Religion is an ancient subject and it gets older all the time. Very old.
Sample just one nutball, a so-called pastor, by name of Terry Jones -- yes, the same one who burned Korans last year, instigating days of intensive rioting in Afghanistan. This year, he's out to best his record, and has succeeded: He backed a film providing insults aplenty for Muslims, who say it defames Islam and its holiest figure, Mohammad.
Once again, rioting and death follow this pastor's so-called good works.
In another sampling, this time a cluster of nuts: Westboro Baptist Church, a de facto and tracked hate group of one pastor and about 40 members who routinely hijack media time by acting on their religion of public display of sick hatefulness. You know them from protests at military funerals, threatened pickets at memorial vigils for Aurora shooting victims, and so on.
It took an act of Congress -- as both the expression and the laws themselves go -- to keep their brand of religious sickness back from military funerals, after the bizarrely pious SCOTUS bench gave them an earlier pass and thumbs-up.
The Westboro asylum was also responsible for a tweet that went out minutes after people had been shot at a Sikh temple, "God Sent Another Shooter." (It should be noted in passing that a number of religious insanities were on display there: The shooter likely confused the Sikhs as Muslims, his intended targets.)
From small groups to large, the sickness spreads -- Trinity Broadcasting Network leaps to mind, as they waddle, wade, and wobble through their mega-blowout scandals. There are scads of dishonored and disgraced faux holy rollers, caught with hookers of either sex, lured into luxurious lifestyles by their desires, clutching riches beyond measure -- and sins far, far worse. So many fallen: Calling Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Paul Crouch, Ted Haggard...
Then, tears of contrition flow like mighty rivers, forgiveness is unsheathed, a great welcoming back into the pack of pack rats becomes fact -- then the show starts all over again.
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