7/13/2014::And the craziness countinues

Renew America Pundit Warns Gay Marriage Will Turn Us Into Marxist Slaves

Donald Hank of Renew America responded to the decision of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to allow pastors to officiate same-sex weddings by accusing Presbyterians of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” and supporting “social Marxism.”

“This is social Marxism and we are slaves to it in the US,” he writes. “Isn’t it time to throw off the chains? It's all up to the people.”

He adds that gay marriage “is like saying a dog is a cat” and will allow for “our culture and hence our sovereignty to be destroyed.”

Thanks to the Baptists Who Defend Church/State Separation

Back when Baptists were in the minority in the U.S., they were strong supporters of church/state separation. Now, firmly in the majority, we’ve seen them virtually in lockstep with the Christian Right. It’s a shock to many that groups like the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty are actually on our side when it comes to interpreting the First Amendment.

Ken Camp, writing for the Associated Baptist Press, reminds us how tough it is these days for Baptist ministers to speak out against their own congregations,,,

Anti-Gay Activists Hopeful Hobby Lobby Will Lead To License To Discriminate

Anti-gay activists are rejoicing at the Supreme Court's decision in Hobby Lobby today, in part because they are hopeful that the decision will pave the way for one of their own policy goals: to use the religious liberty argument to push for broad exemptions for corporations from nondiscrimination laws.

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Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber is hopeful that the decision bodes well for those trying to use religious freedom as a cloak to justify discrimination against LGBT people: There may be reason for them to be optimistic. As SCOTUSblog pointed out, the majority's opinion pointedly leaves open "the question of whether the Government has a similarly compelling interest in preventing discrimination on the basis of sex or sexual orientation."

With respect to implications for other kinds of religious-based discrimination, the Court writes that racial discrimination in hiring will not be permitted under RFRA because "The Government has a compelling interest in providing equal opportunity to participate in the workforce without regard to race, and prohibitions on racial discrimination are precisely tailored to acheive [sic] that critical goal." Note that this leave open the question of whether the Government has a similarly compelling interest in preventing discrimination on the basis of sex or sexual orientation.

Doctor cleared after complaint over Orthodox Jewish practice of sucking blood from baby’s penis at circumcision

A Toronto doctor who employs the traditional Jewish practice of orally sucking blood from a baby’s penis following circumcision has been cleared by Ontario’s physician review board after an anti-circumcision activist filed an official complaint accusing him of religious bias and “sexual motive.”

The ritual of orally suctioning blood from a circumcision wound, sometimes through a plastic tube, is known as metzitzah b’peh and is practised almost exclusively among Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish circles.

“There is no information to support the … contention that there was a sexual motive to the method by which the [doctor] performed ritual circumcisions,” reads a decision document published Tuesday by the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board.

The Board ultimately concluded that the original complaint, which was linked to a Seattle-based anti-circumcision group, was obviously meant as “a broadsided attack on the practice of circumcision.”

“I’m pleased with the decision, but I’m not going to comment,” Dr. Aaron Jesin, a family practitioner who has performed more than 10,000 circumcisions, told the National Post by phone on Wednesday.

Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Floats Again, After Two Years

More than two years after it ran aground off the Italian coast, the cruise ship Costa Condordia is floating again. Salvage workers managed that feat Monday by expelling water from large caissons, the pontoons that are attached to its sides.

"Six hours after the refloating began, the 115,000-ton vessel had cleared its custom-made platform by one meter," reports NPR's Sylvia Poggioli. "The ship is to be raised another meter today. Then it will be towed 90 feet eastward and anchored to the seabed and land with chains and cables."

The initial moments of the refloating were seen as the most dangerous, as it wasn't known if the hull could maintain its integrity. Today marks another step in the largest maritime salvage operation in history.

The current phase of the operation is expected to take about one week. Eventually, officials plan to tow the massive ship to Genoa, more than 100 miles away, to be used for scrap. The total salvage operation will reportedly cost more than $2 billion.