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If you were frustrated by this morning's all-dude birth control hearing on Capitol Hill, you weren't the only one. In fact, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has some choice words for her male colleagues' lack of deference to science, medicine, or biology. More »
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Today on Capitol Hill, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform assembled a panel to discuss the birth control mandate in President Obama's Affordable Care Act. Specifically, whether or not requiring insurers to cover birth control violates religious freedom of people who don't believe in science. The committee, chaired by a male, consisted of eight men who felt personally persecuted by the requirement. And that's about the least depressing aspect of the whole circus. More »
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Megapastor Rick Warren is always preaching loudly about some crusade or another, but it looks like this time he picked the wrong issue to take a stand on. He's come out swinging against Obama's contraception mandate, even though it offers exemptions for religious institutions. The only problem? His church, which is based in California, has been following the same mandate on a state level for some time. So he's about 13 years late to the outrage game. More »
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Hey, look who it is poking its funny hats into the birth control debate! It's the Catholic Church again, and they're here tell the government that God wants every business owner to have the right to deny their female employees coverage for birth control. Even Taco Bell. Especially Taco Bell. More »
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Back in December, we offered some tips on going to a holiday celebration of another religion. But religious services of various kinds go on all year, and different rules apply when you're in church than when you're at a Hanukkah party. Herewith, some advice on going to someone's place of worship without making an ass of yourself. More »
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Rumors have been swirling all day that the Obama administration may be poised to cave to mounting conservative pressure and offer religious colleges and medical centers an exemption from the Affordable Care Act provision that would require their employee and student health plans to fully cover the cost of birth control. The administration itself swears this is not the case. Conservatives are super pissed. Another day in paradise. More »
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Religious colleges are displeased with the Obama administration's decision to require birth control coverage for their employees and students under the Affordable Care Act. Actually "displeased" probably isn't a good word. "Hopping mad" is more accurate. A group of hopping mad bishops is filing suit against the administration to prevent the provision from going into effect, and some colleges compelled by state law to provide slut lozenges to their befouled female students are just ignoring the law entirely. More »
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Three members of a single family were sentenced to life in prison yesterday for what Canadian prosecutors say was an honor killing. But they continue to claim innocence. More »
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Have you ever thought about whether God thinks you're fat? Well, maybe you should start. At least that's what Pastor Rick Warren — bestselling author and pastor at one of the largest megachurches in the nation — thinks. He's got a new diet plan that he's pulled from scripture, and he's poised to lead his whole congregation to the promised land where everyone has a healthy body mass index and no one eats too many carbs. You know, just like in the Bible. More »
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As the clash between modernity and fundamentalism grows more intense worldwide, women's bodies are a key battleground. Last month, ultra-Orthodox Israelis spat on an 8-year-old girl as she walked to school, calling her a whore. In all three major Western religions, the voices demanding "modesty" and concealment for women are growing louder and more aggressive. More »
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A Santorum campaign staffer who wrote that he believes that children would be harmed if a woman became the leader of the State and thus The Lord in his Almighty Electoral Wisdom would never allow a woman to rise to the office of President has refused to recant or apologize for his antiquated views, saying it was a personal reflection on his faith. Surprise, surprise. The Glass Ceiling in the Republican party is now made out of God. More »
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In a statement that reads like parody but is apparently real, a Christian group claims that UK supermarket chain Tesco's recent sales slump is actually the Almighty's answer to their prayers. More »
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Yesterday, the Supreme Court decided that a religious institution can fire a minister at will, regardless of federal employment laws. And religious groups may get to choose who they consider to be "ministers." Here's why that's a terrible idea. More »
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When one thinks of a devout religious couple in bed together — as one so often does — giant, throbbing dildos and risqué lingerie aren't usually part of the picture. But that's about to change, thanks to a growing number of websites that have started selling religion-approved sex toys. These smart God-trepeneurs have figured out how to make money off the praying kind: by taking regular sex toys and turning them into special holy sex toys! Kind of like how its okay to drink the wine in church because you pretend its Jesus blood. Except in this case the vibrators and tubes of lube aren't receiving any kind of holy blessing — they're just being put in different, less tit-and-cock-laden boxes and described with less salacious copy. More »
