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.
Yesterday, the Modesto Bee reported that a local church is missing the star player from its nativity scene. When [pastor Ryan Cortright] arrived at the church, he noticed something missing from the Nativity scene in front of the church: Baby Jesus. “Mary and Joseph are still there, looking for him, but he’s not there,” Cortright said. The Bee doesn’t say if police were called, and whether an investigation ensued. My guess is that, these days, such a case would be low on the cops’ priority list. Read more
I came across another falsified claim of brutal anti-Christian oppression today. Predictably, this image and its caption were shared thousands of times, including on Facebook and other social media, by Christians eager to advance their religion’s core “woe is us” narrative. Let’s see if we can find the origin of the picture, and the story behind it. It turns out to be an Agence France Presse photo, to which Getty has distribution rights. Here’s the same shot, as presented in Getty’s vast online catalog: Read more
According to a range of African news sources, Nigerian celebrity pastor and televangelist Chris Okotie likes to drive around in style. He allegedly already owned a Mercedes S600, a Hummer, and a Porsche, but now he’s upping the ante, reports Sunday Punch. The Pastor of the Household of God Church International, Chris Okotie, recently bought a Rolls Royce Coupe, the 2014 Bespoke Edition, to mark his 30 years as born-again Christian and 27 years as a pastor. According to Okotie’s close aide, the pastor spent N120m [$753,000] on the luxury car and had earlier spent N33m [$207,000] on a Range Rover Autobiography to mark a milestone of his church. Read more
From the U.K. Independent: [Retailer] Marks & Spencer has told Muslim staff they can refuse to serve customers who are trying to buy pork or alcohol. [Cashiers] who do not want to handle certain goods for religious reasons have been given permission to politely ask customers to go to another checkout, or wait for another member of staff. Are you fine with that? Read more
