigmatic-human-brain The enigmatic human brain]
*[http://www.creationmoments.com/radio/transcripts/most-complex-structure The human brain: The most complex structure in the universe]
 
==== Mind uploading: Wishful atheist thinking ====

Mind uploading is the notion that someday mankind may be able to scan and upload their minds to mechanical storage mediums. Mind loading is not feasible. According to the [[Oxford University]] philosopher Nick Bostrum, the notion that one can upload one's mind into into mechanical storage mediums has its roots in atheistic/secular humanism and [[evolution]]ary ideologies.<ref>[http://www.nickbostrom.com/papers/history.pdf A HISTORY OF TRANSHUMANIST THOUGHT, Nick Bostrom, Faculty of Philosophy, Oxford University]</ref> The atheist, [[evolution]]ist and [[eugenics|eugenicist]] [[Julian Huxley]] coined the term transhumanism.<ref>[http://www.nickbostrom.com/papers/history.pdf A HISTORY OF TRANSHUMANIST THOUGHT, Nick Bostrom, Faculty of Philosophy, Oxford University]</ref> See: [[Atheism and transhumanism]]

'''Information on the unfeasibility of mind uploading:'''

*[http://hplusmagazine.com/2011/05/06/against-naive-uploadism-memory-consciousness-and-synaptic-homeostasis/ Against Naive Uploadism: Memory, Consciousness, and Synaptic Homeostasis], Seth Weisberg, ''H+ Magazine'', May 6, 2011
*[http://futurisms.thenewatlantis.com/2010/06/why-transhumanism-wont-work.html Why Transhumanism Won't Work], ''The New Atlantis'', June 10, 2010
*[http://neurologism.com/2013/12/11/will-we-ever-be-able-to-upload-our-minds-to-a-computer/ Will we ever be able to upload our minds to a computer?]
*[http://io9.com/you-ll-probably-never-upload-your-mind-into-a-computer-474941498 You Might Never Upload Your Brain Into a Computer] by George Dvorsky posted at 4/17/13 12:02pm at io9.com
*[https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2011/06/24/whats-the-likelihood-of-the-singularity-part-two-uploading-the-brain/ What's the Likelihood of the Singularity? Part Two: Uploading the Brain] by Alex Knapp, Forbes, 6/24/2011

 

=== C.S. Lewis's argument for reason and for the irrationality of materialism ===

*[http://creationevolutiondesign.blogspot.com/2006/09/cs-lewis-argument-from-reason.html C.S. Lewis' argument from reason]
*[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/11/cs_lewis_and_th079541.html C.S. Lewis and the Argument from Reason] by Jay W. Richards, November 25, 2013
*[http://www.acton.org/pub/religion-liberty/volume-6-number-6/cs-lewis-and-materialism C.S. Lewis and Materialism] by John G. West
*[http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=8669 C.S. Lewis On The Validity of Reasoning]
*[http://truthbomb.blogspot.com/2012/04/cs-lewis-on-rationality-and-materialism.html C.S. Lewis on Rationality and Materialism ]
*[http://fidedubitandum.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/atheism-and-the-inability-to-think/ Atheism and the Inability to Think]
*[http://www.apologetics315.com/2012/11/book-review-cs-lewiss-dangerous-idea-in.html Book Review: C.S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea: In Defense of the Argument from Reason by Victor Reppert]
 

=== Atheism and inconsistencies ===
[[File:JP Moreland.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|J.P. Moreland]]

'''Incoherence/inconsistency of naturalism:'''

4 part series by Dr. [[J.P. Moreland]]

*[http://vimeo.com/102663614 Scientific Naturalism with J.P. Moreland, part 1]
*[http://vimeo.com/103277405 Scientific Naturalism with J.P. Moreland, part 2]
*[http://vimeo.com/103865278 Scientific Naturalism with J.P. Moreland, part 3]
*[http://vimeo.com/105068126 Scientific Naturalism with J.P. Moreland, part 4]
 
Articles relating to [[postmodernism]] and non-theistic [[Buddhism]]

*[http://www.normangeisler.net/Articles/PostModernPhilosophy/ResponseToPostModernism.htm A Response to Philosophical Postmodernism]
*[http://choosinghats.org/2012/11/the-consistently-inconsistent-worldview-objection/ The Consistently Inconsistent Worldview Objection]
 

=== Logic and theism/creation ===

*[https://creation.com/loving-god-with-all-your-mind-logic-and-creation Loving God with all your mind: Logic and creation] by Jonathan D. Sarfati
*[https://creation.com/who-created-god Who created God: It's an illogical question] by Dr. Don Batten
*[https://creation.com/if-god-created-the-universe-then-who-created-god If God created the universe, then who created God?] by Jonathan D. Sarfati
*[https://creation.com/the-rules-of-the-game Rules of the game] by Dr. [[Carl Wieland]]
 
=== Common logical fallacies that atheists employ ===

*[http://pastorbrianchilton.wordpress.com/2014/07/28/33-logical-fallacies-everyone-should-know/ Fallacies everyone should know] - Pastor Chilton explains various logical fallacies and gives some examples of atheists using them

*[http://citizenfitz09.blogspot.com/2012/11/some-atheistic-logical-fallacies.html Atheistic logical fallacies]

*[http://atheism-analyzed.blogspot.com/2011/12/ten-fallacies-of-atheism.html Ten fallacies of atheism]

*[http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/look-both-ways-two-atheistic-logical-fallacies Look Both Ways: Two Atheistic Logical Fallacies]

*[[Fallacy of exclusion]]
 
=== Videos ===

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yNhiDQ9lvc Proof atheism is madness - this is hilarious!!]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvxSsYRPIWM Ex-Atheist conquers atheist experience show exposing the madness of atheism]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcR6uceEEag Atheist Matt Dillahunty proves atheism is madness]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfJCzGRWSFo Atheism is Irrational - The Crazy Atheists Compilation]

== Incoherence of atheism ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism and incoherency]]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-aIVK9CEs8 The incoherence of atheism] by [[Greg Bahnsen]]

*[http://www.cbn.com/special/apologetics/articles/Practical-impossibility-of-atheism.aspx The practical impossibility of atheism] by [[William Lane Craig]]

*[https://scottmsullivan.com/why-atheism-is-incoherent/ Why atheism is incoherent] by Dr. Scott M. Sullivan

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oznv9SSQcy8 The incoherence of atheism] by [[Ravi Zacharias]]

*[https://jamesbishopblog.com/2018/11/23/3-major-practical-inconsistencies-of-atheism/ 3 major practical inconsistencies of atheism]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxwjTcPW_78 The logical incoherency of atheist Sam Harris] by William Lane Craig

*[http://www.lawofliberty.com/articles/Resources/inconsistenciesofatheism.pdf Inconsistencies of atheism]

*[https://www.christianheadlines.com/columnists/breakpoint/the-moral-incoherence-of-atheism.html The moral incoherence of atheism]

== Brain studies of atheists ==
[[File:Cerebellum.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Brain researchers have conducted a number of studies focusing on the differences between atheists and the religious. See: [[Atheism and the brain]] ]]
''See also:'' [[Atheism and the brain]]

Brain researchers have conducted a number of studies focusing on the differences between atheists and the religious (see: [[Atheism and the brain]]).

== See also ==

*[[Atheism and reason]]
*[[Atheists and unreasonableness]]
*[[Atheism and knowledge]]
*[[Atheism and gullibility|Atheism and naiveté/gullibility]]
*[[Rebuttals to atheist arguments]]
*[[Atheism and logical fallacies]]
*[[Atheism and critical thinking]]
*[[Atheism and postmodernism]]
*[[Atheism and free will]]
*[[Atheism and truth]]
*[[Atheism and meaninglessness]]
*[[Atheism and epistemology]]
*[[Christian apologetics websites|Evidence for Christianity]]
*[[Atheist hypocrisy]]
*[[Evolution, Liberalism, Atheism, and Irrationality]]
*[[Causes of atheism]]
*[[The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."]]
*[[Conservatism and rationality]]

== Books ==

*''The Atheist's Fatal Flaw: Exposing Conflicting Beliefs'' by [[Norman Geisler]] and Daniel J. McCoy, Baker Publishing Group, June 2014
*''[https://www.amazon.com/The-Irrational-Atheist-Dissecting-Hitchens/dp/1933771364 The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, And Hitchens]'' by [[Vox Day]], March 11, 2008
*''The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success'' by Rodney Stark, September 26, 2006
*''C. S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea: In Defense of the Argument from Reason'' by Victor Reppert
*''C. S. Lewis and the Crisis of a Christian'' by Gregory S. Cootsona, September 26, 2014

== External links ==

*[http://www.leaderu.com/truth/3truth02.html Theism, Atheism, and Rationality] by Alvin Plantinga

*[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2017/jan/25/atheists-youre-not-as-rational-as-you-think-video Atheists: you're not as rational as you think] – video, ''The Guardian''

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

[[Category:Atheism]]
[[Category:Logic]]

The Atheist Experience

2020-04-25T01:38:43Z

Fire$hark: It was more similar to Sagan's dragon.

''The Atheist Experience'' is a weekly public-access [[television]] program and [[podcast]] run by the [[Atheist]] community of [[Austin]]. It is usually hosted by ex-[[baptist]] atheist activist [[Matt Dillahunty]], as well as various co-hosts. The show's hosts discuss various religious issues, and take calls from both atheist and religious, usually [[Christian]] callers, answering questions and attempt to offer advice, as well as debating on various issues, usually relating to branches of [[philosophy]] or [[theology]]. The show's hosts make clear that they are not [[scientist]]s and will therefore usually avoid debates on those scientific facts often disputed between [[atheists]] and [[theist]]s, such as details of [[cosmology]], [[geology]], or [[biology]]. Instead they will often direct callers to contact experts in the field in question.

The show is broadcast on Sundays from 4:30 to 5:30 Central US time.<ref>http://www.atheist-experience.com/</ref>

==Hosts== 

[[Matt Dillahunty]]
[[Russell Glasser]]
[[Don Baker]]
[[Jeff Dee]]
[[Tracie Harris]]
[[Jen Peeples]]
[[Martin Wagner]]
<ref>http://www.atheist-experience.com/</ref>

==Philosophical Views==
On the show, [[Matt Dillahunty]] has repeatedly defined atheism as "a rejection of the premise that a [[God]] or [[Polytheism|Gods]] exist". He says that this does not mean that he accepts the premise that [[antitheism|no God or Gods exist]]. Dillahunty identifies himself as an [[agnostic]] [[atheist]], saying that he does not believe that the truth of what he calls "God claims" can be known.

Multiple hosts have also made statements to the effect that most people are atheists about most of the gods that have ever existed, and that "some of us just take things one God further"

In Matt's own words:
''I was raised in a loving, Southern Baptist home and was a fundamentalist Christian for over 20 years. After 8 years in the Navy and several years in the hi-tech game, I set out to re-affirm my faith with designs on attending seminary and continuing with a life in the ministry. What began as an attempt to bolster my faith became a continuing investigation into more topics than I ever suspected I'd enjoy.

