Tag Archives: religion poisons everything

Amish Crazies

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Homegrown Amish religious terrorism, right here in America, carried out by Americans against Americans. When will the hate crimes stop? Religion poisons everything. You heard it here first!

Cutting beards for Jesus.

By Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND, Jan 11 (Reuters) – Twelve members of an Amish splinter group in Ohio pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges stemming from a spate of beard- and hair-cutting assaults last fall on other Amish.

The 10 men and two women were indicted on seven counts, including federal hate crime charges, for their part in the unusual attacks, which began in September 2011 and generated fear in the tight-knit Amish community.

The assaults were considered especially egregious because the beard is a symbol of a man’s identity among the Amish and women in the community do not cut their hair for biblical reasons.

The courtroom inside U.S. District Court in Cleveland where the 12, all from Bergholz, were arraigned on Wednesday was packed with Amish onlookers.

Seven of the original defendants, including the suspected ringleader, Samuel Mullet Sr., and two of his sons, have been in custody since their arrest in October.

U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster denied a request on Wednesday that Samuel Sr., 66, and his 37-year-old son Johnny be released on bond, citing the lack of modern amenities, including electricity, at their house, which makes electronic monitoring impossible.

But the judge released five of the defendants on $20,000 unsecured bonds. Trial has been scheduled to start March 19.

My Hero Is Gone – Christopher Hitchens Dead

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I just heard the sad news. Christopher Hitchens has succumbed to esophageal cancer. Creationists all over the  world rejoice, thanking Jesus, while reasonable people are mourning. I would say R.I.P., but that would be an insult.

If the music died 02-03-1959­, then reason and acerbic wit took a hit 12-15-2011­.

I’m not old enough to remember where I was when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, but I do have John Lennon (sitting in a van listening to the radio, waiting for the post office at St. Olav’s Square in Oslo, Norway to open) and Christoper Hitchens (right here in front of my computer in Newtown, Connecticut). Oddly enough I don’t think they would have gotten along very well.

I regard Mr Hitchens a beacon of reason and logic and unsurpassed intellectual wit and honesty in a world that suffers from ignorance and superstition, not only abroad, but increasingly so right here at home. He was the standard bearer promoting atheism (he referred to himself as an “anti-theist”) and casting off the shackles of religion.

I didn’t agree with him on everything (America’s unwarranted invasion of Iraq in 2003 being the biggie), but the world needed his passion for truth now more than ever. The world is a much, much , MUCH better place for having been lucky enough to have him around.

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