Christianity as a personality cult

Christianity is, at root, a personality cult. Its central message is the story of a person, Jesus, whom Christians believe is also the Christ (from a Greek word meaning ‘Anointed One’): an aspect of the God who was, is and ever shall be, yet who is at the same time a human being, set in historic time. Christians believe that they can still meet this human being in a fashion comparable to the experience of the disciples who walked with him in Galilee and saw him die on the Cross. They are convinced that this meeting transforms lives, as has been evident in the experience of other Christians across the centuries. 

from A history of Christianity: The first three thousand years (Penguin Books Limited: 2009), by Diarmaid MacCulloch

religious freedom in Moldova: very good for the Orthodox Christians, worse for Pentecostals and Catholics and very bad for Jehovah Witnesses and Muslims...

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the State Department has released its annual International Religious Freedom Report for the year 2011. 

In the case of Moldova the report confirms two trends:

- a significant bias of the Moldovan state in favor of the Eastern-Orthodox Christians. 

- although the Government has taken steps to improve the situation of non-Orthodox religious groups, being a Jehovah Witness, Muslim, Pentecostal or Catholic in Moldova still means that you are more likely to be abused verbally or physically, your right to build a church/kingdom hall/mosque to be denied and your property confiscated by the Soviet state not to be returned. 

Racism is bad but sexism is ok

The Guardian tells the story of the judicial process that opposes the Chelsea captain John Terry and the QPR's defender Anton Ferdinand over a supposedly racist incident that took place during the match between the two teams on 23 October 2011.

Back then, Terry has shouted to Ferdinand: fuck off, fuck off…fucking black cunt, fucking knobhead.

A first moment of stupidity: Terry admitted he was using racist insults but he said he only did so “sarcastically”. As if sarcasm justifies the act of insulting.

A second moment of stupidity: the very target of racist insults, Anton Ferdinand said that being called “a cunt” was fine, “but when someone brings your colour into it, it takes it to another level and it’s very hurtful”. As if using pejoratively the name of female body parts is acceptable while mentioning skin color is not.

No, our dear Anton, racial insults are not more serious or more grave than sexist abuses. Nor does racism justify sexism. Both stay at the same level of unacceptability.

I hope your wife/girlfriend will sue you.