A high school student has won the right to wear a nose stud in class after claiming she was a member of a religious group that practices body modification.

Ariana Iacono, 15, was suspended four times this school year from Clayton High School, North Carolina, for violating the dress code by refusing to remove her small nose stud. The ninth grade student claimed the nose stud was an essential part of her faith in the Church of Body Modification.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the school system on her behalf and a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order in October demanding that the school lifted her suspension and allowed her to wear the jewellery.

Officials with the Johnston County Schools said they would drop their appeal of the order, and would settle it out of court ‘rather than pursue a lengthy process of hearings, depositions and likely appeals’.

SOURCE

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.). For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don’t forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me here

The U.S. military’s success in Pakistan this week proved the importance of maintaining a team focused on accomplishing dangerous missions. Others on the left prefer to look upon the armed forces as a playground to experiment with fringe ideas. Take the Air Force Academy which reportedly held a ceremony on Tuesday to dedicate a pile of rocks in the academy’s “worship area for followers of Earth-centered religions.”

This is a space cadets can use to perform rituals if they happen to be witches, warlocks and tree-worshipers. Overlooking the visitor center, the stone circle is designed for the benefit of a handful of those claiming to be Wiccans or Druids.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with that. They aren’t really going to turn you into a newt, and their religion is much more peaceful than another religion I could mention. The Washington Times does have an issue with respecting Wiccans and Druids, and continues to be rather derogatory over the issue, claiming it is all about extreme Leftists. But, then they drop this one

The Air Force is not alone in pandering. At Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland on Wednesday, the Army hosted a live-fire demonstration of its new M855A1 ammunition which boasts an “environmentally-friendly projectile.” The new copper-tipped round gives military brass the opportunity to brag to members of Congress that they are “doing something” to heal the planet while waging war. This opens an interesting question: Did SEAL Team Six use “green bullets” to take down Osama bin Laden, or will the Navy have to offset the carbon footprint of its highly successful mission?

Seriously?

“American atheists lined up to be “de-baptized” in a ritual using a hair dryer, according to a report Friday on U.S. late-night news program “Nightline.”

Kagin donned a monk’s robe and said a few mock-Latin phrases before inviting those wishing to be de-baptized to “come forward now and receive the spirit of hot air that taketh away the stigma and taketh away the remnants of the stain of baptismal water.”

SOURCE

Even the hot air could be seen as an allusion to the heat of hell. Being an atheist myself, I certainly don’t believe that atheism generally leads to Satanism but there are possibly some weak minds who could be tipped in that direction by militant atheism.

Kagin and his “followers” could bear watching by those in a position to do so. “Cultbusters” occasionally do some good for badly misled people.

Kagin or Kagan is however usually a Jewish name so perhaps it is all just another example of Jewish contempt for Christianity (much seen in the ADL and to an extent in the ACLU. The ACLU is about a quarter Jewish and Jews are prominent in it). Most Jews are not religious in general and many are probably atheists.

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.). For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don’t forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me here

“Deus ex machina” is usually translated from the Latin as “god from the machine” or “god from the box”, and that’s exactly what it was: At the end of the play, regardless of how hopelessly bollixed the characters’ lives had become, or what tragedies (another term worth understanding) were brewing or had happened, a god (remember that the Greeks and Romans were polytheistic pagans, and had lots of gods) would pop up out of a big box on the stage or be lowered by a crane from above, and would save the day.

That way, the playwright didn’t have to figure out a reasonable ending for whatever opus he was working on; didn’t, as long as he put on a good show, have to make any overall sense; and could always have a happy ending.

The technique was, in antiquity, used by such notables as Euripides (who was chided for it by Aristotle) and, after application and attack in the Renaissance and even on television (sic) in modern times, has finally been brought to perfection by the U.S. Congress.

Think I’m kidding? Who else but those worthies would even consider raising taxes during a recession? Or entrusting Big Auto, Big Finance and the entire U.S. healthcare system to a gang of clowns with no sense and no experience? Or risking the destruction of our economy and our dollar to protect us and our home world (shades of Science Fiction!) from some mythical dragon named “Global Warming”?

Obviously they expect a god to pop up out of a box and make everything right.

