Fact of the Day: Blind Poet

John Milton is considered one of the greatest poets of all-time, with his greatest work Paradise Lost cementing his legacy. Though as a poet he suffered the handicap of poor vision, and by the time he wrote Paradise Lost he was completely blind. 

Supreme Court Made the Wrong Decision in Hobby Lobby Case

Yesterday the Supreme Court issued their final rulings before their summer break, and the most notable one was the 5-4 ruling that companies like Hobby Lobby could exempt themselves from contraceptive requirements in their health care plans because of "religious liberty". While Hobby Lobby itself was okay with regular forms except something like the morning-after pill, the ruling could potentially do more damage. Now if your boss happens to be a conservative-catholic, then women could lose their access to adequate family planning.

Clarence Thomas Thinks States Can Establish Their Own Churches

Probably the most conservative judge on the Supreme Court (though Antonin Scalia is pretty close), Clarence Thomas has never been much of a friend to true freedom of religion. With a recent ruling on public prayer meetings, Thomas noted afterwards that he personally thinks states can establish their own official religions/churches. Going back to a line of thinking where states don't have to worry about what's in the U.S. Constitution. In the 18th and 19th century, a lot of states did get away with things that were unconstitutional including ignoring the liberties granted in the Bill of Rights. In the early 20th century, the supreme court finally made rulings that did not tolerate states doing so.

Fact of the Day: Saint Paul

The capital of Minnesota, Saint Paul is named after Paul the Apostle. Before Minnesota was a state, St. Paul took its name from a local chapel. The chapel itself was named because Paul was the favorite saint of Father Lucien Galtier. 

Fact of the Day: Serpent Faith

In some Pentecostal churches (usually rural) in the United States, many preachers and church members hold venomous snakes. The reason is that two Bible verses claim that if you have enough faith then a serpent or a scorpion cannot harm you. The minister who started it all was named George Went Hensley, and he died in 1955 from a snake-bite.

Fact of the Day: Unitarian

While Joseph Priestly contributed to science, he also had rather progressive thinking in theology. While not in the first in Europe to have the idea, he was the founder of the Unitarian church in England. While modern Unitarian (and American Unitarian-Universliast) thought differs more than a bit, its original main drift from traditional Christian thought is the belief of God as one being instead of the Holy Trinity of God as three beings. Famous Unitarians (though some never officially joined the church) include poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, scientist Issac Newton, and presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams, William Howard Taft, Millard Fillmore, and Thomas Jefferson. 

Christian Staff at Louisiana School Bully Buddhist Student

 I recently heard of this story the other day, and it beyond infuriated me. Even when I considered myself a Christian, I still considered America's freedom of religion and secularism as one of the nation's highest achievements. I live in the South, but in a rather urban area and my schools were very secular like they should be. However the staff at Negreet High School in a very rural spot in Louisiana have thought they were above the laws of the United States Constitution.

Fact of the Day: Paul of Thebes

Paul of Thebes is generally regraded as the first Christian hermit (someone who lives a life of seclusion for religious reasons) back in the 3rd century. He apparently lived to the age of 113 in Egypt. 

Fact of the Day: The Books

The English word for the Christian Holy Book "Bible" is ultimately derived from the Greek words (ancient Koine dialect) ta biblia which literally means "the books". 

Fact of the Day: Papal Disagreement

When his wife Catherine of Aragon did not produce a male heir for King Henry VIII, the King wanted a divorce. When the Pope refused to grant him a divorce, King Henry VIII decided to break from the Catholic Church forever and divorced anyway.  

Fact of the Day: Liberty To Serve and Have No Faith

While the American Constitution is well known for granting the freedom of religion, several state constitutions attempted to oppress different viewpoints. Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas all feature text which prohibit non-believers from serving in a public office. In the 1961 case Torcaso v. Watkins, the Supreme Court ruled these state constitution rules to be unconstitutional (e.g. no religious tests for public office), and could no longer be enforced.

Fact of the Day: Abner Kneeland

Abner Kneeland was the last man in America to be convicted for blasphemy. He was raised a Baptist, but later converted to Universalism. His views later drifted away from the Universalist Church and his religious ideas later got him in trouble with the state government of Massachusetts back in the early 19th century.  