After the first couple of years, reason forced me to acknowledge that my faith had not only been weakened by my studies - it had been utterly destroyed. The thoughts, writings and wisdom of people like; Robert Ingersoll, Voltaire, Dan Barker, Richard Dawkins, Farrell Till and many others, helped free my mind from the shackles of religion without a single moment of despair. I continue to study philosophy, religion, science, history and the many other topics which have helped me to understand reality and enjoy my life.

Having spent the majority of my life compartmentalizing my religious beliefs to keep them safe from skepticism, it's thrilling to leave the critical, investigative, hungry portion of my brain turned "on". While my own pursuit of knowledge is a powerful driving force in my life, I'd also like to prevent others from wasting another day on irrational beliefs. Education is the key ...and if my work manages to educate even one person, I'm satisfied.''<ref>http://www.atheist-experience.com/people/matt_dillahunty/</ref>''

== Memorable Moments== 

<big>'''Unicorn In A Box Analogy'''</big> 

On 11/07/10, a caller presented the famous (see: [[shockofgod]]) "What Proof And Evidence Do You Have Atheism Is Accurate And Correct?":
[[Matt Dillahunty]] replied "Didn't I explain this in the email?" and went onto to say it was a nonsensical question and used an analogy to explain his position and show how some atheists view claims about theism, effectively providing a similar example to [[Sagan's Dragon]], but using a different analogy:

<blockquote>
''I don't know how else i can explain this...but lets imagine that i have this box here [symbolizes a box with his hands] and Don ([[Don Baker]]) claims that there is a unicorn in this box and I say I don't believe him. I don't need any proof or evidence that my position is true. my position is validated by the fact because he hasn't presented any evidence for his claim. And when I open the box and look inside and don't see this then he tells me it's an invisible unicorn and i mention it wouldn't fit in this box and he says "no it's an invisible miniature unicorn." well i don't feel it. Well it's also intangible. Oh well how do you know it's there? Well because it speaks to me. Okay that's all nonsense He's made a claim and he has failed to provide rational evidence for it. My disbelief is justified by that.''
</blockquote><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1uGKU2DKQQ</ref>

<big>'''The Resurrection'''</big>

On 7/22/12, Micah, a Christian in Charlotte, after a bit of setup asked Matt and his co-host Traci Harris <blockquote>
"Would you agree that..i'm not saying there is evidence Jesus rose from the dead if Jesus did--if Jesus was dead for three days and he rose from the dead would you agree that would be a supernatural event? That it's not something that we see in the natural world so therefore it's not science?
</blockquote>

Matt's answer was
<blockquote>
"I don't know. That's not enough details. One of the things is that death isn't extremely well defined we pull people back from the brink of death so i can't say for sure it would be supernatural i can say it would be certainly be extraordinary and would seem to be supernatural."
</blockquote>

The caller modified his question a bit to further clarify his point. Matt continued: <blockquote>
"the fact something hasn't previously been observed doesn't mean it's necessarily unnatural what i said when i answered your question is i don't know what i'd would consider it there's not enough information but i am willing to grant is that sort of thing might be perceived as supernatural and could in fact be!"
</blockquote><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4R0Kz-aQug</ref>

==Notable Guests==

*[[YouTube atheism]]
*[[Aron Ra]]
*Teresa McBain of The Clergy Project
*[[Ray Comfort]]

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.atheist-experience.com/archive/?full=1#table Episode Archive]
* [http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-atheist-experience Show live stream page]

[[Category:Television]]
[[Category:Atheism]]

Quora

2020-04-16T17:03:54Z

Fire$hark: Corrected grammar.

'''Quora''' is a question-and-answer website. The website's community of users create, edit and organize its content. Quora was founded in June 2009.

While being different from Wikipedia, Quora also has its problems. Because members can upvote or downvote one or several answers, it is not uncommon for an answer containing useful informations to get negative votes and a completely useless one being highlighted on the question's page. Even if it does not happen on all pages, serious and well-written answers to questions on topics such as religion, faith, science or God, often get negative votes. Especially if they differ from a scientific consensus, mainstream media claims or if people have something against the topic.

For example, a serious answer to a question about the existence of God can receive a large number of negative votes if the question is viewed more by close-minded unbelievers than open-minded people. In such case low-quality answers will be displayed above better ones. Also, an useless answer can get so many positive votes that it will be displayed right under the question, a place where only good answers should be seen.

== External links ==

* [http://www.quora.com/ Quora website]

[[Category:Websites]]

Freedom From Religion Foundation

2020-03-19T15:12:03Z

Fire$hark: The Amendment says "Congress shall make no law", not "The State shall make no law".

[[File:Annie Laurie Gaylor.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|[[Annie Laurie Gaylor]] is an [[Atheist feminism|atheist feminist]]. She is co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
 
 
Gaylor’s husband, [[Dan Barker]], who heads the organization along with her, is usually the person invited to speaking engagements, despite her longer tenure as the organization’s leader and her many books on atheism.<ref>Bekiempis, Victoria (Summer 2011). [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/26/new-atheism-boys-club "Why the New Atheism is a boys' club"]. Bitch Magazine, no. 51. Retrieved from September 26, 2011 edition of The Guardian/CommentaryIsFree.</ref> See also: [[Atheism and sexism]] ]]
The '''Freedom From Religion Foundation''' (FFRF) is an [[American]] [[atheist]]/[[humanist]] organization in Madison, [[Wisconsin]]. The FFRF was co-founded in 1976 by Anne Nicol Gaylor and her daughter, [[Annie Laurie Gaylor]]. It was incorporated nationally on April 15, 1978.

Its purposes are to [[censor]] or prevent:<ref>http://ffrf.org/purposes/</ref>

*"Prayers in public schools"

*"payment of public funds for religious purposes"

*"government funding of pervasively sectarian institutions"

*"the ongoing campaign against civil rights for women, gays and lesbians led by churches"

It describes its agenda has promoting "freethought", when in practice it amounts to [[censorship]] of religious truths.

The Foundation publishes a [[newspaper]] called ''Freethought Today'', broadcasts Freethought Radio (also carried on [[Air America]]), engages in litigation (it has lost nearly double the number of cases it has won) and sponsors and hosts other activities to educate the public about atheism, humanism, and "freethought." The Foundation often demands that taxpayers pay its own legal fees in its lawsuits against governmental entities.

== Leadership ==

The [[atheism|atheist]] [[Dan Barker]] and his wife [[Annie Laurie Gaylor]] serve as co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

=== Gaynor's complaint about speaking engagement invitations ===

''See also:'' [[Atheism and sexism]]

Writing on the [[sexism]] within the atheist community, atheist Victoria Bekiempis wrote in a ''Guardian'' article entitled ''Why the [[New Atheism]] is a boys' club'':
{{cquote|Annie Laurie Gaylor, who founded the Freedom From Religion Foundation with her mother, Anne Nicol Gaylor, in 1978, sums it up succinctly: “One word — sexism.” Gaylor’s husband, Dan Barker, who helms the organization along with her, is usually the one invited to speaking engagements, despite her longer tenure as the organization’s leader and her numerous books on atheism.<ref>Bekiempis, Victoria (Summer 2011). [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/26/new-atheism-boys-club "Why the New Atheism is a boys' club"]. Bitch Magazine, no. 51. Retrieved from September 26, 2011 edition of The Guardian/CommentaryIsFree.</ref>}}

== Failure to meet the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance standards ==

See also: [[Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance review of the Freedom From Religion Foundation]] and [[Atheist organizations and scandals]] and [[Atheism and leadership]]

According to the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance's website, the Freedom From Religion Foundation fails to meet the Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance's standards as of May 4, 2018.<ref>[http://www.give.org/charity-reviews/national/law-and-public-interest/freedom-from-religion-foundation-in-madison-wi-18414 CHARITY REVIEWIssued: June 2016 Expires: September 2018 Freedom from Religion Foundation]</ref>

The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance's website indicated on May 4, 2018:
{{Cquote|Freedom from Religion Foundation does not meet the following 2 Standards for Charity Accountability:

Standard 1 (Oversight of Operations and Staff)
Organizations shall have a board of directors that provides adequate oversight of the charity's operations and its staff. Indication of adequate oversight includes, but is not limited to, regularly scheduled appraisals of the CEO's performance, evidence of disbursement controls such as board approval of the budget, fund raising practices, establishment of a conflict of interest policy, and establishment of accounting procedures sufficient to safeguard charity finances.

FFRF does not meet this Standard because its board of directors does not:

Review the performance of the chief executive officer at least once every two years.

Standard 7 (Board Approval of Written Report on Effectiveness)
Submit to the organization's governing body, for its approval, a written report that outlines the results of the aforementioned performance and effectiveness assessment and recommendations for future actions.

FFRF does not meet this Standard because:

Although it has produced a written effectiveness assessment report in October 2015, the report did not include recommendations for future actions.<ref>[http://www.give.org/charity-reviews/national/law-and-public-interest/freedom-from-religion-foundation-in-madison-wi-18414 CHARITY REVIEWIssued: June 2016 Expires: September 2018 Freedom from Religion Foundation]</ref>}}

==The name of the Foundation==
The Constitution guarantees us rights to free exercise, such as free speech, freedom of religion, and the right to bear arms. The name of the Foundation, "Freedom ''From'' Religion Foundation," does not reflect a Constitutional right. For example, no one has freedom ''from'' speech; likewise, the idea of freedom ''from'' religion is fallacious.

== Freedom From Religion Foundation and the War on Christmas ==

''See also:'' [[Atheist lawsuits]]

[[File:Atheist Dan Barker.jpg|thumbnail|left|175px|Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, says his group is opposed to the nativity scenes and other Christian symbols that appear on public spaces during the holiday season.<ref>[https://thehornnews.com/you-wont-believe-this-atheist-attack-on-christmas/ You won’t believe this atheist attack on Christmas], The Horn News]</ref> ]]
The [[War on Christmas]] refers specifically to the controversy surrounding the celebration or acknowledgment of the [[Christmas]] [[holiday]] in government, media, advertising and other [[atheist|secular]] environments.

''The Telegraph'' reported about the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the War on Christmas:
{{cquote|Across the United States, many of the FFRF’s 23,000 members have mobilised to ban Jesus from classroom plays, silence school choirs and take down nativity scenes.

At this time of year, Mr Barker said, his office is transformed into a war room: "It really ramps up. Our legal staff get ready, writing template letters for each state and district, ready to deploy them at any moment."<ref>[American atheists go to war against Christmas], The Tegraph</ref>}}

The ''Horn News'' reported:
{{cquote|For the seventh year in a row, the anti-religion activists at the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) have erected an outrageous sign outside the Illinois state house denouncing Christmas and Christianity.