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Smirking blowhard Newt Gingrich has been threatening to run for President for decades now, and this year, he's closer than he's ever been to following through on that threat. But as the Iowa caucuses approach like a thundering herd of angry ex wives, it's been difficult for evangelicals to wrap their heads around how a man who has artlessly discarded two marriages can possibly be counted on to defend family values. One voter in Iowa has dared ask Newt the difficult, pressing question: would President Newt legalize polygamy? More »
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A single woman who was fired by her Catholic school employer after announcing she was pregnant via artificial insemination says she doesn't regret her decision to pursue motherhood, even though she still hasn't found a new job. She does, however, plan on continuing to sue their holy roller asses. More »
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Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, which, in my day, would've meant killing two birds with one stone and only having to go to church once this week. But not in 2011, The Year of the WTF. Rather than rolling out the red carpet for Baby Jesus's magic birthday, some churches are actually canceling or scaling back services on Sunday so that their parishoners and clergy can spend the day doing more Christmassy things like opening presents, eating, and watching Wal-Mart commercials with The Nutcracker Suite playing in the background. More »
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While lots of holiday parties are mostly about fun, togetherness, and hot cider, they may also include expressions of the host's religion. Below, a few tips for attending parties of faiths different from your own — and for hosting a friendly, meaningful affair. More »
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In the latest Czech census, 15,000 of the country's 10.5 million inhabitants listed their religion as "Jedi knight." Stanislav Drapal, deputy head of the statistical office, defends the inclusion of the category: "We included this option (in the census form) despite a fierce debate over whether it's serious or not. But it's not up to statisticians to say what is or is not a religion." He also says, "Fifteen thousand adherents, which is the size of a small town, is not a negligible social phenomenon." That town would be super-awesome, although it would probably suffer a lot of midair collisions as a result of people moving objects around with their minds. More »
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There are already reports that France's "burqa ban" is inciting more harassment of Muslim women, and now it's giving other countries horrible ideas. Yesterday, the Canadian government announced that from now on Muslim women must take off or lift their veil when taking the oath of citizenship. We expected so much better from our supposedly-sensible neighbors to the north. More »
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Women around the world struggle with the moral and practical implications of the Catholic Church's opposition to birth control, and now researchers are arguing that the church should actually encourage some women to go on the Pill. Not because all women should be able to have control over their reproductive health, but because not having babies may be horribly detrimental to the health of nuns. More »
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A young woman was recently barred from taking an exam at BYU-Idaho because an employee at the University testing center felt her pants were too tight. Now some Mormon bloggers are coming to her defense. More »
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The racial views of the members of the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church in Kentucky evolved about 60 years in the past week, and all it took was a massive outpouring of shock and rage from people around the world. Yesterday, a week after nine people voted to pass a ban on interracial couples at the church, the decision was nullified. Pastor Stacy Stepp says that in place of the proclamation pushed by his predecessor, the congregation passed a new resolution that welcomes, "believers into our fellowship regardless of race, creed or color." More »
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Today in hateration news: people really, really don't trust atheists. In a new study, the only group participants found as untrustworthy as nonbelievers were rapists. More »
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Remember this summer, when Miss America contestants were asked if evolution should be taught in our schools, and everyone except for the pinko commie blue state beauty queens responded as though they were being interviewed for the position of news anchor on Fox & Friends, hemming and hawing as though they'd been asked to describe their most recent sexual experience to their parents. (If you can get through the entire video without rolling your eyes once, you're made of stronger stuff than I). More »
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Once again Republicans are accusing the Obama administration of religious discrimination because they believe "freedom of religion" means that they should have the freedom to impose their religious beliefs on every American. Sadly this time they're toying with the health of one of the most vulnerable groups imaginable: the victims of human trafficking. More »
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The Catholic Church is no stranger to preaching one thing and doing another. There are, of course, the recent sexual abuse cases, and who can forget the Crusades? Now we have a new—less egregious but still annoying—violation to add to the list! Here goes: It turns out that the Catholic Church in Germany owns a publishing house that sells pornography, and now that people have found out they're trying to claim it was all a big misunderstanding! Of course it was. More »
