Terry Firma, though born and Journalism-school-educated in Europe, has lived in the U.S. for the past 20-odd years. Stateside, his feature articles have been published in the New York Times, Reason, Rolling Stone, Playboy, and Wired. Terry was the founder and Main Mischief Maker of Moral Compass, a now-dormant site that pokes fun at the delusional claim by people of faith that a belief in God equips them with superior moral standards. He was the Editor-in-Chief of two Manhattan-based magazines until he decided to give up commercial publishing for professional photography... with a lot of blogging on the side. These days, he lives in an old seaside farmhouse in Maine with his wife, three kids, and two big dogs.
It was just a drawing before, but now we have something very tangible indeed: The Satanic Church’s sculpture of Baphomet flanked by fresh-faced children has been bronzed and is being assembled as I write this. In a matter of months, it could share pride of place with the Ten Commandments monument in front of Okahoma’s Capitol building. Vice paid a visit to sculptor Mark Porter’s work space and found that … different parts of the sculpture lay scattered across the property. The bust sat on a wooden table inside a sort of open-air shed, while the torso rested nearby on a smaller table. The hooves and arms were splayed out on the ground nearby. The following day, Porter, along with two other men, would begin the arduous process of welding the disparate pieces together to create a smooth, fluid sculpture meant to serve as a testament to the equal representation of all religions under United States law. Thanks to Vice and Porter, there are pictures! For instance: Read more
In November of last year, when 14-month-old John Clark of Calgary, Canada was finally taken to the hospital for a serious staph infection, it was too late for the usual treatment with antibiotics. The boy was weakened beyond hope by a severe nutritional deficit; he died despite the last-minute medical care. Why was he critically malnourished? According to Calgary police officers, who charged the parents just the other day, it was because “The family followed a strict dietary regimen based on their faith and nutritional beliefs,” said Sgt. Doug Andrus. Read more
The incomparable and irreplaceable Christopher Hitchens died on this day in 2011. All his adult life, he was known for tearing things down (rousingly and riotously, I might add) — but here, in a video he made for Vanity Fair, Hitchens offers constructive criticism, reimagining the Ten Commandments as an actual moral document. Of course, that requires some sorely needed changes to God’s original. Hitch is equal to the task. Read more
Two years ago, Monsignor Bernard McGarty was driving by a festive display of holiday lights in his hometown of La Crosse, Wisconsin, enjoying Christmas carols on the radio, when a thought struck him: How dismal and cheerless La Crosse would be if the town had embraced atheism rather than Christianity! So, oblivious to the fact that winter solstice celebrations — with lights! — predated Christmas by probably a couple of millennia, Father McGarty soon penned an editorial for the local newspaper that revealed how it’s unlikely that he personally knows any atheists. Consider: If La Crosse had been founded and populated by atheists, McGarty claimed, The symphony would not have a theater with perfect acoustics, such as the house provided by the Franciscan Sisters. If the symphony were to play in a less august space, any of the religious music of Mendelssohn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Bizet and Verdi would be offensive to atheist ears. … At Passover, Holy Week and then Easter, no hearing Handel’s “Messiah,” celebrating resurrection. The “Messiah” lifts me off my feet. I soar as I hear it. Does atheism produce any comparable composition celebrating nothingness? By their fruits you shall know them. There would be no YWCA, no YMCA providing a swimming pool, gymnasium, weight room and other programs. Are atheists getting a free ride on we believers? Read more
A billboard along I-95 near Richmond, Virginia, erected recently by PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays), has come in for derision after the man depicted on it contacted local news to say the roadside ad takes serious liberties with the truth. South African model Kyle Roux clarified that he doesn’t have a twin brother, and that he is himself an out-and-proud gay man: Read more
