A bus driver in Texas received an extraordinary $21,000 settlement for conduct that justifiably led to his termination. Edwin Graning received the settlement from the Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) in Texas after he was fired for refusing to drive two women to a Planned Parenthood clinic last year. This seems a case of putting the CARTS before the horse in reaching a settlement before the other party has made a viable claim.
Category: Religion
Waukesha (WI) Mayor Jeff Scrima promised fiscal responsibility in running for office, but he has drawn criticism for his decision to use city funds to buy books of a campaign contributor and Christian author — and telling agency heads to read and discuss the book with city employees.
Continue reading “Wisconsin Mayor Tells Agency Heads To Read and Discuss Book By Christian Author With City Employees”
Even for the most committed civil libertarians, it is hard to work up sympathy for Quran-burning Pastor Terry Jones. However, that is the plight of free speech advocates — you often end up supporting the most obnoxious members of our society. In Dearborn, Michigan, the order barring Jones from protesting utside of the Islamic American Center raises some constitutional concern.
Continue reading “Public Safety or Prior Restraint? Quran-Burning Pastor Barred From Protesting In Front of Michigan Mosque”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) has proclaimed Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. He didn’t ask for any prayers to end the drought or put out the wildfires, he just asked for prayers for rain in the state of Texas. While looking at the weather radar tonight, it was raining somewhere in Texas, so I guess it worked. It’s a miracle.
Continue reading “Gov. Rick Perry Wants Texans to Pray for Rain”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
All you Christian warriors out there best make ready for battle! Sean Hannity and the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue are now claiming that there is a war on Easter. “Oh no!” you say. “Who would do such a thing?” Why, Lady Gaga, comedian Ricky Gervais, and a few other dastardly demons—that’s who.
I even heard it through the grapevine that the CEO of Easter Bunnies, Inc., is hopping mad. I was told that he’s organized his bunny brigade and worked in co-operation with the president of Hatchling Chicks Corporation to devise a plan to go after anti-Easterites like Lady Gaga and Gervais.
Get your trebuchets ready! I’ll bring eggs. We’re planning to meet in Mister MacGregor’s garden tomorrow at the first light of dawn. We’ll shell the hard-boiled enemies of Easter ova and ova again until they surrender. They won’t know what hit them.
Continue reading “Sean Hannity, Bill Donohue, & The War on Easter: The Turley Blog Edition”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The GOP hearts Ayn Rand. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and his father Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), all mention the works of Ayn Rand as being influential in their lives. Even Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas references her work as influence in his autobiography. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, is an acolyte of Rand’s thinking and knew her personally.
I would like to focus on one aspect of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, and its implications for Christianity.
Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains, TN) is one of the politicians leading the effort to introduce creationism back into schools to rival the teaching of evolution. He may, however, need a bit more time in the classroom on his intellectual sources. As noted on sites like Think Progress, Niceley has confused Albert Einstein with Francis Bacon in his insistence that Einstein discredited atheism and said that a truly thinking man will turn to Christianity.
U.S. Ambassador and former law professor, Douglas Kmiec, has stepped down after a State Department report criticized him for spending too much time writing and speaking about his religious beliefs. Kmiec (who I know and personally like) is a conservative who supported Obama in the election and was rewarded with the position. The report stated that Kmiec spent too much time writing and speaking about abortion and too little in being an ambassador. Kmiec’s appointment occurred at a time when Obama was turning away from growing criticism by liberals — a trend that has only increased with time. Kmiec was a law professor at Pepperdine University and legal counsel to President Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The push by Republicans to deny funding of Planned Parenthood has been justified by citing the abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood. However, the contraceptives provided by Planned Parenthood prevent abortions. Cutting funding for contraception would actually
increase abortions.
Tommy R. Bennett, a former employee of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. at the Rainbow Push Coalition and Barack Obama’s LGBT Leadership Council, has filed a wrongful termination and discrimination complaint against Jesse Jackson with Chicago’s Commission on Human Rights. It is scathing filing that alleges that Jackson routinely forces staffers to arrange (and clean up after) his trysts with women as well as other demeaning jobs. Jackson previously had to admit in 2001 to an affair with staffer, Karin Stanford, that resulted in the birth of a daughter, Ashley. He swore that he had again found God and the Rainbow Coalition paid Stanford money to resolve the scandal.
That’s it, my planned vacation with my dog Molly to Tehran is off. Iranian legislators have moved to ban dogs from both public places and private apartments. Muslim are taught that dogs are unclean and the Iranian legislators insist that dogs are not just an affront to Islam but ” a blind imitation of vulgar Western culture.”
Continue reading “Ayatollah Not To Walk Your Dog: Iranian Leaders Move To Ban Dogs”
Texas state Rep. Leo Berman (R) has finally acted to combat one of the biggest threats to Texans. No it is not pollution, unemployment, or crime. It is Sharia law. Following 15 other states, he has introduced a bill to ban state court from considering religious or cultural law — an ill-conceived legislative initiative advanced by counterparts in Oklahoma.
Continue reading “Texas Legislator Introduces Anti-Sharia Law To Protect Texans From Islamic Hegemony”
The hate speech trial of Dutch politician Geert Wilders has resumed today amid some serious questions over the impartiality of the judge who overruled the prosecutors and a trial judge who had decided to drop the case. I have long been a critic of these blasphemy prosecutions, particularly in the West. However, these concerns are even greater in light of the actions of appeals judge Tom Schalken.
Continue reading “Blasphemy Prosecution: Wilders Trial Resumes Over Limits On Free Speech”
An Indonesian member of the Islamic Prosperous Justice Party known only as Arifinto has become the latest religious hypocrite who does not practice what he preaches. Arifinto, 50, is one of the leaders of the staunch Islamic party and helped lead the fight to pass a tough anti-pornography law. Arifinto, however, is shown in the articles below, watching sexually explicit videos on his computer on the floor of the Parliament during a debate.
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
I guess it takes a few whacks to get things into the heads of the theocrats in Tennessee. Eighty-six years after the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” pitted Clarence Darrow, Esq., against William Jennings Bryan, Esq., in a classic cross-examination of opposing counsel that decimated the notion that teaching creationism was anything except the indoctrination of religion by public school officials, Tennessee legislators are at it again with a new version of the Butler Act.