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.
Three years ago, Anna Whiston-Donaldson, a mother and writer in Virginia, experienced the almost unimaginable pain of losing a child. Her son Jack drowned in a creek just up the street from the family’s home. He was only 12. Donaldson just published a memoir of her grief. Here’s one quote: Read more
When the Allies jailed and tried many of the members of the Nazi high command after the end of World War II, Henry Gerecke (pictured) tended to the defendants’ “spiritual needs.” Gerecke was a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod pastor who worked to bring Hermann Göring, Albert Speer, and others not so much to justice, but to Jesus. A non-fiction book about his efforts, written by Tim Townsend, recently hit store shelves. Read more
The New York Times explains what went wrong in the latest religious calamity in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh: [S]everal pilgrims offered parikrama, in this case a form of prayer that involves progressing along the path in a supine position. They don’t walk. They lie prone keeping a piece of coconut in their hand, they stretch fully, and then they get up,” [a police official] said. “This is how they make progress.” As one pilgrim offered parikrama, another inadvertently brushed against her, and in order to apologize, touched her feet, a mark of respect in India. Though the path was relatively wide, it was so crowded that this sudden halt caused a human traffic jam, ending in the victims being trampled, including the woman offering parikrama. Read more
[Note: All links in this post should be considered Not Safe For Work!] Egyptian women’s rights activist Aliaa Elmahdy isn’t afraid of a little controversy, to put it mildly. For a few years, she’s been issuing bold fuck-yous to the forces of patriarchy and religion, appearing without clothing (and often with slogans on her body) on Facebook and in a Swedish mosque. On Saturday, Elmahdy, who’s been living in exile in Europe, posted her most daring and controversial photo yet. She is seen squatting over a black ISIS banner that contains the words “There is no God but Allah.” Elmahdy is menstruating on the flag, while a second woman, dressed in an Islamic veil, simultaneously defecates on it while holding up a middle finger to the camera. This is just a crop: Read more
A friend from Europe took a stroll through Harlem, New York yesterday, and encountered this church sign on West 123rd Street. All churches & members that support homos cursed be thou with cancer HIV syphilis stroke madness the itch then hell 1 Cor. 6:9 “Isn’t it nice, all those little church communities, each of them with their own vision of the surprises that God has in store for humanity,” my friend deadpanned. Read more
