After yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of government prayer, here are a few takeaways that might have been lost in the aftermath: Read more
A year ago, Al Bedrosian was a Republican running for a seat on the Roanoke County (Virginia) Board of Supervisors. As it turned out, Bedrosian had written an article for the Roanoke Times several years prior to his candidacy in which he talked about how this country was not only a Christian nation, but one where non-Christians should not be allowed to worship at all: Read more
A New York Times editorial in today’s paper calls yesterday’s Supreme Court decision a “lamentable ruling” and a “defeat for religious neutrality.” It also includes a swipe at the Obama Administration for defending the prayers: Read more
Sometime in December, Jayne Cravens noticed that a Facebook page for volunteer firefighters had posted a decidedly Christian image: Read more
When the notorious uber-Christian Roy Moore, who was re-elected Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2012, gets together with a fawning audience in Jackson, Mississippi, the results don’t disappoint. Or maybe they do, depending on how strong your stomach is for Moore’s preacherly delivery and his infamously blinkered views. A newly-released video, apparently taken in January during a ‘Pastor for Life” luncheon but uploaded to YouTube just a few days ago, shows the judge as he displays an amazing lack of knowledge of non-Christian faiths by erroneously calling Buddha a god and stating that Muslims think that Mohammed, not Allah, is their Creator. Read more
Dear Richard, My mother is a practicing Pentecostal Christian and has recently begun heavily witnessing to my five-year-old son. I was raised in this cult-like religion, but have been an atheist for nearly 10 years now. Although my mother and I have never had an in-depth conversation regarding my deconversion, she knows where I stand on the issue of religion. The past few times my son has spent time with her (she lives several houses away so he doesn’t see her regularly) she has taught him religious songs and has talked to him about inviting Jesus into his heart, praying, Heaven, etc. She has placed prayer cloths (strips of cloth church members pray over) in his room and once when she kept my son and infant daughter overnight at her house she took them to choir practice and had the choir members pray over them. To make matters worse she has asked my son to keep these things a secret from me, and his father who is also an atheist. Being five, my son of course cannot keep a secret, and told us what happened after each event. I’m not sure how to approach my mother regarding her behavior. My mother and I have always been extremely close and I love her very much, but I am deeply saddened and hurt by her actions. I know that I cannot have a rational conversation with her because I have tried this in the past. When my son was one, she said she wanted to take him to Sunday School and I explained in as nice a way as possible that this was not going to happen. She became enraged and cried uncontrollably. The subject was never broached again by either one of us. My husband is angry with my mother and wants me to talk to her ASAP. I know that I have to speak with her about this, but I don’t want to permanently damage our relationship. Do you have any advice on how I can talk to my mother? Sincerely, A Concerned Mother Read more
Of all the groups qualifying for the title “scum of the earth,” Nigeria-based Boko Haram gets my vote. I’ve written about these cruelest of child killers and rapists before. Their strategy and focus is markedly different from their Islamist brethren. You see, Boko Haram — a name that means “Western education is sinful” — consists of violent fundies who love targeting schools, teachers, and students, in a series of loathsome acts not seen since Muslim terrorists killed almost 400 pupils and teachers in Beslan, Russia. Education is no accidental target, the Guardian’s Jill Filipovic reminds us: [Boko Haram] correctly understand that education sets girls on a path to economic independence and self-reliance. Education also makes girls (and women) less dependent on men, less subservient to authority and less acquiescent to the social and religious strictures that don’t serve girls’ overall interests — educated women are more likely to refuse practices like female genital cutting, for instance, better able to resist domestic violence, and less tolerant of discrimination. The group has been back in the news thanks to the monstrous April 14 kidnapping of 276 girls. Read more
In a disappointing 5-4 ruling this morning, the Supreme Court ruled that sectarian prayers could be used at government meetings, at least in the town of Greece. (If you need more background on the case, please read this.) The conservatives on the court, along with Justice Anthony Kennedy voted to keep the prayers while the reliably liberal justices offered a dissent. One silver lining in all of this is that the conservatives did not say that this means Christian prayers are okay everywhere. Their ruling appears to be limited in scope only to the town of Greece: Read more
You know how some Christians love to say God “guided” them to do something when the truth is more like they just made a decision and are now looking for justification (for themselves as well as everyone else)? Read more
