I've written plenty here about Southern Baptist bigwig Al Mohler's young-Earth creationism. And I've written about Mohler's staggering, transparent ambition. But I hadn't ever really appreciated how those two things fit together until I read Alan Bean's recent insightful post, "Why Al Mohler believes the world is 6,000 years old." Read more
The "Next Citizens United" could be even worse. How telling your story helps shape the stories of others. Another reason to like Lambertville besides the toll-free bridge. There Will Be Bassets. Christians lying about Planned Parenthood?!? That's unprecedented! Susan Boyle to make acting debut in Rick Santorum's Christmas movie. YouTube thinks it can clean up its comment section without hiring an army of moderators. Good luck with that. Read more
States now have an interest, a stake, in lots of people playing the lottery. The casual players — those who can afford it as an amusing diversion paid for with disposable income — don’t buy enough tickets to fund everything the lottery is designed to fund. So states are now invested in the idea that hard-core players — people who play too much, who spend income on the lottery that they need for other things — keep playing, and that more people are lured into becoming hard-core players. And so states have gotten into the business of promoting waste and irresponsibility. Read more
Congress has a job. A big part of that job involves passing a budget to fund the government. Congress didn't do it's job, so there is no budget and hence, as of midnight, the government is shut down. What does that mean? Pain. Read more
The legal absurdity of a "debt ceiling" means that, no matter what, some law must be broken. If Congress does not increase -- or, better yet, abolish -- the debt ceiling, then either the government will break the law by borrowing money it is forbidden to borrow or else the government will break the law by not spending money it is constitutionally mandated to spend. Either way, Congress is demanding that the executive branch break the law. Read more
The same week thousands of congregations heard sermons on a parable in which Jesus praises a "shrewd manager" for handing out unauthorized discounts, Goodwill Industries sought grand theft charges against a cashier who handed out unauthorized discounts. Read more
After their political nemesis President George W. Bush announced his support for the Do Not Call list, all those liberal politicians and liberal bloggers who had previously supported the idea ... still supported the idea. They still insisted it was in accord with their principles and their values and they stuck with those principles and values. They applauded Bush for his support, welcomed his support, and worked with him to make the registry a reality. Read more
White out. Accusations of meliorism from pretentious jackwagons who aren't sure what it is, but figure it must be bad. Jerry Jenkins and telephones: "I can't quit you." Obama advocates for American pastor jailed in Iran (religious right denial of this in 3 ... 2 .... 1 ...). Exxon vs. Tony Perkins -- can't they both lose? Tony Soprano not the only Jersey Boss who went to a psychiatrist. Read more
I am convinced that the religous right's obsession with homosexuality is driven by their fierce joy at being able to condemn something by which most of us aren't tempted. They can't preach against pride, envy, gluttony, wrath, greed, sloth or lust for the opposite sex -- they're neck-deep in all of those. But love for people of the same-sex seems like a safer target. So not only do they condemn it as a sin, they blame it for all the ills afflicting our society. Read more
This is clear, concise and even kind of entertaining. It's a good summary of the law. It's kind of mind-blowing that this -- only this -- is something anyone would have voted to repeal even once, let alone 40 times. Or that anyone is threatening to shut down the government over this. Read more
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