There will be a delay in any postings this weekend due to my annual trip with the family to Shrinemont, a retreat in the mountains of Virginia. A fitting homage to Justice Souter, who will soon return to his cabin in New Hampshire for a well-earned retirement.
Category: Religion
The Justice Department is moving to dismiss the case against Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman for espionage. The two men are former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Recently, Rep. Jane Harman was swept into a scandal when it was revealed that she was intercepted by the NSA alleging bargaining to help get the case dismissed in exchange for AIPAC’s help in securing the Chair position on the House Intelligence Committee.
Continue reading “Justice Department to Drop Espionage Case Against AIPAC Lobbyists”
In an example of colossal stupidity, Iraqi officials have called for the killing of the three wild boars in the Baghdad zoo to protect the country against swine flu. This comes on the heals of the Egyptian government moving to kill every pig in the country despite the lack of any evidence that it would help prevent the virus, which passes from human to human.
Continue reading “Iraqi Officials to Kill Zoo Animals to Protect Against Swine Flu”
The Pew Forum has released an interesting poll that the more religious Americans, the more likely they are to support the use of torture against terrorism suspects.
Its official. Saudi Arabia has its newest eight-year-old divorcee, but not due to any problem in Saudi Arabia with a man over 50 marrying an eight-year-old child. The girl’s lawyer reached an out-of-court settlement with the man who finally agreed to the divorce. A Saudi court twice rejected the mother’s effort to get a divorce for her daughter after the father effectively sold her to the older man as a bride for cash.
Continue reading “The Eight-Year-Old Divorcee — Husband of Child Bride in Saudi Arabia Accepts a Settlement and Grants Divorce to Child Sold to Him by Father”
The Obama Administration is finally getting ahead of this health care crisis: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack have told reporters to stop calling this virus the “Swine” Flu — suggesting the ever-so-hip “H1N1′ virus. While it was the pork businesses that led to the change in nomenclature, Israel is moving to drop the reference due to religious objections to pork. It appears that even catching a swine-based flu is religiously problematic. The Obama Administration appears to have rejected “the virus formerly known as Swine Flu.”
Continue reading “Bacon Lung? U.S. and Israel Object to the Use of “Swine” Flu As Name of Current Outbreak”
Imam Amadia Rachid has declared in Salerno, Italy that the swine flu virus is proof that the Koran is correct in its view of pigs. He noted that “We believe that what is happening shows the truth of our faith.” I still think a good solid Divinity School paper would be more user friendly on establishing the superiority of one’s faith.
Continue reading “Imam Declares Swine Flu Proof of Koran’s Truth”
The West appears undeterred in its rush to embrace prosecutions for criticizing religion. This week Ireland is considering creating its own blasphemy law to allow for criminal prosecution — the same week as Finland began prosecuting a politician for blasphemy.
Continue reading “Erin Go Blasphemy: Ireland Considers Creation of New Crime For Insulting Religion”
It appears that women in Saudi Arabia will soon be denied the right to work out in athletic clubs. Saudi officials have decided that there is only authority for men’s clubs to be operated and regulated in the Kingdom. Due to the strict separation of men and women, various clubs have started to tailor to women and those clubs now appear close to a shutdown.
Continue reading “No Spinning Zone: Saudi Female Athletic Clubs To Be Shutdown”
The citizens of Berlin rejected calls from the Pope, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and others to allow religious classes to be substituted for compulsory ethics classes. It is a victory for those of us who have decried the loss of civics education and the increasing integration of religious training in public education. The campaign was led by a group called Pro Reli — “Reli” is the street name for religious classes.
Continue reading “Reli Bad Idea: Berliners Reject Substitution of Religious Classes for Civics Classes”
Recently, I wrote a column on how the West has used hate crime laws to create a Western version of blasphemy prosecutions in the Middle East. Finland has now added to the list of countries charging people with blasphemy. Helsinki city councilman, Jussi Halla-aho was charged with blasphemy and incitement of an ethnic-group for publishing on his blog that Islam’s prophet was a pedophile. Mohammad is often accused of being a pedophile due to his marriage to 6-year-old Aisha, which was consummated when she was 9.
Continue reading “Finland Prosecutes Politician for Blasphemy in Calling Mohammad a Pedophile”
The trial of Mazoltuv Borukhova and Mikhail Mallayev end with criminal sentences of life without parole for the gunning down of Dr. Borukhova’s estranged husband, Daniel Malakov, 34, in front of their 4-year-old daughter in a playground. The trial was filled with references to religion and the Jewish faith.
Continue reading “New York Murder Trial Ends With a Flurry of Religious References”
A Jewish professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara has been accused of anti-Semitism for material that he shared with his students in a course on sociology and globalization. The material critical of Israel led to two students dropping the course and charges filed against Professor William I. Robinson.
Continue reading “Jewish Professor in California Accused of Anti-Semitism”
There is double indemnity and then there is double depravity. Baltimore Pastor Kevin Jerome Pushia, 32, is accused in a shocking criminal conspiracy. He allegedly befriended a blind and disabled man, Lemuel Wallace, as part of his work with developmentally disabled people at his church, The Arc of Baltimore. He then allegedly used church funds to hire a hit man to kill him and collect on life insurance money. Police say that he has confessed to the conspiracy.
Continue reading “Pastor Pushia Confesses to Using Church Funds to Hire Hitman to Kill Blind, Disabled Man for Insurance Money”
There is an interesting account out of Waco, Texas where Bill Nye “The Science Guy” was booed for saying that the Moon does not generate it own light — in contradiction to the Bible. This will likely end any dream of Nye to open a new Bill Nye “The Religion Guy” line of products. The speech reportedly occurred in 2006 but the controversy was rekindled after critics cried foul at the removal of the story from the local newspaper’s online archive.