We have been following the crackdown on free speech in the West and particularly the alarming trend toward Western blasphemy prosecution, here. Now, in Poland, one of the lead signers and guitarists in the heavy metal band Behemoth has been criminally charged with insulting Roman Catholics for tearing up a Bible on stage and calling the Catholic Church “the most murderous cult on the
planet.” For a video, see below.
Category: Religion
A Reddit contributor spotted this perfectly Orwellian message on the sign for the New Canaan Baptist Church.
Continue reading “Think Not Lest Ye Be Damned”
A leading group of scientists have concluded that a single giant asteroid killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago — finding overwhelming evidence to support the theory over alternative theories such as a massive earthquake or multiple asteroids. The team, however, failed to include a single creationist who could point out that, since the Earth is only 5000 years old, leading scientists like Sarah Palin have found that they are 64,994,999 years off.
It appears that the late Pope John Paul II may be short one miracle. Supporters of an expedited process for sainthood for John Paul suffered a blow this month with the news that accounts of Sister Marie Simon-Pierre’s recovery from Parkinson’s disease may have been premature. Three years ago, the sister explained how she regained her health after a night of prayer to John Paul. That miracle was the basis for the call for rapid canonization.
The New York Times has a striking account today of Scientologists who allegedly faced threats and coercion in seeking to leave the church. Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, gave a detailed account of they were effectively raised to serve the ultra-secret Sea Organization, or Sea Org in the Church. After signing a “billion year contract,” they say that they were faced with fines and forced confessions in seeking to break free from the Church.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has not wasted time carrying out his conservative social agenda. He has sent a letter to the state’s public colleges and universities to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation — advising them that they have no authority to ban such discrimination.
Continue reading “Virginia Is For [Straight] Lovers: Virginia Attorney General Orders Colleges and Universities To Lift Ban on Discrimination Against Gays and Lesbians”
Sean David Morton apparently did not see this one coming. The self-proclaimed psychic who called himself “America’s Prophet” claims to be able to predict future changes in the stock market. There are of course always skeptics. In this case, the sober people at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Morton is now charged with fraud.
Continue reading “Bad Prediction: Psychic Charged With Fraud in Financial Investments”
Angelo Balducci, “Gentleman of His Holiness” Pope Benedict, has been fired after reportedly being caught by Italian police arranging for male prostitutes to be brought to him. The young men reportedly include one who is studying for the priesthood.
Gaza’s Islamic Hamas government has banned men from working in women’s hair salons as part of its move to impose strict Islamic law and traditions on Gaza’s 1.5 million people.
Continue reading “Hamas Bans Male Hairdressers From Women’s Hair Salons”
Sawsan Salim went to court to file harassment complaints against her local government in 2007. Her papers were in order but she was missing one detail. She had ventured out without a male family escort. For that crime she has been sentenced to 300 lashes and 18 months in jail.
Bishop Denis Brennan (Bishop of Ferns in Ireland) is being criticized for asking parishioners to help to pay for compensation claims linked to sexual abuse damages. The diocese has already paid 8 million euros to settle 48 civil actions arising from decades of sexual abuse by priests. An additional 13 actions are pending.
A Hindu wedding in New Delhi experienced the ultimate wedding crasher when the elephant used in the ceremony spotted a female elephant in a nearby field. The elephant proceeded to smash 20 cars, tried to mate with a truck, and then smashed through a shopping mall during a 15-hour rampage.
Dubai police now say that they have identified 26 suspects in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh — widely believed to be a Mossad operation. The government also released toxicology reports that show that Al-Mabhouh was first drugged and then suffocated.
Continue reading “Dubai Police: Al-Mabhouh Was Drugged and Then Suffocated”
Various sites are reporting that TV evangelist Pat Robertson is again holding forth on seismic retribution. Robertson was quoted as saying “God is even angrier with them than he is with the people of Haiti” — which would explain the greater seismological magnitude in the 8.8 earthquake. The reason: what Chileans did to poor General Augusto Pinochet. Update: our earlier stated suspicions were confirmed and the author admits that the story was untrue.
Continue reading “Hoax: Pat Robertson Did Not Attribute Chilean Earthquake to God’s Punishment for The Mistreatment of Augusto Pinochet”
When Glenn Richardson stepped down as speaker of the Georgia House in a sex scandal with a lobbyist, it was widely denounced as another politician who ran on “family-values” while living la vida loca. Voters of Paulding Country, however, quickly replaced him with another Republican running on family values, Rep. Daniel Stout. Stout, however, may be a bit too close to family: he was divorced in 10 years ago after his wife accused him of having an affair with her mother while she was pregnant with his child.