Eideard

Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

A man who hijacked a Mexican plane is a singing evangelical minister, marksman and martial arts whiz who friends nicknamed “Crazy” as he turned to religion to escape a life of drug addiction and petty thieving.

Bolivian-born Jose Mar Flores, 44, set off a national security alert on Wednesday when he hijacked a plane flying from Cancun to Mexico City. He wielded a Bible and fruit juice cans filled with earth and bound with silver tape and wires to look like bombs.

The AeroMexico plane landed safely and all on board escaped unhurt after a senior crew member reasoned with Flores, who read from his Bible, wept, prayed and said he needed to warn Mexican President Felipe Calderon of an impending earthquake.

“I love this nation, I love God’s people. I want us to pray because tremendous things are ahead,” Flores told reporters after his arrest. “There is only one way to avoid it — by uniting, by crying out wherever we are, whoever we are, whatever our religion, by begging God for this not to happen.”

Security Minister Genaro Garcia Luna said Flores told police he picked the attack for September 9, 2009 because the date 9-9-9 is the inverse of 6-6-6, a number associated with the devil, and that the Holy Spirit accompanied him on his mission. He has yet to be charged…

Anyone surprised that this loonybird has “followers”?

Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

Evangelist Tony Alamo is going to prison.

A raid forced in haste, a prosecution relying on decade-old memories and a jury dealing with a century-old morality law could have given Alamo, 74, a chance to walk away from sex-crime charges a free man.

The five women he took as underage “wives” when they were as young as 8 didn’t let that happen.

Jurors cried with the women through their testimony, listening as they related how Alamo told them God commanded them to be his sexual partners and even molested one girl while in federal prison. They did not falter under cross-examination, staring down the man who took their childhood and exploited their faith.

“I just don’t want him to hurt anybody else,” the woman Alamo took as a “bride” at age 8 said on the stand, weeping. “I don’t want him to touch my little sister. She’s only 12…”

“I’m just another one of the prophets that went to jail for the Gospel,” Alamo called to reporters as U.S. marshals escorted him back to jail.

Shouts of “Bye, bye, Bernie” — Alamo was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman — came from a crowd gathered to watch.

Throw away the key!

UPDATE: Practically the same as throwing away the key. Found guilty – and sentenced to 175 years.

Conservative religious groups are criticizing President Obama for what the Associated Press called his “muted” observance of National Prayer Day Thursday. “At this time in our country’s history, we would hope our President would recognize more fully the importance of prayer,” said Shirley Dobson, chairwoman of National Day of Prayer Task Force, which organizes the prayer day festivities. The Family Research Council said Obama’s decision to not have a big White House prayer event constituted a “de-emphasis on prayer.”

How about an increased emphasis on reality?

I think this is actually a case of religious conservatives having cut off their noses to spite their faces. Putting aside for a moment the question of whether it’s appropriate for the White House to be involved in encouraging prayer, this particular occasion has evolved in a way that almost guaranteed its demise.

The Bush White House had National Prayer Day run by a conservative, evangelistic Christian group. The mission statement on the Task Force’s Web site states that “in accordance with Biblical truth,” the Task Force seeks to, among other things:

“Foster unity within the Christian Church”
“Publicize and preserve America’s Christian Heritage”
“Glorify the Lord in word and deed”

The event became a showcase for religious conservative Christians to lead the nation in prayer…

These are, after all, the klowns who helped conjure up Bush’s ignominious defeat with all of their sectarian brouhaha. For that we owe them thanks.

Eight years of public butt-kissing doesn’t make ritual and superstition automatically part of the Constitution.