A young man in Saudi Arabia is less than a month away from being beheaded for his part in a school yard brawl that ended with the death of an 18 year old student. Mohammed Kohail, who is a Canadian citizen, is only a few days from the chopping block, and Canada is seriously dragging its feet, and has refused to demand clemency, or take any diplomatic action. This is all part of the Conservative Administrati ...

If I told you large groups of fundamentalists were threatening to commit acts of terror over the release of a simple movie criticizing Islam and the Qur'an, I'm sure none of you would be surprised. We take this kind of ridiculousness for granted now. You can't release a cartoon, a book, or a documentary without fear of reprisal, and now, rather than only make threats at the authors of such works (which was ...

I can only shake my head at how messed up this is. ...

I've written a few articles on many of the strange superstitions that run rampant in India. Luckily, this one is a much less harmful (especially compared to witch burnings), although still just as damn weird. It seems a baby was born near New Delhi that has two faces, and now the locals believe she is the reincarnation of a god. Since I don't like being a depressing atheist killjoy all the time, I'll tell y ...

Ok, well, maybe baby Jesus doesn't cry, but that hasn't stopped the Vatican from including failure to recycle as one of the new deadly sins. In case you were unaware of what a deadly sin is, it's a ticket straight to hell for eternity (remember the sins of envy, gluttony, and greed? They're still there, but there have been some additions) . So, if you threw out your soda can in the garbage rather than the r ...

I received this letter from a fan, and I thought I might share it with all of you. Dear Jacob, My wife recently stumbled along you podcast on iTunes. I started to listen to your show and I wanted to tell you first off that I have become a huge fan. I started to listen to your archived podcasts and I got to the one where you talk about religion in the Deep South. I am from Charleston, SC. I live here with th ...

Catholics have always had a strange obsession with their beloved saints. In my own city, the mummified heart of St. Joseph hangs quietly in a corner. It's usually ignored by tourists who consider it far too macabre to be photographed. This recent stunt in Italy, however, breaks the standard conventions of good taste as the decayed body of St. Padre Pio of Pietreclina is being exhumed and displayed to the ge ...

Canada is a liberal country for the most part. It's values are best described as 'socialist' in many respects, although there is always great emphasis on the rights and freedoms of the individual. Canada also makes significant contributions to the arts, giving tax credits for artistic endeavors so they may remain independant of major film studios (what I can only describe as the 'Hollywood' treatment). Howe ...

If you're an old hand at the site, you'll notice things are a little different. The design of the site has been tweaked a little, but beyond just this cosmetic alteration comes my fervent desire to get back to the business of writing. Too long have I neglected the site, happy to coast by on my popular podcast. No more! From now on, I will use this site as an opportunity to flex my creative muscles a bit, an ...

Westboro Baptist Church has a long reputation of being one of the most hateful and fanatical cults in recent memory, so much so that I would be hard pressed to find anyone who claims they are actually doing God's work. If you want a good example of how religion can be used to promote hate, look no further. ...