Spamming God

Ken AshfordAssisited Suicide/Schiavo, GodstuffLeave a Comment

Mel Gibson wants us to "hammer God with prayers and hammer him hard." (Source).  All this to keep Terry Schiavo alive.  Now, I have many thoughts on the Schiavo case, but that’s for another day.  My point here is that I don’t think we should be "hammering God" with prayers, the way Viagra companies hammer me with ads for penis … Read More

iPotato

Ken AshfordPopular Culture1 Comment

One of the few times I was ahead of the culture curve was about two years ago when I bought my 40G iPod.  This was waaaaay before the latest Apple advertising scheme, with silohuettes and U2 and wild dancing.  That’s right — I (for once) was a trendsetter (and I still love my iPod). But apparently, I was outdone by … Read More

The Jury Is Still Out . . .

Ken AshfordGodstuffLeave a Comment

even though it has been eighty years since it came back. Look, folks.  The Earth revolves around the sun.  The Bible is wrong when it says otherwise.  And evolution is real.  The Bible is wrong if it says otherwise.  It is time to face facts.  If your belief in God is so shaky that you have to belief everything in … Read More

The Rise of the Religious Left?

Ken AshfordGodstuffLeave a Comment

Let’s hope so.  From the Northeast Mississippt Daily Journal: This past week, leaders of five mainstream Protestant denominations came together to speak in one voice. Standing shoulder to shoulder, leaders of the Episcopal Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, and United Methodist Church together condemned the 2006 Federal budget proposed by President … Read More

My Country’s Representatives Embarrass Me Again

Ken AshfordSex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

US Draws Jeers for Abortion Comments at UNFri Mar 4, 2005 08:35 PM ET By Deborah Zabarenko UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Jeers and catcalls greeted the top U.S. delegate to a global women’s conference on Friday as she stressed Washington’s opposition to abortion and support for sexual abstinence and fidelity. After withdrawing an unpopular anti-abortion amendment from a key U.N. … Read More

Gods and Democrats

Ken AshfordDemocrats, GodstuffLeave a Comment

Reprinted from The American Street (PZ Myers): Amy Sullivan has a pet peeve: “the seemingly reckless way in which terms like ‘values’ and ‘religion’ and ‘morals’ are being tossed about in the press.” She’s an outspoken liberal Christian, and I’m an outspoken liberal atheist, and I have to say that I agree completely. I also somewhat agree with this comment, … Read More

The Ten Commandments Case

Ken AshfordGodstuff, Supreme CourtLeave a Comment

It’s been a long while since I got legal on yo’ ass, but I’m a lawyer and a Constitutional afficando, so it is high time I write something of substance on constitutional law. For a background on the Ten Commandments case being argued in the Supreme Court, read here.  The case (at least the "Kentucky" part of it) involves the … Read More

Ned Flanders Rainy Day Fun

Ken AshfordGodstuff1 Comment

"It may seem a tad odd making Jesus out of a toilet paper roll, but I think the end result is quite nice," says this Christian site. Yes, it is quite nice. Still, it still is frightfully odd. But NOT as odd as this recipe from the same Christian website, which I reprint in full: This is really easy. No … Read More

Hot Journalism Chicks

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

You know Liz Marlantes, who is only 30 and (formerly) a great writer for the Christian Science Monitor and who is really cute as well as smart and not only because she looks like Claire Yasewicz who I went to high school with, but because she really is pretty and she went to Harvard, too? Well, ABC picked her up.  … Read More

Why I Need To Read More

Ken AshfordSex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

These are the 110 most banned books.  The ones I have read (or mostly read) are in bold; the ones I have read excerpts of are in italics. #1 The Bible#2 Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain#3 Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes#4 The Koran#5 Arabian Nights (any number of doubtless-abridged versions)#6 Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain#7 Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan … Read More

Oscar Night

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

For the first time in many many many many many years, I really didn’t give a shit.  I hadn’t seen most of the movies, except "Sideways" which was nice. I’m glad Morgan Freeman won.  That was nice. But here’s the thing: does Chris Rock suck bigtime or what?

From the Producers of “The Swift Boat Veterans for *cough* Truth *cough*”…

Ken AshfordBush & Co., Sex/Morality/Family Values, Social Security1 Comment

… comes the latest in surreal conservative propaganda. And it is a doosy. AARP: Anti-military. Pro Gay. Therefore, we should privatize social security. This is a copy of the the ad being run by USANext, the conservative alternative to AARP (when you click the actual ad, you are taken to USANext‘s home page). There’s no article or argument as to … Read More