Madness.
President Jacques Chirac wanted to know what the hell President Bush had been on about in their last conversation. Bush had then said that when he looked at the Middle East, he saw “Gog and Magog at work” and the biblical prophecies unfolding. But who the hell were Gog and Magog? [...] Read more »

Via the BBC:
“I wish no ill will against Rihanna and her friends. Perhaps they could acquaint themselves with a greater God,” he said. Read more »

People like this warm my heart:
For the last few weeks, we’ve been chronicling efforts by right-wing activists in Texas to replace Republican House Speaker Joe Straus, who is Jewish, with a true “Christian conservative.” And last week we noted that while David Barton was saying that the efforts to replace Strauss had [...] Read more »

Julia Gillard, the Prime Minister of Australia, is an atheist:
“No, I don’t,” she told an interviewer at Australia’s national radio, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp.) who asked her point blank if she believed in God. “I’m not a religious person.”
“I was brought up in the Baptist Church, but during my adult life I’ve, you know, found [...] Read more »

I thought this was fascinating, though Juan Cole is making a larger point in his posting:
That is, in Muslim-majority Syria, the government actually grants land to Christians for the building of churches, along with free water and electricity. Christians have their own personal status legal code, straight from the Vatican. (It is because Christians have [...] Read more »

I thought this was pretty funny:
10. No one will kill you for not drinking Beer.
9. Beer doesn’t tell you how to have sex.
8. Beer has never caused a major war.
7. They don’t force Beer on minors who can’t think for themselves.
6. When you have a Beer, you don’t knock on people’s doors trying to give [...] Read more »

I’m going to betray the usual protocol and quote a blog post in its entirety. This coming-out post by a fellow atheist - Chris Bowers at OpenLeft - has left me with a lot to say (emphasis added):
Rick Warren Hates Atheists, Like Me
by: Chris Bowers
Fri Dec 19, 2008 at 14:18
Left-wing pressure seems to have dubious effect, so [...] Read more »

Yes, this is what we need: more self-righteous Christianity. From Matt Stoller’s photostream, apparently taken in central Washington state. Read more »