Food for Thought (No. 2)

“Why should it be that it’s perfectly legitimate to support the Labour party or the Conservative party, Republicans or Democrats, this model of economics versus that, Macintosh instead of Windows – but to have an opinion about how the Universe began, about who created the Universe…no, that’s holy?”
Douglas Adams, speech at Cambridge University, 2001

Wichita Delegation Arrives Too Late

The delegation from Wichita, Kansas, has arrived in New York City too late to participate in the conference on religious tolerance hosted by the King of Saudi Arabia at the United Nations. It is unfortunate that Mark Holick, Pastor of the Spirit One Christian Center in Wichita, will be unable to share his unique brand [...]

Saudi King Makes Splash at UN

King Abdullah, the Saudi ruler, took some time off from his OPEC interests this week to turn the New York Palace Hotel and the U.N. General Assembly into an extension of his court. Long lines of VIPs formed to congratulate his majesty on hosting a conference on religious tolerance under the auspices of the [...]

Memo to Christian Right: It Could be Worse

The Christian right in America was singing the blues after last week’s historic election victory for Barack Obama. Although John McCain took the vote of white evangelical Christians by some 74 percent to 26 percent, according to the Associated Press, those numbers were not enough to offset other factors working against Senator McCain.
There is [...]

All Palin, All the Time

Admit it: we are going to miss having Sarah Palin coming at us on TV and radio at all hours of the day and night. The historic victory for Barack Obama in the November 4th election has banished Palin back to Alaska where she remains governor, pending the ultimate fallout from recent and ongoing ethics [...]

Fear and Loathing

There must be something in the water at the Texas State Board of Education. Last month we told you about the State Board’s plans to introduce Creationism into the Texas curriculum.
Now, the Houston Chronicle reports that State Board of Education member Cynthia Dunbar, in a column posted on the Christian Worldview Network Web site, writes [...]

Best Election Sentiment

From the perspective of the Democratic Party, the best election quote or sentiment was one made over 200 years ago by the French writer and philosopher, Voltaire. If the Democrats haven’t adopted it already as an opening prayer for conventions and major party occasions, they should.
Voltaire said this: “I have never made but one prayer [...]

Not the First Amendment Again?

The text of the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. To John Adams and some of the other framers of the document, that probably meant that the federal government would not select a single official state religion for the [...]

Mr. Magoo Wins Over Armageddon Crowd

Earlier this year, Senator John McCain got something he had been coveting for a long time: the endorsement of hard-line conservative pastor John Hagee. McCain said he was very honored by the endorsement.
There isn’t necessarily an uproar after everything McCain does, but there was with this one. In addition to Hagee’s attacks on the Catholic [...]

Talent Competition with a Twist

Not your ordinary talent competition, this. In a centuries-old tradition in Nepal a three year-old girl has been appointed a living goddess by Hindu and Buddhist priests. A panel of judges conducted a series of ancient ceremonies to select the girl who will be worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists as an incarnation of the powerful [...]