Religion & Beliefs pagesepsitename%%

“We Don’t Serve Gays”

FlaglerLive | December 9, 2017

Invoking Christian belief to deny service to a gay couple is not a First Amendment right, nor is it a matter of artistic expression. It’s good old discrimination under a new mask.

Florida Voters May Get Chance to Lift Ban On Tax Subsidies to Religious Schools

FlaglerLive | December 1, 2017

A ban on state support for religious groups would be removed from the Florida Constitution under a proposal approved Wednesday by a Constitution Revision Commission panel.

The Problem with Dividing
‘Good Muslims’ from ‘Bad Muslims’

FlaglerLive | June 14, 2017

The “good Muslims” support those “war on terror” policies that result in the expansion of violence against mostly innocent people. The “bad ones” don’t — and are called terrorists.

Bill Vastly Diminishing Separation of Church and School Passes Florida Senate, 23-13

FlaglerLive | March 24, 2017

The proposal would allow religious speakers and messaging at school-sponsored events, and would allow students to engage in organized prayer groups during the school day and with the participation–though not the sponsorship–of school personnel.

A Country Unbecoming In the Age of Trump

FlaglerLive | March 14, 2017

Immigrants targeted for prosecution or removal could be the people who built your house, picked the fruit for your breakfast, and tidied up the hotel room where you last stayed.

Judge Rules No Discrimination In Bakers’ Refusal to Call Gays “Abomination” on a Cake

FlaglerLive | February 10, 2017

A customer had accused an Orlando bakery of religious discrimination when the owners refused to make a cake with the words “Homosexuality is an abomination unto the Lord.”

Muslims In Palm Coast and Bunnell Still Feel Welcome Even as Political Rhetoric Snarls

FlaglerLive | December 9, 2016

Only a handful of Muslim immigrants live in Palm Coast and Bunnell. They speak of their many years locally fondly, remembering only rare instances of discrimination in the past and a current atmosphere of neighborliness and acceptance.

Islam’s Contempt for Self-Criticism: From Salman Rushdie to Kamel Daoud

FlaglerLive | April 13, 2016

When the Algerian journalist Kamel Daoud linked rapes in Germany on New Year’s Eve to Muslims’ extreme sexual deprivation and “unhealthy relationship with women, their body, and desire,” he was vilified, and silenced.

Pope Francis’s Challenge to America

FlaglerLive | September 24, 2015

Pope Francis is challenging conservative Americans–and presidential candidates–to rethink their belligerence to Cuba, Palestinians and action on global warming, writes Chris Patten.

“God’s Authority” Has No Place In Civil Government

FlaglerLive | September 7, 2015

Kim Davis is not the problem. She’s a symptom of a dangerous movement that seeks to carve out religious objections all over the law books, making civil government a vassal of religious edicts.

Nearly Condemned, Old Courthouse in Bunnell Gavels Back to Life as Christian School

FlaglerLive | August 21, 2015

First Baptist Christian Academy opened its doors today before throngs of celebrants marking the rejuvenation of the old county courthouse, now as a viable business in the heart of Bunnell.

Genesis Was Wrong: Man’s Dominion Over Animals Is Stewardship, Not Ownership

FlaglerLive | July 28, 2015

Pope Francis has now rejected mainstream Christian view, insisting that being created in God’s image doesn’t mean dominion over the earth or absolute domination over other creatures.

Barack Obama Stands Up to the Warmongers

FlaglerLive | July 26, 2015

The US is not a partisan in the Shia-Sunni struggle. If anything, the US confronts mainly Sunni terrorism, funded from Saudi Arabia, not Shia terrorism backed by Iran.

Florida’s Impending “Pastor Protection Act” Weds Spurious Scenarios With Homophobia

FlaglerLive | July 16, 2015

The proposal is aimed at safeguarding clergy members from being forced to perform gay-marriage ceremonies even though they’re categorically protected from doing so by the First Amendment.

