The image of Jesus has appeared on some very random items in the past including a piece of bubblegum, a Kit Kat Chunky, and even an iron. But, according to an American couple, JC has now appeared on a discarded Walmart shopping receipt. What’s even freakier is the fact that they first saw the image just as they came home from church one morning!
In a landmark decision, Austria has granted “pastafarian”, Niko Alm, the right to wear a pasta strainer on his head for his driver’s license photo.
Yesterday, police in Australia’s New South Wales state were handed more authority to remove burqas and other face coverings to identify potential criminal suspects. The move follows the recent case of a Muslim woman who was acquitted after a judge ruled her Islamic veil made a positive identification of her impossible.
The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in India – dedicated to the god Vishnu – was built in 1566. Secret vaults have now been found, containing more than R74 billion in offerings to the temple! All these shiny coins, jewelry, and even a six meter-long gold necklace have been secretly hoarded in underground vaults. This is like the Indian version of Gringotts in Harry Potter!
Pope Benedict XVI took to Twitter yesterday and composed a tweet on an iPad before sending it out into cyberspace. Granted, it did take about six other similarly aged cardinals and other officials to help him out, but it is the thought that counts, right? See a video of him tweeting, as well as his full Twitter message, inside.
The Dutch political left sees the ritual slaughter of animals as cruel to animals, whilst the right sees it as foreign and barbaric. They will both pass a law next week that will make the killing of animals without stunning them first illegal. This poses a problem for orthodox Dutch Jews and Muslims who’ve been doing it differently for the last couple of millennia.
Wednesdays are perfect days for singalongs! For today, we’d like to invite you to take the time warp back to the 90’s. Check out this vintage Scientology propaganda video, and then join this group of passionate, bright-eyed scientologists in their beautiful rendition of “We Stand Tall”. Also look out for scientology leader, David Miscavige, pushing the boundaries of his vocal chords.
A new club that opened in Jakarta, Indonesia, this weekend, is encouraging women to be totally obedient to their husbands and focus on keeping them sexually satisfied. Predictably, the new branch of the 800-member strong organisation has generated a chorus of disapproval from activists and academics alike.
Billboards have emerged across Australia carrying the slogan “Jesus: a prophet of Islam”. The Islamic group behind it, MyPeace, has done this in an attempt to encourage interfaith relations between Christians and Muslims. But not everyone is impressed with this gesture, and believes it to be more provocative and offensive than helpful.
Heh. So apparently they’ve found skull of Saint Vitalis of Assisi, the patron saint of venereal diseases and, it’s going up for auction. Because what else would you do if you found it? Assisi won sainthood for performing miracles on those with bladder and genital disorders in 13th century Italy. Please buy his head.
Pope Benedict XVI has shut down a famous Monastery in Rome, run by a former nightclub dancing nun. The monastery, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, holds some of the most precious relics in the Church, but the Pope has cut the partying short.
Look, we all make mistakes. Harold Camping, founder of Family Radio International, spent millions of dollars on more than 5 000 billboards proclaiming that he world would end on 21 May 2011. It didn’t. But after consulting his Bible once again, Camping is now sure that the end of the world will take place on 21 October this year.
Why? Because Pope Benedict XVI can do what he wants, I guess. He spent about twenty minutes video chatting with the crew of the International Space Station and the U.S shuttle Endeavour, conveying well-wishes for Gabrielle Gifford’s husband, and generally just shooting the breeze.
Johannes Coetzee took up the mantle of spreading Harold Camping’s doomsday prophecy throughout the southern African region. And on Friday night, he and 50 other May 21 prophets booked in to the Devonshire Hotel in Braaimfontein ahead of their impending float up to the ether. They woke up in bed on Sunday.
One of America’s more notably known liberal arts schools, as they call them over there, has decided to add a major on secularism to their curriculum thereby making them that little bit more liberal than some of their competitors. This will be the first of its kind in America.
The US Presbyterian Church passed an historic ruling on Tuesday evening. They have decided to allow openly gay men and women in same-sex relationships to be ordained as clergy. This comes after a similar mandate that was to allow gay clergy was defeated two years ago.
Because, as it happens, the gig is planned for October 8, which also happens to be Yom Kippur – the Jewish Day of Atonement. This of course means that observant Jews will be engaged in a 25-hour period of intensive fasting at roughly the same point that Chris Martin breathlessly proclaims his love for Africa from the stage.
Al Qaeda confirmed Osama bin Laden’s death on Friday and warned of retaliation. The announcement came via a statement posted on internet website forums commonly used by the militant group and reportedly warns that Americans’ “happiness will turn to sadness.”
The controversial law banning full-face veils came into effect today in France, home to Europe’s largest Muslim population. Public wearing of niqabs or burqas is now liable for a fine of 150 euros and a citizenship course; people charged with forcing women to wear full-face veils may be subject to jail time.
The Tanzanian “miracle” pastor, Reverend Ambilikile “Babu” Mwasapile has called for a break. He has temporarily asked people to stop going to his remote home for a “miracle cure” after thousands flocked there, resulting in chaos in the surrounding area.
I can actually hear Michael Stipe singing, “that’s me in the corner…”, as I’m typing this. A study using census data from nine countries indicates that religion will all but die out altogether in those countries. Have a look at who made the shortlist inside.
Clearly not satisfied with the launch of their English magazine, Inspire, which first appeared about nine months ago, and included a feature called “How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom”, al Qaeda’s media arm has followed up with a magazine for women, titled “Al-Shamikha”. Apparently the editorial team will be mixing beauty tips with lessons in jihad. No spice.
In a press conference in Dharamsala, India, His Holiness the Dalai Lama announced that he’d be stepping down as political leader of the Tibetan government in exile, to make way for an elected representative. He will be retaining his position as Tibet’s spiritual leader.
So hey, congrats to all you non-male, non-Chinese folks who were worried about looking average! Because according to a decade’s worth of research by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing for National Geographic, a 28-year-old Han Chinese male is the mean. Numbers, explanation after the jump.
The French are preparing to sail themselves into unchartered waters when the ban on wearing the Muslim burqa and other Islamic face coverings in public places comes into effect in just over a month. Racial tensions in that country have already begun to boil with the John Galliano “I love Hitler” incident. This will be interesting.
In a dramatic turnaround, Pope Benedict XVI said sorry for all the years that the Catholic Church has been blaming the death of Jesus on the Jews.
Huh. Well, alright. UK church officials have given the holy thumbs up to ‘Confession: A Roman Catholic App,’ which walks users through sacrament, having them admit their wrongdoings – and keep track of their sins. Please keep your comments until the end of the lecture, though, because this baby costs $1.99
In November ’09, Aids activist group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) launched a campaign to remove an ad on ETV by the Christ Embassy church. In the ad the church claims they cure Aids. This week, finally, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) managed to force ETV to pull the ad. A little too late as it turns out.
We’ve already seen those Dawkins inspired bus campaigns, now get ready for a university campus campaign that offers free porn in exchange for religious materials in a controversial “Smut for Smut” campaign.
This story is sweet and horrific rolled into one. A monk dug up the remains of a nun in Athens and tried to smuggle it to Cyprus to give her a proper burial. He reckons she was a saint. The Greek Orthodox church disagrees with him on that one. They also condemn his behaviour and would like him to stop being a monk for now.