If you missed Tuesday’s episode of “Jeopardy!” then you missed out on an entire category dedicated to “Bible Violence”: You can see the clues right here. How many did you get right? (I missed the last two. For shame…) (Thanks to @LukeMorris for the link!) Read more
If your idea of defending your home doesn’t involve a pistol or a baseball bat, take a cue from Father Arthur O’Neill. Early Sunday morning, the Dublin priest woke to the sight of two burglars, one of whom was pointing a gun at his head. Read more
Yesterday, Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) introduced H. Res. 467 (now available for viewing) on the floor of the House, expressing his support for the recognition of February 12th as Darwin Day: “We’re pleased to join Rep. Holt again in support of a Congressional resolution honoring Darwin’s contributions to science and humanity,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. “Too many people are being influenced by the dangerous creationism and so-called ‘intelligent design’ movements, and it’s time for others in Congress to stand up for true science.” Last year, Holt introduced identical legislation as did Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) in 2011: Read more
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
Two weeks ago, when the Academy Award nominees were announced, there was a surprise inclusion in the category for Best Original Song: “Alone, Yet Not Alone” from a little-known Christian movie of the same name, written by Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel and sung by Joni Eareckson Tada. The song was in a lineup that included “Happy” by Pharrell Williams and “Ordinary Love” by U2. Even Tada, a quadriplegic, was pleasantly shocked that the song made it in: Read more
Seth Andrews compiled all sorts of things Christians have said over the past few months that are worthy of a facepalm and put it in one remarkable video. It’s only 3279421389 hours long. I see he’s gotten it down to under five minutes. Very impressive. Read more
He hinted at it more than a year and a half ago, so it’s about time that The End of Faith author Sam Harris announced his next book. It’s called Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion (Simon & Schuster), it’ll be released this September, and it’s already available for pre-order. I love the cover. When you zoom out, you can see the face… … and when you zoom in, you can see a cloud giving the middle finger to God. Read more
