The unBiblical Tea Party Christian

February 24, 2015 by Leave a Comment
the poor

I recently came upon some remarks Republican John Johnston of Indiana made about the poor while campaigning for Indiana House of Representatives last summer. (Johnston was defeated by his Democratic opponent in the fall.) I know his remarks are old news, but I want to use them to illustrate a point. Here are Johnston's comments, which he posted in an online discussion: For almost three generations people, in some cases, have been given handouts. They have been ‘enabled’ so much that their paradi … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Evangelicalism/Fundamentalism, Politics Tagged With: Leave a Comment

When Men Wax Poetic about My Womb

February 11, 2015 by Leave a Comment
uterus_diagram

I want to start out by saying that right now, I am very frustrated. Very very frustrated. Men need to stop talking about---and especially for---women until they stop and freaking listen. I wrote last weekend about some of Matt Walsh's statements about birth control, but today, I have more to say. Walsh wrote this, for example: The birth control pill is a dramatic and potentially harmful “medication” designed to “cure” a natural function of a woman’s body. It seems that men who develop and pu … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Feminism, Patriarchy, Politics Tagged With: , Leave a Comment

Dismantling Prejudice and Misconceptions

January 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment
sightseer-371747_1280

I've often seen Islam treated as an odd case when it comes to willingness to engage in acts of terror or vigilante "justice". I think it's easy to view the West as having somehow moved beyond this, and our society as being wholly and completely different. It's true that non-Muslims in the West don't tend to carry out honor killings or call for the death penalty for apostates. There are definitely differences. But is it true that non-Muslims in Western countries are immune carrying out acts of ter … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , Leave a Comment

Charlie Hebdo and Freedom of Speech

January 8, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Charlie Hebdo

The world is abuzz with talk of this week's deadly terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo, a French satirist newspaper. That anyone could be willing to kill someone else over cartoons---no matter how offensive they find them---is unthinkable to me. Both newspapers and private individuals should be able to be offensive without fearing for their lives. What happened this week at Charlie Hebdo is wrong, and tragic, and horrifying in the extreme.Supporting a person or organization's freedom of speech … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Atheism, Politics Tagged With: , , , Leave a Comment

HSLDA’s Core Agenda: Abolishing Compulsory Education

December 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Founding-Fathers-Americans-for-Prosperity

Prominent HSLDA attorney Chris Klicka elucidated on HSLDA's agenda in a 2001 book, and frankly, when I read it I found even myself slightly surprised, not so much by what their agenda is as by how willing they are to publicly admit it. The framers of the Constitution, unfortunately, never specifically mentioned in the Constitution the right of parents to educate their children. They took it for granted that parents alone had this right and could choose whatever form of education they saw fit. S … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Homeschool, Politics Tagged With: Leave a Comment

Then What Makes Us Different? Torture Edition

December 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
1417747867cia-torture

The Senate Intelligence Committee recently released a report on the CIA's torture program. You can read their summary here. The report, which covered 2001 to 2009, told of water-boarding, sleep deprivation, rectal rehydration, and even of trying to get detainees to talk by threatening their children. But as horrifying as I have found the report itself (if sadly unsurprising), I have been perhaps more horrified by some of the responses I have seen, especially on the Right.Perhaps the most comm … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , Leave a Comment

Duggar Actions Have Real World Consequences

December 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Michelle Duggar Signs Copies Of "A Love That Multiplies"

Over the years I've seen a variety of reactions to Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's TLC show, a show they landed as a result of their unusually large number of children. I knew of the show when I was a teen, growing up in a large Duggar-like family myself. At the time I saw the Duggars as powerful witnesses for Christ, using their platform to promote their---our---beliefs. As an adult, it seems to me that the general public either thinks the Duggars this beautiful, loving, quaint family that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Evangelicalism/Fundamentalism, Politics Tagged With: Leave a Comment

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