In my now-famous post Top Ten Worst Bible Stories, I singled out the Massacre of the Midianites in Deuteronomy 7:1-6 and Numbers 31:1-18 for particular criticism. It is, in fact, a story of genocide, the bloodthirsty and unprovoked annihalation of… Continue Reading
What need have we of the Gods?We have conquered their domainsAs they conquered the Titans. I look about my own landAnd I see the elementsHarnessed, domesticated. Wind and sun are made lightning,A lightning shorn of thunder,Jewels bring it where we… Continue Reading
Brit Hume, a former anchor and host and still part-time commentator on Fox News, suggested over the weekend that Tiger Woods should become a Christian. He [Hume] is under criticism for saying he does not think that Buddhism offers the… Continue Reading
I’ve been so intrigued by intelligent, nuanced Christian writing, meditating on morality and faith and the right way Christians should behave in the world. …And things fall back to form again! This time, it’s convicted felon and Watergate conspirator Chuck… Continue Reading
What is the deal with the daily crossword puzzle in the Fish Wrapper? It has had a smattering of clues and answers recently that reflect the author’s religious biases. It’s as though the editor is consciously favoring religious players: September… Continue Reading
I quite enjoyed last week’s Saturday compliation of the weirdest things I’ve come across on the Intertubes. So here’s this week’s installment. Let’s start with some big critters. I don’t know why but the cow is somehow more impressive than… Continue Reading
I’m driving home after an enormously stressful day at work. My conservative buddy calls me up on the way, so I pull over and take the call. (Unlike Maria Shriver, I’m ready to concede that the no-cell-phone-while-driving law applies to… Continue Reading
Biblical cherry picking doesn’t come any more awfully ironic than this. A better example of using religion to cloak naked, indefensible bigotry and hate is difficult to imagine. Regardless of whether the wearer of this tattoo had read Leviticus 19:28, his… Continue Reading
Why has America fallen into such desperate and horrible straits? Oh, yeah, that’s right, it’s the atheists’ fault. Or, as Doug Mataconis puts it, “Yea, it has nothing to do with all those religious people who’ve, you know, actually been… Continue Reading
In a rather remarkable Q&A session from October of 2006, Richard Dawkins is asked what to a believer must have seemed like a rather poignant question: “What if you’re wrong?” We have to contextualize, and then unpack, that question a… Continue Reading