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.
Pastor Paul Washer of HeartCry Missionary Society is determined to not let Muslim clerics have all the woman-oppressing fun. Claiming his own piece of that action, he’s letting everyone know in a YouTube video that Christian women whose clothes reveal the outline of their body are “sensual” and “wrong,” and that such interpretations of God’s will are “just logic.” So, ladies — think baggy. “God is not against beauty. He is against sensuality,” we hear Washer intone. “Your clothing is a frame for your face from which the Glory of God is to shine.” Read more
European countries seem to be getting increasingly serious about ending the genital mutilation of children. Four months ago, Eurocrats in Strasbourg overwhelmingly passed a resolution that called male ritual circumcision a “violation of the physical integrity of children.” The resolution asked member states to … “initiate a public debate, including intercultural and interreligious dialogue, aimed at reaching a large consensus on the rights of children to protection against violations of their physical integrity according to human rights standards” and to “adopt specific legal provisions to ensure that certain operations and practices will not be carried out before a child is old enough to be consulted.” Practices covered by the resolution include female genital mutilation [and] the circumcision of young boys for religious reasons. Read more
Bob Larson, a televangelist and the pastor of the Spiritual Freedom Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, wants to rid you of evil spirits. He’s an experienced demon-slayer who says he’s cast out 20,000 of them — but it’s a big job he’ll never finish, because as much as half of the world’s population is possessed. Who knew? There’s good news, though: If a demon lurks inside you, and you procure Pastor Bob’s services, no need to get up from your La-Z-Boy; you can Skype the demon extractor nowadays. CNN has the story: Read more
