Is The First Amendment for Monotheists Only?

A case coming before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals could end up having major legal ramifications for all religious minorities in the United States. Wiccan chaplain Patrick McCollum has been fighting for years to overturn the State of California’s “five faiths policy”, which limits the hiring of paid chaplains to Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Native American adherents. While McCollum has suffered setbacks in his quest, with a California federal district court ruling in early 2009 that he had no standing to bring his suit, he recently gained support on appeal from several civil and religious rights groups who argue that his case should be heard.

Filed under: Blogging, Causes, Civil Rights, Faith, Pagan, Persecution, Religion

When I picked up my youngest daughter from daycare yesterday, I caught a whiff of cigarette smoke in the front room. Thinking maybe my daycare provider had just been standing too close to the open door when she had her smoke break, I didn’t worry too much about it until I bent down to help my daughter with the zipper on her winter jacket, which had gotten stuck. I almost reeled back at the stink that hit me from her jacket, and even worse, from her hair. More cigarette smoke. What the hell? Since I had errands to run and an evening class to get to, I decided to wait until today to talk to my daycare provider about it and find out what was going on.

Filed under: Babies, Daycare, Parenting, Smoking

We all have wishes, dreams, and goals, some easier to attain than others. A common American tradition around this time of year is to create a New Year Resolution, another type of wish or goal to focus on for the coming year.

Filed under: Faith, Pagan, Parenting