Pied Type
Religion
Semantics in religion and law
I’m still scratching my head over the furor with Pres. Obama and the Catholic Church about providing contraception for employees. As I understand it, the edict from Washington originally said all Catholic institutions had to cover/pay for/provide contraception for female employees. Church leaders and others had a fit about Obama’s “war on religion.” Obama came … Continue reading
Santorum: Raped? Pregnant? It’s a gift
Just when I thought GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum couldn’t impress me as any more extreme, I saw this video on the Huffington Post. His idea of right to life includes not aborting a baby resulting from rape. Not even if the pregnant woman were his daughter. The woman must “make the best out of … Continue reading
So that’s how it is
I just saw a teaser on TV for Oprah Winfrey’s “Next Chapter” show on Sunday. It was evangelist Joel Osteen saying something like (paraphrasing): “I can’t be helpful to people if I’m all poor and depressed myself.” Finally. The rationale of one getting rich off religion. I’ve always wondered how people like that justify getting … Continue reading
Dissing the bard
Well, I’m a little late to the barbecue, but I just learned that on New Year’s Eve, Cee Lo Green sang John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Only thing is, he changed the words. He changed “Nothing to kill or die for / And no religion too” to “Nothing to kill or die for / And all religion … Continue reading
There’s child abuse and then there’s … child abuse
This evening Anderson Cooper aired an interview with Michael Pearl, co-author of To Train Up a Child. And again, just as every other time I’ve seen Pearl on TV, I wanted to reach through the screen and throttle him. Pearl and his wife Debi advocate the physical punishment of kids. Of course, they don’t call … Continue reading
Missed it again
Hey, I just found out I missed another Harold S. Camping Judgment Day yesterday. Or maybe I just got left behind. If you’re here reading this, you must have missed it, too. Or else we both got left behind. Oh well, better luck next time.
Atheist by default
Over on Sean Hannity’s blog there’s a thread entitled “Anybody else here a reluctant atheist?” Someone calling himself Poptart posted the following, which happens to explain my own thinking rather well: I didn’t choose to be an atheist, because I am without belief by default. I don’t “choose” my beliefs. My beliefs evolve from a … Continue reading
One of these things is not like the others …
I just came across this statement in a Wikipedia entry describing the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators: “Religious beliefs vary as well including, but not limited to, Christians, Jews, Muslims and atheists.” Why are atheists included in the list? Atheism is not a religious belief; it is the absence of religious belief. Perhaps the author was … Continue reading
Michelangelo’s David: Which side is the right side?
You never know what you’ll stumble across on the Internet. For me this evening it was the discovery of a fascinating article on Michelangelo’s David. In the opinion of the author, J. Huston McCulloch, the David is not properly oriented in Florence’s Galleria dell’Academia. The view we see most often, shown here, is not the … Continue reading
Dominionism and the presidency
Dominionism. Ever heard of it? I hadn’t until today, when CNN’s Jack Cafferty did a piece on it. His question was, “How much does it worry you if both Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry have ties to Dominionism?” I didn’t know if I was worried or not; I didn’t know what the heck he was … Continue reading
Marriage: yours, mine, and theirs
On CNN’s “State of the Union” this morning, Candy Crowley pressed GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty on the issue of same-sex marriage. She was polite and respectful, but insistent. The governor was equally pleasant, but utterly unconvincing. Crowley asked several times, in several different ways, “how does same-sex marriage harm traditional marriage?” The question was … Continue reading
NBC and its ‘godless’ U.S. Open
Had I watched the U.S. Open over the weekend, I might have seen the little patriotic montage that NBC ran. But I doubt I would have noticed what seems to have upset a lot of people — the scenes were pieced together in a way that skipped the phrase “under God” when the Pledge of … Continue reading
So maybe it’s Judgment Day after all
I knew I shouldn’t have been snickering about Judgment Day. It’s not even 6 pm yet in the Mountain Time zone (although it is on the East Coast), and so far I have on my hands a dying refrigerator (funny how a lot of those fridge sales end today …), a kitchen sink sprayer that … Continue reading
Call me daft; I’m not into Judgment Day
What are your plans for Saturday? You know, May 21. Judgment Day. The Rapture. As predicted by Harold Camping, a California-based Christian radio broadcaster. Of course, he’s 89 years old now, so maybe this is more hope than prediction. There’s been some interest here in Colorado, partly because Camping was born here and partly because … Continue reading
Phelps family fails in Miss., targets Royal Wedding
The infamous Phelps family of Westboro Baptist Church traveled all the way to Brandon, Miss., to picket the April 14 funeral of USMC Staff Sgt. Jason Rogers, who was killed April 7 in Afghanistan. As it turned out, the WBC group did get to Brandon, but their demonstration never materialized. It seems they ran into a … Continue reading
Predictable consequences
Reportedly as many as 20 U.N. workers were killed today in Afghanistan during a protest turned violent, and at least two of the dead were beheaded. Demonstrators were protesting the March 20 burning of a Koran by controversial Gainesville, Fla., preacher Terry Jones. Jones had threatened to burn Korans last September 11 to mark the … Continue reading
Let’s hope Rep. King doesn’t channel Joe McCarthy
Many American Muslims are fearful about today’s hearing with Congressman Peter T. King (R-NY) presiding. But New York Times op/ed contributor Akbar Akmed, in “Fair to Muslims?, feels the hearings are a great opportunity to educate Americans about his community’s diversity and faith. We all can hope fervently that Akmed’s vision comes about. But there … Continue reading
Back off, TSA
In the wake of public outrage over its security measures at US airports, the Transportation Security Administration has come out with all sorts of defensive statements about how thoroughly its screeners are vetted and trained. As if that were the issue. The outrage is over intrusive pat-downs of women’s breasts and everyone’s inner thighs (supposedly … Continue reading
Atheists beat believers on religion survey
America’s atheists and agnostics scored higher on a religious knowledge survey than evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, and Catholics, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. They scored highest on questions about religion in public life and what the Constitution says about religion, and second only to Jews on knowledge of the world’s … Continue reading
Attacking America
In today’s Washington Post, Ted Koppell writes convincingly that it’s time we stop playing into bin Laden’s hands. We have, in so many ways, exceeded what would have been an appropriate response to the 9/11 terror attacks. And nine years later, we continue to do so. A group of terrorists based in Afghanistan managed to … Continue reading
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