Do corporations get religious freedom?

Still less trouble than the gun lobby

Still less trouble than the gun lobby

The Supreme Court is now hearing arguments that corporations can opt out of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement to cover employee contraception on the basis of their sincerely held religious beliefs. In addition to a Mennonite cabinet maker, the Hobby Lobby chain has brought suit against the government, arguing that the morning-after pill and IUDs constitute abortion in their understanding of Christianity. Federal law already prohibits anyone from making employers to pay for abortions. An appeals court already ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, citing Citizens United v. FEC in its determination that corporations enjoy freedom of religion in the same way they get freedom of speech.

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In “pink mass,” Satanic Temple turns Westboro Baptist founder’s mother gay

Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps with what I presume is a poster for a hardcore band

Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps with what I presume is a poster for a hardcore band

First of all, constantly yelling about how other people are going to hell does not give you an evil face at all. Second, the face of evil broke into a wry grin this weekend, when The Satanic Temple performed a “pink mass” over the grave of Catherine L. Johnston, intended to turn the spirit of the Westboro Baptist Church founder’s deceased mother gay. Obviously, Phelps’s mom is in heaven, because she did such a great job with Fred. Also, according to Temple spokesman Lucien Greaves (real name: Todd Feldman,) a Pink Mass properly performed at a gravesite “changes the sexual orientation of that person in the afterlife.” So now a gay person is in heaven, which is a real coup for Satan. Or it’s satire from a source you’d least expect. Probably the second one.

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Figurative expression watch: Pope says arrested monsignor “resembles the Blessed Imelda”

Everyone looks more devout as a statue.

Everyone looks more devout as a statue.

Like a lot of people, I dig the new Pope. I do not like Popes generally, and most of what appeals to me about Francis are his deviations from papal norms—his asceticism, his emphasis on helping the poor, and his tendency to do things like telling a bunch of Italian reporters that he will not judge priests for being gay. Good work, Pope. If you read to the end of that article, though, you will also find this:

Francis also commented on the case of Msgr. Nunzio Scarano, who was suspended as an accountant in the Vatican after being arrested in June for his alleged involvement in a plot to bring 20 million euros from Switzerland into Italy with the help of a former secret service agent and a financial broker, both of whom were also arrested. Francis said, jokingly, that the monsignor had not been jailed “because he resembles the Blessed Imelda,” using an expression that means “he’s no saint,” The National Catholic Reporter reported.

So that’s something you can say when you want to baffle people.

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AFA says anti-bullying day is part of “gay agenda”

A probable gaywad uses Tae Kwon Do to defend himself against bullying.

Hello from Portland, where Combat! blog fulfills the venerable office of Date to the Wildlife Conference. Portland is great, although as a consequence of certain astronomical irregularities it is not technically on the part of the Earth illuminated by the sun. You can get Thai food here, however, and that has made all the difference. Also, everyone is gay. Many of them are in heterosexual relationships, but you can pretty much tell by their dress and mustaches that they are part of the gay agenda. That thing is everywhere, as the American Family Association reminds us with their warning against Mix It Up For Lunch Day, a national plan to get kids to sit with different kids during school lunch.

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So, what’s in the Pakistani news?

Yesterday’s All Parties Conference in Islamabad (not pictured: various parties)

Because I am a curious fellow in dire need of supervision, I spent several hours yesterday reading the Express Tribune of Pakistan. Granted, now seems like an especially interesting time in Pakistani news, but man—that place is a den of insanity. The photo above comes from this story about a meeting of the All Parties Conference, which threatened to block NATO supply routes to Afghanistan if the United Nations does not pass an anti-blasphemy law. They also threatened to leave the UN and form a separate, Muslim United Nations, which would pretty much be the best thing ever to happen to American talk radio. It gets better after the jump.

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