[[Dan Barker]], FFRF co-president, said his group is opposed to the nativity scenes and other Christian symbols that appear on public spaces during the holiday season. So the atheist organization wants equal space to spread its anti-religion rhetoric during the Christmas season.

The Illinois state house grounds now feature an offensive red and green sign that reads, “At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

And the FFRF is not stopping at Illinois.

FFRF has announced plans to erect similar signs at the Texas and Florida state houses.

This isn’t the only attack to remove Christmas from the public view, either. Already this month the anti-religion organization put up a “Reasons Greetings” (an attack on the term Season’s Greetings) display at the Warren, Michigan city hall.
The organization also recently announced a lawsuit that has banned the Concord Community Schools in Indiana from performing their traditional live nativity scene at the school’s 2015 Christmas Spectacular holiday concert.<ref>[https://thehornnews.com/you-wont-believe-this-atheist-attack-on-christmas/ You won’t believe this atheist attack on Christmas], The Horn News]</ref>}}
=== Atheist lawsuits, manger scenes and public relations ===

See: [[Atheist lawsuits and public relations]]

==Misleading information on website==

The "Our Purposes" page on the Freedom From Religion Foundation website <ref>http://ffrf.org/purposes/</ref> contains several incorrect or misleading statements. The statements, along with rebuttals, follow.

"The history of Western civilization shows us that most social and moral progress has been brought about by persons free from religion."

*Actually, Western civilization is built upon the Judeo-Christian ethic and the accomplishments of ancient Greece and Rome. The great Greek philosophers ([[Socrates]], [[Plato]], and [[Aristotle]]) all believed in the existence of a supreme being, even Aristotle, who was a [[deist]]. Social and moral accomplishments have actually been made almost solely by religious people. The great scientists [[Galileo]], [[Kepler]], [[Isaac Newton|Newton]], and [[Louis Pasteur|Pasteur]], were all devout Christians. The great artists such as Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and other Renaissance artists were motivated by Christianity. It was the Christian monasteries which preserved the ancient learning, and Christian orders such as the Jesuits which served as educators. The founders of America, especially [[George Washington]], were either deist or Christian.

"In modern times the first to speak out for prison reform, for humane treatment of the mentally ill, for abolition of capital punishment, for women's right to vote, for '''death with dignity for the terminally ill''', and for the right to choose '''contraception, sterilization and abortion''' have been freethinkers, just as they were the first to call for an end to slavery."

*The bolded "accomplishments" are not accomplishments at all. In America, abolitionists and early feminists were largely Christian. The early feminists such as [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]] and Susan B. Anthony were pro-life. In Britain, the anti-slavery activists were mostly deist or Christian.

There is a reference to the religious right "...attacking our secular public schools."

*The public schools were not secular until 1963, when not the people but the Supreme Court banned school prayer. Since then, education quality has suffered, and fewer notable people have used the public school system.

"Our Constitution was very purposefully written to be a godless document, whose only references to religion are exclusionary."

*America was built upon the [[Mayflower Compact]] which began with the words "In the name of God, Amen," and the [[Declaration of Independence]], which acknowledges [[God]] as the source of rights and freedom. The Constitution is not "godless" but secular, and its major reference to religion is to say that Congress shall not ''interfere'' with religious practice. The only other reference to religion is one that states that the President shall not be held to a religious test. This means freedom ''of'' religion.

"It [The Constitution] is vital to buttress the Jeffersonian "wall of separation between church and state" which has served our nation so well."

*The "Jeffersonian 'wall of separation between church and state'" is not in the US Constitution at all! In fact, it was written in a letter by Jefferson ''over ten years after the First Amendment was ratified'', and furthermore, Jefferson was the least religious of all the early Presidents. Jefferson himself played no role in the formation of the Constitution. A better guiding principle is that expressed in George Washington's Farewell Address: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports."
**Furthermore, twelve amendments have been added to the constitution before the time of Jefferson's death, with [[James Madison]] writing the first ten and Jefferson himself writing none of them. Furthermore, the organization that makes the claim that the Constitution is vital isn't actually upholding the Constitution.

==Wisconsin and Washington State Capitol signs==
[[Image:SigninCapitol.png|right|thumb|200px]]
In the mid-1990s, the Foundation began displaying a sign at the Wisconsin State Capitol during the Christmas season. It reads:

{{cquote|At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail.

There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.

There is only our natural world.

Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.}}

In fact, the great figures of history have been religious, and charitable giving by theists is significantly higher than giving by atheists, even when church giving is excluded.<ref>http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/102-atheists-and-agnostics-take-aim-at-christians</ref><ref>http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/102-atheists-and-agnostics-take-aim-at-christians</ref>

In response to the display of a nativity scene at the Washington State Capitol, the Foundation placed an identical sign there as well.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,461424,00.html</ref>

==Billboard and bus sign campaigns==
In many cities across the nation, the FFRF has sponsored the display of "thought-provoking,"<ref>http://www.ffrf.org/news/2009/sleep_madison.php</ref> anti-Christian billboards. Some of the slogans on these billboards include:

*"Beware of Dogma"<ref>http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2009/jan/10/atheist-organization-lands-billboard-nlr-20090110/</ref>
*"Imagine No Religion"<ref>http://www.oregonlive.com/living/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/living/123199170457020.xml&coll=7</ref>
*"Praise Darwin. Evolve Beyond Belief."<ref>http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/435401</ref>
*"Don't believe in God? You are not alone."<ref>http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A63903</ref>
*"Sleep in on Sundays."

In late 2008, the FFRF began sponsoring the display of anti-Christian signs on and in Madison, Wisconsin, buses. These signs included quotations from famous atheists like Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain and Richard Dawkins.<ref>http://badgerherald.com/news/2009/02/25/new_anti-religion_ad.php</ref> This sign campaign was inspired by a similar campaign begun in Europe.

A church in Monroe, Wisconsin, responded by sponsoring its own signs, which read (from Psalms 14:1): "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."<ref>http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/41142042.html</ref> The Foundation refers to this psalm quotation as a "biblical insult to atheists",<ref>http://www.ffrf.org/news/2009/sleep_madison.php</ref> yet their slogans, especially "Praise Darwin: Evolve Beyond Belief," contain implicit insults.

== "Atheists in foxholes" monument ==

''See also:'' [[Atheists in foxholes monument]] and [[There Are No Atheists In Foxholes]] and [[Endurance of the saying "There are no atheists in foxholes"]]

The Freedom From Religion Foundation declares on their website:
{{Cquote|The Freedom From Religion Foundation erected its monument to “Atheists in Foxholes” in 1999 at Lake Hypatia, Alabama. FFRF dedicated its second monument at the Rose Zerwick Memorial Garden and Courtyard adjoining Freethought Hall's new entrance.

The monument is dedicated to the many members of the military who were “atheists in foxholes,” as well as to all [[freethinker]]s (atheists, agnostics, and skeptics of any persuasion) who serve in the U.S. military.<ref>[https://ffrf.org/outreach/atheists-in-foxholes ATHEISTS IN FOXHOLES], Freedom From Religion Foundation website</ref>}}
== Dan Barker: Google trends data from 2004 to 2020 ==

''See also:'' [[Internet atheism]] and [[Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms]]

[[File:Dan Barker Google trends 2004 to 2020 (1).png|800px|thumbnail|center|According to Google Trends from 2004 to 2020 there has been a significant decline in web searches for the term "Dan Barker" in the United States.]]
{{Clear}}
== Annie Laurie Gaylor: Google trends data from 2004 to 2020 ==

''See also:'' [[Internet atheism]] and [[Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms]]

[[File:Annie Laurie Gaylor Google trends 2004 to 2020.png|800px|thumbnail|center|According to Google Trends from 2004 to 2020 there has been a significant decline in web searches for the term "Annie Laurie Gaylor" in the United States.]]
{{Clear}}
== Dan Barker Google Trends data contrasted with Annie Laurie Gaylor Google Trends data ==

[[File:Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor Google trends jan 2019.png|800px|thumbnail|center|According to Google Trends, there are considerably more Google searches for Dan Barker than Annie Laurie Gaylor. In addition, according to Google Trends from January 2004 to January 2020, there was a considerable decline of search volume for Dan Barker than Annie Laurie Gaylor.]]

== See also ==

*[[Atheist organizations]]

*[[Atheist organizations and scandals]]

== External links ==

*[https://examiningatheism.blogspot.com/2020/01/freedom-from-atheism-foundation-and-its.html Freedom From Atheism Foundation and its supporters are victorious over the Freedom From Religion Foundation]

==References==
<References/>
[[Category:Atheist Organizations]]
[[Category:Organizations]][[Category:Atheism]]

Freedom From Religion Foundation

2020-03-19T15:10:23Z

Fire$hark: Added info on James Madison.

[[File:Annie Laurie Gaylor.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|[[Annie Laurie Gaylor]] is an [[Atheist feminism|atheist feminist]]. She is co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
 
 
Gaylor’s husband, [[Dan Barker]], who heads the organization along with her, is usually the person invited to speaking engagements, despite her longer tenure as the organization’s leader and her many books on atheism.<ref>Bekiempis, Victoria (Summer 2011). [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/26/new-atheism-boys-club "Why the New Atheism is a boys' club"]. Bitch Magazine, no. 51. Retrieved from September 26, 2011 edition of The Guardian/CommentaryIsFree.</ref> See also: [[Atheism and sexism]] ]]
The '''Freedom From Religion Foundation''' (FFRF) is an [[American]] [[atheist]]/[[humanist]] organization in Madison, [[Wisconsin]]. The FFRF was co-founded in 1976 by Anne Nicol Gaylor and her daughter, [[Annie Laurie Gaylor]]. It was incorporated nationally on April 15, 1978.

Its purposes are to [[censor]] or prevent:<ref>http://ffrf.org/purposes/</ref>

*"Prayers in public schools"

*"payment of public funds for religious purposes"

*"government funding of pervasively sectarian institutions"

*"the ongoing campaign against civil rights for women, gays and lesbians led by churches"

It describes its agenda has promoting "freethought", when in practice it amounts to [[censorship]] of religious truths.

The Foundation publishes a [[newspaper]] called ''Freethought Today'', broadcasts Freethought Radio (also carried on [[Air America]]), engages in litigation (it has lost nearly double the number of cases it has won) and sponsors and hosts other activities to educate the public about atheism, humanism, and "freethought." The Foundation often demands that taxpayers pay its own legal fees in its lawsuits against governmental entities.

