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.
Well, I think we’ve found another example of Christian persecution in this country (you listening, Todd Starnes?): a prisoner’s Bible has been seized by Hamilton County (Ohio) prison officials. And — it gets worse — both the prisoner and the woman who sent it to him are facing charges. Did I mention, that Bible was laced with a dose of heroin sufficient to kill someone? Okay, so maybe not persecution after all. (Don’t worry, Starnes. I’m sure one of these stories will pan out, someday). Cincinnati’s WLWT reports: Read more
Several church leaders (and many congregants) in Tulsa, Oklahoma showed up to church yesterday sporting hoodies, all as part of a statement that would make even atheists smile. It was in response to Oklahoma Senate Bill 13 — a bill proposed by Republican State Senator Don Barrington that would impose a fine of up to $500 for wearing a hoodie in public. More broadly, the bill would make it a crime for anyone to “intentionally conceal his or her identity in a public place.” Noting that there are free-speech implications as well as racial undertones to the bill, several Tulsa churches joined in a concerted protest against this proposal. “Hoodie Sunday,” as it was dubbed, took place on the Sunday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Read more
Religiously conservative Muslim countries are (in)famous for minimizing, shaming, and repressing human sexuality. Shockingly enough, this doesn’t actually seem to be a foolproof strategy for convincing people to refrain from expressing or enjoying their bodies. On the contrary, many of these countries are home to some of the highest consumers of porn in the world. (The same effect can also be observed in the largely religious U.S. South, where some of the strongest areas of opposition to LGBT rights also lead the nation in gay porn searches.) Read more
