Rachel Ford is a programmer, and since 8:00 to 5:00 doesn't provide enough opportunity to bask in screen glare, she writes in her spare time. She was raised a very fundamentalist Christian, but eventually "saw the light." Rachel's personal blog is Rachel's Hobbit Hole, where she discusses everything from Tolkien to state politics.
There’s been a minor Internet kerfuffle over some comments iconic actor Patrick Stewart recently made in defense of Christian bakers in Northern Ireland who refused to make a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan on it, and who were subsequently fined. This seems to have caused particular delight in some quarters of the anti-gay marriage crowd since Stewart is a longtime advocate for LGBT rights and equality — not the kind of person you’d expect to resurrect the standard religious persecution narrative. Read more
There are a lot of well-meaning but obtuse things you can say to a grieving person after the death of a family member. Things like “He’s in a better place now” or “God needed His special angel home early” or “Everything happens for a reason” come to mind. But it’s almost always clear that these phrases, no matter how unhelpful and even hurtful they can be, are well-intentioned. They’re meant to provide comfort. Because that’s what we attempt to do — even if we don’t do it well — when we learn that someone has lost a loved one. Which makes Pat Robertson’s recent comments all the more appalling. They’re so monstrous that it seems beyond the pale for anyone to think saying them would be a good idea. Read more
If the Rings of Power were running for office, they’d get a better showing than Rick Santorum did at a recent campaign stop — because the One Ring would at least guarantee the presence of both Sméagol and Gollum. Santorum, by contrast, showed up to find himself greeted by the head of the Audubon County Republican Party. Just the head of the local party, as it happens. Peggy Toft, group chair, was the only one waiting for Santorum at the campaign stop in Hamlin, Iowa. (Which, if you’re looking for a silver lining, is still far from the most embarrassing thing that shows up when you Google Santorum’s name.) Read more
Conservative Christian blogger Matt Walsh (who you may remember for his recent, peculiar defense of the Duggars) is deeply offended — for women — when people refer to Caitlyn Jenner by her name. (That is, as a woman.) In fact, Walsh is so deeply insulted on behalf of women that he wrote a piece on The Blaze to explain, in some really hateful terms, just how insulted he was. And, naturally, he found time to knock feminism in the process (which, presumably, he’s also doing for women). Read more
