Monthly Archives: September 2010

The Latest Pop Culture Witch

Posted on September 30, 2010 by arensb

The Daily Press has a gallery of the top 17 witches from pop culture. Coming in at #10, alongside the ones you’d expect, like Sabrina and Willow, is Delaware Senate candidate and anti-masturbation activist Christine O’Donnell: (Thanks to JB for … Continue reading →

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Irony O’ the Day

Posted on September 23, 2010 by arensb

BillDo, complaining about Catholics for Equality, a group of gay Catholics who support the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Archbishop Broglio’s response pulled no punches. He wondered how Catholics for Equality got the authority to identify itself as a … Continue reading →

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The Montana GOP, Proudly Marching Toward the 19th Century

Posted on September 18, 2010 by arensb

The Montana GOP‘s policy platform, adopted on Jun 19 (via AP): Homosexual Acts We support the clear will of the people of Montana expressed by legislation to keep homosexual acts illegal. What’s next? Blasphemy laws? Dynamiting statues of Buddha? Mandatory … Continue reading →

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Conversion Stories

Posted on September 17, 2010 by arensb

I was at a religious event yesterday on campus. Some student organization had invited three people to tell their conversion stories: one lifelong Christian, one former Muslim, and one former atheist. All three stories followed a familiar pattern: “I used … Continue reading →

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Does BillDo Even Realize When He’s Lying?

Posted on September 14, 2010 by arensb

In his latest eructation, about opposition to the pope’s visit to England, BillDo writes: The Catholic League does not exist to fend off legitimate criticism of the Catholic Church. That’s rich, coming from the guy who defended pedophile priests several … Continue reading →

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Have You Reserved Your Copy of Awake!?

Posted on September 9, 2010 by arensb

In case you hadn’t heard, the upcoming issue of Awake!, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ other magazine (the one named after an Assemblage 23 song instead of a Jimi Hendrix song) has a cover story about the “new” atheism, called Atheists on … Continue reading →

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The Pope’s Wrong Again, and I Have Data

Posted on September 8, 2010 by arensb

The other day, on the occasion of World Youth Day, pope Benny gave a speech on the general theme of damage control: Why aren’t kids interested in religion anymore? We used to be such friends, back when we controlled the … Continue reading →

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Secular Bible Study: Ruth

Posted on September 4, 2010 by arensb

This month’s Secular Bible Study is about the book of Ruth. Here are my notes in org mode, and in HTML.

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Hostages at Discovery Channel Building

Posted on September 1, 2010 by arensb

If you’ve passed a TV set in the past few hours, you may have heard that some nutjob walked into the Discovery Channel building in Silver Spring, MD with a gun and possibly a bomb, and took hostages. Apparently this … Continue reading →

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Casual Superstition

Posted on September 1, 2010 by arensb

This news item caught my eye because it’s a “news of the weird” type of story: NEW YORK — A New York City man who plunged 40 stories from the rooftop of an apartment building has survived after crashing onto … Continue reading →

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