The otherworldly religion of white Southern Christianity cannot tolerate the Lord's Prayer. All it can offer is a single-minded focus on leaving this world behind -- a life that consists of waiting until it's over. Rechristening sloth as piety is not just sinfully disobedient, it's depressing as Hell. Read more
Phil Robertson is a creepy old man who preaches white supremacist myths defending segregation, preaches Bartonian lies endorsing sectarian government, endorses child marriage as a way of disallowing independent adulthood to women, refers to his own wife as "a vagina," and equates being gay with bestiality and terrorism. And Franklin Graham says these are "the biblical truths we stand for." Read more
1. The Jon Swift Memorial Roundup 2013. Go. Read. Discover. 2. Give credit to Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer for responding appropriately to Fox News’ “White Santa” gambit. (See also.) 3. “In 1900, Ladies’ Home Journal Publishes 28 Predictions for the Year 2000” Sure, they got a few wrong — such as that C, X and Q would disappear from the alphabet or that mosquitos would be eradicated or that Nicaragua would apply for statehood. But they also got a... Read more
Defeating the Dragons: Samantha Field is smart, insightful and courageously honest. And she's a terrific writer. You couldn't ask for a better native guide to the exotic foreign world of white Southern Christian fundamentalism. Read more
Forbes gets on board the campaign for resident-owned communities. Marriage equality "will be the law of the land in every state in the country in the near future." Bank tells employees they'll "end up working for McDonald's" unless they bully customers into bad deals. Psychics maintain their longstanding track record for accuracy. If you form a blue-ribbon panel or a study commission, you should henceforth be presumed guilty until proven innocent. Read more
Many of the people advocating this theory are religious leaders -- church people who criticize government for not "allowing" the churches room to care for the poor and the jobless through private charity. Here's their chance to put their money where their mouth is. Here's their chance to prove they've been speaking truth and not just spouting hateful anti-poor garbage. Let's see these religious leaders step up and replace federal unemployment benefits for 1.3 million families. Read more
"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love." Read more
A couple of those year-end lists. Separated at birth? Is the audience for 'The Misfits' really composed of potential Liberty University students? Ezra Klein on the opposition to full employment: It's about keeping you powerless. "Virginity is a social construct." Read more
The idea of a troop surge -- it's never clear what these new troops would be doing -- arises from the enduring myths about Why We Lost Vietnam. We coulda/shoulda won, the myth says, if we hadn't lost our nerve, or if we'd committed more troops, or more bombs, or moremoremore of, you know, that stuff we coulda won with if we'd only used more of it. Read more
It's easy to focus on the negative -- "a lot is broken" and there's so much to do. But this is also where hope can be found -- there's so much to do and, therefore, there's so much that can be done. Read more
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