A Saudi judge in Jeddah has again given the world a taste of law under the country’s medieval Sharia system. A 23-year-old pregnant woman who complained about being gang raped has been found guilty of adultery (even though she is not married) and ordered that she serve one year in jail and receive 100 lashes.
Continue reading “Saudi Arabian Judge Sentences Pregnant Gang Rape Victim to Jail and 100 Lashes”
Category: Religion
A top aide to British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has been arrested for shouting at the “telly” at his gym. The 47-year-old diplomat is accused of shouting “F***ing Israelis, f***ing Jews” while watching news reports of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza last month at the gym.
Continue reading “English Diplomat Arrested for Shouting Anti-Israeli Comments At Gym”
Italy is in the midst of its own Terri Schiavo controversy. Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has intervened to prevent doctors from carrying out the wishes of Eluana Englaro and her family to discontinued life support. Englaro has been in a coma for 17 years after a car crash in 1992. Berlusconi consulted with the Vatican and declared: “This is murder. I would be failing to rescue her. I’m not a Pontius Pilate.” The prime minister added that one of the things that persuaded him is that she was “in the condition to have babies.”
Further entries on Sunday will be delayed due to my deployment on the Cutter U.S.S. Taney (USCGC Taney (WPG/WHEC-37)).
My two eldest sons and I are scheduled to sleep over on the Taney on Saturday night. Men going off to sea on a warship is nothing new, but not since the Fighting Sullivan brothers has one family decided to serve in the same ship.
Students at the Goucher College are probably used to faculty being absent to present papers on subjects like genocide, but in the case of Leopold Munyakazi, he was pulled away to present a defense on genocide. Professor Munyakazi has been arrested on charges of genocide in Rwanda.
Continue reading “Goucher College Professor Arrested on Charges of Genocide”
If you think that American flight attendants have become a bit heavy handed, be grateful that you don’t fly Saudi Arabian Airlines flight. A man who refused to put his cigarette out on a flight to Jeddah was sentenced to 30 lashes.
Continue reading “Un-Lucky Strikes: Saudi Arabia Sentences Man To 30 Lashes for Smoking on a Flight”
A nurse is facing disciplinary action for simply offering to pray for the recovery of an elderly patient. While the patient did not object, Caroline Petrie, 45, is facing sanctions or even termination. Petrie is a serial prayer. She was suspended previously for breaching the “code of conduct on equality and diversity.” She has now been suspended again.
Saudi Arabia has again shown its institutional intolerance of other religions with the arrest of Hamoud Bin Saleh, 28, who wrote about how he converted to Christianity from Islam. The arrest of the blogger followed the killing of the daughter of an official in the Kingdom’s religious police who also wrote about her Christian faith.
Nancy Cartwright, the voice for Bart Simpson, may be in hot water with Twentieth Century Fox. Cartwright, a committed Scientologist, used the Simpson voice (which is copyrighted) to leave a widely played voice message for Scientologists. The robocall tape is below.
Continue reading “Don’t Have a Cowpyright, Man: Bart Simpson Shills for Scientology”
One of the items in the stimulus bill that has been overlooked is $100 million in grants for faith-based organizations. As I discussed this week in my column, Obama has pledged to not only continue but massively expand President Bush’s faith-based initiatives.
Continue reading “Obama Starts To Fulfill Faith-Based Promise With $100 Million in Stimulus Package”
A California appellate court has ruled that the Riverside County-based California Lutheran High School was permitted to expelled two 16-year-old girls for having “a bond of intimacy” that was “characteristic of a lesbian relationship.” It is a major ruling in favor of free exercise, finding that the religious mission of the school trumped the state’s anti-discrimination laws. Continue reading “California Court Rules That Lutheran School May Expel Students as Suspected Lesbians”
As we approach the one-week anniversary of the Obama administration, it is a bit early to judge the level of true change brought by the 44th president. However, it is becoming increasingly clear what is not going to change (at least for the better) in the Obama administration. With all of the euphoria of the inauguration, many supporters fought back a strange and long-lingering sensation: doubt. There was little room for doubt in the collective celebration of our first African-American president and a new course after a ruinous eight years under George W. Bush.
Continue reading “Faith-Based Part II: Obama’s Expansion of the Bush’s Faith-Based Programs”
Now, this could make for an wrongful termination lawsuit. Micah Grimes, the coach of Covenant School of Dallas, was reportedly fired after refusing to apologize for a 100 – 0 victory of his girls’ basketball team over Dallas Academy. He insists that it is ridiculous to apologize “for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity.” He was fired shortly thereafter.
Continue reading “Christians Can’t Jump: Coach Grimes Fired for Beating Girl’s Basketball Team 100 To 0”
In shocking documents reviewed by the Indianapolis Star, disclosed evidence shows that the Archdiocese of Indianapolis was fully aware that Father Harry Monroe was molesting numerous boys from 1974 to 1984 and allowed him to continue by transferring him from church to church rather than calling the police or terminating his employment or both.
Continue reading “Documents Shows Church Officials in Indianapolis Knew of Repeated Sexual Abuse by Priest But Transferred Him to Other Churches”
Norman Hutchinson, 48, is a member of the Religion of Jesus Church who lives in Mexico, Maine. He has filed a lawsuit in the Oxford Courthouse in Paris Maine against the state, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Mexico Police Department to protect his right to use marijuana for religious reasons.
Continue reading “Mexico Man in Paris Sues State of Maine in Oxford Court Over Religious Use of Pot”