I went on a rant yesterday about the Muslim's, but I want you to know that I am an equal opportunity bigot who is constantly amazed at what people will do for their own particular religion.
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An atheist subjected a devout Christian woman to a relentless campaign of harassment in which he smeared dog feces on her car and urinated on her doorstep.
Timothy Brown, of Edwin Avenue, Woodbridge, may seek medical help after a year-long bid to change Helen Watson’s religious beliefs.
Brown, 37, who is married and has a child, pleaded guilty at South East Magistrates’ Court in Ipswich yesterday to racially aggravated harassment between September 1, 2007, and September 10 this year.
His lawyer, Neil Saunders told magistrates: “It is utterly bizarre. He ought to see his doctor.
The ordeal began in September last year after Mrs Watson had placed a religious fish sticker in her car.
After that point, she would regularly find that another sticker had been put on top of it with words such as myth, deceived, sucker and fiction, which she said were derogatory to her religious views.
Mrs Watson, of Barton Road, Woodbridge, decided not to do anything about it and hoped the problem would go away, but in August this year, Brown stepped up his campaign.
On several occasions, Mrs Watson came home to find that Brown had either smeared dog excrement on her car, allowed his dog to excrete on her lawn or had himself urinated on her property. (Goes to show that overly religious people are full of shit!)
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Russell Bowman, who calls himself an atheist, showed up with a large knife at an aparment and threatened to behead two women because they were Christians.
Another resident hit him with the butt of a shotgun.
Bowman was injured so severely, police say, that his eye had to be removed. (Keep an eye out for the nut jobs bunky!)
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Ray Boltz, who sold about 4.5 million records before retiring from Christian music a few years ago, came out of the closet Friday to announce that he’s gay.
In an interview with the gay magazine The Washington Blade, Boltz said he came out to his family and some close friends in December 2004, but only now decided to go public with the news. (I don't know what being Christian has to do with being gay, but if it was hard to swallow then I hope it makes him feel better!)
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George Pitcher, Religion Editor of the Telegraph (UK) wonders, “Could the “religious right” of Republican running mate Sarah Palin be imported to Britain?”
I ask because the Christian think-tank Theos has just published research which shows that religious rhetoric is on the rise among British politicians.
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent at The Times, says: "The analysis of conference speeches by party leaders over the past decade shows Britain increasingly following the lead set by the US in exploiting the religious sentiment of political believers."
Meanwhile in the States, Eric Gorski, religion writer for AP, reports: "Polls have yet to measure the Palin Effect on younger evangelical voters, whose shifting political allegiances put the demographic in play for both major-party presidential campaigns."
But a portrait emerges through interviews with more than a dozen pastors, authors and others who either belong to that generation or track it: Conservatives are energized much like their elders, progressives are unimpressed and many undecideds are gravitating toward McCain-Palin.
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And this news about one of my favorite (not) organizations.
Since the Scientology cult tends to attract lots of negative press coverage (deservingly so), Scientologist frequently flood so-called Press Release services and other online forums with pro-Scientology pablum.
At Nolan Charts, a “public forum for commentary from all over the political map,” this practice has now evolved into a slugfest between cult members and Scientology critics. (Go get'em boys!)
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Abused as a child, Tyler Perry (The Family That Preys) has overcome his troubled past to become one of Hollywood’s hottest names all while remaining bold about his Christian faith.
He can’t make a studio pitch, he says, without some studio executive asking if he can drop at least some references to Jesus.
“These stars can make all the references in the world to Kabbalah or Scientology, and that’s just fine,” he says. “But mention Jesus Christ, and they don’t want to deal with you.”
He has stopped reading the entertainment sections of newspapers. (and the largely critical reviews of his movies)
He doesn’t want daily updates on ticket sales. He gets riled when analysts and studio executives wonder how a movie geared toward churchgoers or minorities could make money.
“I’m not sure why no one wants to admit there’s a viable audience out there that believes in God and wants to see a movie with their family. The demand is there. The supply is not.”
So.............. Perry does his part on the supply side.
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The only one who could ever reach Dusty Springfield, she told us back in 1969, was the son of a preacher man. As the hit single from her best album. - Dusty in Memphis -
It is the song that defines Springfield for most of us.
It also hints at a wider truth: the importance of the offspring of preachers in modern music.
Let's just take a handful of the many artists who have covered Springfield's hit: Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton, Tina Turner and Jessica Simpson. It's a disparate group - the queen of soul, a larger-than-life country legend, an unstoppable R&B dynamo and a manufactured pop star turned actress turned tabloid target.
Guess what links them all together?
Franklin's father, the Reverend Clarence LaVaughn Franklin, was a Baptist preacher in Memphis, Buffalo and Detroit.
Tina Turner's father, Floyd Richard Bullock, was a Baptist deacon in Tennessee.
Jessica (and Ashlee) Simpson's father, Joe, used to be a Baptist minister at the Heights Baptist Church in Richardson, Texas.
Parton only spoils the pattern by a generation - it was her grandfather who was a Pentecostal holy roller preacher.
The sons and daughters of preacher men can be found in every generation and genre of popular music.
the list of singers who became preachers is equaly long with a few notable examples such as Al Green and Little Richard!
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Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available as an E-Book H E R E ! and as a paperback H E R E !
Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://allans-perspective.blogspot.com
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