Professor Suspended for Islam Comments

A tenured political science professor at Wheaton College, an evangelical university outside Chicago, has been suspended after she wrote in a Facebook post that Muslims and Christians worship the same God.

Dr. Larycia Hawkins went on to say that she was donning the hijab during Advent as a sign of solidarity with Muslims.

Well now, isn't this special?

Wheaton College said that she was on administrative leave "In response to significant questions regarding the theological implications of statements that Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Larycia Hawkins has made about the relationship of Christianity to Islam..."

According to the college when they participate in causes, faculty and staff must faithfully represent the school's evangelical statement of faith. I suspect that it is the first part of the first paragraph of that statement of faith that Hawkins may have run afoul of.

"WE BELIEVE in one sovereign God, eternally existing in three persons: the everlasting Father, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and the Holy Spirit, the giver of life;"

Muslims think the concept of the Trinity is illogical, lacks common sense and is even blasphemous. I certain agree that it's illogical and lacks common sense. Three isn't one and one isn't three. I might point out that Jews don't think much of the Trinity either but no one questions the idea that the Jewish God and the Christian God are the same God.

Let's understand that Wheaton College is a hotbed of lunacy. A hive of scum, villainy and ignorance that pollutes the country with its idiocy. We'd all be better off if they shut it down but, that's not likely to happen.

How an institute of "higher education" can declare the following, also in its statement of faith, simply boggles the mind.

"WE BELIEVE that God directly created Adam and Eve, the historical parents of the entire human race; and that they were created in His own image, distinct from all other living creatures, and in a state of original righteousness."

Then there's this one from the same statement of faith.

"WE BELIEVE in the existence of Satan, sin, and evil powers, and that all these have been defeated by God in the cross of Christ."

Well then why the fuck is sin and evil, mostly perpetrated by Christians, still alive and kicking?

Given this sort of crap it's terrifying to think how they're "educating" their students. I can only imagine what their biology classes look like.

OK, enough bashing of Christian "education."

"Allah" is simply the word for God like  "Dios" in Spanish and "Dieu" in French. Here's a hint, these are not four different "Gods." Even Arabic speaking Christians would call "God" "Allah" and the word was used by Arabic Christians long before Islam.

I never thought there was much question among educated people that the God of Jews, Christians and Muslims was the same "God" and it was only the under 80 IQ Republican base that thought otherwise.

Apparently Wheaton College isn't so sure either.

Now personally I don't give a crap if we're talking about one imaginary friend or two different imaginary friends. I'm just stunned to see how far into ignorance we've fallen.

No Muslims Allowed?

Apparently Donald Trump thinks it would be a good idea if Muslims weren't allowed entry into the US. The man is afraid there might be a terrorist or two hiding among the student visa applicants.

I suppose next would be not allowing Muslims who are US citizens and living in the US to leave. I mean there's no guarantee they're not going to be turned into wide eyed radicals while they're out of the country.

Come to think of it, how can we trust them even while they're in the country? I know, how about we round them up and put in special places where we can keep an eye on them. We'll call the special places Concentration Camps...oh wait.

I prefer to judge each individual on his or her own merits. I have no patience for Islam just like I have no patience for any religion but you could make a case that aspects of Islam make it worse than most other religions given it's history of militant jihad and little associated cultural gems such as honor killings.

But I draw the line at guilt by association. There are realistic and unrealistic concerns. What is it about conservatives that they seem to have a pathological need to constantly be afraid?

In the meantime Cruz and Huckabee think they can simply ignore Supreme Court decisions. Cruz wants to extend 14th Amendment rights to fetuses which he thinks would effectively overturn Roe v. Wade.

Of course it wouldn't because no legislative law can overrule the Constitution. You would need some sort of Constitutional amendment. I find it hard to believe Cruz has a law degree.

Huckabee thinks he can eliminate abortions and gay rights through executive order.

Huckabee and Cruz are both idiots.

Even Jeb Bush, who I thought might be an adult, suggests we allow only Christian Syrian refugees to enter the country. When asked how he was going to tell the difference, he went hem, haw, hem, hem.

The one good thing about Trump is he is pulling all the racists and bigots out of the closet. He's like sugar being dropped on the floor of a roach infested kitchen. He's making it "OK" for the scum of the country to show their true colors.

College Football Poll 12/8/2015

OK, so they had to toss in one little wrinkle. They moved Michigan State ahead of Oklahoma.

#1 - Clemson (13-0)
#2 - Alabama (12-1)
#3 - Michigan State (12-1)
#4 - Oklahoma (11-1)

Honestly, that makes no sense to me whatsoever. If Oklahoma was ahead of Iowa, why does Michigan State jump ahead of Oklahoma for beating Iowa?

I suppose it has something to do with Michigan State having a tougher schedule than Iowa which was my rationale for picking them to win in the first place.

Anyway, we're set to go.