How else could they so steadfastly ignore the lessons of the Weimar Republic (and what crawled up out of the Reichstag Fire), the Great Depression of the ‘30s, and the financial collapse and Lost Decade of Japan?

“God in the box” as an ending is about the equivalent of “Jack in the Box” as food. It’s cheap, fast, and easy, but not a great source of real nutrition. It is certainly not a solid basis upon which to build a philosophy or a course of political action to affect an entire nation.

When, even in pre-Christian times, Horace criticized it (in his Ars Poetica,), warning poets never to resort to a god from the machine to resolve their plots, and when even the most hackneyed of modern writers and fantasists is hesitant to incorporate it into his work, how can it be that Congress and the Obama Administration are seeking to re-structure our country in such a way that it can only be saved by mystical powers appearing from nowhere?
Obama has said it specifically in his books and campaign speeches: “Americans…still believe in an America where anything’s possible …”
The American people, or at least a large enough segment of them to win an election, have, in their faith and hope, swallowed the hopeful lie that government can do anything; that it really can “…leap tall buildings in a single bound…”; and that it can solve every American problem by just writing 2000 pages of idiotic legislation and having a god pop up out of a box to deliver it.
Again, the words of Barack Obama say it all: “Hope – Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope! In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation; a belief in things not seen. A belief that there are better days ahead”
As long as the American people continue to believe this, or to at least hope that it’s true, government will, like a cheap or lazy playwright, never have to make its actions jibe with logic or reality, and will, like a permanent sign that I once saw in a sleazy bar, be able to continue to offer “free beer tomorrow”.
What the American people must remember is that, even before Obama, there was another saying that was held to be true: “God helps those who help themselves.”
It is time for us to realize that government is not divine; that it cannot, just by putting some words to paper and spending more money, solve all of the world’s problems. When we finally come to understand that our only salvation in this life will come from our own efforts, based in reason and founded in a real comprehension of How Things Work, we will have a chance to regain our country and to celebrate a new Golden Age.
Until then, we should remember that there are no gods in boxes, and that those who wait for God to keep on waiting.

Copyright by Roger E. Skoff

Recently a baby in Italy was put through horror for his two short days of life in an incident that puts paid to the hypocrisy of those that think an in vitro human infant is not really a human at all.

This child survived a botched abortion then was laid alone in a cold room struggling to live for 20 hours before anyone bothered to notice it survived the attempted ending of its life. His torture lasted another day before death finally arrived to claim him.

Once the baby was found still hanging onto life after “doctors” tried to kill it, the hospital made a sudden, vain attempt to bring it to health. To complete the circus atmosphere, after the child passed, police in Italy began a homicide investigation of the incident. Why? Because in Italy infanticide is illegal.

Confused? You should be.

This incident really shows the utter, scornful hypocrisy in the pro-abortion position. How is it that one second a child is something to be so contemptuous of that it might be killed in an abortion, yet the next a victim of homicide?

The problem is, of course, that there is no intellectually logical — much less humanly compassionate — stance that abortionists can honestly take to determine when someone is “human.” Ridiculously, one second you are an “unviable tissue mass” and open to being aborted, a split second later you are a “baby” that has rights. But the abortionists can’t tell you when that magical event occurs. In fact, there is no such fantastic switch that can be thrown between the time that an infant is nothingness to humanness in order to honestly support the abortionist’s support of his deed. The entire question is but a “feeling” of the abortionist, not anything that can be quantified. And when we are talking about a person’s life, shouldn’t we be using solid, intellectually grounded reasoning to determine when a person is allowed to be accorded his right to life?

This poor little person was badly abused by his country’s practitioners of medicine. But he isn’t the only one. The simple matter of fact is that abortionists and people who support them have only one reason to kill babies: they are inconvenient.

No matter from what country they hail, human life is inconvenient to pro-abortionists. It’s just that simple.

Multiculturalism is the dream state of the extreme left, not just in the U.S.A. but worldwide. From the pointy-heads at university, to the self-congratulatory oafs in Brussels and Washington D.C., these leftists sternly warn us all that any assumption that one culture is somehow better than another is “racist,” or at the least gauche. Everyone is the same, they say and you are a creep to think otherwise.