== Leadership ==

The [[atheism|atheist]] [[Dan Barker]] and his wife [[Annie Laurie Gaylor]] serve as co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

=== Gaynor's complaint about speaking engagement invitations ===

''See also:'' [[Atheism and sexism]]

Writing on the [[sexism]] within the atheist community, atheist Victoria Bekiempis wrote in a ''Guardian'' article entitled ''Why the [[New Atheism]] is a boys' club'':
{{cquote|Annie Laurie Gaylor, who founded the Freedom From Religion Foundation with her mother, Anne Nicol Gaylor, in 1978, sums it up succinctly: “One word — sexism.” Gaylor’s husband, Dan Barker, who helms the organization along with her, is usually the one invited to speaking engagements, despite her longer tenure as the organization’s leader and her numerous books on atheism.<ref>Bekiempis, Victoria (Summer 2011). [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/26/new-atheism-boys-club "Why the New Atheism is a boys' club"]. Bitch Magazine, no. 51. Retrieved from September 26, 2011 edition of The Guardian/CommentaryIsFree.</ref>}}

== Failure to meet the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance standards ==

See also: [[Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance review of the Freedom From Religion Foundation]] and [[Atheist organizations and scandals]] and [[Atheism and leadership]]

According to the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance's website, the Freedom From Religion Foundation fails to meet the Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance's standards as of May 4, 2018.<ref>[http://www.give.org/charity-reviews/national/law-and-public-interest/freedom-from-religion-foundation-in-madison-wi-18414 CHARITY REVIEWIssued: June 2016 Expires: September 2018 Freedom from Religion Foundation]</ref>

The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance's website indicated on May 4, 2018:
{{Cquote|Freedom from Religion Foundation does not meet the following 2 Standards for Charity Accountability:

Standard 1 (Oversight of Operations and Staff)
Organizations shall have a board of directors that provides adequate oversight of the charity's operations and its staff. Indication of adequate oversight includes, but is not limited to, regularly scheduled appraisals of the CEO's performance, evidence of disbursement controls such as board approval of the budget, fund raising practices, establishment of a conflict of interest policy, and establishment of accounting procedures sufficient to safeguard charity finances.

FFRF does not meet this Standard because its board of directors does not:

Review the performance of the chief executive officer at least once every two years.

Standard 7 (Board Approval of Written Report on Effectiveness)
Submit to the organization's governing body, for its approval, a written report that outlines the results of the aforementioned performance and effectiveness assessment and recommendations for future actions.

FFRF does not meet this Standard because:

Although it has produced a written effectiveness assessment report in October 2015, the report did not include recommendations for future actions.<ref>[http://www.give.org/charity-reviews/national/law-and-public-interest/freedom-from-religion-foundation-in-madison-wi-18414 CHARITY REVIEWIssued: June 2016 Expires: September 2018 Freedom from Religion Foundation]</ref>}}

==The name of the Foundation==
The Constitution guarantees us rights to free exercise, such as free speech, freedom of religion, and the right to bear arms. The name of the Foundation, "Freedom ''From'' Religion Foundation," does not reflect a Constitutional right. For example, no one has freedom ''from'' speech; likewise, the idea of freedom ''from'' religion is fallacious.

== Freedom From Religion Foundation and the War on Christmas ==

''See also:'' [[Atheist lawsuits]]

[[File:Atheist Dan Barker.jpg|thumbnail|left|175px|Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, says his group is opposed to the nativity scenes and other Christian symbols that appear on public spaces during the holiday season.<ref>[https://thehornnews.com/you-wont-believe-this-atheist-attack-on-christmas/ You won’t believe this atheist attack on Christmas], The Horn News]</ref> ]]
The [[War on Christmas]] refers specifically to the controversy surrounding the celebration or acknowledgment of the [[Christmas]] [[holiday]] in government, media, advertising and other [[atheist|secular]] environments.

''The Telegraph'' reported about the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the War on Christmas:
{{cquote|Across the United States, many of the FFRF’s 23,000 members have mobilised to ban Jesus from classroom plays, silence school choirs and take down nativity scenes.

At this time of year, Mr Barker said, his office is transformed into a war room: "It really ramps up. Our legal staff get ready, writing template letters for each state and district, ready to deploy them at any moment."<ref>[American atheists go to war against Christmas], The Tegraph</ref>}}

The ''Horn News'' reported:
{{cquote|For the seventh year in a row, the anti-religion activists at the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) have erected an outrageous sign outside the Illinois state house denouncing Christmas and Christianity.

[[Dan Barker]], FFRF co-president, said his group is opposed to the nativity scenes and other Christian symbols that appear on public spaces during the holiday season. So the atheist organization wants equal space to spread its anti-religion rhetoric during the Christmas season.

The Illinois state house grounds now feature an offensive red and green sign that reads, “At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

And the FFRF is not stopping at Illinois.

FFRF has announced plans to erect similar signs at the Texas and Florida state houses.

This isn’t the only attack to remove Christmas from the public view, either. Already this month the anti-religion organization put up a “Reasons Greetings” (an attack on the term Season’s Greetings) display at the Warren, Michigan city hall.
The organization also recently announced a lawsuit that has banned the Concord Community Schools in Indiana from performing their traditional live nativity scene at the school’s 2015 Christmas Spectacular holiday concert.<ref>[https://thehornnews.com/you-wont-believe-this-atheist-attack-on-christmas/ You won’t believe this atheist attack on Christmas], The Horn News]</ref>}}
=== Atheist lawsuits, manger scenes and public relations ===

See: [[Atheist lawsuits and public relations]]

==Misleading information on website==

The "Our Purposes" page on the Freedom From Religion Foundation website <ref>http://ffrf.org/purposes/</ref> contains several incorrect or misleading statements. The statements, along with rebuttals, follow.

"The history of Western civilization shows us that most social and moral progress has been brought about by persons free from religion."

*Actually, Western civilization is built upon the Judeo-Christian ethic and the accomplishments of ancient Greece and Rome. The great Greek philosophers ([[Socrates]], [[Plato]], and [[Aristotle]]) all believed in the existence of a supreme being, even Aristotle, who was a [[deist]]. Social and moral accomplishments have actually been made almost solely by religious people. The great scientists [[Galileo]], [[Kepler]], [[Isaac Newton|Newton]], and [[Louis Pasteur|Pasteur]], were all devout Christians. The great artists such as Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and other Renaissance artists were motivated by Christianity. It was the Christian monasteries which preserved the ancient learning, and Christian orders such as the Jesuits which served as educators. The founders of America, especially [[George Washington]], were either deist or Christian.

"In modern times the first to speak out for prison reform, for humane treatment of the mentally ill, for abolition of capital punishment, for women's right to vote, for '''death with dignity for the terminally ill''', and for the right to choose '''contraception, sterilization and abortion''' have been freethinkers, just as they were the first to call for an end to slavery."

*The bolded "accomplishments" are not accomplishments at all. In America, abolitionists and early feminists were largely Christian. The early feminists such as [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]] and Susan B. Anthony were pro-life. In Britain, the anti-slavery activists were mostly deist or Christian.

There is a reference to the religious right "...attacking our secular public schools."

*The public schools were not secular until 1963, when not the people but the Supreme Court banned school prayer. Since then, education quality has suffered, and fewer notable people have used the public school system.

"Our Constitution was very purposefully written to be a godless document, whose only references to religion are exclusionary."

*America was built upon the [[Mayflower Compact]] which began with the words "In the name of God, Amen," and the [[Declaration of Independence]], which acknowledges [[God]] as the source of rights and freedom. The Constitution is not "godless" but secular, and its major reference to religion is to say that the state shall not ''interfere'' with religious practice. The only other reference to religion is one that states that the President shall not be held to a religious test. This means freedom ''of'' religion.

"It [The Constitution] is vital to buttress the Jeffersonian "wall of separation between church and state" which has served our nation so well."

*The "Jeffersonian 'wall of separation between church and state'" is not in the US Constitution at all! In fact, it was written in a letter by Jefferson ''over ten years after the First Amendment was ratified'', and furthermore, Jefferson was the least religious of all the early Presidents. Jefferson himself played no role in the formation of the Constitution. A better guiding principle is that expressed in George Washington's Farewell Address: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports."
**Furthermore, twelve amendments have been added to the constitution before the time of Jefferson's death, with [[James Madison]] writing the first ten and Jefferson himself writing none of them. Furthermore, the organization that makes the claim that the Constitution is vital isn't actually upholding the Constitution.

==Wisconsin and Washington State Capitol signs==
[[Image:SigninCapitol.png|right|thumb|200px]]
In the mid-1990s, the Foundation began displaying a sign at the Wisconsin State Capitol during the Christmas season. It reads:

{{cquote|At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail.

There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.

There is only our natural world.

Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.}}

In fact, the great figures of history have been religious, and charitable giving by theists is significantly higher than giving by atheists, even when church giving is excluded.<ref>http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/102-atheists-and-agnostics-take-aim-at-christians</ref><ref>http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/102-atheists-and-agnostics-take-aim-at-christians</ref>

In response to the display of a nativity scene at the Washington State Capitol, the Foundation placed an identical sign there as well.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,461424,00.html</ref>

==Billboard and bus sign campaigns==
In many cities across the nation, the FFRF has sponsored the display of "thought-provoking,"<ref>http://www.ffrf.org/news/2009/sleep_madison.php</ref> anti-Christian billboards. Some of the slogans on these billboards include:

*"Beware of Dogma"<ref>http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2009/jan/10/atheist-organization-lands-billboard-nlr-20090110/</ref>
*"Imagine No Religion"<ref>http://www.oregonlive.com/living/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/living/123199170457020.xml&coll=7</ref>
*"Praise Darwin. Evolve Beyond Belief."<ref>http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/435401</ref>
*"Don't believe in God? You are not alone."<ref>http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A63903</ref>
*"Sleep in on Sundays."

In late 2008, the FFRF began sponsoring the display of anti-Christian signs on and in Madison, Wisconsin, buses. These signs included quotations from famous atheists like Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain and Richard Dawkins.<ref>http://badgerherald.com/news/2009/02/25/new_anti-religion_ad.php</ref> This sign campaign was inspired by a similar campaign begun in Europe.

A church in Monroe, Wisconsin, responded by sponsoring its own signs, which read (from Psalms 14:1): "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."<ref>http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/41142042.html</ref> The Foundation refers to this psalm quotation as a "biblical insult to atheists",<ref>http://www.ffrf.org/news/2009/sleep_madison.php</ref> yet their slogans, especially "Praise Darwin: Evolve Beyond Belief," contain implicit insults.

== "Atheists in foxholes" monument ==

''See also:'' [[Atheists in foxholes monument]] and [[There Are No Atheists In Foxholes]] and [[Endurance of the saying "There are no atheists in foxholes"]]

The Freedom From Religion Foundation declares on their website:
{{Cquote|The Freedom From Religion Foundation erected its monument to “Atheists in Foxholes” in 1999 at Lake Hypatia, Alabama. FFRF dedicated its second monument at the Rose Zerwick Memorial Garden and Courtyard adjoining Freethought Hall's new entrance.

