Monthly Archives: January 2012

Atheist convert to Catholic Christianity: Dr. Ronda Chervin, former Professor at Loyola Marymount University

Posted on 31/01/2012 by

Atheist Convert: Dr. Ronda Chervin January 4, 1959, at 21, I was baptized.  There has never been a moment in my life when I have regretted being a Catholic.  Later my twin-sister, mother, and husband became Catholics, making us into … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Christian Churches | Tagged , ,

Atheist Gestapo now spying on clerics’ sermons and reporting them to government under Incitement to Hatred Act

Posted on 30/01/2012 by

Irish bishop accused of incitement to hatred in homily The Irish police have confirmed that the Director of Public Prosecutions is investigating Dr. Philip Boyce, Bishop of Raphoe, for a homily he gave at Knock referring to a ‘godless culture’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Secularism | Tagged ,

Pic of the day: These ducks brave the icy weather to take a dip in Derwentwater, near Keswick in the Lake District

Posted on 29/01/2012 by

Click on the image to enlarge it.  More winter scenes here.

Posted in Visual Arts | Tagged , , , , , , ,

Hitchens on Dawkins

Posted on 28/01/2012 by

Happy now, Mr. Dawkins? Well, why not advertise abortions on prime-time TV?  That’s the kind of country we are.  So why be coy about it? Richard Dawkins and his anti-God friends have finally won the moral battle.  Growing numbers of … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Peter Hitchens, Popular Culture, Society, Quote of the Day, Secularism | Tagged ,

A definition of Richard Branson

Posted on 28/01/2012 by

Branson, Richard: someone who unerringly knows which is the stupid side on any major question, and equally unerringly supports it. [With acknowledgement to Peter Hitchens for inspiring this definition.]

Posted in Popular Culture, Society, Secularism | Tagged ,

Where I want to live, vol. 23½: Giethoorn, Netherlands

Posted on 28/01/2012 by

Giethoorn, Netherlands (click on the image above to enlarge it): this idyllic village has no roads, and the only access is by water over the many beautiful canals or on foot over its wooden arch bridges.  The locals use punters to … Continue reading →

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Dr. Hans-Christian Raabe: Vilified by militant secularist potheads for telling the truth about dangerous, illegal drugs

Posted on 28/01/2012 by

Vilified for telling the truth: The Christian GP whose life was made hell after he questioned the legalise drugs campaign Dr. Hans-Christian Raabe is a man of gentle demeanour and firm principle who cares deeply about his patients in the … Continue reading →

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Alexander Schmorell of the White Rose resistance group

Posted on 27/01/2012 by

More: White Rose memorial in front of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich

Posted in History, Visual Arts | Tagged ,

Pic of the day: White Rose memorial in front of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich

Posted on 26/01/2012 by

[Click on the image to enlarge it.] Related: Woman who defied Hitler ‘was inspired by Cardinal Newman’ Like Richard Dawkins and the New Atheists today, Hitler wanted to take Christ out of Christmas Christian resistance in Nazi Germany: Sophie Scholl, … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Visual Arts | Tagged , , ,

Quote of the day: Sophie Scholl on combining a hard mind with a soft heart

Posted on 25/01/2012 by

‘A hard mind without a soft heart is necessarily as barren as a soft heart without a hard mind.’ ~ Sophie Scholl Related: Pic of the day: White Rose memorial in front of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich

Posted in History, Quote of the Day | Tagged , , ,

Neo-Fundamentalist Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church now exposed as a cult

Posted on 25/01/2012 by

Mark Driscoll’s Church Discipline Contract: Looking For True Repentance at Mars Hill Church?  Sign on the Dotted Line and: Mark Driscoll’s ‘Gospel Shame’: The Truth About Discipline, Excommunication, and Cult-like Control at Mars Hill

Posted in Fundamentalism | Tagged , , , , ,

Quote of the day: Mary Margaret Haugen, Democratic senator, Washington State, USA

Posted on 24/01/2012 by

‘I have very strong Christian beliefs, and personally I have always said when I accepted the Lord, I became more tolerant of others.  I stopped judging people and try to live by the Golden Rule.’ ~ Mary Margaret Haugen,  Democratic senator, … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture, Society, Quote of the Day | Tagged , ,

Writers’ quote of the day: Linwood Barclay on how to become a writer

Posted on 23/01/2012 by

‘Everyone’s path is different, but there two things you have to be doing.  You have to be writing.  And you have to be reading.  You learn so much from reading a variety of different writers.  I believe that if you’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Writing | Tagged , ,

The United States of America: anti-evolution centre of the world

Posted on 23/01/2012 by

Already this year, six anti-evolution bills have been introduced in United States state legislatures.