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We guarantee that no matter who or what jumped out at you during a Halloween event this year, it wasn't as demented as what went down at Hell House in Pasadena, Texas. Linda Ybarra says when she bought tickets for herself and her 14-year-old son, she thought the church-run event was like any other haunted house, with "zombies, and ghouls and goblins." Instead, she was subjected to scenes depicting abortion and teen suicide intended to "lure people to Jesus." More »
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In Great Britain, more young women are getting thee to the nunnery — and not the way Shakespeare meant it. In recent years, the motherland has seen an upswing in new, younger entrants into religious orders. The Anglican Church has been ordaining women into the priesthood since 1971, and Anglican priests are allowed to marry. Why would a woman opt to forsake the possibility of a family or traditional service in the name of religious service when an alternative is available? More »
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Even today women are being sent to the back of the bus, and we're not talking metaphorically or in some foreign country. Women who ride the B110 bus in Brooklyn can't sit where they want unless they're okay with being berated by Orthodox Jewish men, even though technically the B110 is a public bus. More »
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On Friday Bishop Robert Finn, of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, became the highest ranking member of the Catholic Church to be charged for covering up child abuse. Bishop Finn and the diocese have been accused of taking about six months to tell authorities that they'd found child pornography on a priest's laptop, during which time he allegedly abused more children. The indictment is a landmark event in the church's ongoing struggle with allegations of sexual abuse by its members. Yet, during yesterday's services priests in the diocese met the issue with even more silence, choosing to discuss forgiveness rather than addressing the new developement directly. More »
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On last night's episode of Sister Wives, Kody Brown took his four wives to visit his hometown of Lovell, Wyoming. It was his first time going back "openly as a polygamist." He talked about having the "Scarlett P" on his shoulder, and the townsfolk did seem to be pretty judgy. One young woman was upset because she didn't want people to think her town is the birthplace of polygamy. Another older lady said that Kody and his wives were "good people" who have the "wrong idea." Things got really interesting when Kody hung out with some of his friends from high school. His old best friend Ken said Kody's religious beliefs were his own personal issue and "If he goes to hell, so be it." More »
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A 25-year-old woman has escaped from the polygamist community where Warren Jeffs's other wives still live. Her flight shows that even though Jeffs is in jail, the nightmare may not be over for some of his followers. More »
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Catholic universities have got their rosaries in a bunch over a provision in the Affordable Care Act that would require them to do something that makes the baby Jesus cry- outfit their students and employees with insurance plans that would cover hormonal birth control. More »
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Yesterday the Presbyterian Church ordained its first openly gay minister, Scott Anderson, in Madison, Wisconsin. Anderson, who is 56, was a minister before but left the job in 1990 after he was rejected by members of his congregation in Sacramento, California. Despite his negative experience, he always remained active in the church. He began trying to return to the ministry five years ago, but had to wait until this July when the church's constitution was finally changed to permit openly gay and lesbian ministers. Anderson, who has been with his partner for 20 years, hopes his ordination signals that the church "will increasingly become a more constructive player in the wider cultural discussion about gays and lesbians." More »
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In the Yom Kippur tradition of kaparot, some Orthodox Jews swing a live chicken above their heads, then slaughter it, often donating the meat to charity. But some now say the practice is inhumane. Rabbi Meir Hirsch says the chickens "spend all day in the sun without food or drink" before their deaths. He adds, "You cannot perform a commandment by committing a sin." Now Hirsch waves a $10 bill over his head instead. More »
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Heidi Montag has had been broadcast living her daily life on television for several years, photographed innumerable times by celebrity gossip rags, and mocked repeatedly for her attempt at pop music stardom. Now, some of her more extreme fameballing is garnering her comparisons to another famous person suspected of having a beard — Jesus Christ himself. More »
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Many have suspected that not all Christian young people save themselves for marriage. Now there's data to prove it. More »
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Affinity Exchange has been called an unofficial dating site for Scientologists. We took a closer look at the service that offers "a conducive environment where you can meet other like-minded people and, ideally, meet that ONE, special someone to share your life with!" More »
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Religion is one of the three things you're not supposed to talk about at the dinner table (along with politics and The Great Pumpkin). And yet it's pretty important to a lot of people. Here's how to discuss God stuff without getting into a shouting match. More »
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