The monument is dedicated to the many members of the military who were “atheists in foxholes,” as well as to all [[freethinker]]s (atheists, agnostics, and skeptics of any persuasion) who serve in the U.S. military.<ref>[https://ffrf.org/outreach/atheists-in-foxholes ATHEISTS IN FOXHOLES], Freedom From Religion Foundation website</ref>}}
== Dan Barker: Google trends data from 2004 to 2020 ==

''See also:'' [[Internet atheism]] and [[Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms]]

[[File:Dan Barker Google trends 2004 to 2020 (1).png|800px|thumbnail|center|According to Google Trends from 2004 to 2020 there has been a significant decline in web searches for the term "Dan Barker" in the United States.]]
{{Clear}}
== Annie Laurie Gaylor: Google trends data from 2004 to 2020 ==

''See also:'' [[Internet atheism]] and [[Google trends - Atheism and agnosticism terms]]

[[File:Annie Laurie Gaylor Google trends 2004 to 2020.png|800px|thumbnail|center|According to Google Trends from 2004 to 2020 there has been a significant decline in web searches for the term "Annie Laurie Gaylor" in the United States.]]
{{Clear}}
== Dan Barker Google Trends data contrasted with Annie Laurie Gaylor Google Trends data ==

[[File:Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor Google trends jan 2019.png|800px|thumbnail|center|According to Google Trends, there are considerably more Google searches for Dan Barker than Annie Laurie Gaylor. In addition, according to Google Trends from January 2004 to January 2020, there was a considerable decline of search volume for Dan Barker than Annie Laurie Gaylor.]]

== See also ==

*[[Atheist organizations]]

*[[Atheist organizations and scandals]]

== External links ==

*[https://examiningatheism.blogspot.com/2020/01/freedom-from-atheism-foundation-and-its.html Freedom From Atheism Foundation and its supporters are victorious over the Freedom From Religion Foundation]

==References==
<References/>
[[Category:Atheist Organizations]]
[[Category:Organizations]][[Category:Atheism]]

England

2020-03-02T01:18:51Z

Fire$hark: Added one sentence.

[[Image:England.gif|right|thumb|300px|England (highlighted in light green), showing the boundaries of the ceremonial counties.]]
'''England''' is a constituent country of the [[United Kingdom]] located on the island of [[Great Britain]] in the north-west of [[Europe]].
It is home of the [[English]] language currently spoken by perhaps a billion people worldwide, and was the seat of an empire that spanned the globe.
England is the largest of the UK's constituent countries, both in terms of area and population. It is also home to the UK's capital and [[parliament]], making this area politically and economically important to the UK as a whole. This may be part of the reason as to why the entirety of the United Kingdom is erroneously referred to as just England.

== History ==

Prior to the Romans, the [[Celts]] largely inhabited what would become England. From 43 AD, the [[Roman]]s invaded [[Britain]] and took control of the southern half of the islands, where they founded the fort of [[Londinium]], which later became [[London]].

[[File:England900.jpg|thumb|280px|England and its neighbours about 900 AD]]
As the [[Roman Empire]] abandoned Britain in AD410, nearby [[Germanic]] tribes, specifically the [[Angles]], [[Saxons]] and [[Jutes]], began to settle over the majority of the island. Kingdoms formed, such as Northumbria (Anglian) in the north east, Wessex (named after the West Saxons) in the south west and Kent (probably settled by Jutes, and now the name of a county) in the south east. The home nations of [[Wales]] and [[Scotland]], and the South West England county of Cornwall continued to be independent Celtic nations for some time after this. The Germanic invaders were still [[pagan]]s when they conquered part of Britain (e.g. [[Penda]] of Mercia was (allegedly) the last pagan King). The English peoples were converted to [[Christianity]], however, in the 7th Century AD. This happened from two directions: the mission of [[St. Augustine]], emissary of Gregory the Great came initially to Kent, while the (successful) mission to the Northumbrian Angles (and from there to peoples further south) was from the [[Celtic Church]] based in northern British monasteries such as [[Iona]] and [[Lindisfarne]]. The entire [[British Isles]] later came under the sway of [[Roman Catholicism]] as the powerful Northumbrian King, Oswy, chose in favour of Roman practice in AD 664 ('Synod of Whitby').
[[Image:London England.jpg|right|300px]]
Later, in 1066 AD, the [[Normans|Norman]] French Duke [[William the Conqueror]] defeated the last [[Anglo-Saxon]] King, [[Harold Godwinson]]. William established himself as king of England, and the Monarchy continued until the crowning of Stephen of Blois. However, Empress Matilda, with aid of relations and riots going around England caused the signing of the Treaty of Wallingford, where King Henry II became heir of England. The House of Plantagenet (the royal family at the time), dynastically inherited a number of French duchies and lands, including Normandy, Aquitaine, Anjou and Gascony. This became known as the Angevin Empire.

Amongst the privileged elite [[French]] language and customs became a part of English culture, however for the most part the common population continued to use their own language and customs. William retained significant territories on mainland Europe, in what is now France. For many hundreds of years England fought a series of wars (including the [[Hundred Years War]]) for possession of northern France. These did not end until 1588 with the loss of [[Calais]]. The [[Channel Islands]] are still a crown dependency to this day.

On the basis of their territories in England and France the Norman monarchs became influential in Europe. In 1215, rebellious nobles forced [[King John]] to sign the [[Magna Carta]], essentially a charter guaranteeing the rights of the king's subject nobles and the church, and setting forward the precedent that the monarch's powers were bound by law. In 1455-1487 a series of conflicts called the [[Wars of the Roses]] were fought between the noble families of York and Lancaster for control of the throne.

After the [[Wars of the Roses]] had been won by Henry of Lancaster, the reign of the [[Tudor dynasty|Tudors]] began. Henry VII, as he became, was more concerned with defending his crown and so concentrated mainly on domestic policies. While Henry VII is one of England's less famous kings he was one of the few monarchs ever to leave the crown solvent upon his death. Henry VIII, unlike his father, was obsessed with winning glory on the battlefield, preferably in France. Henry launched three major wars throughout his reign against France and in the process managed to capture the city of Boulogne as well as two minor towns, however all of these we're lost or returned by the end of Edwards VI reign. However Henry is most famous for his split with Rome, where he created the Protestant Church of England. When the current [[Pope]] refused to allow him to annul his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry passed the Statute of Restraint of appeals, declared himself head of the English Church and decreed that the Pope had no power over England. During his reign Henry had six wives, of which only three bore him children. Of these, only one was a son—a sickly child who reigned as Edward VI for just six years after his father's death. His daughter Elizabeth, however, was crowned Queen in 1558 and became perhaps England's greatest and best-loved monarch with her reign often being referred to as Englands Golden Age. Elizabeth was queen during some of England's greatest moments of the age, the founding of England's first (if unsuccessful) American colony, the defeat of the Spanish Armarda and solidifying The Church of England's beliefs and acceptance within the nation. Upon her death, the heir to the throne, King James VI of Scotland was crowned King James I, leading to an eventual unification of the two nations.

== Religion ==
In 1533 AD King [[Henry VIII]] formed the [[Church of England]] (CoE) after the [[pope]] refused to annul the marriage between the king and [[Catherine of Aragon]]; while originally the CoE followed a policy of [[Catholic]] without the pope, his successors [[Edward VI]] and [[Elizabeth I]] moved the church in a far more [[Protestantism|Protestant]] direction. Henry established himself as the head of the church and made it the state religion of England. This situation continues to this day, although in much modified form. The queen is still the nominal head of the church, although purely as a figurehead. Decisions technically taken by the queen are in fact done only on the advice of her ministers, who in matters of the church invariably act on the advice of the church leaders. Until recently certain bishops of the Church of England were automatically given seats in the House of Lords. The Church of England is closely involved with the ceremonies associated with England, for example at coronations or royal weddings and funerals.

Since the [[Reformation]] the country has remained primarily Anglican with the notable exception of the Catholic reigns of [[Mary I]] and [[James II]]. More recently, the number of [[Roman Catholics]] is poised to overtake the number of [[Anglicans]] in the country, a trend that is likely to continue with an influx of migrants from Catholic countries such as [[Ireland]] and recent [[EU]] accession countries such as [[Poland]][http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article1386939.ece]. As with the UK as a whole, the significant minority religions include [[Hinduism]], [[Judaism]] and [[Islam]].

A 2001 census gave the following figures for religious affiliation: [[Christianity]]: 71.6%, [[Islam]]: 3.1%, [[Hindu]]: 1.1%, [[Sikh]]: 0.7%, [[Jewish]]: 0.5%, and [[Buddhist]]: 0.3%, No Faith: 22.3%. Approximately 7% of responders did not answer the question.<ref>http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/commentaries/ethnicity.asp</ref>

===Schools ===
Unlike American schools, state run Comprehensive schools in England have a daily act of Christian worship, although there have been efforts in recent times to remove this, to reflect the multifaith make-up of England.<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/dec/26/scrap-compulsory-acts-of-worship</ref> There is support for some "faith schools", such as Peter Vardy's ''Emmanuel Schools Foundation'' through the Academies program.<ref>http://www.emmanuelschools.org/thefoundation/thefoundation/</ref>

== Influence ==

England is the home of the modern English language, which was later spread to all parts of the world by the [[British Empire]], along with traditional English concepts such as the rule of law, universal suffrage, parliamentary government, the jury system, and freedom of speech.

== References ==

<references/>

== See also ==
*[[English Bill of Rights]]
*[[English Civil War]]
*[[English Painting]]
*[[English coronation oath]]

[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:England| ]]
[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:British History]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/ English Heritage] - English history website

Jake Paul

2020-03-02T00:50:03Z

Fire$hark: Undo revision 1622923 by Toby Chester (talk) The previous edit doesn't explain why it it doing why it is doing.

'''Jake Paul''' is an American YouTuber from Ohio.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Paul</ref> He is one of the two Paul brothers, the other being his brother [[Logan Paul|Logan]].

==[[Disney]]==
Jake used to be on the Disney show Bizaardvark, playing a character named Dirk<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_syFs_VsEs</ref>. This is partially revealed in his song ''It's Everyday Bro''.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSlb1ezRqfA</ref>

==YouTube==
Jake Paul has had rapid growth early on in YouTube, gaining five million subscribers in his first six months, and claims to be the first to have made such an achievement.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSlb1ezRqfA</ref>

==References==

Pythagoras

2020-02-18T04:19:18Z

Fire$hark: Added round Earth.

[[Image:Pythagoras von Samos.png|right|thumb]]

'''Pythagoras''' lived approximately from 582 to 507 BC. He was a [[Greeks|Greek]] [[mathematician]] and [[philosopher]], for whom the [[Pythagorean Theorem]] is named. Pythagoras was one of the [[Presocratic Philosophy|Presocratic Philosophers]]. He was also an [[astronomer]] and a [[musician]]. Pythagoras believed in the [[reincarnation]] of human souls as animals, and consequently kept a strictly [[vegetarian]] diet.

