The Church of Scientology has been in the news recently (see here and here) with the publication of Lawrence’s Wright’s book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief that exposes the seamy underbelly of the organization and its cruel and despotic leader David Miscavige. [Read more…]
In a bizarre case that happened in our neck of the woods, the leader of a breakaway Amish sect was found guilty of getting his family members and followers to forcibly enter the homes of those whom he considered enemies and shearing their hair and beards in October 2011. Hair and beards have religious significance for the Amish. “The hair and beard cuttings are meant to be degrading and insulting to the men, according to Amish experts. Once married, Amish men let their beards grow and women do the same with their hair, believing such action is prescribed by the Bible.” (I wrote about the Amish community’s lifestyles before.) [Read more…]
News reports have emerged that the US has been using a base in Saudi Arabia to launch its drone attacks in the region. What is most interesting is that big media outlets like the New York Times and the Washington Post have known about this for more than a year but rrefrained from publishing it at the request of the government. [Read more…]
Journalist Louis Theroux was given extraordinary access to the members of the Westboro Baptist Church, going to their church and homes in Topeka, Kansas and talking to members of the organization and produced two fascinating documentaries for the BBC. The first appeared in 2007 and was called The Most Hated Family in America and I wrote about it here. The follow-up was in 2011 and was called The Most Hated Family IN CRISIS and I wrote about it here. Those posts also give links to the two documentaries. [Read more…]
Reader Bob sent along this clip from Jimmy Kimmel’s late night TV show. It was about someone who came across a discarded piece of cardboard during his walk and thought he saw the face of Jesus on it. He said that the image was so glaringly obvious that even a kindergartener would see that it was the face of Jesus. [Read more…]
Readers may recall my earlier post on the efforts by the Israel lobby to interfere in the running of an event scheduled for today at Brooklyn College in New York City. [Read more…]
The Irish government has finally admitted that it colluded with the Catholic Church in sending young girls to laundry sweatshops run by the Magdalene sisters, where they suffered shocking abuse at the hands of the nuns and priests. [Read more…]
While some of us are appalled at the trend of US president’s arrogating to themselves increasing powers so that they approach that of imperial leaders, with president Obama’s preposterous claim of having the legal authority to murder anyone anywhere in the world being the most extreme manifestation of this tendency, there is a country whose leader is moving in the opposite direction. [Read more…]
The Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America today decided to defer until its national meeting in May a decision on allowing local troops to decide whether they could admit gay members. [Read more…]
If there is one verse form the Bible that Christians are likely to be able to recite verbatim, it is John 3:16 which goes:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”