Yesterday, which happened to be my ninth wedding anniversary, marked the end of the life of Fred Phelps. Fred Phelps was the founder and patriarch of Westboro Baptist Church. This “church,” a tiny group with a huge voice, was known for picketing the funerals of our soldiers with their “God Hates Fags” message. They represent all […]
Continue reading →Last night, Bill Nye the Science Guy and Ken Ham the Creation Man debated the question, “Is creationism a viable model of origins in today’s modern scientific era?” I was happy the “great creationism debate” happened, but I have mixed feelings about how it turned out. ((Disclaimer: The following article is long, and it contains lots […]
Continue reading →G. K. Chesterton wrote in Orthodoxy: Modern masters of science are much impressed with the need of beginning all inquiry with a fact. The ancient masters of religion were quite equally impressed with that necessity. They began with the fact of sin—a fact as practical as potatoes. . . . Certain new theologians dispute original […]
Continue reading →Don’t shoot the messenger, but it looks like there are some strange statistics floating around about red states and divorces rates. Apparently, counties with the highest percentage of conservative Protestant adherence also have the highest rates of divorce in the country. This is obviously odd. Conservative protestantism constantly harps about family values and the sacredness […]
Continue reading →An article in the Telegraph unpacks a Washington Post Religious Map of the United States. And it comes to this conclusion: atheism is the fastest growing “religion” in the United States. I really don’t doubt it. According to the article, data from the US Religious Census of 2010 indicates that Catholicism and Protestantism, though still […]
Continue reading →Hollywood will be releasing a series of epic Bible films coming up in the next few years, beginning with Darren Aronofsky’s Noah. Other scheduled films are Son of God, Mary Mother of Christ (from the makers of The Passion of the Christ), Ridley Scott’s Exodus, and a few others in the works. Some of us […]
Continue reading →Everyone in America loves Christmas. The smells of Fraser firs, roast beast, and spiced cider, the sparkling lights, the crackling fire, the egg nog, the gifts, the human tenderness and family love, the music—in other words, the gemütlichkeit—such fantastic things, right? But can’t we keep those things and get rid of all the religious accoutrements that […]
Continue reading →A little while back, there was a big stink when Hobby Lobby, the famously Christian arts and crafts chain, refused to abide by the Obamacare mandate that, in effect, required employers to pay for contraception. There was talk that the chain would have to shut down if it were forced to pay the heavy daily […]
Continue reading →On a day in the Valley when temperatures reached 112 degrees, a group of Christians were handing out cold water for free and offering to engage in religious conversation when they were approached by a “Neighborhood Preservation Inspector” who told them they could not give out water without a permit. While many will consider this […]
Continue reading →I am a fan of good beer. Right now, I have a special beer in my fridge that’s part of Stone Brewery’s Vertical Epic series. It was brewed on 11/11/11 and is not supposed to be drunk until 12/12/12. But there’s a problem. The Mayan Calendar says the world will end that day. (Or was […]
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