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.
“It’s supposed to be white with white. Black with black. Man with woman and all of that,” Jessica Black of Craigsville, Virginia, explained to her local TV station. A reporter had asked her why she would let her seven-year-old son dress as a KKK member for Halloween — and her answer was, in part, that it’s a valued family tradition. Nothing wrong with the Ku Klux Klan, Ms. Black emphasized. Read more
It’s not every day that the mayor of a U.S. town seeks the guidance of a convicted sex criminal, especially in matters of the law. Enter George M. Allred, who wrote gushing letters to polygamist Warren Jeffs (pictured below) of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints, soliciting Jeffs’ help in pressing government business — such as the hiring of a new police chief. (Jeffs, as you may recall, is serving a life sentence for sexual assaults on girls aged 12 and 15.) The Salt Lake Tribune has the story: Read more
This is a cell phone picture of blogger Rick Gonzalez’s dad, demonstratively not sharing a meal with his son and with Lucas, his four-year-old grandson. The elder Gonzalez is a Jehovah’s Witness. After his son expressed doubts about the movement, its Watchtower Governing Body promptly ordered the father to shun Rick and Lucas. This is how Rick tells it: After my mother died eight months ago, my dad, being all alone, went to the elders in the congregation he attended to see if he’d be allowed to visit with me. They said that since I was his son, he could visit with me at his house. But he could not discuss religion — nor could he share a meal with me at the same table. Two weeks ago, I called my dad and asked if his grandson and I could visit him. He said “yes” and even offered to make lunch. But shortly before serving the meal, he said that he wasn’t going to sit at the same table with us. When I asked why, his reply was, “The organization says so.” So at lunchtime, Gonzalez père took his plate and situated himself with his back to two of the people in the world who he loves the most. Because his cult told him that this is God’s way. Read more
If you like comedy, there is much to love about this news story of a teenager who dressed up as Jesus for Halloween — starting with his mom’s penchant for inadvertent punnery. 17-year-old Marshon Sanders stepped into Highland Park High School Thursday morning wearing a white toga, red sash, sandals, a giant cross necklace and a crown of thorns. “He nailed it,” [said] proud mom Angenetta Frison. Read more
Cyanide & Happiness is a web comic (also available in book form) that gets pretty dark at times — as the name implies. Abortion, religion, death, and suicide are among the topics tackled by the four-man black-comedy team. Yesterday, co-creator Rob DenBleyker found out he had been banned from Facebook for 12 hours. His offense? This comic (I can’t say I even understood the joke at first), which had been on his personal Facebook page for four months. Out of the blue, someone decided that such heresy must be reported and punished. Read more
