Indonesian Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring is in the midst of a political crisis over a handshake. Sembiring is a conservative Muslim who often blames natural disasters on a lack of morality and avoids any contact with females outside his family. Then it happened on camera. A smiling Sembiring shaking the hand of first lady Michele Obama. It is enough to send a religious nut into a fetal position. The result has been an insistence that Michele Obama was the hand aggressor — effectively grabbing his hand to his disgust and alarm. The pictures seems to belie the defense — showing a smiling Sembiring who appears to grab the First Lady’s hand.
Category: Religion
The Iranian police has found another threat to the Islamic faith: rap music. The morals police has raided parties across Iran to nab kids who just want to play rap music. These teenagers have been meeting in abandoned buildings to listen to the music and dance.
Continue reading “Taking the Rap: Iranians Arrest Teenagers Across Country For Playing Rap Music and Using “Western Musical Instruments””
In Massachusetts, prosecutors are dealing with a bizarre case of a man who allegedly store $83,147 to pay for his pornography habit. What makes the case even more bizarre is that the victim was the St. John the Baptist Church and the alleged felon was its pastor, Rev. Keith LeBlanc.
Continue reading “Collared: Massachusetts Priest Accused of Stealing $83,000 To Support Porn Habit”
The British Columbia Supreme Court will be some hearing testimony on the criminalization of plural unions — an extremely important case with global ramifications. As has been my practice in past cases, I wanted to confirm my involvement in the case as a court-appointed expert on the legality of such criminal laws. Weeks ago, I was retained to submit written testimony on the right of consenting adults to plural unions under United States and international law.
Rev. Barry Lynn: What’s Wrong With ‘The Family’ And The National Prayer Breakfast
Continue reading “On Piety & Politics: A Video Post About the Separation of Church and State”
Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes, really riled some folks in England when he likened the debate over allowing female bishops to the “serious threat” of warfare posed by “someone” months before the beginning of World War II. Lewes was explaining his view of women bishops to a conference of conservative Anglicans when he told his audience: “I’m about to use an analogy, and I use it quite deliberately and carefully. And it slightly frightens me to use it, but I do think it’s where we are at.”
The bishop continued: “I feel very much increasingly that we’re in January of 1939. We need to be aware that there is real serious warfare just round the corner. It’s actually arrived in some places already. And we’re in a challenging and serious situation.”
Paris officials report that an 18-month-old girl fell seven stories from an apartment window into the waiting arms of a Good Samaritan. The child, who was briefly left unattended, fell from an open window. A young boy seeing the tragedy about to unfold alerted his father who made the circus catch. The passer-by was aided in his feat by two good hands and a cafe’ awning that caused the falling child to bound softly into his outstretched arms. The flying baby was pronounced in good health by a physician at the scene but whisked away to the hospital for observation.
Bernie McDaid, a man from Massachusetts, will be leading a rally outside the Vatican on Halloween. McDaid, who was an altar boy in his youth, joined a lawsuit against Cardinal Bernard Law and other officials of the Catholic Church in 2002. The suit alleged that McDaid and a number of other altar boys at St. James Church in Salem had been abused by the late Rev. Joseph Birmingham, a serial pedophile, in the late 1960s.
McDaid and Gary Bergeron, co-organizers of the rally, chose October 31st “because of its powerful symbolism: It is the day when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door in Germany, an event that helped trigger the Protestant Reformation.”
Continue reading “Massachusetts Man to Lead Clergy Abuse Victims Rally Outside Vatican on Halloween”
A Muslim family flying from Memphis to Toronto was thrown off a Comair flight because a flight attendant was concerned over safety. The family was dressed in traditional Muslim clothing.
Continue reading “Flying While Muslim: Comair Throws Muslim Family Off Flight As Possible Threat”
There is an interesting ruling out of the Ninth Circuit. The Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled 8-3 against Catholic organizations that charged that former San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano violated the First Amendment with a 2006 resolution condemning the Vatican for prohibiting Catholic Charities from placing adoptive children with lesbian and gay couples. The Church argued that the resolution violated the prohibitions on establishment of religion. The opinion, however, is remarkably fractured.
The trial of Dutch politician Geert Wilders for his anti-Islamic views has been thrown into disarray after his judges were found to be themselves biased — against Wilder. A verdict from the panel of three judges at the Amsterdam district court was due next week. A re-trial will be scheduled with new judges.
Continue reading “Wilders Trial Thrown Into Disarray After Judges Found To Be Biased”
Castellammare di Stabia appears eager to join the forces in the West cracking down on free speech and expression. The city is moving toward the passage of a blasphemy law — the subject of prior columns and blog entries on a trend against free speech in the West. The city is also planning to ban miniskirts, sunbathing, and playing football in public places. If nothing else, the move will finally give the Taliban a seaside vacation spot to get away from it all.
This is too bizarre for words. In Paris, eleven people (including children) were injured when they leapt from an apartment to flee “the devil” — who turned out to be the father who was walking around naked in his room.
Councillors at Stockport Council in Greater Manchester have a rather broad notion of accommodating religious sensitivities. Acting under its authority of “residential amenity,” the Council has ordered a cafe to remove an extractor fan because the fan blows the smell of food outside, including the smell of bacon that offends Muslim neighbors.
Continue reading “Cafe Owner Ordered To Remove Extractor Fan As Offensive To Muslims Due To Smell Of Bacon”
The trial of Saudi prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud for the murder of a servant in London took an interesting turn when the prosecution noted to the jury that, putting aside the murder allegation, Saud, 34, would have faced execution in the Kingdom for being gay. Saud allegedly murdered Bandar Abdulaziz, 32, (left) after repeated sexual assaults.
Continue reading “English Prosecutors Raise Sharia Law in Murder Trial of Saudi Prince”