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.
This past Monday, something really rather insightful was published on Fox News Opinion. And if that’s not enough of an eyebrow-raising statement, consider that the author’s last name was Cheney. Okay, not former Vice-President Dick Cheney, but his daughter Mary Cheney. In the piece, Cheney (who’s openly lesbian herself) tackled conservative objections to same-sex marriage. And she pulled no punches in addressing the spurious claims of impending religious persecution, as well the hypocrisy of marketing the GOP as pro-family while attacking families like hers: Read more
Rick Santorum has a message for Pope Francis: Pipe down about climate change and get back to theology and morality. It’s an interesting position for a committed Catholic to take, not least of all since Pope Francis’ take on climate change is that addressing it is a moral imperative. But it’s not just that the former Senator seems to think he knows better than the Pope about how to be pope that makes this story interesting. It’s that he, a politician who has no problem denying the scientific consensus on climate change, states that Pope Francis, who accepts what scientists have to say on the matter, should leave science to the scientists. (Hello, lack of self-awareness!) Read more
After decades of vicious attacks on the moral character, mental health, and legal rights of LGBT people, members of the Christian Right find themselves in the position of contemplating a world in which people don’t approve of their views. And it’s terribly discomforting. Senator Marco Rubio expressed his deep concern over this impending crisis in an interview with David Brody of Christian Broadcasting News. Read more
If you’ve been following the Josh Duggar child molestation scandal, and how quickly some Christians have dismissed the crime, one thing is abundantly clear: conservative Christian morality is more or less a contradiction in terms these days. That community — from former governor, pastor and presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, to right-wing writers and bloggers like Matt Walsh (at The Blaze) and Krystal Heath (on LouderWithCrowder.com) — has rallied to the defense of Duggar, who, while in his teens, repeatedly touched young girls, including his own sisters, on their breasts and vaginas. Read more
Jeb Bush is tired of the arrogance that abounds in the discussion of climate change. That’s right, he’s tired of the legislators who think that a snowball trumps science. He’s fed up with the graduates of the University of Conspiracy Theories and the Research Fellows at the Institute of I-Googled-That-So-I’m-An-Expert who think that 97% of the subject matter experts who have spent years studying the topic are either wrong, part of a global-warming-promoting-cabal, or both. Nah, I’m just kidding. He’s really tired of the people who think that those goofy “experts” know what they’re talking about and the “arrogance” of refusing to acknowledge a non-existent controversy. Read more
