Terry Firma, though born and Journalism-school-educated in Europe, has lived in the U.S. for the past 20-odd years. Stateside, his feature articles have been published in the New York Times, Reason, Rolling Stone, Playboy, and Wired. Terry was the founder and Main Mischief Maker of Moral Compass, a now-dormant site that pokes fun at the delusional claim by people of faith that a belief in God equips them with superior moral standards. He was the Editor-in-Chief of two Manhattan-based magazines until he decided to give up commercial publishing for professional photography... with a lot of blogging on the side. These days, he lives in an old seaside farmhouse in Maine with his wife, three kids, and two big dogs.
Yesterday’s post about Christian cover artist TheParodyQueen (TPQ) elicited a lot of discussion about whether her brand of “satire” (I use the scare quotes advisedly) could pass legal muster. So I asked a friend of mine, attorney Marc Randazza, for comment. Marc specializes in intellectual-property law and the First Amendment, and writes a column on free-speech issues for CNN. Read more
Is it better to let drug users who overdose on heroin die, than to give them a life-saving drug? Maine’s Governor Paul LePage says yes. He just vetoed a bill that had been unanimously OK’d by the state legislature. The bill would have given pharmacists the green light to dispense the opioid antagonist naloxone without a prescription. Read more
Prince Rogers Nelson — that’s just Prince to you and me and millions of other music fans — escaped these earthly bounds today, and, according to his beliefs as a longtime Jehovah’s Witness, drifted up to heaven to be with his Creator forever and ever. I loved Prince, at least up until the brilliant double album Sign o’ the Times, whose title track is as dark and searing an account of natural and man-made disaster, and temptation, and human frailty, as any certified genius could possibly cram into five minutes. Even the overtly Christian “The Cross,” from that same album, was a strong musical statement, although I never could get on board with the devout lyrics. By the early 90s, though, Prince seemed to have lost the drive or the ability to soar that high, coinciding with a pronounced U-turn back to his religious roots. He was raised a Seventh Day Adventist, and, after years of steamy musical exploits that included songs about masturbation, orgies, and brother-sister incest, eased back into Christianity’s fold by joining the Jehovah’s Witnesses. That meant he sometimes went door to door to convert people. Really. Read more