Last night, hundreds of people crowded into the Muldrow Public Schools cafeteria as the school board met to discuss what would become of the Ten Commandments plaques that have been posted in all the classrooms for the past two decades. What the news reports did not tell you is that Gage was at the meeting last night. And it was the scariest night of his life. I spoke with Gage late last night to get his version of the story, and his tone was very different from the one you saw in the brief interview above or the articles that mention him. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) spoke at the Secular Summit & Lobby Day sponsored by the Secular Coalition for America, and video of his speech is now online (as is Sen. Tom Harkin’s address from last week). Nadler has been a longtime critic of the government’s faith-based program. In 2010, he held hearings about taxpayer money going to “pervasively sectarian organizations” in the US House of Representatives Constitution Subcommittee, of which he’s a ranking member. The video’s grainy, but the audio is just fine: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Tomorrow, the city of North Miami, Florida will hold its election for Mayor, and candidate Anna L. Pierre wants you to know something about her: A mayoral candidate in North Miami claims she has received an endorsement from a higher power. Campaign posters for Anna L. Pierre tout that she was endorsed by Jesus Christ. [Click headline for more…] Read more
At least one Hamilton County (Tennessee) public elementary school is giving away Bibles to students. But it’s okay, you know, because their parents have to sign a permission slip first: It all started with a permission slip. The one Mitzi Yates found among the papers in her fifth-grader’s backpack. If she signed it, it would allow him to bring home a copy of the Gideon New Testament from McConnell Elementary. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Much like groups can adopt-a-highway in different states, promising to clean it every few months in exchange for a sign with their name on it, some cities allow you to adopt pieces of land. That’s what Antonio Liquori, the owner of Liquori’s Pizza, did when he took control of a local traffic island in West Springfield, Massachusetts: But instead of just keeping it clean, Liquori decided to stick a giant statue of the Virgin Mary on the island: [Click headline for more…] Read more
You remember Harold Camping. He’s the preacher who said the world was going to end on May 21, 2011 — and promoted the hell out of his prediction: [Click headline for more…] Read more
What if our modern day superheroes solved problems like the God of the bible? Would they still be considered good? Why don’t we need to be told that Superman, Batman, The Avengers, etc, are good, but we do need to be told that God is good? Because actions speak for themselves. If you were never told that the God of the bible is good – if those verses were omitted – would you come to that conclusion on your own? The destroyer of cities and worlds who fail to worship Him…Good?! OR is it more likely that this God is a product of a culture seeking to justify its methods and actions against other cultures? (via DarkMatters2525) Read more
After seeing the extent to which the National Day of Prayer has turned into the National Day of evangelical-Christianity-or-else, Sally Quinn of The Washington Post says she no longer sees a need for the celebration: This country was founded on the idea of religious freedom. But shoving one’s beliefs down the throat of all Americans is just the opposite. [Rev. Greg] Laurie and [Pseudohistorian David] Barton are so far from the mainstream that they are representative of only a very few Christians in this country, not to mention those of other faiths and no faith. Whatever happened to inclusiveness and pluralism? Well, they seem to disappear whenever the Religious Right gets involved… [Click headline for more…] Read more
A little while ago, I reported on the Vatican’s plans to bring the “Courtyard of the Gentiles” to Mexican non-believers, with the prediction that the Church wanted to proselytize — not dialogue — and aimed to tell everyone in attendance why their beliefs were wrong and Catholicism is right all the time. It turns out, though, that even Catholic-identified Mexicans can’t escape criticism for how they practice their faith. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, has taken aim at the popular Mexican cult of Santa Muerte. The roots of the iconic skeletal figure famously honored in colorful Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations can be traced to the historical blending of Old-World Catholicism with indigenous beliefs and practices, and she is honoured in many Mexican homes and families today: [Click headline for more…] Read more
