You would think that after what seems like non-stop revelations of Catholic priests abusing children, parents would not let their children be alone with a priest. And yet, when the priest of a parish in Oregon told the parents of a 12-year old boy that he would like to take their son on a trip to the mountains, they not only agreed but let the boy spend the night in the priest’s house. [Read more…]
Scientology has again got what it hates, negative publicity about its abusive practices. The Village Voice has published a two-part series (part 1 and part 2) largely based on information provided by John Brousseau, a a member of the cult since 1977 until he left in 2010, and at one time brother-in-law of its current leader David Miscavige, the two of them having married two sisters. [Read more…]
Recently, I have been struck by something, and that is the number of people in the news who casually let it be known that they are not religious. This is even true of entertainers who typically avoid saying anything controversial for fear of offending the fans upon whom they depend. [Read more…]
David Barton is much beloved by the Christian right, his biggest fan being Mike Huckabee, who claims that contrary to established scholarship, historical records say that the founders of the United States envisaged a Christian nation. His way of operating is to drop citations left and right, giving him an air of authority. He claims to be in possession of over 100,000 original documents from the time of the Founding Fathers and he is fond of inserting copious citations to them, running into the hundreds. He and his followers then keep referring to these documents and the number of citations to them as conclusive proof of whatever assertion they make. Jon Stewart was one Barton’s victims last year, falling prey to this intellectual bullying in which Barton once again boasted about his documents and the number of citations. [Read more…]
With Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate, we can expect some discussion of Ayn Rand. Her message that social programs are merely ways to siphon away the wealth produced by the productive members of society to benefit ‘moochers’ and ‘looters’ has gained traction in the current Republican party and Paul Ryan, darling of the Tea Party, was an outspoken and unabashed admirer of Rand as the source of his ideas and philosophy. [Read more…]
I have been hailing NASA’s achievement with respect to the Mars Curiosity landing. But while the scientific and engineering achievements of NASA are admirable, it is also an organization depending upon public support and thus not above pandering to what it perceives as public sentiment. [Read more…]
Well, not explicitly, because nuns don’t use use that kind of language, at least in public. But that is how I read the subtext of the statement that was released yesterday following the annual national meeting of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious that represents 80% of the 57,000 US nuns. (Clarification thanks to Irreverend Bastard.) The assembly was attended by 900 of the 1500 nuns who make up the LCWR. [Read more…]
I wrote before about the website The Thinking Housewife in the context of their idea that the increasing acceptance of feminism and homosexuality is leading the country, if not the world, into disaster and only a return to ‘Christian patriarchy’ can save us from doom. [Read more…]
If there is one film cliché that comes to mind about the Republic of Ireland, it is that of the gruff but good-hearted Irish Catholic priest. So strongly is that country linked with the church that this news report that a global survey on faith reveals that Ireland is abandoning religion faster than almost every other country world, second only to Vietnam, is worth noting. [Read more…]
There has been much gloom in the progressive community at what seemed like an overwhelming show of support for Chick-fil-A. In response to the call for people to go there and buy food on August 1 to show their support for the company president’s anti-gay attitude, there were long lines of people waiting to buy these sandwiches. The company reportedly had a record sales day. [Read more…]