Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS was a bit like being waterboarded, but matters improved very quickly when the channel changed and the aromas of the day began invading the house, along with just the right spirits: Praise be to Beaujolais Nouveau.
Religion & Beliefs
U.S. Supreme Court Will Decide Legality of Bunnell’s Government Prayers, Via Greece
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case from Greece, N.Y., where government meetings are started with distinctly Christian prayers, as they are at Bunnell City Commission meetings. The case is being taken to the court by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.
A Pastor Reflects on Two Church Community Friends: Leonard Lynn and His Murderer
Rev. Beth Gardner, the pastor at Bunnell’s First United Methodist Church, heard the news of Leonard Lynn’s murder 10 minutes before services Sunday. He had been a member of her church community–as was his murderer, Erick Niemi.
Don’t Cram Your Heterosexuality Down My Throat
Several years ago around Christmas I was standing at a Walmart checkout counter with my son when a stranger behind me felt compelled to make me his homophobia’s bosom buddy. “What’s wrong with that?” I told him. “My son is gay.” My son was 2 at the time.
FAU Stomps on Academic Freedom Over Jesus Controversy as Scott Fans Fanaticism
Florida Atlantic University Professor Deandre Poole’s assignment involving the word “Jesus” on the floor drew in a politically motivated protest from Gov. Rick Scott while the university gave in to his demand that the lesson not be taught anymore.
In a Decision With Local Sway, Federal Court Upholds Prayers Before Government Meetings
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over all of Florida, ruled that the Lakeland City Commission’s custom of opening meetings with a prayer was constitutional, though the court sidestepped the city’s focus on Christian prayers, and its closed door to atheists, agnostics, humanists or other non-clergy representatives.
Sarah Palin in Lakeland: Locking and Loading Assault Weapons With Jesus
Sarah Palin urged her faithfuls to “cling to your god, your guns, your Constitution,” a seamless ideology that would have Jesus waving the American flag with one hand and clicking off the safety of his assault rifle with the other, writes Cary McMullen.
Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio is Francis I, Church’s First Non-European Pope, Post-Columbus
76-year-old Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires is the first-ever South American pope, the first non-European pope in a millennium, and the first-ever pope to name himself Francis (Francis I), after St. Francis, patron saint of the poor.
John Fischer’s Hate Speech
In twice calling for a return of school prayer in the last three weeks, Flagler County School Board member John Fischer did so not from good will but out of angry resentment for “special interests” and “political correctness” that he claims are standing in the way of “our rights.” He is offensively wrong, and the school board should resist his call to prayer.
When Doctor-Assisted Suicide Is the Humane Option
In oncologists’ offices and Alzheimer’s nursing homes, illness is not “a portrait in blacks and whites, but unending shades of gray, involving the most profound of personal, moral, and religious questions.” Including when may it be right to help end a life.