And they are simply wrong. Some cultures are better than others. A recent BBC report proves my nay saying of multiculturalism is right, too.

On Jan 7 the BBC posted a report on the increase in child sacrifice in Uganda where so-called witch-doctors are increasingly killing children in faux religious practices in order to bestow good luck on adults.

The BBC reports noted that one witch-doctor told them that he had “clients” that “regularly captured children and brought their blood and body parts to be consumed by spirits.”

Additionally the story related that the Ugandan government said that such murders are increasing as reported by the country’s “Anti-Human Sacrifice Taskforce” head. Doesn’t the fact that Uganda even has an anti-human sacrifice taskforce say something very clear about where Uganda’s culture stands on the ladder of righteousness?

And what was this rise in murders of children blamed on? Capitalism, naturally. Absurdly the BBC and the Ugandan government peg this rise in crime to capitalism.

…the crime is directly linked to rising levels of development and prosperity, and an increasing belief that witchcraft can help people get rich quickly.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. The fault is not that prosperity and development is rising. The problem is that these people’s backwards, savage culture sees nothing wrong with killing a child or two in order to increase their fortunes.

Many African nations still practice slavery, abduction, child prostitution, as well as human sacrifice and have done so since anyone can remember. So, it isn’t the intrusion of capitalism and prosperity that has driven this increase in such crimes against humanity. It is their endemic culture.

Murdering children for “good luck” isn’t just a neutral and different cultural choice. It is evil. Their culture is bad and should be shunned by the civilized world and actively fought against.

Despite the rapturous claims of multiculturalists everywhere, all cultures are not equal, all cultures do not offer something good to the world. Some are evil and deserve to be destroyed. It’s just that simple.

Mr. Sutley, an atheist, said he then went to the office of the county Board of Supervisors. “And there was a star,” he said.

Technically, neither stars nor angels belong to any particular religion. But to the mind of Mr. Sutley, 65, a veteran who has fought to keep religion out of public meetings and buildings, the symbolism was clear.

“For most people, a star atop a tree at this time of season represents the star of Bethlehem, which is a cult symbol, the cult being Christianity,” he said, adding that the government should be neutral on religion.

Sonoma County officials conferred with their lawyers, and on Monday the acting county administrator, Chris Thomas, asked county departments to remove stars, angels or any other religious symbols “so that we can celebrate the season yet not appear to endorse Christian or other religious doctrines.”

Mr. Thomas cited a 1989 Supreme Court decision, Allegheny v. A.C.L.U., which stated that while Christmas trees could be seen as secular, they could also be seen as religious if decorated with religious symbols.

All of which pleased Mr. Sutley, who said he had found about a half-dozen stars on other trees around the building in Santa Rosa. He said he found none in the social services department, in which he found a religious placard during the holidays last year. (It, too, was removed.)

Ridiculous!

Clarkesville Strikes A Deal With The ACLU Over Public Nativity Scene

The city of Clarkesville Tennessee has struck a deal with the A-C-L-U over a Nativity scene.
It was part of the city’s annual Christmas on the Cumberland celebration.
A local church puts on the display.. But the city paid expenses and promoted as part of the celebration.
Under the deal.. The Nativity will continue.
But the city will not pay for it and they will offer other religious groups opportunities to take part in the event.
Chattanooga had similar concerns over church-run nativity scene at the Grande Illumination.

County display must be inclusive

Clearly, Luzerne County erred by making the focus of its holiday d?cor a manger scene, prominently positioned outside its central government building, where it was safeguarded and lit by night, for all to see as they entered the building or even drove past. Certain government officials defended this type of display, serving to heighten the perception that local power brokers hold a special esteem for Christianity.

If so, what message does that send to Americans here who practice Islam? Buddhism? Taoism? What about atheists?

People of all spiritual and non-spiritual persuasions should enter the courthouse knowing that the government represents them, and they, regardless of their views on Jesus, can expect a fair trial, impartial services and an equal say. To certain people, a manger scene propped between them and the government’s doorstep could represent the visual equivalent of cigar-chomping, backwoods sheriff saying, “We don’t need none of your kind around here.”

