Posts Tagged ‘Religion’
Evangelist Sentenced to 175 Years for Taking Child Brides
JON GAMBRELL writes on the AP via Yahoo News:
Evangelist Tony Alamo used his stature as a self-proclaimed prophet to force underage girls into sham marriages with him, controlling his followers with their fears of eternal suffering.
But the judge who sentenced Alamo on Friday to 175 years in prison for child sexual abuse warned of another kind of justice awaiting the aging evangelist. “Mr. Alamo, one day you will face a higher and a greater judge than me,” U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes told the preacher. “May he have mercy on your soul.”
Barnes leveled the maximum sentence against the 75-year-old, who preyed on followers’ young daughters and took child “brides” as young as age 8. A jury convicted Alamo in July on a 10-count indictment accusing him of taking the…
Does Jesus Save Aliens?
Hannah Devlin writes in the Times:
Four hundred years after Renaissance philosopher Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake for his belief in the “plurality of worlds” (aliens), scientists and religious leaders gathered this week at a seemingly more open-minded Vatican for a conference on astrobiology (aliens).
The meeting focussed on current science, rather than the theological quandaries thrown up by the possibility of other life forms beyond this planet. But that hasn’t stopped debate spilling over outside the conference.
Yesterday I spoke to Paul Davies, a cosmologist from Arizona State University, just after he addressed the conference. In his view, the possibility of other civilisations — potentially more intelligent than our own — puts Christians “in a real bind”. Specifically, he says that nobody’s satisfactorily addressed the question of whether aliens get saved.…
Judge Bans South Carolina Christian License Plate
From BBC News:
A US judge has ordered South Carolina not to issue a vehicle number plate with a Christian image and slogan.
The state legislature had approved a licence plate with a cross in front of a stained glass window and the words “I Believe” written along the top.
District Judge Cameron Currie said that the plate violated the First Amendment, which enshrines the separation of church and state.
A similar bid by a group in Florida last year did not pass state lawmakers.
‘Unconstitutional’
The case was brought by Americans United, which backs the separation of church and state, on behalf of several individuals and Hindu and American-Arab groups.
[Read more at BBC News]
Republican Councilman Explains his Paganism
The GOP must be really confused by this. Score one for freedom of religion!
Last week, Councilman-elect Dan Halloran (R-Bayside) narrowly defeated a Democratic candidate in one of the nation’s most liberal cities. Now comes the hard part: explaining his religious beliefs to the press. For the past two decades, the cop-turned-lawyer has been a devout believer in Theodism, a pre-Christian faith rooted in Celtic and Germanic tribal religions. “Understanding my theology is a little difficult for mainstreamers,” admits Halloran, who serves as the “First Atheling,” or king, of a local tribe of 120 followers called New Normandy.
The incoming Councilman tells the Post that his faith is a “cousin religion” to Hinduism, and downplays the role of “humane” animal sacrifices as nothing more than “processing food in a specific way.” “If a Christian goes to a Greek Orthodox lamb roast for Easter, there is nothing considered wrong with that. If a Jewish person decides to keep kosher, [it's similar],” he said. “To say ‘animal sacrifice’ makes it sound like you’re killing an animal willy-nilly.”
Atheism as a Stealth Religion
From ScienceBlogs:
In today’s polarized world, the conflict between atheism and religion is shaping up to be the fight of the century. In this corner, the new atheists, flexing their muscles with books such as God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens and The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. In that corner, the religious fundamentalists, who are responsible for 9/11, the Christian takeover of America, polluting the minds of their children, and numberless other atrocities. It’s science and reason against dogmatism and blind faith, making it obvious who the enlightened liberal should root for.
Well, not quite. The truly enlightened liberal should experience a twinge of doubt about the very blackness and whiteness of it. Let me show you how a bit of evolutionary thinking can paint a more interesting picture in…
‘Collision’ Attempts to Answer ‘Is Christianity Good for the World?’
Collision carves a new path in documentary filmmaking as it pits leading atheist, political journalist and bestselling author Christopher Hitchens against fellow author, satirist and evangelical theologian Douglas Wilson, as they go on the road to exchange blows over the question: “Is Christianity Good for the World?” The two contrarians laugh, confide and argue, in public and in private, as they journey through three cities:
Teacher Claims Fingerprinting Is ‘Mark of the Beast’
From Wired:
A 22-year veteran kindergarten teacher in the Texas Bible Belt could lose her job for refusing, on religious grounds, to give fingerprints under a state law requiring them.The evangelical Christian, Pam McLaurin, is fighting a looming suspension, claiming that fingerprinting amounts to the “Mark of the Beast,” and hence is a violation of her First Amendment right to practice her religion. Her case is similar to a lawsuit by a group of Michigan farmers, some of them Amish, challenging rules requiring the tagging of livestock with RFID chips, saying the devices are also the devil’s mark.
