Midnight Train To Georgia-- Tbilisi Not Safe For Tourists

Barbaric, primitive priests spread fear and hatred in Georgia

Yesterday I wrote about how primitive, Bronze Age notions regarding the subjugation of women in the patriarchal societies of the 3 major Abrahamic religions, still leads to thousands of brutal murders and barbaric treatment of women all over the world. Friday saw a demonstration related to that mentality in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. This time the victims of the primitive religionists, though, were gay people.

The first thing an international traveler notices on arriving in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, is that the road leading from the airport to downtown is George W. Bush Avenue. It's a warning. Although rated a "safe" city, many people are backward and very primitive so there is always a certain danger, like the violent conservative riots that broke out Friday against the LGBT community in which 30 people were injured, several seriously. WikiTravel points to "a land filled with magnificent history and unparalleled natural beauty" and asks you to "[i]magine cities with narrow side streets filled with leaning houses, overstretched balconies, mangled and twisted stairways, majestic old churches, heavenly food and warm and welcoming people. All of this with a backdrop of magnificent snow peaked mountains, and the best beaches of the Black Sea." The news reports this weekend pointed to a savage, xenophobic and dangerous people led by primitive, hate-filled priests instead.

Of course, deranged religionist hate-mongers aren't confined to Georgia

A raging mob in Tbilisi chased away a downtown rally designed to commemorate the May 17 International Day against Homophobia. “Kill them! Tear them to pieces!” yelled the agitated crowd as police struggled to evacuate a handful of gay-rights supporters from the Georgian capital's central Freedom Square.

It was a scene of medieval mob violence, as thousands of Georgians-- mostly young men, but also robed priests and women in headscarves-- stormed through a police cordon and went pursuing the activists. “Where are they? Don’t let them leave alive!” screamed frenzied men, as they took over the square, outnumbering and overpowering police troops.

Police barely managed to herd some of the LGBT activists into municipal buses, before angry protesters surrounded the vehicles. The crowd hit, threw stones and followed the buses as they pushed their way out of the square.

The pursuit continued on the side streets. Just outside the square, a mob tried to storm a house, where several gay rights activists had sought refuge. “Drag them out, stomp them to death,” screamed one woman as  she tried to push her way through a group of policemen, who wrestled with the mob at the entrance of the house.

Youngsters swore, beat and threw various objects at police officers, who eventually pulled the activists into a car. A stampede occurred as the mob tried to chase the car down the narrow street, with some falling into ditches.

At the different corner of the downtown, several activists sought asylum in a grocery store and police managed to fight off the mob that tried to break into the shop.

Very few civilians dared to speak against the violence. “Look at yourselves! You call yourselves Christians?” objected one elderly woman in tears, speaking from a balcony. “Go ahead, kill everyone you are told to hate in the name of God and national values.”

Government officials from both the ruling Georgian Dream and President Mikheil Saakashvili's minority National Movement condemned the violence and blamed each other's policies for it.

“Both groups have a full right to hold peaceful rallies. Violence is unacceptable,” said Justice Minister Tea Tsulukuani.

Appearing on Rustavi2 television, senior National Movement parliamentarian Gigi Tsereteli called the violence "anarchy," and noted that "This is not the state we were building..."

On the eve of the clash, the highly revered leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, called on the city government not to allow an LGBT demonstration in Tbilisi.

The patriarch also urged restrained conduct, but gay-rights activists claim that the church fomented the display of violence by speaking out against the rally.

In what some participants described as a voluntary initiative, gay-rights opponents, led by priests, gathered in the morning of May 17 and marched toward Freedom Square with posters like “Stop Promoting Homosexuality in Georgia” and “Homosexuality is the Worst Sin.” Parish women held strands of nettle in their hands.

“Nettle has curative properties,” one woman commented to EurasiaNet.org. “A few hits in the right place and it will kick those demented thoughts out of their heads.”

As the rally degenerated into violence, protesters screamed verbal abuse at Georgia’s National Ombudsman Ucha Nanuashvili and a US embassy official, who also showed up at the demonstration.

Brawls broke out in several parts of town and dozens were hospitalized. The tensions that continued for hours steamed off after the church called on the believers to relocate to the city’s main cathedral, Holy Trinity.

Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili earlier had emphasized that sexual minorities have equal rights with other Georgians under the law, adding that "Society will get used to it." So far, it doesn't look like it has.

