The Archbish of C is annoyed because the perceived coolitude of atheism is making it “difficult for the Church to convey its message.”
Well jeez, Rowan, I’m annoyed because the perceived wonderfulness of theism makes it difficult for atheism to convey its message – and your message has had it all its own way for quite a long time, please note. [Read more…]
From David Futrelle at Man Boobz – some guy says feminism causes male violence. (Well sure it does – makes perfect sense if you think about it – if we just do what we’re told what’s there to get violent about?) Guy points out it’s a bad idea, because after all who can hit harder?
In other words, the fact that there are violent men out there is why women shouldn’t complain about violent men. Presumably the only marches women should be organizing would be “No, Go Ahead, You Keep the Night” marches.
Good one.
Archbishops say the funniest things.
Archbishop Smith said that although Sikhs and Muslims had successfully used the law to uphold a right to manifest their beliefs in such areas as religious attire and jewelry, Christians were denied the same right because the courts had decided that it was not essential to the practice of their faith. [Read more…]
Religion makes people better department.
Let’s say you lived in Giles County, Va., a rural enclave of about 17,000 people in the southwestern portion of the state. Let’s say you were a high school student and you were opposed to the school board’s decision to post the Ten Commandments in your school.
Would you be eager to be public about it? [Read more…]
Libby Anne gets responses from people saying “yes but we home-school and we follow Jesus but we don’t fit your description.” She gently points out that if they don’t fit the description then she’s not writing about them…and goes on to provide a list of the genuine problems with “the various teachings of Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull” [italics hers], not having a large family or homeschooling. Among them –
- When parents teach their daughters to dream of nothing but homemaking and seek to kill any other desire or dream, that is a problem.
- When parents teach their daughters that boys are to go out into the world and take dominion while girls are to take dominion by doing laundry, that is a problem.
- When parents teach their daughters that women are created to serve men, that is a problem.
- When adult daughters are expected to obey their fathers and remain under their fathers’ authority, that is a problem.
- When parents insist that they control their adult daughters’ romantic relationships and can’t trust them to be adults and make their own decisions, that is a problem.
She knows this from the inside.
Never let it be said that Islamists don’t have a soft spot for children. Hell no – they’re as sentimental about the kiddies as Charles Dickens or the pope. They like nothing better than to give the wee ones a special treat during Ramadan.
A radio station run by Somalia’s al-Shabab Islamist group has awarded weapons to children who won a Koran-reciting and general knowledge contest. [Read more…]
Via Metamagician, a piece by Brian Thompson of JREF on “diversity” at JREF.
we at the JREF do take diversity seriously, and it’s something we strive to achieve at our events. If the skeptics community is going to thrive and grow, it’s essential that no one feel unwelcome or excluded due to race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.
I don’t understand that – it looks like a typo, or a thought-typo. It looks like grabbing an established category without taking the time to think about it and thus notice that it needs tweaking for the purpose. [Read more…]
So, did things get a little too hot for Bush? Did he suddenly remember some brush that needed cutting? Did he have that bad dream about the cops knocking on the door the way they did to Kissinger that time?
Next week’s appearance by former U.S. president George W. Bush at an event hosted by a local evangelical Christian university has been cancelled. [Read more…]
It doesn’t matter what you believe. The important thing is how you live.
An Islamic sharia court in Nigeria has sentenced two men to amputation at their right wrists for stealing a bull, with the amputation to be carried out in
public if it is given final approval. [Read more…]
Via PZ, I find the latest iteration of John Gray’s world-weary anti-liberal schtick.
Most of it is the familiar Armstrongesque “religion is not belief it’s practice.” Silly atheists are barking up the wrong hydrant trying to say the beliefs are all eyewash because the beliefs don’t matter so ha. Art and poetry aren’t about establishing facts and religion is like that so ha. Myths aren’t silly and wrong, they’re great stories, except the one about science being a good thing, which is silly and wrong because humanity isn’t marching anywhere because it forgot to bring its boots so ha. You know the kind of thing. [Read more…]