The latest case is the first in which a teacher is refusing fingerprinting on religious grounds, the woman’s lawyer said. The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to decide whether the First Amendment is implicated in fingerprinting, especially…
Goldman Sachs Official Says Jesus Embraced Greed
Matt Taibbi writes:
I didn’t believe this story was true at first — thought it had to be a spoof. But it turns out to be true. The great banks of the world have gone on a p.r. counteroffensive in Europe, and are sending spokescrooks in shiny suits into churches to persuade the masses that Christ would have approved of the latest round of obscene bonuses.
Goldman Sachs international adviser Brian Griffiths explains it this way: that Christ’s famous injunction to love others as one would love oneself actually means that one should love oneself as one would love oneself. This seemingly baffling outburst by a Goldman executive in what appears to have been a prepared speech — someone actually wrote this, and thought about it, before saying it out loud — gets…
Health Insurers Must Cover Prayer Under Democrats’ Bill
The L.A. Times reports on an overlooked development in the Democrats’ health care bill:
Inserted by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) with the support of Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and the late Edward M. Kennedy…A little-noticed provision in the health care overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses.
The measure would put Christian Science prayer treatments — which substitute for or supplement medical treatments — on the same footing as clinical medicine.
Phil Davis, a senior Christian Science Church official, said prayer treatment was an effective alternative to conventional health care. But critics say the measure could have a broader effect, conferring new status and medical legitimacy on practices that lie outside the realm of science.
The spiritual healing provision was introduced in the House by…
Islamic Stigmata?
I know that Catholics have been all over this for centuries, but don’t know much about occurrences in the Islamic world. Definitely am curious. Thanks to Joe Nolan for suggesting the link.
Paranormalia writes:
… I’ve been interested in the baby in Dagestan who is apparently running a sort of Koranic slide show on his skin. Ali Yakubov is said to have exhibited the word ‘Allah’ in Arabic on his chin at a few weeks of age, and subsequently entire Koranic verses have been appearing on various parts of his body, before fading and being replaced with new ones. Initially the parents did not talk about it, but then the phrase, “Show these signs to people” came into view, and now their household is being inundated with pilgrims from all over the region. Performances are…
R. Crumb Discusses His ‘Book Of Genesis’
Whether you like his art or not, R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis is an interesting work. I especially like that he has the Serpent in the Garden of Eden look like some sort of reptilian humanoid alien, as if it’s ripped from David Icke’s imagination.
Here’s an interview with Crumb on FORA.tv:
Mad Scientologists Caught in a Web of Their Own Making
From The Sydney Morning Herald:
Draw near, infidels, for these are dark days for the Knights of Hubbard. Do not despair entirely – the Church of Scientology remains rich, has excellent lawyers and, according to the International Scientology News, ”every minute of every hour, someone reaches for L. Ron Hubbard technology … simply because they know Tom Cruise is a Scientologist”.
So unless the world’s supply of fools is melting away, they can hold off trying to lure disaffected Kabbalists into their cultish communion. And yet, it has not been the best of weeks for our operating thetans. In France, Scientology was found guilty of defrauding followers after a judge effectively debunked the idea of the church’s trusty E-meter, a crude polygraph used to encourage Scientologists to purchase everything from books to…
Cult Busters: How Governments Decide Whether a Religion is Real or Not
From Slate:
A French court fined the Church of Scientology $888,000 on Tuesday after a couple claimed they’d been manipulated into buying between $30,000 and $73,000 worth of church products. The verdict is “a historical turning point for the fight against cult abuses,” said the leader of France’s “government cult-fighting unit.” How does this special cult-busting unit distinguish between cults and bona fide religions?
Vaguely. French law doesn’t define the term “cult.” Rather, it uses the expression “cultlike movements” to describe groups that demand unreasonable financial contributions, encourage nonparticipation in elections, promote anti-social behavior, or cut members off from their families. It’s easier to target bad behavior, the thinking goes, than to get into a semantic debate over what is and isn’t a cult. The French government has, however, tried to define the…