Posted in Fundamentalism | Tagged ,

Pic of the day: ‘Where I Want to Live’, vol. 21, Clingstone House on the Rock, Jamestown, Rhode Island, U.S.A.

Posted on 22/01/2012 by

Clingstone ‘House on the Rock’, Jamestown Clingstone, a 1905 shingled residence built on a rock outcropping in Narragansett Bay off Jamestown, is a truly unique home.  It has 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and offers unparalleled views from every room.  This … Continue reading →

Posted in Visual Arts | Tagged ,

Quote of the day: William H. Gass on the pleasure of reading old books

Posted on 21/01/2012 by

‘Books didn’t figure in my family very much . . . However, my grandmother’s attic was full of old, old books . . . In the summers we would go to North Dakota to visit her, and I would get … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Quote of the Day | Tagged ,

Are vegetarians heretics?

Posted on 20/01/2012 by

They used to be! Are Vegetarians Heretics? by Sebastian Moll, Theological Faculty of the University of Mainz, Germany There is something true and beautiful in the Christian concept of thankfulness.  For thankfulness has a fascinating double effect: it promotes self-confidence … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Theology | Tagged , , , ,

John Piper, Albert Mohler, and Mark Driscoll: America’s Unholy Trinity of neo-fundamentalists

Posted on 19/01/2012 by

Young, Restless, and Fundamentalist: Neo-fundamentalism among American Evangelicals by Michael Clawson, Baylor University Understanding this neo-fundamentalist movement as analogous to historic Protestant fundamentalism may be useful, though reservedly so, in predicting possible future developments and trajectories for the movement.  It will be … Continue reading →

Posted in Fundamentalism | Tagged , , , , ,

Quote of the day: D. G. Myers on why read fiction any more?

Posted on 18/01/2012 by

‘If reading is the key to self-mastery, fiction is the master key . . . fiction demands that you either identify with the characters’ decisions or distance yourself from them, and this has a powerful effect.  In doing so you … Continue reading →

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Pic of the day: Be sure your sin will find you out

Posted on 17/01/2012 by
Posted in Visual Arts | Tagged , , , ,

Five myths about anti-Christian persecution, by John L. Allen

Posted on 16/01/2012 by

Well worth reading: Five myths about anti-Christian persecution by John L. Allen Myth No. 1: Christians are vulnerable only where they’re a minority Myth No. 2: It’s all about Islam Myth No. 3: No one saw it coming Myth No. 4: … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Churches, Politics, World Events, Secularism | Tagged

British nun Mother Riccarda Beauchamp Hambrough hid scores of Jews from the Nazis, on track for sainthood

Posted on 15/01/2012 by

British nun who hid Jews from Nazis on track for sainthood Mother Riccarda helped to save the lives of about 60 Jews by hiding them from the Nazis in her Rome convent, the Casa di Santa Brigida. She born in 1887 … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , ,

Canada human rights watch: Gay divorce first, religious freedom a distant second

Posted on 15/01/2012 by

Gay divorce first, religious freedom a distant second by Charles Lewis One thing the “great gay divorce crisis of January 2012” has shown is that our government can move fast when it feels the need to get something important done.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, World Events, Popular Culture, Society, Secularism | Tagged , ,

Writers’ quote of the day: Ken Follett on outlining and rewriting

Posted on 14/01/2012 by

‘Everything is planned.  I spent a long time outlining.  It’s the only way I know to get all the ducks in a row . . . The research is the easiest.  The outline is the most fun because you can … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Writing | Tagged , , , ,

Quote of the day: Reginald Hill on writing bestselling crime fiction

Posted on 13/01/2012 by

‘When I get up in the morning, I ask my wife whether I should write a Booker prize-winning novel, or another bestselling crime book.  We always come down on the side of the crime book.’ ~ Reginald Hill

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