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.
United States District Court judge Clarke Waddoups got a lot of people’s attention yesterday by striking down a portion of the Utah anti-polygamy ordinance as unconstitutional. Readers who get their news by skimming the headlines aren’t going to get this one, because what happened requires ten seconds of careful reading. The court left the part of the law intact that says you can only be legally married — with a license — to one person at a time. If you’re already married, obtaining any subsequent license is still illegal. Waddoups’ ruling doesn’t change that. So why the handwringing and the cries of “Gomorrah”? Read more
One of the problems with the notion that Jesus died for your sins is that you’re pre-forgiven by the only authority you believe really matters. As for earthly justice, I have a feeling the court won’t be overly impressed by Alexander Gonzalez Garcia’s excuse for sexually assaulting an underage girl. Read more
Yeah, sure you’ll get my attention with a line like this: Parents met with church leaders to discuss criminal charges they were considering filing against the church for child endangerment, neglect and torture. But it’s not a news account. It’s part of the fake story behind a new Christian horror film, The Lock In, that purports to show how watching porn is a danger to one’s mortal soul. The working premise seems to be that Beelzebub lurks inside lady parts. Or maybe that’s chlamydia. (See? I’m already confused.) Anyway, I know I had you at “Christian horror film,” so without further ado, here’s the trailer: Read more
Irony, thy name is Reverend Simon Tatton-Brown. The Anglican vicar, ad-libbing to a student assembly of children ages five to eleven, told his shocked audience that God isn’t real, and that the Bible is full of child murder and perversion. No wait, my bad. I’ll try again: A vicar has been forced to apologise after claiming at a primary school assembly that Father Christmas does not exist and recounting the gruesome story of Saint Nicholas. Reverend Simon Tatton-Brown infuriated parents of youngsters at Charter Primary by questioning the existence of Santa. Read more
