Category Archives: Religion

The other night I dreamt of knives

Posted on April 11, 2012 by nickgb

Somehow I never posted on this, or maybe I just can’t find it in the search engine, but twice last year, Harold Camping predicted the end of the world (via the second coming of Christ). I couldn’t really understand why … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Washington Mall Makes Strange Bedfellows

Posted on March 23, 2012 by dedc79

As noted on NPR this morning, the Mall (not a shopping mall) will play host to two very different assemblies this weekend. First, there’s the anti-birth control crusaders, who will be in town today: “We are honored to be hosting … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Health Care, News and Current Events, Religion | Leave a comment

A Selective Reading of the Constitution

Posted on February 28, 2012 by dedc79

Rick Santorum’s come a long way in 24 hours.  He’s gone from saying that the very idea of a separation between church and state makes him want to vomit to acknowledging that it does in fact exist. Only, for Rick, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Religion | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Federal Judge Strikes Down Plan B Requirement In Washington State

Posted on February 22, 2012 by nickgb

From USA Today, apparently a federal judge in Tacoma, WA, has held that the state can’t force pharmacies to stock and sell Plan B. Details are sparse at the moment, but it looks really stupid. Leighton, in his decision Wednesday, … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Now with 25% more neck-twisting

Posted on February 15, 2012 by nickgb

Maureen Dowd writes, in her ellipses-forcing-style, about the recent rise of exorcisms: In 2004, worried about the rise of the occult, Pope John Paul II asked Cardinal Ratzinger, the head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion | 1 Comment

Obvious Monty Python Opportunity

Posted on February 14, 2012 by nickgb

What is killing me about this whole Catholic/HealthCare argument is that no one in the media wants to point out that, when you get down to it, the Church is trying to sabotage legislation that will help millions of people … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Religion | 1 Comment

A different kind of pro-choice

Posted on January 26, 2012 by dedc79

With the GOP primaries moving on to Florida, the Huffington Post has an article about the Mormon Church’s rocky relationship with Jews: In 1994, an Israeli genealogist researching her family in the Mormons’ computerized International Genealogical Index made a startling … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Religion | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Thank FSM!

Posted on January 25, 2012 by nickgb

In case you were worried that your representatives aren’t addressing the important issues of our day, stop fretting! The House on Tuesday approved a measure that seeks to permit religious symbols on federal war memorials, a response to a court … Continue reading →

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Overheard on the metro

Posted on January 16, 2012 by nickgb

I live near Catholic University, so our usual smattering of co-eds are subjected to some, in my opinion “educationally questionable”, unusual coursework. But this one had me biting my lip to avoid laughing today. “I’m just really frustrated with Theology … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Religion | 1 Comment

Let Our Viewers Decide Who Killed Jesus Christ

Posted on January 3, 2012 by dedc79

That’s how Fox Latin America does it: Fox Latin America has apologized for a poll on whether Jews killed Jesus Christ that one of its staffers put on a Facebook page promoting the National Geographic Channel’s Christmas special. The poll … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Religion | Tagged | 2 Comments

Sweeping Discord

Posted on December 29, 2011 by dedc79

So apparently it’s not just the Jews and Muslims who can’t get along in the Middle East.  This Christmas, the Greek Orthodox and the Armenian clergy got into a good ole fashioned sweeping brawl (I mean that literally — they … Continue reading →

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A Welcome First

Posted on December 20, 2011 by dedc79

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there’s another country in the Middle East and/or North Africa that has actually encouraged Jews who fled in the 1960s to return: Tunisia’s newly elected president has called for the country’s … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events, Religion | Tagged | 7 Comments

The Dying Gasps of a Campaign

Posted on December 7, 2011 by dedc79

When Republicans get desperate they always turn to the good old culture war.  Rick Perry is in full on desperation mode.  How else to explain this ridiculous ad campaign: “I’m not ashamed to admit I’m a Christian,” says Perry. “But … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Religion | Tagged | 3 Comments

Atheists still can’t come in first…

Posted on December 5, 2011 by nickgb

With a right wing that seems devoted to demonizing atheists, it’s easy to think that the War on Reason is an American pastime. But it’s an international phenomenon: Religious believers distrust atheists more than they do members of other religious … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Religion | 3 Comments

It’s basically a corporation that can excommunicate its shareholders

Posted on November 26, 2011 by nickgb

In the process of doing some research to debunk some particularly shrill invective about evil liberals, I ran across this statistic: According to the Empty Tomb report, U.S. churches devote more than 85 percent of their spending on “congregational finances” … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion | 4 Comments

The Tebow Standard

Posted on November 23, 2011 by nickgb

Thanks to Facebook, I was treated to this piece, three weeks old, about how horrible it is that we openly mock Tim Tebow’s posing. Fox Sports is coming to the rescue of poor beleaguered Christians who suffer the slings and … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion, Sports | 10 Comments

American Theocracy

Posted on November 22, 2011 by dedc79

We’ve been ringing the alarm bell for months now on the theocratic leanings of the various Republican presidential candidates.  William Saletan over at Slate suffered through the latest Republican “debate” – this past weekend’s “Thanksgiving Family Forum”.  He provides 12 … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Politics, Religion | Tagged , | 4 Comments

His name is Cain, for christ’s sake…

Posted on November 22, 2011 by nickgb

Balloon Juice got there first, but they left off the last sentence of this account of Herman Cain’s appearance at the Holy Land Experience: He begins with a story about how he knew he would survive when he discovered that … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Politics, Religion | 3 Comments