Pythagoras sought to reduce music and astronomy to numerical patterns. He believed in a [[concept]] of translating musical notes into mathematical equations and vice versa called Pythagorean tuning by use of the ratio 3:2. He also believed that the mathematical [[Orbit|motions of the planets]] in [[outer space]] produced a cosmic musical symphony that he called the harmony of the spheres. He was one of the first people to realize that [[Venus]] seen as the morning star and Venus seen as the evening star were actually the same planet.

<blockquote>
''The Pythagorean School was founded by Pythagoras in about 585 B.C. A brief list of Pythagorean contributions includes:<ref>http://www.math.tamu.edu/~dallen/history/greekorg/greekorg.html The Origins of Greek Mathematics</ref>
''
# [[Philosophy]].
# The study of [[proportion]].
# The study of [[plane]] and [[solid]] [[geometry]].
# [[Number theory]].
# The theory of [[proof]].
# The discovery of incommensurables.
#The round Earth.<ref>http://famous-mathematicians.org/pythagoras/</ref> (though this actually originated with Isaiah of Judah<ref>Isaiah 40:22</ref> 100 years earlier.<ref>The book of Job in chapter 26 verse 10 also describes the Earth as round describing its terminator (line where day and night "meet") as a circle, which would only be true 100 percent of the time on a perfect (or close enough to perfect) sphere. However, the Bible gives almost no clue as to when Job was written.</ref>
</blockquote>

== See also ==

*[[Greek Philosophy]]
*[[Seven Sages of Greece]]

== References ==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Mathematicians]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek Philosophers]]
[[Category:Ancient Greece]]

Disney Channel

2020-02-11T02:49:50Z

Fire$hark: Added Jake Paul.

The '''Disney Channel''' is a popular television channel that is shown in many countries throughout the world. In its early years, Disney Channel showed family friendly programming that was meant for children and teenagers, along with adults as well, but this has changed since live-action [[sitcom]]s geared toward preteens and teenagers became more popular with the channel's viewers, starting with the debut of ''Lizzie McGuire'' in 2001. Programming includes sitcoms such as ''[[Good Luck Charlie]]'' and ''[[Sonny With A Chance]]'', animated programs such as ''[[Fish Hooks]]'' and Disney movies like ''Camp Rock'', along with Disney Channel original movies.

Many pop stars started their careers from Disney television shows and movies. This includes [[Miley Cyrus]], the [[Jonas Brothers]], [[Jake Paul]], Selena Gomez and others.

On many occasions Disney Channel emphasizes [[liberal]] propaganda to children, such as [[environmentalism]], [[multiculturism]] and most recently, the [[homosexual agenda]]. A majority of the channel's live-action sitcoms are also formulaically produced in "cookie cutter" fashion, presenting interchangeable perky main characters, dimwitted sidekicks of the main characters and smart-aleck younger characters while depicting adult characters (such as parents and authority figures) as clueless (with the animated series ''Kim Possible'' and the live action series ''Even Stevens'' being notable exceptions regarding the bit about adult characters' characterizations, especially the parents), and storylines and plots are frequently reused, with only slight tweaking, again and again across all of those shows.

==See also==
* [[Walt Disney]]
* [[Hollywood Values]]

[[Category:Entertainment]]
[[Category:TV Networks]]
[[Category:Television]]
[[Category:Cable TV Networks]]
[[Category:Media]]
[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Southern California]]
[[Category:Liberal Media]]
[[Category:Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Disney]]

Jake Paul

2020-02-11T02:48:33Z

Fire$hark: Created article on Jake Paul.

Talk:Longest liberal denials

2020-02-10T01:42:15Z

Fire$hark: /* Citing */ new section

Andy, should we specify "communism in Russia" for Reagan? There are still communist countries around, though I'm not sure if they're considered communist or socialist. [[User:JLauttamus|Jeffrey W. Lauttamus]][[User_talk:JLauttamus|Discussion]] 20:14, 5 March 2009 (EST)

: A valid point, but a tad nit-picky? How about "fall of communism," which is not as final as "end". It didn't merely disappear in Russia.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:24, 5 March 2009 (EST)
::Very nit-picky, though I think that may be a personality flaw. I like the new version. --[[User:JLauttamus|Jeffrey W. Lauttamus]][[User_talk:JLauttamus|Discussion]] 20:28, 5 March 2009 (EST)

== Reversions ==

Let's stick with clear, simple examples. Hence the reversions.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:36, 5 March 2009 (EST)

== Citing ==

This article cites no sources. [[User:Fire$hark|Fire$hark]] ([[User talk:Fire$hark|talk]]) 20:42, 9 February 2020 (EST)

Talk:Abortion and racism

2020-02-05T03:35:13Z

Fire$hark: Created page with "==Replacement== Why was the Wikipedia link replaced? ~~~~"

==Replacement==
Why was the Wikipedia link replaced? [[User:Fire$hark|Fire$hark]] ([[User talk:Fire$hark|talk]]) 22:35, 4 February 2020 (EST)

Libel

2020-02-05T03:32:38Z

Fire$hark: Fixed Felix

'''Libel''' is published (written) [[defamation]] which tends to injure a person's reputation. It is contrasted and occasionally confused with [[slander]], which is spoken [[defamation]]. Within the broad category of libel, there are two types, ''[[libel per se]]'' and ''[[libel per quod]]''.

One of the defenses against the charge of libel is [[truth]]. In the United States, the truth is always an absolute defense. This means that regardless of how nasty or vicious the statement appears (for example, [[Malice|malicious]] [[detraction]]), if it is the truth, the defendant in a libel suit will always prevail. For a court to rule otherwise would be ''prima facie'' evidence of censorship, and overturned on appeal.

Furthermore, the statement must be presented as a fact. Parody or jokes are not considered defamatory because they are not intended to be taken seriously. However, this defense will fail if a reasonable person would consider the statement to be factual, i.e. from the credentials of the source.

Under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, web hosts enjoy a limited immunity from civil prosecution. The reasoning behind the law is that the multitude of websites per hosts makes it impossible for them to know what exactly is being hosted. This immunity usually extends to libel, with certain exceptions. A webhost made aware of defamatory statements must immediately remove them to remain immune. Also, statements made by or with the knowledge of the hosts are fair game for a lawsuit. One of the more notable uses of Section 230 is by the Wikimedia Foundation, which has a unique position as both webhost and website. The Foundation has always prevailed, due to the sheer amount of data hosted and the relative autonomy of each site. Their success has led to some [[website]]s believing such laws do not apply to them. However, these sites are severely mistaken because they are not webhosts, but rather individual sites. Unlike the Foundation, which serves as a confederation of websites, the owners of other websites are in direct control of their content, thereby incurring liability for it.

==Examples of Libel==
[[Answers in Genesis]], [[Living Waters]], [[Creation Ministries International]], the [[Institute for Creation Research]], [[Richard Fangrad]], [[Calvin Smith]], [[Ken Ham]], [[Ray Comfort]], [[the Bible]], the [[Creation Museum]], the [[Ark Encounter]], [[Got Questions Ministries]], and several others have all been libeled; with [[Wikipedia]] (and [[HuffPost]] and "Rational"Wiki) accusing Ham and his affiliates of pseudoscience, Media Bias/"Fact Check" accusing CMI, Fangrad, and Smith of the same thing, when in reality they are doing the exact opposite of pseudoscience. [[PewDiePie]] has been accused by "Rational"Wiki (quotation marks indicate not really) of encouraging his followers to hack printers to spread messages telling people to subscribe to him, when in reality the hacking started entirely without PewDiePie knowing that it happened.

== See also ==
[["Catholic Heresies and Traditions Adopted and Perpetuated by the Roman Catholic Church in the Course of 1600 Years"]]

[[Category:Legal Terms]]

Libel

2020-02-05T03:30:32Z

Fire$hark: Addec section

'''Libel''' is published (written) [[defamation]] which tends to injure a person's reputation. It is contrasted and occasionally confused with [[slander]], which is spoken [[defamation]]. Within the broad category of libel, there are two types, ''[[libel per se]]'' and ''[[libel per quod]]''.

One of the defenses against the charge of libel is [[truth]]. In the United States, the truth is always an absolute defense. This means that regardless of how nasty or vicious the statement appears (for example, [[Malice|malicious]] [[detraction]]), if it is the truth, the defendant in a libel suit will always prevail. For a court to rule otherwise would be ''prima facie'' evidence of censorship, and overturned on appeal.

Furthermore, the statement must be presented as a fact. Parody or jokes are not considered defamatory because they are not intended to be taken seriously. However, this defense will fail if a reasonable person would consider the statement to be factual, i.e. from the credentials of the source.

Under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, web hosts enjoy a limited immunity from civil prosecution. The reasoning behind the law is that the multitude of websites per hosts makes it impossible for them to know what exactly is being hosted. This immunity usually extends to libel, with certain exceptions. A webhost made aware of defamatory statements must immediately remove them to remain immune. Also, statements made by or with the knowledge of the hosts are fair game for a lawsuit. One of the more notable uses of Section 230 is by the Wikimedia Foundation, which has a unique position as both webhost and website. The Foundation has always prevailed, due to the sheer amount of data hosted and the relative autonomy of each site. Their success has led to some [[website]]s believing such laws do not apply to them. However, these sites are severely mistaken because they are not webhosts, but rather individual sites. Unlike the Foundation, which serves as a confederation of websites, the owners of other websites are in direct control of their content, thereby incurring liability for it.

==Examples of Libel==
[[Answers in Genesis]], [[Living Waters]], [[Creation Ministries International]], the [[Institute for Creation Research]], [[Richard Fangrad]], [[Calvin Smith]], [[Ken Ham]], [[Ray Comfort]], [[the Bible]], the [[Creation Museum]], the [[Ark Encounter]], [[Got Questions Ministries]], and several others have all been libeled; with [[Wikipedia]] (and [[HuffPost]] and "Rational"Wiki) accusing Ham and his affiliates of pseudoscience, Media Bias/"Fact Check" accusing CMI, Fangrad, and Smith of the same thing, when in reality they are doing the exact opposite of pseudoscience. [[PewDiePie" has been accused by "Rational"Wiki (quotation marks indicate not really) of encouraging his followers to hack printers to spread messages telling people to subscribe to him, when in reality the hacking started entirely without PewDiePie knowing that it happened.

== See also ==
[["Catholic Heresies and Traditions Adopted and Perpetuated by the Roman Catholic Church in the Course of 1600 Years"]]

[[Category:Legal Terms]]

Media Bias Fact Check

2020-02-05T01:41:00Z

Fire$hark:

'''Media Bias Fact Check''' is a [[left-wing]] "fact-checker" owned by Dave Van Zandt which purports to monitor [[Media Bias|bias in the media]]. It is similar to [[Snopes]].

