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.
A Colorado man who was rescued from his submerged car by first responders now claims, via his lawyer, that it was something else that saved him: grace, presumably of the divine kind. And he’s getting ready to sue the people who pulled him to safety — because he says they took too long to show up. A Broomfield man who was rescued from his submerged car during the September floods has filed papers indicating he might sue his rescuers and first responders. Read more
The prophet Mohammed famously married a six- or seven-year-old, Aisha, and consummated the marriage when the girl was nine or ten. Even Muslim theocracies can’t get away with that kind of child rape anymore, so they’ve made concessions to modernity and raised the marriageable age of girls. In Pakistan, it’s officially 16 — but many of the nation’s top clerics now say that’s an un-Islamic innovation that ought to be reversed. They want no marriageable age set by law. None. Read more
A BBC reporter looks into the healing power of prayer and is oddly unimpressed. “Can I put my hand on your face?”, asks Alun Leppitt. Alun is the pastor of a Pentecostal church in Southampton. He’s a burly man who works as a video editor to pay the bills, but his passion is curing people through the power of prayer. I don’t have much wrong with me apart from a nagging mouth ulcer, but he’s willing to give it a go. “We command this mouth ulcer to go, in the name of Jesus,” he says, palm on my cheek. “We command any pain, infection or trauma to go.” I don’t like to disappoint Alun, but I can’t feel any difference. He has two more attempts but there’s no change. Read more
Pastor Bobby Davis was loyal to his Miracle Faith World Outreach Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut, which he’d founded and where he’d served for 47 years. A certified marriage therapist, David had been married for 50. Last Sunday, he unburdened himself, telling his flock that he had committed infidelity. Shouting ensued, so loud that it could be heard outside the church. Then, Davis collapsed, never to wake up. A congregation loudly confronted its long-time pastor about his alleged infidelity during a service — and in the midst of their yelling the pastor dropped dead. Read more
Ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students in Israel have been exempt from serving in the country’s military since the nation’s founding. Military service is mandatory for both the irreligious and the moderately devout; but ultra-Orthodox Jews claim that when their children study the scriptures, they’re doing more important work for the country’s safety than those who serve as Hamas fodder. “Let the other families sacrifice their children instead,” has been the thinking in these circles. “Ours are just too godly.” But after years of debates and legislative wrangling, the free ride is over, reports the Huffington Post: Read more
