Browsing: Religion

A Brief History On January 18, 1884, Welsh physician Dr. William Price attempted to cremate the remains of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, who had died of natural causes at the age of 5 months.  A believer and proponent of the ancient Druid religion, Price believed burying dead people would somehow “pollute” the earth, and therefore dead people should be cremated.  In Britain at the time, there were strong mores against cremation and as such an angry mob developed when Price was conducting the open-air cremation on a hilltop.  The mob swarmed the doctor and prevented the cremation, starting…

A Brief History On January 7, 2015, a day celebrated by millions of Eastern Orthodox Christians (Greek Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic, etc) as Christmas Day, France was stunned by a vicious terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper offices that left 12 people dead and another 11 wounded.  The incident was a case of misguided Islamic extremism fueled by religious outrage over the politically incorrect newspaper’s penchant for poking fun at anyone and everyone, including the Prophet Muhammad.   Outrage over the terrorist attack and murders vis-à-vis the assault on free speech spurred the phrase, “Je suis Charlie,” French…

A Brief History On January 2, 533, Mercurius, son of Projectus, a Roman priest was elected Pope by the Catholic Church.  Mercurius, his name being derived from the pagan Roman messenger god, Mercury, thought his own name was inappropriate for one who would lead the Christian Church and decided to take another name instead of his own.  His chosen name under which to serve as Pope of the Catholic Church was John, and he became Pope John II.  The “John” he named himself after was not Saint John the Apostle, nor Saint John the Baptist, but instead was taken after…

A Brief History On December 13, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) heard arguments in a lawsuit by Norma McCorvey (known as “Jane Roe” for the purposes of the lawsuit) against the Dallas County (Texas) Attorney Henry Wade in the landmark American court case about the subject of a woman’s right to seek an abortion, ending an unwanted pregnancy.  The case is formally knowns as Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) and ever since the decision was handed down in January of 1973 the case has been a topic of heated debate between “Pro-Life” (aka, anti-abortion)…

A Brief History On December 11, 2017, New York City once again became the target of an Islamic radical terrorist, this time an immigrant from Bangladesh.  Luckily, the pipe bomb used in the attack did not explode properly, leaving the suspect with minor injuries (burns) and 3 innocent people with “headaches and ringing in the ears.”  It could have been so much worse!  President Trump acknowledged the incident as justification for his anti-immigration platform, saying, “There have now been two terrorist attacks in New York City in recent weeks carried out by foreign nationals here on green cards. The first…