Can you overload God’s servers?

On Nov. 8, some nonbelievers plan to pray to God and try to overload God’s servers.

Could such an action take God offline? I guess we’ll see.

Was Michael Jackson a role model?

Tom Gibbons, a seminarian, and Mirlande Jeanlouis, a young writer, discuss.

Will you go see “This Is It,” in theaters now?

Handling snakes!

Members of certain Christian tribes believe we are commanded to handle snakes – though the Bible actually says that being able to pick up snakes is strictly a sign of faith. It’s not like it’s a requirement or anything.

Still, when I first came to Connecticut and word got out about my odd *by northeast standards* religion, a few people teased me about handling snakes.

Someone should have told the young Norwegian man who taped pythons and geckos (14 and 10, respectively) to his torso that handling the beasties isn’t required. Or maybe he was, as authorities suspected, attempting to smuggle God’s creatures into Norway.

And thanks, Bro. Jay, for the link. Please pick up your DJ correspondent check at the door.

Get happy, or else!

With the Happiness Hat! And thanks, BuzzFeed, for the link.

Are celebrity do-gooders really doing good?

This (from Latoya at Jezebel) raises the question: Should celebrities continual to highlight the plight of places like Africa? Or is charitainment really not helpful?

Madonna launched a school in Malawi, homeland of two of her adopted children, and here she is asking for donations.

No one can deny that Malawi needs help, but what of LaToya’s assertion:

Does this interest translate into the public good, or does it just become another way to prolong a problem? In the case of Madonna, I’m not too sure. Her earlier interest stunk to high heaven with the white savior complex, and the controversy over David Banda’s adoption added further fuel to the fire. After spending some more time in Malawi, she seems to have shifted out of the idea that one raises awareness by adoption and horrific images of suffering, and has shifted to promoting projects and infrastructure. The new school is a good start, and a step in the right direction. But what will Madonna do next? Will she continue learning and implementing projects that contribute to long term solutions? Or will she go back to the standard celebrity charity junket? (If her plea on the Huffington Post is any indication, we are heading back to “your one time donation” territory.)

 

Should the victim’s wishes be respected above all?

Ann Friedman at The American Prospect says the case of Roman Polanski raises an interesting subject:

Yes, he did wrong.

But his victim wants nothing to do with prosecuting him. Writes Friedman:

…the deeply personal nature of this crime is what makes such a broad response inherently problematic. Many observers were shocked when Rihanna chose not to press charges against Brown. The woman who, as a child, was raped by Polanski later said that she wished prosecutors would drop the case. This may be hard to accept for those of us who saw the photos of Rihanna’s bruised face or read the damning testimony from Polanski’s trial, but these women have a right to decline to get involved with the justice system. Violence against women is a public scourge, but respecting survivors’ wishes must be paramount.

They’ve hosting an auction to raise funds for Scott Roeder

Roeder is the accused killer of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion doctor who was gunned down at his Wichita church last May.

And his supporters are planning auctions, though they’re planning one on eBay and that organization has policies against such fund-raising efforts. We’ll see.

And thanks, Feminist Wire, for the link.

 

What do you do when the Bible contradicts itself?

Chris Blumhofer, at Relevant, explores that question.

For those of us who grew up learning that the Bible was the inerrant word of God and needed to be taken literally, this is a huge deal. It’s especially pertinent when we, later on, find ourselves unwilling to shake that early training.

We’re No. 31! We’re No. 31!

According to the World Economic Forum’s annual Gender Gap Index, Icelandic woman (They’re No. 1! They’re No. 1!) have more fun.

And thanks, Jezebel, for the link.

Feminists don’t cheat with married men

Well, they do, sometimes, but it’s to the detriment of themselves, the woman scorned, and the whole idea of sisterhood, says Lauren Rosenwarne, author of “Cheating on the Sisterhood: Infidelity and Feminism.”

Read the interview by Mandy Van Deven, at RH Reality Check (linked here at AlterNet),

But we knew that cheating creates all kinds of issues already, right?