Looks like the family values folks are going to make this yuletide holiday miserable for everyone. First, there’s Jerry Falwell, who has a team of 750 lawyers ready to litigate the pants off of anybody who expresses secular thoughts during Christmas. ("What would Jesus do?" Subpoena your ass!!!) Then there’s the boycott-crazy American Family Association, choosing now to boycott Target … Read More
Not Again
A statue of the Virgin Mary in some church in the Sacramento area is crying tears of blood. Can I just say something before we all get carried away? When I take a shower in my bathroom, and forget to turn on the fan or open a window, the walls (which are painted yellow), "bleed" red. Not a lot, just … Read More
This Penn Believes
I have nothing against people of faith — "whatever floats your boat" I always say. But to those who go beyond their internal faith, and engage in the arrogant practice of proselytizing, I wish they would take a moment to reflect on the words of Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller fame), who talks about what he believes in an … Read More
What The H***?
Yup, the biblethumpers are trying to be cool again, with hip T-shirts for teens that say things like "Gee/Oh/Dee" across the chest, so that when young boys check out young girls’ boobs in the high school hallway, they actually "see" God. Get it? The T-shirt pictured at the right (click to enlarge) is one of the stranger offerings. The T-shirt … Read More
More On The WalMart Christmas Debacle
I had my fun with the story; Amanda Marcotte has even more fun, including the gem of a closer: Reaction on Internet messageboards is mixed. "I am going to walk into Wal-Mart and go tell the manager Merry Christmas and let him or her know I am leaving there empty-handed," writes one poster. A couple more years of this hysteria … Read More
Heckling The Hucksters
The What Would Jesus Eat Cookbook is a companion book to What Would Jesus Eat health book (both by Don Colbert*) Favorite Amazon customer review: FIVE STARS First I learned what Jesus would eat, and now with this lofty book, Mr. Colbert teaches us just how Jesus would cook it. I find this all to be astonishingly remarkable. Not only … Read More
Walmart Hates Xmas?
Off the top of my head, I can think of many many reasons to boycott Walmart: Walmart discriminates against female workers (hence, the class action lawsuit) Walmart discriminates against minorities (hence, the class action lawsuit) Walmart employs illegal immigrants, which is against the law Walmart mistreats its immigrant workers, which is against decency Walmart pays crap wages (the average salary … Read More
God To Dover, PA: “You’re On Your Own”
As I discussed here, the town of Dover, PA sent a strong message to members of their local school board who wanted to stick intelligent design into the public school science curriculum. And that message was "You are no longer on the local school board." Yup, all eight pro-I.D. board members were voted out of office. Well God, it seems, … Read More
Intelligent Design Update
I was going to do a good news/bad news post, but Tristero at Hullabaloo beat me. What follows is (mostly) his: Win Some, Lose Some Good news: All eight members up for re-election to the [Dover] Pennsylvania school board that had been sued for introducing the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in biology class were swept … Read More
Bush’s War On People Of Faith
Amy Sullivan: Today we learn that Bush’s IRS is investigating a prominent liberal Episcopal church because of a sermon last fall in which the minister condemned Bush’s policy in Iraq. (No word on whether the agency is also going after the Baptist church that kicked out members who voted for John Kerry. Or the churches that helped out the Bush/Cheney … Read More
IOKIYAR – The Church Edition
[NOTE: IOKIYAR = "It’s Okay If You’re A Republican"] In the 2004 election, the Bush campaign openly used pulpits all over the country as a campaign marketing tool. From WaPo, July 1, 2004: The Bush-Cheney reelection campaign has sent a detailed plan of action to religious volunteers across the country asking them to turn over church directories to the campaign, … Read More
Republican Party Dupes Christian Conservatives
It’s always been pretty clear to me that Republican Party really doesn’t give a damn about Christian conservatives, but they tolerate and cow-tow to them because they need the votes. Never has this theory been more evidence than this revelation, exposed by Salon: Up-and-coming Republican hacks would do well to watch closely the ongoing Senate investigations of superstar lobbyist Jack … Read More
Catholic Church Making Sense
As organized religions go, I like Catholicism. I mean, if you absolutely need to have silly rituals and stuff in order to worship God, the Catholic Church, it seems, is the way to go. So many rules and rituals. Stand, sit, beads, wafers, old men in Rome with funny hats, confession booths — it’s a real hootenanny. But mostly, I’m … Read More
American Taliban Continues To Have A Stick Up Its Ass
I mean, really: RALEIGH, N.C. School principals from Newton, Mass., to Denver find themselves increasingly haunted at Halloween by this refrain: Get out, ye ghoulies! Bowing to concerns of a wide range of groups – from Christians who consider Halloween to have pagan or satanic overtones to church-state separatists who object to the holiday’s religious roots – some elementary schools … Read More
Help Me Find Jesus
According to this article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, this tree (pictured at the right) has an image of Jesus. Jesus napping, I guess. Because that’s where Jesus likes to sleep, I guess. On a silver maple tree growing on the front lawn of a clothing factory located at 1155 N. Clinton Ave. in Rochester New York. Anyway, it’s … Read More