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.
The first time I chuckled out loud over something Pastor Daniel K. Norris wrote was a couple of weeks ago, when he reminded parents not to brag about their children, only to divulge in the same piece that his daughter is “absolutely gorgeous” and that “I’m raising a Saint!” Modesty. Norris will no doubt tell you it’s one of his greatest virtues. Now he’s found my funny bone again, this time by chastising pastors, like those in the Clergy Project, who’ve begun to doubt their faith. He faults them for … not keeping a closed mind. I was waiting for some kind of twist on that eye-popping statement, some clever reveal, but Norris appears to mean it in all earnestness. Keeping your mind closed, he says, is the only lasting path to Jesus. Open-mindedness is celebrated as an enlightened virtue, one that should be embraced at all times towards all things. Yes, there are a multitude of things that I do not know, and I am very much open to learning. I love the art of discovery, as all God’s children should. However, sooner or later, your path of discovery has to lead you to a place of decision. Read more
A fringe Haredi sect in Canada is denying or downplaying allegations that it abuses its members, many of them children. The group, Lev Tahor, first butted heads with authorities in Québec in the fall of 2013, when the state found the sect’s homeschooling curriculum to be inadequate. About two hundred members fled, children and all, claiming religious persecution, and because they feared that some of the school-age kids would be taken away. Read more
In India, reincarnations of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, have been proliferating like shopping-mall Santas. The latest example: Chandre Orean, 35, from West Bengal, who gives daily blessings to devotees in a small shrine at his home. He and Hanuman are totally like twins: Why do throngs of Hindus flock to Orean? Because he has cultivated a 14.5-inch tuft of hair that grows, Hanuman-like, from the bottom of his spine. Touching it is thought to bestow good luck (but do avoid fingering the dingleberries). Read more
This month, the Marlowe Theater in Canterbury, England, marks the 450th birthday of the man it was named after: playwright Christopher Marlowe, a contemporary of William Shakespeare. The theater will put on some of Marlowe’s greatest works, including Faustus and the Jew Of Malta. Marlowe was probably a government spy before he turned to writing, and all his life he enjoyed hanging out with characters of ill repute, including brawlers and swindlers. He was once arrested on suspicion of having tried to counterfeit coins, a capital offense, but nothing came of the accusation. Read more