Reclaiming Islam’s Enlightenment From Its Fundamentalist Hijackers

FlaglerLive | July 15, 2015

Granting that more than a few Muslims back the hijackers’ extremism, what is needed is cultural exchanges instead of armed, panicky overreactions,

Jews Then, Muslims Now: How Imprudent Judgments Desecrate Western Values

FlaglerLive | July 9, 2015

To assume that all Muslims think alike because of their religious background, that they have “a mind” rather than individual thoughts, is as big a mistake as to assume to know the minds of Jews, Christians, or anyone else.

As Cremation Outpaces Burial Rates,
Jewelry Glitters the Afterlife

FlaglerLive | July 6, 2015

Florida is well ahead of the nation in cremation rates, but for the first time this year cremations nationally will outpace burials. A jewelry industry is marking the shift.

At Bunnell’s Methodist Church, Rev. Terry Wines Begins Filling Beth Gardner’s Big Void

FlaglerLive | July 1, 2015

It’s pat of an annual and anxious ritual in the sprawling world of the United Methodist Church when “elders” typically move from church to church around this time of year.

Don’t Tell Rick Scott: Pope Francis Wants Action on Global Warming, Steaming Conservatives

FlaglerLive | May 7, 2015

Pope Francis’s call for action against global warming has many conservatives in the US up in arms, but his message is a matter of morality, argues Jeffrey Sachs.

Florida Prisons Must Provide Halal or Kosher Meals to Muslim and Jewish Inmates, Court Rules

FlaglerLive | May 2, 2015

The federal lawsuit challenged corrections officials’ claim that they were not required to provide kosher meals, as well as the rules the agency used to determine who was eligible to receive the meals.

Barnett Newman’s Stations of the Cross

FlaglerLive | April 5, 2015

Barnett Newman’s Stations of the Cross, 14 panels of abstract art retelling Christ’s Passion, are as sublime and austere as they are evocative.

Lest We Get On Our High Horse: Obama’s Caution to Self-Righteous Christians

FlaglerLive | February 8, 2015

President Obama’s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast cautioned Christians against shutting their eyes to their own brutal past, but was rebuked by Evangelicals and the conservative press, often with flurries of historical inaccuracies.

Florida Prison Ban on Beards Violates Muslim Inmates’ Religious Rights, Supreme Court Rules

FlaglerLive | January 20, 2015

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Florida and six other states could not ban inmates from growing beards for religious reasons. The case originated in Arkansas.

When Bigots Hide Behind Religious Freedom

FlaglerLive | January 16, 2015

Kelvin Cochran, the former Atlanta fire chief, and his supporters, are using the veil of religious freedom to justify homophobic and bigoted views that have no place in the workplace.

Woman In “Catholic Warrior” Shirt Vandalizes Satanic Temple Display at Florida Capitol

FlaglerLive | December 24, 2014

Susan Hemeryck, 54, of Tallahassee, entered the Capitol at 11:23 a.m. and told an on-duty police officer that “she was sorry and had to take the Satanic display,” according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement charging affidavit.

Joan Rivers Enters Heaven, Runs Into God, Jesus and Robin Williams: A Live Report

FlaglerLive | September 18, 2014

Joan Rivers makes it into heaven and has a few choice words with God before discovering that Robin Williams got in despite Catholic prohibitions of heaven for suicides: God made an exception.

Obama’s Mistake in Iraq: Getting Sucked Back Into a Religious War Already Lost

FlaglerLive | June 22, 2014

The United States had no business invading and occupying Iraq in 2003, it has no business now arbitrating a religious war between Sunnis and Shiites. The mayhem unleashed by the Bush administration is being made worse by further American meddling.

Bunnell Planning Board Approves Ordinance Targeting Bible Half-Way House For Addicts

FlaglerLive | June 18, 2014

The Bunnell board’s unanimous decision, if ratified by the Bunnell City Commission, would likely prevent the half-way house from opening its doors, but the city and the targeted ministry are locked in a federal legal battle which the proposed ordinance could exacerbate.

Florida Prisons Want To Slash Kosher Offerings; Justice Department Says It Would Be Illegal

FlaglerLive | May 22, 2014

In a brief filed Monday, lawyers for the Department of Corrections argued that the law allows Florida to scrap the kosher meals because of the financial burden placed on the “cash-strapped agency.” The state has spent more than $200,000 on the lawsuit so far.

Commission Weighs Repeal of Ban on
Public Funding For Religious Groups