Oklahoma will play Clemson in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31 at 4 PM and Michigan State will play Alabama on the same day in the Cotton Bowl at 8 PM. Of course you'll need access to ESPN to watch the games.

The Championship Game will be on Jan. 11 in Glendale at University of Phoenix Stadium. I'm going to go with Clemson and Alabama meeting in this game.

College Football Poll 12/5/2015

Well Alabama took care of business in the early game beating Florida 29-16.

The game between Iowa and Michigan State was a beaut coming down to trench play inside the 5 yard line with State trying to punch it in and Iowa trying to hold on. Ultimately it was too much to ask of the Iowa defense and Michigan State won 16-13.

Clemson held on over North Carolina 45-37. Things might have gotten scary is NC had managed to recover the onside kick but it was not to be.

So it's all over but the kicking and screaming and it's time for the fat lady to get ready to sing. It's going to be:

#1 - Clemson (13-0)
#2 - Alabama (12-1)
#3 - Oklahoma (11-1)
#4 - Michigan State (12-1)

Gee, where Have I seen that before? Any other alignment would make no sense whatsoever.

An ISIS Connection?

Updated information about the San Bernadino shooting has verified that one of the shooters was indeed Syed Farook who worked for the Inland Regional Center and the other was his wife Tashfeen Malik.

There are rumors that Malik, who was Pakistani and met Farook in Saudi Arabia, had "pledged allegiance" to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a Facebook posting Wednesday.

Other reports claim that Farook destroyed computer hard drives and other electronics prior to the attack and had left the party at the social services center after an argument with someone who supposedly denounced the "inherent dangers of Islam."

Now, let's note that none of these reports have been substantiated regardless of the fact they are claimed to be from US government sources but Fox News is already broadcasting the Malik pledge as fact.

Assuming that these reports if not 100% accurate are at least close to the truth, then we have a case of radicalized Muslims at least sympathetic to ISIS possibly being set off by a workplace argument.

Whether there was any formal contact between Malik and ISIS is yet to be seen.

This is an attack on a soft target consistent with the attacks in Paris so it wouldn't particularly surprise me if it was at least indirectly related to an ISIS campaign even though the precise target and timing may have been triggered by the argument.

You cannot protect all of the soft targets. There are simply too many of them. You have to focus on not allowing potential terrorists to amass the means to make such an attack.

Unfortunately that's a lot easier said than done.

Another Mass Shooting

This one in San Bernadino California where two, and perhaps three, people armed with rifles opened fire at a holiday party for county health workers.

At least 14 people were killed and 17 wounded.

Police have reportedly killed two suspects and arrested a third person. One police officer was wounded in the shootout.

Those are the basics as they are understood at this moment.

Other reports claim that there was an argument at a party and one person left. If that person was one of the gunman is not known. Police identified one of the suspects as one Syed Farook. A Syed Farook apparently worked at the center where the shooting took place but no one has verified they're the same person.

I'd say it's pretty likely. How many Syed Farooks you think there are in San Bernadino?

I'm not going to go into the whole gun control thing. I can't wait to hear the wing nuts say more guns are the solution because if people at the center had been armed then yada, yada, yada.

This whole cowboy mentality doesn't work. If everyone pulls out a gun how do you tell the so-called "good guys" from the "bad guys?"

Then again no one ever accused conservatives of being capable of performing even the most rudimentary logical analysis when it comes to one of their wing nut issues.

And please don't tell me "guns don't kill people kill." Because without the guns, people wouldn't be able to kill this way. Yes you can kill with other stuff but only guns are designed for the sole purpose of killing.

I haven't heard anything about motive. One would think it would have to have been a really big argument to lead to this sort of nonsense but I suppose it's possible. I'm sure we'll learn more in the coming days.

College Football Poll 12/1/2015

As expected the top four remained unchanged at:

#1 - Clemson (12-0)
#2 - Alabama (11-1)
#3 - Oklahoma (11-1)
#4 - Iowa (12-0) 

The key conference championship games this week will be:

#1 - Clemson (12-0) will host North Carolina (11-1)
#2 - Alabama (11-1) will host Florida (10-2)
#4 - Iowa (12-0) will host Michigan State (11-1)

Oklahoma is finished and should secure a playoff birth. The winner of Iowa vs Michigan State should the second birth. If Clemson and Alabama win they will have the final two births.

If Alabama loses to Florida, I don't see Florida leaping up from #18. In this event I would expect Ohio State to sneak back in or possibly Stanford if they have a big day against USC in the PAC-10 championship.

If Clemson loses, things get interesting. You could make a case for North Carolina, Ohio State, Stanford if they win big over USC or even simply dropping Clemson to the #4 spot.

I expect the day to end up as follows:

#1 - Clemson (13-0)
#2 - Alabama (12-1)
#3 - Oklahoma (11-1)
#4 - Michigan State (12-1)