Fortunately, in this nation where the majority rules, there are protections and guarantees for the minority voice. The ACLU works to uphold those protections, which means that it often comes to the defense of ideas that might strike many people as wrong, even reprehensible.

Yet its efforts are aimed at supporting the principles upon which this country was founded, that make it unique among nations and that have been exercised so robustly in the Wyoming Valley in recent days.

What a load of crap! Merry Christmas!

[I]deas for alternative-style worship are part of an initiative launched by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to appeal to the younger generation.

They are set out in a new book compiled by the Church’s Fresh Expressions programme, which aims to boost church attendance with more relevant and exciting services. …

One Holy Communion service promoted in the book, called Ancient Faith, Future Mission, begins with the congregation being shown a video clip from the YouTube website about a United Nations anti-poverty campaign.

Worshippers are told that “our planet is messed up” and that “things are not right”.

You can say that again, Swilliams! It gets worse:

They are then asked to approach the altar and rub sea salt on their fingers to represent tears, before walking around and meditating at eight “prayer stations” representing themes such as “gender equality” and “environmental sustainability”.

A psalm is recited in “beat poetry” style to the accompaniment of African Djembe drums, and prayers are said “for the corporate world, for influential CEOs who oversee billion-dollar industries”.

It’s just not a proper church service without a little music from a moonbatty pop band:

Among the alternative services explored in the book … are so-called “U2charists”, services in which the congregation receives communion but sings the songs of the Irish rock band U2 instead of traditional hymns. …

The book also features Transcendence, an event held in York Minister in which traditional Latin chant is set by DJs to hip hop or ambient dance music and video images are projected onto the walls.

Here’s an idea: why doesn’t the church hold rave parties, with ecstasy and grape-flavored vodka for the Eucharist? The priest can strip down to his undies, smear himself with body paint, and crowd surf under pulsating disco lights.

Uh oh, here comes a party pooper. The prebendary at St Paul’s Cathedral Rev. David Houlding laments,

All this is tosh. It’s just a passing fad, irrelevant, shallow and pointless. There’s no depth to it and it’s embarrassing because it’ll make people think that we’re eccentric and silly.

As a result of Fresh Expressions, there are now churches for surfers, and priests have been commissioned to work in night clubs and skateboard parks. Eccentric? Silly? Who would think that?

Maybe the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing when they proscribed an official state church.

On a tip from Viking04. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.

EVAN THOMAS: Well, we were the good guys in 1984, it felt that way. It hasn’t felt that way in recent years. So Obama’s had, really, a different task We’re seen too often as the bad guys. And he – he has a very different job from – Reagan was all about America, and you talked about it. Obama is ‘we are above that now.’ We’re not just parochial, we’re not just chauvinistic, we’re not just provincial. We stand for something – I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world, he’s sort of God. He’s-
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
THOMAS: He’s going to bring all different sides together.

Obama is above it all. Don’t ask me what sorta god means. I’m sure it has something to do with how much the media are in the tank.

The Anchoress:

We are dominated by “nothings,” who run to to do the bidding of a man who does not respect them, can’t respect them, because who can respect a sycophant. Barack Obama is imperious Lady Catherine DeBurgh, and the press is the oafish, intellectually vapid, incurious Mr. Collins, bowing and agreeing, and silencing himself for the sake of her bare acceptance.

The geraniums and begonias we see above, contribute more to the world than our current press.

Lamb should not be eaten because sheep belch, thus throwing the climate into chaos.

A government-sponsored study into greenhouse gases found that producing 2.2lb of lamb released the equivalent of 37lb of carbon dioxide.

A similar study, conducted in the Dark Ages, found that 42 angels could dance on the head of a pin.

Tomatoes stand condemned as the most “carbon-intensive” of vegetables, because they are often grown in greenhouses. Look for punitive taxes, to be followed by bans. Enjoy your ketchup and spaghetti sauce while you can.

Worse still, the high priests of envirofascism have alcohol in their sites:

Alcoholic drinks are another significant contributory factor, with the growing and processing of crops such as hops and malt into beer and whisky helping to generate 1.5% of the nation’s greenhouse gases.

If only a study would invent some percentage of greenhouse gases generated by power-mad bureaucrats.

On a tip from mega. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.