“What do the ‘N’ word, the ‘W’ word and the ‘F’ word have in common?” asks Tim Bloedow of NoApologies.ca, a Web site dedicated to “punching a hole in political correctness.” According to Bloedow, refusing to use these racial, sexist, and homophobic slurs (the ‘F’ word isn’t fuck here) displays a “complete disregard for using God’s name in vain.”

Read More “Conservative Christian Says Censoring “N” Word Is Anti-Religious” »

AshleyMadison.com, an online dating site that facilitates extramarital affairs, has never been too popular among moral conservatives. Earlier this year, Deroy Murdock argued on Human Events that Ashley Madison has edged out gay marriage as the number one threat to traditional matrimony. Now, cluck-clucking conservatives won’t have to choose between the cheaters and the gays: Ashley Madison has begun marketing itself as a place where the married can pursue their same-sex attractions, too.

Read More “Ashley Madison’s Conservative Values” »

Yep, nearly every species of animal on God’s green earth engages in “same-sex sexual behavior,” UC Riverside researcher Nathan Bailey reports. In a review published yesterday, Bailey and co-researcher Marlene Zuk found that while homosexual behavior spans the Animal Kingdom, the behavior manifests itself differently across species:

“For example, male fruit flies may court other males because they are lacking a gene that enables them to discriminate between the sexes,” Bailey said. “But that is very different from male bottlenose dolphins, who engage in same-sex interactions to facilitate group bonding, or female Laysan Albatross that can remain pair-bonded for life and cooperatively rear young.”

So, fruit flies don’t know they’re gay, bottlenose dolphins are socially gay, the Laysan Albatross are lifelong gays, and human homosexuals are demonized as “unnatural.” These findings probably won’t change the minds of homophobes who delight in comparing homosexuality to bestiality, but it may do something to fight the argument that gay sex somehow defies nature.

Chip Berlet and Esther Kaplan for In These Times detail Sarah Palin’s application of religion to politics, and provide a run-down of Palin’s public statements that hint at the role God’s will has played in her rise to power. Berlet and Kaplan run down one well-known incident:

she has come close to attributing her election as governor to divine intervention, thanking a visiting pastor, Thomas Muthee of Kenya, for her win. “He just prayed for it,” she recalled earlier this year. “He said, ‘Lord make a way and let her do this next step.’ And that’s exactly what happened.”

… Before highlighting a more troubling one:

Palin also spoke about efforts to build a $30 billion gas pipeline, saying, “God’s will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built. So pray for that.” None of this would matter, she added, “If the people of Alaska’s heart is not good with God.”

The piece is a worthwhile read, but it’s telling that Palin’s religious machinations aren’t entirely surprising. At the end of the piece, Barlet and Kaplan ask, “Does Palin support the most theocratic statements of pastors and visitors in the churches she’s attended? How will her lifetime of worship under the guidance of these pastors affect her approach to foreign policy, gay rights, reproductive rights, separation of church and state, science and public health?”

Palin’s justification of her policies as sent from the Heavens is troubling. But as far as the actual policies themselves are concerned, Palin’s religious fervor appears, to me, to be a non-issue. We already know her approach to foreign policy, gay rights, reproductive rights, separation of church and state, science and public health. What does it matter which religious or political school inform these approaches?