In November 2010, Russia’s Sanctity of Motherhood organization kicked off its first-ever national conference. The theme, according to its organizers, was urgent: solving “the crisis of traditional family values” in a modernizing Russia. The day opened with a sextet leading 1,000 swaying attendees in a prayer. Some made the sign of the cross, others bowed or raised their arms to the sky before settling into the plush red and gold seats of the conference hall at Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral.
On the second morning of the conference, the only American in attendance, a tall, collected man, stepped up for his speech. Larry Jacobs, vice president of the Rockford, Illinois-based World Congress of Families (WCF), an umbrella organization for the US religious right’s heavy hitters, told the audience that American evangelicals had a 40-year track record of “defending life and family” and they hoped to be “true allies” in Russia’s traditional values crusade.
The gathering marked the beginning of the family values fervor that has swept Russia in recent years. Warning that low birth rates are […]
Republican Alabama Governor Robert Bentley
Credit: blog. al.com
Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore
Credit: The Huffington Post
Alabama attorney Win Johnson who works for Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore
In harsh words and a lecturing tone, a lawyer who works for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has written a letter seemingly directed at Gov. Robert Bentley rebuking him for saying Alabama will obey the U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring same-sex marriage legal.
While the letter from attorney Win Johnson never calls Bentley by name or title, a spokeswoman for Bentley said the letter was directed at the governor.
“Public official, what will you do? Will you stand up for […]
Bible believers are beside themselves about the prospect that marriage norms and laws are changing, but let me tell you a secret about Bible believers that I know because I was one. Most don’t actually read their Bibles.
If they did, they would know that the biblical model of sex and marriage has little to do with the one they so loudly defend. Sex in the Bible includes rape, incest, master-slave sexual relations, captive virgins, and more. Of course, just because a story is told in the Bible doesn’t mean it is intended as a model for moral behavior. Does God forbid or command the behavior? Is it punished or rewarded? In the New Testament stories, does Jesus change the rules or leave them alone? By these criteria, the Bible not only describes many forms of sexual relationships (including sexually coercive relationships), it gives them the divine thumbs up.
Not One Man, One Woman
The God of the Bible explicitly endorses polygamy and sexual slavery and coerced marriage of young virgins along with monogamy. In fact, he endorses all three to the point of providing detailed regulations. Based on stories of sex and marriage that […]
Utrecht
Some people in the Dutch city of Utrecht might soon get a windfall of extra cash, as part of a daring new experiment with the idea of “basic income.”
As state lawmakers attempt to balance wasteful budgets, perhaps the first issue they should tackle is corruption in their own ranks. A pioneering study shows that public officials’ corruption costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars a year. It also shows that law enforcement and prisons get a major boost in more corrupt states.
“The study demonstrates that corruption goes hand-in-hand with excessive state spending. In the 10 most corrupt states, simply reducing corruption to an average level would lower annual state spending by $1,308 per person — or 5.2 percent of state expenditures.”
Unsurprisingly, the South leads the pack in the most corrupt states, with Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky and Florida appearing in the top ten. Alaska (Bridge to Nowhere, anyone?) shares the spotlight.
The northwest states of Oregon and Washington top the list of least corrupt states.
image: http://tftppull.freethoughtllc.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/states-average-corruption-ranking.png
Researchers created a “corruption index” by examining more than 25,000 convictions spanning 32 years for violations of federal anti-corruption laws, then comparing this to […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