Americans, Canadians and citizens of the European Union don't need visas to visit Georgia. The water isn't safe to drink there but "it is a very ingrained and idiosyncratic characteristic of Georgian hospitality that Georgians wish nothing more than to hear that foreigners are enjoying their experience in Georgia. Expect to be asked whether you enjoy Georgia and its cuisine. And it is expected that you respectfully reply in the affirmative. Otherwise your 'hosts' will look terribly dejected as if expressing a feeling of collective failure to show visitors enough hospitality." Watch the video to get a better insight into the national character.

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Bits'n'Pieces-- Guns And Religion

How Far Will McConnell Step Over The Line?

You know with all the hubbub over the surreptitiously taped McConnell staff meeting where they were planning a strategy for smearing Ashley Judd and other potential opponents, one thing that seems to have gotten by our watchdog media is the transcript itself. The McConnell camp used "3rd party" to submit an open records request for Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. So who, exactly, was that "3rd party" referred to by the McConnell mob? Was it a shady right-wing SuperPac McConnell was illegally coordinating with? Or was it a certain journalist who is a secret McConnell surrogate? Curious minds need to know.

Which Religious Beliefs Are Too Crazy For Gun Ownership?

Human sacrifice... in fact animal sacrifice is probably enough so that practitioners should get a pretty thorough psychological examination before buying any weapons. Republican propagandist Erick Erickson is winding up his crazed followers with tweets like the one above and another one claiming they should thank Pat Toomey "in 5 years when you can't buy a gun b/c a doctor says ur crazy for believing in a resurrected Jesus." I don't detect any anti-Christian sentiment in America, at least not in the hands of anywhere remotely close to wielding any kind of power. This is more right-wing exploitation of their cult of victimology. In this case, using it in an attempt to rile up the rabble against a pretty tepid bill requiring background checks, one tepid-- and sensible-- enough that the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms endorsed it. As far as Christians... well, I might worry about the ones who focus on snake handling and who get hung up on the ranting and raving of John of Patmos... but that's just me.

Drugged Up Religionist Nuts

And while we're on the subject of crackpot religionists, I'm sure we don't have to tell you where most of them live, right? The most religious regions of the country are located in southern states, and a recent poll revealed that, indeed, except for Utah (56%), well over 50% of the population in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Oklahoma consider themselves to be very religious, and they are very depressed.

In a study conducted between 2000 and 2006 by a large pharmaceutical manufacturer, they discovered that the most religious states have the highest percentage of the population using some kind of anti-depressant drug. The comprehensive study focused on the implications and numerous challenges of managing prescription drug costs, and they focused on the “sociodemographic forces influencing the use of prescription drugs,” but they did not examine the role religion plays in the higher-than-average use of anti-depressants. It is quite possible, and likely, that “very religious” Christians are having difficulty reconciling their Christ-centered beliefs with the direction American Christianity is going, and the conflicts inherent with adhering to archaic knowledge and understanding of the world while living in the 21st century where science and empirical data contradicts the superstitious and antiquated “facts” contained in the Christian bible.

Faith in Christ is supposed to be succor to the afflicted, and give hope to his followers that living a life of charity and love for all human kind is the path to happiness now and earns the reward of life eternal in Christ’s presence in Heaven. However, the trend among many Christians is rejecting the tenets of Christ’s message for harsh Old Testament edicts meant to instill fear and guilt endemic to disobeying god’s laws instead of love of neighbor, and it must affect the mental state of adherents struggling to reconcile Christ’s love with the Old Testament message of an angry and wrathful “god of love.” It is no wonder the “very religious” are depressed when they read in their bible that Christ commanded the rich to give away all their belongings to the poor to enter into Heaven, and yet their clergy preach support of politicians who take from the poor to give to the rich. Are they compensating for their religious dilemma by resorting to chemicals to assuage the misery of disobeying their lord and savior, Jesus Christ, or dulling the guilt from causing suffering on their fellow Americans?

Most of the political and cultural positions of highly religious states give the appearance that unless Christians force their Old Testament sensibilities featuring intolerance, hatred, and retribution for non-compliance with god’s laws on the rest of America, they are doomed to burn in everlasting fire.  And yet, they read in scripture that Jesus commanded them to treat their enemies and non-believers with peace and love, and lacking fortitude to challenge the clergy’s contradictions, it is just as easy to stay sedate to mask their internal conflict as they support the proliferation of guns, treating women as slaves, and punishing gays; many of them fellow Christians.

I'd rather we keep people who are on anti-depressants and other heavy drugs away from guns than people who believe in Jesus' resurrection.

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