Maybe atheists *should* wage a War on Christmas… After all, is it ever okay to tell your kids that a fictional being is watching over them to see if they’ve been naughty or nice?
Trump thinks setting up Bible studies for his cabinet and not attending them will play well with his evangelical base. He’s probably right.
“Many of President Trump’s Cabinet members gather at a weekly session to study the Bible,” the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) reported Monday.
Ralph Drollinger, the founder of Capitol Ministries, says he leads a weekly Bible study with Cabinet members such as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
“It’s the best Bible study that I’ve ever taught in my life. They are so teachable. They’re so noble. They’re so learned,” Drollinger told CBN. Vice President Pence, who is a sponsor of the faith sessions, reportedly joins the group when his schedule allows.”
On tonight’s Big Picture, Thom talks with Rev. Barry Lynn as the Supreme Courts delivers a blow against the separation of church and state. Then he talks with Horace Cooper and Charles Sauer about the EPA’s decision to put YOUR lives in danger by rolling back on public water rules with privatization, Rand Paul’s absurd claim that universal healthcare means to take you to the “Gulag”, and Monsanto’s weed killer now classified by California as a carcinogen.
h/t: Friendly Atheist
h/t: Friendly Atheist
This week, the film The Most Hated Woman in America comes to Netflix, with Melissa Leo playing Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the atheist who campaigned against the church’s influence in public and political life (the title comes from the headline on a 1964 interview with her in Life magazine). While Murray O’Hair is not widely known outside of the US, she had an extraordinary life. Long before the likes of Richard Dawkins, she gained notoriety for helping to push bible readings out of schools, and in 1963 she founded American Atheists. It’s a group that is still going today, campaigning against Donald Trump’s plan to abolish the rule that forbids religious institutions, among other charitable organisations, from getting involved in political activity and funding). For the next few decades, Murray O’Hair devoted her life to campaigning against the church’s power. She was a contentious figure, and when she disappeared in 1995, along with her son and granddaughter from their home in Austin, Texas, that too was controversial.
A true-crime biopic about the disappearance of Madalyn Murray O’Hair, founder of the “American Atheists” and pioneering firebrand in the political culture war, The Most Hated Woman in America captures the rise and fall of a complex character who was a controversial villain to some and an unlikely hero to others.
The film stars Academy Award® winner Melissa Leo, Josh Lucas, Adam Scott, Vincent Kartheiser and Juno Temple, and was directed by Tommy O’Haver from a script by O’Haver and Irene Turner. Elizabeth Banks, Max Handelman and Laura Rister produced.
The Most Hated Woman in America premieres on Netflix on March 24, 2017.
Always Question Authority 