Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day My son came home from school and told me that he was so grateful for Martin Luther King Jr. “Mommy, did you know that if he didn’t tell people to be nice to each other, that I wouldn’t have any black kids at my school? I’d only be with other white kids.” Hmmm. I like his “gratefulness,” I think, although I’ve never known him to use that word before. I like that he instinctively…
Jean-Claude Lavoie, 26, is another victim of the Watchtower interpretation of the biblical command to abstain from blood. He died in late December after refusing a blood transfusion while being treated for an intestinal tumor. His (former Jehovah’s Witness) brother, Jonathan Lavoie, has launched an Internet petition calling on the Canadian federal government to make it illegal for a person to refuse treatment on religious grounds. His father stated that the death was “unfortunate, but it came to that. It’s…
When my friend Janet sent me a link to this piece from a very recent talk (given by James Rayford at a Kingdom Hall in Houston Texas), I actually forced myself to listen to it. I’m going to comment below, so that you can begin to understand what happens to the self-identified “Great Crowd” (who believe they will inherit a paradise earth after Armageddon) in all those hours of listening at the Kingdom Hall. This is why they can feel…
This infectious “Virus Alert” video by Weird Al is a good thing to send to the people who keep sending you virus alert hoax emails. It’s an expanded version of the virus scare parodies I’ve been collecting for a while.
The Death of God: A Belated Personal Postscript (James W. Woefel, Christian Century, December 29, 1976, pp. 1175-1178) 1976? This was written in 1976? I am stunned. This is worth a read. No “woeful” jokes, please! (grin) Here’s my favorite bit: One of my cardinal beliefs of long standing which I see no reason to give up is a strong suspicion that the reality of both ourselves and the cosmic context in which we find ourselves is far richer than…
Lie by Lie: The Mother Jones Iraq War Timeline It covers 8/1/90 through 6/21/03, and you can use the year-slider on the left or else generate pages based on tags. Have fun. I did.