Most of Media Bias Fact Check's assessments are wildly inaccurate. For instance, [[Conservapedia]] is placed at the very end of the [[right-wing]] of the [[political spectrum]] (see [[Conservapedia Derangement Syndrome]]). Conservapedia is listed under "Questionable Sources" and described as "border[ing] on hate group status." It is accused of promoting "conspiracies" and "fake news." They claim that it, "is not a credible source on any level or by any known criteria."<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/conservapedia/</ref>

Media Bias Fact Check also considers [[Breitbart News]] as "extreme" and positioned on the "[[far-right]]" of the political spectrum.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/breitbart/</ref> The [[globalist]] [[Fox News Channel]] is considered strongly right-wing biased and disreputable,<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/fox-news/</ref> and even the [[neoconservative]] [[Wall Street Journal]], which has accused YouTuber [[PewDiePie]] of being an [[anti-Semite]],<ref>https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-severs-ties-with-youtube-star-pewdiepie-after-anti-semitic-posts-1487034533</ref> is considered very biased to the right.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/wall-street-journal/</ref>

Prager University is considered "propaganda,"<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/prageru/</ref> and [[the Rebel Media|Rebel News]] is considered "biased based on story selection that always favours the right."<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-rebel/</ref>

Media Bias Fact Check demonstrates their double standard and hypocrisy by defending [[liberal]] [[establishment]] echo chamber [[Wikipedia]] as, "Least Biased,"<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/wikipedia/</ref> and leftist atheist crackpot operation RationalWiki repeatedly as "pro-science," while simultaneously calling Conservapedia, "right-wing Christian propaganda."<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/rationalwiki/</ref>

[[Conservative]]s have criticized the liberal "fact-checking" website for being subjective and often outright false.<ref>https://www.politifactbias.com/2017/10/can-you-trust-what-media-biasfact-check.html</ref><ref>https://www.justfactsdaily.com/media-bias-fact-check-incompetent-or-dishonest/</ref><ref>https://www.wnd.com/2017/02/phony-baloney-the-9-fakest-fake-news-checkers/</ref> On their "10 Best Fact Checking Sites," they list several objectively false and generally inaccurate left-wing "fact-checkers," including [[PolitiFact]], [[Snopes]], and the Fact Checker by the [[Washington Post]].<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/2016/07/20/the-10-best-fact-checking-sites/</ref>

Its page on Creation Ministries International gets almost everything wrong, with only three sentences being completely free of error and every other sentence being completely free of fact, even initially getting the organization's name wrong. It frivolously and fraudulently accuses CMI of having "conspiracy' and "pseudoscience" even though nothing that CMI does would qualify for the definition of either of the two words.<ref>https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/christian-ministries-international/</ref>

==External Links==
* https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Liberal Deceit]]

BCE and CE

2020-02-05T01:02:38Z

Fire$hark: This notation system's origins have nothing to do with atheism.

'''BCE''' is an [[abbreviation]] which actually means "'''B'''efore the '''C'''hristian '''E'''ra"—originally '''B.C.''', meaning "'''B'''efore [[Jesus Christ|'''C'''hrist]].

'''CE''' is an abbreviation which actually means "(of the) [[Christianity|'''C'''hristian]] '''E'''ra, an abbreviation which exactly corresponds to [[Anno Domini|'''A.D.''' ''anno domini'']], the Latin term for "year of the Lord (Jesus Christ)".

== Christian witness ==

Christian students and academics and professional persons concerned about the change in designation of the numbered years of the common western calendar when in the public forum at school or work can easily adapt the abbreviations BCE and CE to Christian reality by always understanding them as a Christian dating system. As occasion presents itself they are encouraged to say "Before the Christian Era (BCE)" and "Christian Era (CE)" as a simple, incidental, non-confrontational [[Christian apologetics|witness]] when giving oral presentations relating to historical periods with dates that are the same as dates B.C. ''before Christ'' and dates A.D. ''anno domini'' (year of the Lord).

Examples:

:This article was written 2018 CE. "This article was written Twenty Eighteen of the Christian Era, C.E.."

:"The [[Exodus]] occurred sometime around Sixteen Fifty Before the Christian Era, B.C.E., though most researchers now commonly place it around Twelve Fifty."

:"The birth of [[Jesus Christ]] is now commonly placed by most historical researchers as Four before the Christian Era, but some disagree and place it as early as Twelve before the Christian Era, B.C.E., and as late as One before, or as One of the Christian Era, C.E.."

In similar form of presenting incidental ''written'' Christian witness in composing papers, documents and books, the notations "Christian Era" and "Before the Christian Era" can be placed after the abbreviations in parentheses.

Examples:

:Pharaoh Smenkhkare reigned 1337-1333 BCE (Before the Christian Era).

:About 100 BCE (Before the Christian Era) Su-ma Ch'ien wrote a biography about [[Sun Tzu]], the author of ''[[Art of War]]''.

== Origin of BCE and CE ==

The use of the BCE and CE abbreviations started with Jewish scholars not wanting to use BC and AD as it would mean calling Jesus "Our Lord"<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7-HqNaotYw</ref>

== See also ==
'''[[CE]]''' '''[[Persecution]]'''.

[[Category:Dictionary]]
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Dating Systems]]

Misnomer

2020-02-03T17:56:58Z

Fire$hark: Removed all links.

A '''misnomer''' is a wrong or inaccurate name or designation. This generally refers to objects that to not fit the meaning of their name.

==Examples==
''Bulbapedia''-this wiki covers all topics related to Pokémon, not just Bulbasaur.

''RationalWiki''-this site is anything but rational

''Big Bang''-a bang is a loud sound, and sound needs a medium to travel through. No medium was present in order for there to be an audible sound when the big bang supposedly occurred.

''Pro-choice''- only the choice of the mother is taken into consideration.

Misnomer

2020-02-03T17:56:17Z

Fire$hark: Undo revision 1616663 by Karajou (talk) There were no references to rats, mice, squirrels, rabbits, beavers, capybaras, or any animal in this article; so the previous edit is an unfounded assertion.

A '''misnomer''' is a wrong or inaccurate name or designation. This generally refers to objects that to not fit the meaning of their name.

==Examples==
''Bulbapedia''-this wiki covers all topics related to Pokémon, not just Bulbasaur.

''[[RationalWiki]]''-this site is anything but rational

''[[Big Bang]]''-a bang is a loud sound, and sound needs a medium to travel through. No medium was present in order for there to be an audible sound when the big bang supposedly occurred.

''[[Pro-choice]]''- only the choice of the mother is taken into consideration.

Atheism and evolution

2020-02-02T23:38:35Z

Fire$hark: "L" in "DeathLightning44" should be capitalized.

[[Image:Evolution.jpg|alt=evolution darwin theory|right|thumb|200px|Late in [[Charles Darwin|Charles Darwin's]] life, Darwin told the Duke of Argyll that he frequently had overwhelming thoughts that the natural world was the [[Intelligent design|result of design]].<ref>http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/teleological-arguments/notes.html</ref> See also: [https://creation.com/15-questions 15 questions for evolutionists] ]]
Since [[World War II]] a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the [[evolution]]ary position which employs [[methodological naturalism]] have been [[Atheism|atheists]].<ref>Multiple references:
*Batten, Don (December 1997). [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/737/ "A ''Who’s Who'' of evolutionists"]. ''Creation'', vol 20, no. 1, p. 32. Retrieved from Creation.com [Creation Ministries International] on May 15, 2015. See [[Don Batten]].
*Sarfati, Jonathan, Ph. D. (1999). [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3830 "Chapter 1: Facts and bias"]. ''Refuting Evolution''. Retrieved from Creation.com [Creation Ministries International] on May 15, 2015. See [[Jonathan Sarfati]].</ref> The prominent [[New Atheism|new atheist]], agnostic and evolutionist [[Richard Dawkins]] claims that "Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist".<ref>Wieland, Carl (December 1, 2006). [https://creation.com/dawkins-and-eugenics "Dawkins and eugenics"]. Creation.com [Creation Ministries International]. Retrieved on May 15, 2015.</ref>

The majority of [[Western World]] atheists are [[evolution]]ists. As far as nontheist Buddhism, as no major beliefs/principles of [[Buddhism]] are contrary to it, many Buddhists are also evolutionists.<ref>[http://pewforum.org/Science-and-Bioethics/Religious-Differences-on-the-Question-of-Evolution.aspx Religious Differences on the Question of Evolution]</ref><ref>[http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/religion_theseeker/2011/03/evolution-doesnt-bother-buddhists-.html Evolution doesn't bother Buddhists], ''Chicago Tribune'', December 23, 2013</ref>

The [[Discovery Institute]] reported:
{{Cquote|Compare just these two findings, reported in a survey we commissioned in 2016. On one hand:

Nearly 7 in 10 atheists and more than 4 in 10 [[agnosticism|agnostics]] say that for them personally, unguided chemical evolution and Darwin's mutation/natural selection mechanism have made the existence of God "less likely."

On the other:

By contrast, 6 in 10 theists and more than 2 in 10 agnostics say the existence in nature of "many things that are exquisitely designed and highly complex" has made the existence of God "more likely" for them personally.<ref>[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2016/12/in_supporting_d103371.html In Supporting Discovery Institute This Christmas Season, Please Consider All That Hangs in the Balance]</ref>}}

The atheist philosopher and evolutionist [[Michael Ruse]] admitted:
{{cquote|[E]volution, akin to religion, involves making certain a priori or metaphysical assumptions, which at some level cannot be proven empirically.<ref>[https://creation.com/atheism-needs-evolution Atheism needs evolution] by ex-atheist Calvin Smith, [[Creation Ministries International]]</ref>}}
Michael Ruse also indicated: "Evolution is a religion. This was true of evolution in the beginning, and it is true of evolution still today."<ref>Ruse, M., How evolution became a religion: creationists correct? National Post, pp. B1,B3,B7 May 13, 2000.</ref>

In the their [[Question evolution! campaign]], [[Creation Ministries International]] asserts that evolution is a religion.<ref>[https://creation.com/15-questions 15 questions for evolutionists]</ref> The focus of the Question evolution! campaign is on 15 questions that evolutionists cannot adequately answer.<ref>[https://creation.com/question-evolution Question evolution! campaign]</ref> The ''15 Questions that evolutionists cannot satisfactorily answer'' can be found at their webpage entitled [https://creation.com/15-questions 15 questions for evolutionists].

