Jessica Bluemke grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and graduated from Ball State University in 2008 with a BA in Literature. She currently works as a writer and resides on the North side of Chicago.
Harvard Divinity School professor Karen King has announced the discovery of a 2nd century fragment of papyrus that contains the words “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife…'” So what does this mean? Well, it turns out, not a whole hell of a lot: King has been quick to add this discovered text “does not, however, provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married,” she wrote in a draft of her analysis of the fragment set to appear in the January edition of… Read more
Secular Woman is planning a fundraiser for this November with a very interesting and highly provocative subject matter. It’s a calander titled “Atheists Breaking Through — The Reveal” and it will feature “nude and semi-nude nonbelievers of various races, genders, ages and body types.” According to a press release: The rationale behind the calendar’s nudity theme is to project the imagery of openness, joy, and freedom within the freethought community, in distinct contrast to cultures that objectify and repress. Bridget Gaudette, Vice President of… Read more
Marathon runner Ryan Hall has had a rough year. He developed plantar fasciitis on his left foot, which lead to a hamstring injury (causing him to drop out of the Olympic Marathon), which lead to a quad injury, which means he’s missing the New York City Marathon this November. He hasn’t been able to run for three weeks which, for a serious runner, sucks. But lets back up a bit to see if we can figure out what happened… Hall is even… Read more
Oh, Rick Santorum, I was at once giddy about and terrified by your run for the presidency. While the prospect of having a President Santorum was shudder-inducing, you just kept coming up with just the silliest, most stereotypically clueless nonsense. Highlights include: One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country… Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not… Read more
About a week ago, I talked about Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe and his amazing letter about gay rights. I didn’t get terribly far into how Kluwe came to write that letter, and in doing so, I only briefly touched on the other hero of that story, Brendon Ayanbadejo. Here’s a recap: Ayanbadejo had participated in a video for a series of spots called “Marylanders for Marriage Equality” (Maryland is one of four states where gay marriage is going to be put to… Read more
