Harry's Place

I guess CNN’s Wolf Blitzer won’t be asking that question again after this encounter with Oklahoma tornado survivor Rebecca Vitsmun– who handled the moment well.

Vitsmun fled her home in Moore with her 19-month-old son moments before the tornado flattened it.

After Barack Obama’s reelection last November, Louisiana’s Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal declared that the GOP needed to “stop being the stupid party.”
“… It’s time for a new Republican Party that talks like adults,” he said. “We had a number of Republicans damage the brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments. I’m here to say [...]

Hello the Pope!

There are lots of critical things to say about the retiring Pope Benedict XVI, but (like his predecessor John Paul II) his stance on issues of social and economic justice would, if he were an American Democrat, get him branded by some conservatives (including Catholics) a socialist.
Think Progress cites some examples:
– Addressing climate change. Benedict [...]

A comment in Comment Is Free today by Charlie Condou, who plays “Marcus Dent” in the British soap opera Coronation Street”,  has prompted me to say something about the issue of religious opt out.  He said:
There remains the problem of the opt-out: individual churches can “opt out” of gay marriage on grounds of religious “conscience”. Does this mean that if we get [...]

Despite 74% of the Houses of Bishops and Clergy at the General Synod for the Church of England voting in favour of female bishops and a groundswell of support amongst ordinary parishioners, the House of Laity defeated the proposal.
It is the whole David/Ed Miliband thing all over again.
Addendum: the belief Editor of Comment [...]

In fairness, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio isn’t the only politician who had Christian fundamentalist sensitivities in mind when he answered a question about the creation of the Earth.

At least Obama didn’t start wittering about the gross domestic product.

… an Archbishop of Canterbury who both believes in the Virgin Birth (not necessarily the Immaculate Conception) and does not cross his fingers when reciting the Creed.

This is a guest post by Brian Henry

The United Church of Canada has formally voted to align itself with the antisemites. In a historic vote on August 17, the church passed a motion calling for a boycott of goods produced by Jews in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
This is a betrayal of the United [...]

I think it says something good about this country that the grandson of boxing legend Muhammad Ali (a convert to Islam) can celebrate his bar mitzvah and everyone is cool with it– including Grandpa Ali, who attended the ceremony.
Khaliah Ali-Wertheimer, Jacob’s mother, told Ali biographer Thomas Hauser that though her father raised his children Muslim, [...]