Fact of the Day: Divine Right of Kings

While he wasn't the first monarch in the world to claim a super-natural right to the throne, King James I of England (also King James VI of Scotland) was the first English monarch to use the theory of the Divine Right of Kings. Claiming that as King he has to answer to nobody on Earth, and is given the right to rule by God. Coincidentally he also oversaw the English translation of scripture known as the King James Bible, which still features many supporters who strongly oppose any other English translation.  

Christian Judge Changes Child's Name in Tennessee

In Tennessee, a judge recently changed a child's name during a custody hearing. Except the parents went in not agreeing on the boy's surname, not his first name.  The judge took objection of the child being named Messiah DeShawn Martin as a Messiah to Christians means savior. So she took the liberty of changing his name to Martin DeShawn McCullough claiming that “The word Messiah is a title and it's a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ.” in her ruling.

Fact of the Day: Giordano Bruno

In the 16th century, a man named Giordano Bruno went beyond the Copernican model of space and proposed that the Sun was nothing more than a star (which is true) and stated the very likely possibility of many other planets inhabited by intelligent beings in the universe. Along with his religious views, the Roman Catholic Church were not amused by his work and burned him at the stake for heresy. He gained a notable legacy of supporters in the 19th and 20th century who saw him as an early hero who stood up for free-thought and modern scientific ideas. 

Fact of the Day: The Great Disappointment

In the 19th century, preacher William Miller predicted that Jesus would return to Earth and rapture would begin somewhere between 1843 to 1844. After his first prediction failed, he made another one (also in 1844) claiming he miscalculated dates he studied from the Bible. Thousands of followers believed in Miller but when nothing happened chaos broke out in many places, and many lost their faith. The event then became known as The Great Disappointment. Miller still held onto his belief on his deathbed, thinking (in 1849) that the rapture would happen very soon.  

Conservative Christians Plan To Defy Supreme Court on Marriage Equality Ruling

With the Supreme Court soon to announce the results of the two big cases concerning marriage equality rights, religious conservatives are now somehow planning to defy any ruling that will give more rights to the LGBT community. The results of both cases could give the rights for anyone to marry similar to the 1967 case Loving v. Virginia which struck down any law restricting marriage based on race in every state in the union. Or it could at least give more freedom in some states. 

If the ruling turns out favorable, more than 200 conservative activists from state house members to religious leaders have already pledged to defy the Supreme Court. Now I'm not surprised to see their discrimination and bigotry, but I can't help to laugh that they somehow think they can overrule the nation's highest court. The Supreme Court can overrule the president, and congress, so what kind of authority do these 200 activists have?

Fact of the Day: Holy Astronomer

Despite intense opposition to the Big Bang Theory from churches and various Christians, one of the first men to propose the theory was Georges Lemaître of Belgium. In addition to being an astronomer, Georges was also a priest.  

Evangelical Lunatic Says Christians Can't Enjoy Starbucks

Evangelical conservative activist David Barton recently made a rant that true Christians can no longer enjoy a nice cup of a coffee at Starbucks. His rage comes from Starbucks' stance of supporting marriage equality. Now he's begging fellow Christians to find another place to get their cup of joe. David Barton is also famous for his works of history revisionism. His book The Jefferson Lies was voted as the least credible history book by actual historians. 

But I have to point out to Mr. Barton that I don't see him rallying against any seafood places. As I hoped Mr. Barton payed attention in bible class that eating shellfish is a condemned in the bible as well. I also hope Mr. Barton and his supporters do not use a computer, or a smartphone as the father of computer science, Alan Turing was gay. 

Pope Francis Says All Good People Are Redeemed

While I've always had some criticism for the papacy, but I was pleased to hear some of the comments Pope Francis made recently. In short he said that "doing good" is what unites humanity together and everyone is redeemed if they do so. He even extended that view to not only agnostics (which I am) but atheists as well. It's wonderful to see a highly respected religious leader try to make peace for all faiths and ideologies. Which is breath of fresh air for me; as hearing bigoted men like Billy Graham and Pat Robertson spout non-sense has made me a little jaded to say the least.