== Evolution as a secular origins myth ==

''See also:'' [[Evolution as a secular origins myth]]

[[Evolution]] is a secular origins myth of atheists, [[agnosticism|agnostics]] and members of other [[liberal Christianity|theologically liberal]] religious sects (theologically [[liberal]] religious sects often dismiss out of hand various [[supernatural]] events in history due to their hostility towards [[God]] and the supernatural). See also: [[Atheism is a religion]]
[[File:Paul gosselin.JPG|thumbnail|left|155px|[[Paul Gosselin]] ]]
The atheist philosopher of science [[Michael Ruse]] said "Evolution is a religion. This was true of evolution in the beginning, and it is true of evolution still today."<ref>Ruse, M., How evolution became a religion: creationists correct? National Post, pp. B1,B3,B7 May 13, 2000.</ref>

The Canadian [[anthropology|anthropologist]] [[Paul Gosselin]] wrote:
{{cquote|In the world of [[myth]], [[miracle]]s are commonplace and occur regularly. Much the same could be said of evolutionary myths of origins. Just like in the Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and the Wolverine stories from the First Nations of North America, in the evolutionary origins myth one regularly encounters phenomena that are contrary to natural law and which have never been observed by any human. And the first of these miracles is [[abiogenesis]], the transition from inert matter to living organisms, capable of reproducing themselves. But that is just the beginning. From there we go on to the transition from invertebrates to vertebrates, then there’s the transition from marine organisms, such as fish, to terrestrial organisms, the transition from reptiles to mammals, the transition from land mammals to marine mammals and then the transition from crawling reptiles to flying birds. But the greatest miracle of all? This is undoubtedly the appearance of functional genetic code and its chemical basis, [[DNA]], and all this without the intervention of a Programmer. It is clear that miracles abound in the evolutionary origins myth. The faith of evolutionary believers is great, but for my part I have to admit lacking enough faith to believe in such miracles.<ref>[http://www.samizdat.qc.ca/cosmos/origines/myth.htm Myths of Origin and the Theory of Evolution]</ref>}}

Although he is not a [[creationism|creationist]], the atheist [[philosophy|philosopher]] [[John Gray (philosopher)|John Gray]] admitted in 2008 in ''The Guardian'':
{{cquote|A great deal of modern thought consists of secular myths - hollowed-out religious narratives translated into [[pseudoscience|pseudo-science]]. [[Daniel Dennett|Dennett]]'s notion that new communications technologies will fundamentally alter the way human beings think is just such a myth.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/mar/15/society The atheist delusion, John Gray, The Guardian, Friday 14 March 2008]</ref>}}

== Atheist organizations: Church-state/creationism issues - poor largely ignored ==
[[File:Beggar in Cambodia.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A beggar in [[Cambodia]]. In Cambodia, the vast majority of the population adheres to a nontheistic form of [[Buddhism]] called the Theravada school of Buddhism.

A comprehensive study by [[Harvard University]] professor Robert Putnam found that religious people are more charitable than their irreligious counterparts.<ref name="Burke Campbell">Multiple references:
*Burke, Daniel, Religion News Service (May 13, 2009). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130310113024/http://www.pewforum.org/Religion-News/Religious-people-make-better-citizens-study-says.aspx "Religious people make better citizens, study says"]. Pew Research Forum. Archived on March 10, 2013 by Internet Archive. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
*Campbell, David and Putnam, Robert (November 14, 2010). [https://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-11-15-column15_ST_N.htm "Religious people are 'better neighbors'"]. USA Today website. Retrieved on July 19, 2014.</ref> See: [[Atheism and charity|Atheism and uncharitableness]] ]]

''See also:'' [[Atheism and charity|Atheism and uncharitableness]] and [[Atheism, social justice and hypocrisy]] and [[Western atheism and race]]

In June 2014, the African- American atheist woman [[Sikivu Hutchinson]] wrote in the ''Washington Post'' that white atheists organizations generally focus on church/state separation and [[creationism]] issues and not the concerns the less affluent African-American population faces.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/06/16/blacks-are-even-discriminated-against-by-atheists/ Atheism has a big race problem that no one’s talking about] by Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson, Washington Post June 16, 2014</ref> Hutchinson also mentioned that church organizations do focus on helping poor African-Americans.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/06/16/blacks-are-even-discriminated-against-by-atheists/ Atheism has a big race problem that no one’s talking about] by Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson, Washington Post June 16, 2014</ref>

Also, according to a video posted at [[Freethought Blogs]] storefront churches provide assistance to local residents including women, and this partly explains the dearth of Hispanic and African-American women atheists in America (Atheists give less to charity than Christians. See: [[Atheism and charity|Atheism and uncharitableness]]).<ref>[http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/08/06/sikivu-ophelia-and-rebecca-who-says-atheism-lacks-women-stars/ Sikivu, Ophelia, and Rebecca — who says atheism lacks women stars?]</ref>

In 2014, the atheist Chris Hall wrote in an article which was published by ''Salon'' magazine and ''Alternet'':
{{cquote|Direct challenges to racism and sexism haven’t traditionally been the domain of the large organizations like [[American Atheists]] or the Secular Coalition for America. It’s been far more typical to fight incursions against separation of church and state or educate against pseudoscience like [[homeopathy]].<ref>[https://www.salon.com/2014/06/05/forget_christopher_hitchens_atheism_in_america_is_undergoing_a_radical_change_partner/ Forget Christopher Hitchens: Atheism in America is undergoing a radical change] by Chris Hall, ''Salon'' magazine, Thursday, Jun 5, 2014 12:25 PM UTC (originally published in Alternet)</ref>}}

==DeathLigtning44==

In his video titled ''Tobias the Sea Turtle Episode 1: Tobias Disproves Atheism'', Christian gaming YouTuber DeathLigntning44 has stated that Evolution, if it were true, actually disproves atheism. He argues that a leatherback sea turtle (named Tobias) has turtle DNA that would be passed down to his children, which means that they have turtle DNA, which would therefore make them turtles with turtle DNA that they would pass down to their children, which would therefore make them turtles with turtle DNA that they would pass down to their children, which would therefore make them turtles with turtle DNA that they would pass down to their children, and this simulation can be continued for an infinite number of generations and the descendants of Tobias would still be turtles. He says the same is true with the reverse, albeit replacing "pass down to their children" with "have inherited from their parents." Therefore, in order for Tobias to have a non-turtle ancestor or descendant, God would have to guide every step of the change from or to a non-turtle. Atheism takes an affirmative stance against God's existence, but God's existence would be required for "inter-class evolution," therefore making atheism false if evolution is true.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqxHP2962LU</ref>

==See also==

*[[Atheism and the suppression of science]]
*[[Suppression of alternatives to evolution]]
*[[Evolution and Cases of Fraud, Hoaxes and Speculation]]
*[[Evolution, Liberalism, Atheism, and Irrationality]]
*[[List of atheist and agnostic pseudosciences]]
*[[Irreligion and superstition]]
*[[Theories of evolution]]
*[[Darwinism]]
*[[Atheists and genetic mutations]]

{{Nb Atheism}}
{{evolution}}

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

[[Category:Atheism]]
[[Category:Evolution]]

Abortion and racism

2020-02-02T00:24:56Z

Fire$hark: Added two examples.

Many pro-abortionists have held racist views.<ref>[https://www.liveaction.org/news/three-disturbing-racist-quotes-abortionists/ Three disturbing racist quotes by abortionists]</ref>

==[[Roe v. Wade]] background==
Although no evidence suggests that Roe (actual name Norma McCorvey) herself is a racist, her lawyer was known to have claimed that she was raped by a gang of black men.<ref>[https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/real-story-late-norma-mccorvey The Real Story Behind the Roe of ‘Roe v. Wade’]</ref> According to McCorvey, it was some of her friends that told her to make up the rape story, indicating that they might be the racists as well.

==Adolf Hitler==
Unlike Jane Roe (Which isn't her real name), there is evidence to suggest that Adolf Hitler (Which is his actual name) is racist. Hitler despised the Jewish, black, and Slavic races. He most likely would not have allowed for the abortion of a pure German child and the only pro-abortion comment he made was regarding unborn children whose parents were Slavs.

==Richard Nixon==
Nixon believed that when the pregnant woman has "a black and a white", an abortion is necessary.<ref>https://www.catholicleague.org/nixon-on-abortion/</ref>

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

[[Category:Abortion]]
[[Category:Racism]]

Abortion and racism

2020-01-28T05:08:33Z

Fire$hark: Created page with "Some pro-abortionists have held racist views ==Roe vs Wade== Although no evidence suggests that Roe (not her real name) herself is a racist, she did claim to be raped by a ga..."

Some pro-abortionists have held racist views

==Roe vs Wade==
Although no evidence suggests that Roe (not her real name) herself is a racist, she did claim to be raped by a gang of black men in order to get an abortion.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norma_McCorvey</ref> According to Roe, it was some of her friends that told her to make up the rape story, indicating that they might be the racists.

User:Fire$hark

2020-01-27T15:30:00Z

Fire$hark:

I currently have a pending CreationWiki account of the same username as this site which has not been approved yet. Friend me on Roblox at Alertmailman.

Talk:Misnomer

2020-01-27T15:27:29Z

Fire$hark: Created page with "==Removal== One of my four examples of misnomers has been removed and the explanation was "removed reference to the rats... not allowed here". This article never contained an..."

==Removal==
One of my four examples of misnomers has been removed and the explanation was "removed reference to the rats... not allowed here". This article never contained an rats or mice, so what is going on? Sincerely, [[User:Fire$hark|Fire$hark]] ([[User talk:Fire$hark|talk]]) 10:27, 27 January 2020 (EST)

User talk:Fire$hark

2020-01-27T01:35:20Z

Fire$hark: /* Creation */ new section

Why was there a confirmation code when I tried to edit on my phone? [[User:Fire$hark|Fire$hark]] ([[User talk:Fire$hark|talk]]) 02:10, 11 October 2019 (EDT)
:All new editors are required to answer a random question for each edit. It's for security purposes. --[[User:1990'sguy|1990'sguy]] ([[User talk:1990'sguy|talk]]) 07:59, 11 October 2019 (EDT)
::The question did not appear on my phone. Does the confirmation code change depending on what day it is? [[User:Fire$hark|Fire$hark]] ([[User talk:Fire$hark|talk]]) 10:32, 11 October 2019 (EDT)
:::I don't know. You'll have to ask the site's owner -- [[User talk:Aschlafly]] --[[User:1990'sguy|1990'sguy]] ([[User talk:1990'sguy|talk]]) 14:46, 11 October 2019 (EDT)
::::Why am I no longer getting confirmation codes?[[User:Fire$hark|Fire$hark]] ([[User talk:Fire$hark|talk]]) 20:22, 26 January 2020 (EST)

== Creation ==

Why am I unable to create an article about RationalWiki?[[User:Fire$hark|Fire$hark]] ([[User talk:Fire$hark|talk]]) 20:35, 26 January 2020 (EST)

Misnomer

2020-01-27T01:30:38Z

Fire$hark: Added brackets

A '''misnomer''' is a wrong or inaccurate name or designation. This generally refers to objects that to not fit the meaning of their name.

==Examples==
''Bulbapedia''-this wiki covers all topics related to Pokémon, not just Bulbasaur.

''[[RationalWiki]]''-this site is anything but rational

''[[Big Bang]]''-a bang is a loud sound, and sound needs a medium to travel through. No medium was present in order for there to be an audible sound when the big bang supposedly occurred.

''[[Pro-choice]]''- only the choice of the mother is taken into consideration.

User talk:Fire$hark

2020-01-27T01:22:46Z

Fire$hark: