Lucas Black also summarizes which parents are ideal and which are bad in the eyes of conservative Christians: GOOD: A straight man and woman. A homosexual man and homosexual woman. A bisexual woman and bisexual man. A homosexual man and a straight woman. A homosexual woman and a straight man. A bisexual man and a homosexual woman. A bisexual woman and a homosexual man. A hermaphrodite. Fred & Rosemary West. Pre-op transvestite….? BAD: Straight single parent. Homosexual single parent. Bisexual… Read more
Riverdale, Illinois already has money trouble, but at least they’re getting about $50,000 a year in property tax from a nearby lot that sits vacant. Now, the Israel of God church wants to build on that land. That could mean even further devastation for the community: “Someone has to pay for it, and we have to make up for those monies in some way,” [Riverdale Mayor Deyon] Dean said. “When you look at it, this may increase fees for many… Read more
It was only a week ago when the Michigan House of Representatives passed the “Julea Ward freedom of conscience act,” an act that would ban schools from punishing, say, Christian counseling students who don’t want to help gay clients. Ward wasn’t the only Christian who refused to help people because of their sexual orientation. Jennifer Keeton was in the same boat at Augusta State University in Georgia. She took things one step further. She made it clear that if any… Read more
Pop your blood-pressure meds, kiddos, because I’m about to take you on a carnival of terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad gender relations, according to one conservative Christian website. We have to start by talking about “modesty.” In my opinion, the teaching of modesty to teen and preteen girls is one of the most toxic and divisive aspects of Christian culture. It can have life-long implications in the way that women dress, act, and feel about themselves, as well as their understanding… Read more
The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) has launched a biweekly podcast called Consequence, exploring “how pseudoscience and claims of the paranormal can be harmful to believers.” It’ll feature stories of people who have been hurt (financially, physically, emotionally) by psychics and other scam artists. You can download/subscribe to that podcast here. … In Canada, Justin Trottier has started a podcast focusing on astronomy and space exploration called The Star Spot: They’ve already spoken with the Cassini Saturn mission’s Dr. Carolyn… Read more
We can start from an indisputable fact: there is a gender disparity in the sciences. There are simply more men than women in science and this difference becomes even more pronounced in fields like mathematics, physics and engineering. Just about the only thing that is agreed on about the cause of this disparity is that it is a complex problem with many contributing factors. There are also many different ideas for solutions. Some advocate specific programs addressing the matter from… Read more
There’s a village in Cambodia that’s fertile grounds for missionaries trying to convert residents to Christianity. It seems to be working, too. 80% of the locals are now Christian. But it’s not because they believe in the divinity of Jesus or the power of prayer. It’s just a cheaper form of bullshit: Sev Chel, 38, said she made the switch because when she used to get sick, it could cost her hundreds of dollars to appease the gods with a… Read more
According to that great bastion of honest and impartial reporting, FOX News has revealed that 66 Republicans have signed a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta alleging that the U.S. Air Force is “hostile” to religion. The letter cites several incidents which they claims shows that the Air Force is taking separation of church and state “too far” — how you can take such a concept too far is a little beyond me… The letter accuses the Air Force of bowing to pressure from… Read more
