Every year, Halloween gets scarier and scarier. I am not talking about the costumes but religious writers and activists who denounce the holiday as a pagan attack on God and faith. The creepies started early this year. Bloomberg columnist Amity Shlaes has written to denounce “the pull of the pagan” and ask people to think about how Halloween fills the vacuum left from the absence of faith.
Continue reading “Amity-ville Horror: Is Halloween A Cry For Help?”
Category: Religion
Now, this could make for an interesting torts lawsuit. The Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), a Nigerian-led Evangelical Christian church in London, has claimed to have the cure of people with HIV that involves their stopping all medications and praying for a cure. The results, critics say, has been not the promised “miracle” but three deaths.
Continue reading “Church Under Fire After Three People Die After Being Allegedly Told To Stop AIDS Drugs In Favor Of Prayer”
Recently, I wrote a column in the Washington Post about the increasing use of faith as an issue in the 2012 presidential campaign. In the Western Republican Presidential Debate, the candidates appeared to double down on the use of politicized piety. Rick Santorum reaffirmed that a candidate’s faith was essential to his qualifications. Newt Gingrich, however, used the opportunity to again attack agnostics, atheists, and secularists – saying that you cannot trust any leader who does not pray.
Continue reading “Gingrich: You Cannot Trust Politicians Who Do Not Pray”
Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
I was surprised when I read an article yesterday that reported the news of an indictment that was handed down in Jackson County, Missouri. You may be asking what is unusual about one more indictment in the State of Missouri? The news worthy aspect of this indictment is the person and organization that was indicted. The Grand Jury in Jackson County indicted the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph as well as its Bishop, Bishop Robert Finn! Continue reading “CATHOLIC BISHOP INDICTED”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
In the Hasidic neighborhood of South Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, persons unknown has been putting up signs in Yiddish that translate to: “Precious Jewish daughter, please move to the side when a man approaches.” City workers have removed the signs, not based on the message but because it’s illegal to affix signs on street trees.
As I and others were celebrating last night at the home of Irish Ambassador Michael Collins, there was one Irish lawyer who could not attend: Pat Finucane. Finucane was gunned down in front of his wife and three children in a savage murder in in Belfast in 1989. His family was crushed this week in a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron when he told them that he was blocking a public inquiry into the death — linked to a police informant. Instead, Cameron said he would ask a lawyer to look into the matter.
Continue reading “PM Cameron Blocks Inquiry Into Killing of Irish Lawyer Pat Finucane”
The Iranian courts have responded to a film detailing the repression of artists in Iran by ordering the flogging and imprisonment of an actress, Marzieh Vafamehr. Vafamehr will be given 90 lashes and imprisoned for a year for her role in “My Tehran for Sale,” a film that tells the story of a young actress in Tehran who cannot perform due to government repression.
There is an interesting debate occurring in Washington — not over the continuing cuts in core health and environmental programs, but one of the programs that was protected from cuts. The Obama Administration has continued the funding of programs encouraging marriage and promoting fatherhood . . . to the tune of over $120 million. It was part of a large effort of the Bush Administration funding both faith-based programs and family-oriented projects.
Continue reading “Obama Administration Awards $120 Million To Promote Marriage”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
In a desperate attempt to distract the media away from the “Niggerhead” story, the Perry campaign used Rev. Robert Jeffress to claim that Mormonism is a cult. Jeffress, pastor of Dallas’ First Baptist Church, introduced Perry at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. Perry hasn’t been doing too well recently and his latest problem was the revelation that his family’s secluded West Texas hunting camp was known by the name painted on a flat rock near its gated entrance: Niggerhead.
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
“There is no gambling like politics,” Benjamin Disraeli used to say, and this week’s Values Voters Summit inWashington was the biggest poker game in town with all 7 Republican candidates at the gaming table.
For the second time in two years, a visit by the Dalai Lama has been blocked by the South African government — only a week after South Africa’s Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe visited with Chinese leaders in Beijing. However, the government insists that it was under no pressure from China and the visa was simply not processed fast enough.
Below is today’s column in the Washington Post (Sunday) exploring the growing infusion of religious pitches and policies in the presidential campaign. With the anniversary this week of the Danbury letter, this is a particularly good time to take account of the condition of the wall of separation. Today is also the day of the “Red Mass,” the annual religious service held with members of the Supreme Court before the start of their term and leading Republican and Democratic politicians. While the separation of church and state is not mentioned in the Constitution, this exchange cemented the phrase in our legal and cultural lexicon. The piece below does not delve into the meaning of the First Amendment and whether it can be read broadly or narrowly given its language and history. Even if one accepts that the establishment clause was only designed to prevent the creation of an official church, there remains the long-standing principle in politics and government against the intermingling of church and state. To put it simply, religion is back in politics. While the targeted religious minorities may have changed from Baptists to Muslims, the fight over separation has resumed with the same politicized piety that once tore this country apart.
Continue reading “Separation of Church and State? Not on the 2012 Campaign Trial”
A new study from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy has identified an area of young adults who have been overlooked by prior campaigns: young evangelicals. The study found 80 percent of unmarried evangelical young adults have had sex. That is virtually the same (8 percent below) the national average. With a campaign infused with religiosity this year and all of the talk of “real America” versus urban America, the study challenges stereotypes.
Continue reading “Laying Hands Upon The Faithful (and Available): Study Finds 80 Percent of Unmarried Evangelical Young Adults Have Pre-Marital Sex”
A family in Pakistan is living in poverty and avoiding neighbors calling for their deaths. Their offense? The oldest daughter was raped and the family did not kill her as demanded as a matter of honor. Unlike hundreds of such girls killed in honor killings each year, Kainat Soomro, 17, is being supported by her family and refuses to back down in demanding justice for her kidnapping and gang rape.
Continue reading “Pakistani Religious Elders Order The Killing of Teenage Rape Victim For Losing Her Virginity Before Marriage”
In Bay Minette, Alabama, felons are being given the opportunity to climb the wall. Not the prison wall, mind you. The Alabama court and local police are helping felons over the wall of separation of church and state by giving convicted citizens an opportunity to avoid jail if they volunteer — so long as it is with a church.
Continue reading “Alabama Courts Give The Convicted The Choice Between Jail and Church”