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The Tapeworm Gallery: Against Flesh and Blood
NEWSFLASH: Man with Immigrant Wife Elected President by Multitude of Bigots. #classic. But is he racist? Who cares? I don’t need him to be the poster child for jingoism. I just need him to maintain speeches of eloquent diplomacy. So ladies, lock up your ******* because there’s a new sheriff in town. And with him marks the end of civility in the public square. I’ve waited 240 years for this. Since the election, I have kicked back with endless bags of BOOMCHICKAPOP Holidrizzle to watch the show. (Love their Pumpkin Spice flavor.) Forget political parties. The Neo-Nazis have their megaphones back, and now…
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Diversity: Can Any Good Thing Come Out of Nazareth?
Standing in Nazareth's Basilica of the Annunciation, I gazed up at mosaics from all over the world. These works depicted the Virgin Mary with Jesus, and in each case Jesus bore the ethnic identity of the predominate group in the gifting country. That is, the art from Ecuador showed Jesus as Ecuadorian; the work from Japan, as Japanese; and the one from Thailand, as Thai. The baby Jesus from Slovenia even had red hair. The mosaics’ creators made these localized images to remind viewers that Jesus is “one of us”—which he is. Yet so many artists have depicted Jesus as white for so long with such far-reaching influence that many…
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The Church’s Blind Side: Why Black Lives, Blue Lives, and All Lives Matter
There is an unspeakable ache in my heart today, can you feel it too? Among the angst, frustration and bitterness, what I feel most is really disappointment. I am disappointed that that after years of striving to be a beacon of democracy, people can be left to bleed out in the streets, with no trial, no due process, and no convictions. I am disappointed that a band of heartless cowards decided to target police officers in my own city of Dallas, Texas, leaving 5 dead and several others wounded. I am disappointed that the actions of these few will now be extrapolated and applied to the entire Black Lives Matter movement,…
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The Tapeworm Gallery: Unequally Yoked
What's this I hear? Grace—dating one of them? I bet that got your panties in a wad. And it all started on the MLK holiday when he ran into her at the mall? You don't say. Why does the school even observe the MLK holiday? There are at most ten of them in the whole school. Anyway, you've got to put a stop to this before her father finds out. Lucky for her, her grandfather lies six feet under. Hope he doesn't jump forth from his grave. At least it's not one of those. With those winning the Miss America…
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#boycottindiana and YOUR religious freedom: A lawyer who worked the Hobby Lobby case explains what’s really at stake
Suppose you are an Indian who runs a vegan café in Indiana. (You are Jainist and your faith opposes the taking of animal life.) And suppose a customer wants you to cater their wedding with your amazing vegan creations, but please, just put some chicken wings on the side for non-vegans. If you refuse this service should the offended customer (backed by the NRA, Ducks Unlimited and the force of government) see you have to shut down your café and lose your livelihood because of the heavy fines imposed? Would it make sense to justify this because you clearly “hate” and are prejudiced against meat-eaters? Do you really…
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I read the news today, oh boy: DOMA goes down. Time to step up the love
On Thursday the New York Times headlines announced, “Supreme Court Bolsters Gay Marriage with Two Major Rulings.” They could just as well have read, “Supreme Court Bolsters Gay Marriage, Accuses DOMA Defenders of Malice.” On what basis did the majority rule? The U.S. Constitution says nothing about a “right to marriage.” All marriage laws in our nation have always been state laws. Have gays seeking to marry been deprived of due process? The court has previously ruled that the Due Process Clause protects only “those fundamental rights and liberties which are, objectively, ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition or equal protection,'” a hard case to make since Massachusetts…
