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.
As the Ebola virus threatens to tear through West Africa, having already made 1,500 victims in Liberia this year, it’s worth rejoicing that we have self-styled bishop Edward Adjei, of the Christ Incorporated church, to cure his fellow Liberians. His method could hardly be simpler: All it takes is a three-day prayer session, an exorcism of the presidential palace … and a few bottles of Vimto, the purple British soft-drink. Read more
Meet Jan Morgan. A blogger, Second-Amendment activist, firearms instructor, former TV anchor, and shooting-range owner, she’s found herself caught up in quite the imbroglio over the past few days. You see, Morgan says she will no longer have Muslims at her range. This is what sealed her decision: Two Muslims walked into my range last week with Allahu Akbar ring tone and message alert tones on their smart phones. They spoke very little English, one did not have proof of U.S. citizenship, yet they wanted to rent and shoot guns. They were constantly glancing toward the cameras in the range, then looking at each other and speaking in their own language. Their behavior was so strange, it frightened my patrons. No one would enter the range to shoot while they were there. Some of my customers left. Read more
Some 300 million people in India, roughly a quarter of all Indian citizens, are Dalits — literally, “broken people,” but more commonly called “untouchables.” It wasn’t supposed to be like that. Almost 60 years ago, India formally abolished caste-based discrimination (untouchability). But centuries-old habits die hard, and discrimination against “low” castes is still rife in many parts of the country. The news agency Reuters says that Dalits “still face prejudice in every sector from education to employment.” This affront to the idea of meritocracy obviously pays no heed to whatever successes individual Dalits attain. As a Dalit, you can become, through good luck and perseverance, a judge, a doctor, or a state governor… and scores of Indian people will still treat you like, well, shit. Violence against Dalits is common. The good news: Thanks to religion, that great equalizer — that hugely successful promoter of love, peace, and oneness — Hindu temples all over India are much-needed safe havens for Dalits. Just kidding. The government in the Indian state of Bihar has ordered an investigation after reports that a Hindu temple was cleaned and its idols washed after a visit by the state’s chief minister (governor), who belongs to a lower caste community. Read more
As they’ve often done since at least the eighth century, Mo fans and Shiva supporters have been violently clashing in India: The police have made hundreds of arrests in the past several days in an attempt to stop religious riots in the Indian city of Vadodara, in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat. So far, the violence has been confined to stabbings and the torching of around a dozen vehicles, D.J. Patel, a senior police official in Vadodara, said on Monday. Read more
