Kudzu Jesus

Someone's taking John, Chapter 15 verse 1, a little too literally. See what I'm talking about here. Kudzu Jesus.

The US - Not a Christian Nation?

In this opinion piece from CNN, Kenneth C. Davis, author of "Don't Know Much about History" (a GREAT book and read if you ever get the chance), takes a look at not only the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but at the other writings of the Founding Fathers to determine what their intent was when they were creating the separation of church and state.

Discussing the Fathers' "original intent," he highlights the following:

-- In 1790, President George Washington wrote to America's first synagogue, in Rhode Island, that "all possess alike liberty of conscience" and that "toleration" was an "inherent national gift," not the government's to dole out or take away

-- In 1797, with President John Adams in office, the Senate unanimously approved one of America's earliest foreign treaties, which emphatically stated (Article 11): "As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion, -- as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen (Muslims) ..."

-- In 1802, Jefferson added his famous "wall of separation," implicit in the Constitution until he so described it (and cited in several Supreme Court decisions since).

Your thoughts?

Muslim woman fired from Abercrombie & Fitch over her refusal to remove Hijab

One important article of faith for some Muslim women is the Hijab - the head covering worn as a sign of modesty. Abercrombie & Fitch fired one Muslim lady for her refusal to take it off while she was at work. As a result, she's suing. In this video on CNN, she cites the 1st Amendment as granting her freedom of religion. However, some courts have found that the United States Bill of Rights and the Constitution grant those freedoms from the government - not from private businesses.

Your thoughts?

Theists and Atheists - debate points

Here's a great link to some back and forth between those who believe in a higher power and those who don't.

Theists often claim of atheists that they can't be good without God, or that there's no such thing as atheism, because it's still a belief.

Do these responses to theist claims do it justice?

What do Mormons Believe?

This is something we're going to cover later in detail on the blog and in the podcast, but CNN trumped us a little ahead of the game. Here's a good link to ten quick facts they put together describing the Mormon's Dogmas.

From CNN - The Bible condemns a lot of different things, why focus on homosexuality?

A good discussion with Jonathan Dudley, a graduate of Yale Divinity School. Paul wrote about not having short hair for women or long hair for men, but Christians don't focus on these. Why?

Creationist Kent Hovind's Dino Land is up for sale!

Creationist Kent Hovind's "Dinosaur Adventure Land" in Pensacola, Florida, is up for sale.

Hovind is currently incarcerated for tax fraud.

See the property here.

Noah's Ark Rebuilt in Netherlands - no word on if he followed all the rules

So, a guy spent $1.6 Million recreating Noah's Ark. And the story says he fit 2 of every animal inside. Somehow I doubt that. I'd love to see for myself. (Although, to be fair, he's supposed to put 7 of every "clean" animal inside - Genesis 7:2).

I do note that the story didn't say anything about where he would put enough feed to feed all those animals for 40 days. Good thing they're plastic. Helps him get around the small details.

Read the story on MSN here.

Scientology has a hymn

Yep. Go figure. Though I'm sure by now they have quite a few more.

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time, people of all religious creeds and denominations got along.

Nah... In fact, they're still going at it. This time, it's Protestants and Catholics in Ireland. And a photographer ends up shot.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110622/wl_uk_afp/nirelandbritainunrest

Too funny to pass up - Amish Sexting Scandal

Okay, so the official launch for this blog is later this summer, but this was too funny not to post now.

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=14950439&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

Umm... what's an Amish guy doing with a cellphone anyway?

Coming Soon

Blog and podcast coming summer 2011!