Newton, Massachussetts is a suburb of Boston, and recently an atheist high school student protested his English class' curriculum. Jack Summers, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, is enrolled in an honors English class that includes discussion of the works of William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. It also includes reading of certain passages from the Bible, in the context of how scripture has impacted classic literature. Summers, who happens to be an atheist, refused to read the passages from the Bible because, he says, he had a moral objection to the content.

The school does not distribute Bibles in class, but instead uses handouts from textbooks which use passages from the Book of Genesis. At any rate, Summers complained, and in response, school officials dropped the requirement to read the sections in question.

Here's the problem. The school and the teacher were not handing out religious texts in order to preach, prosetylize, or convert students. Instead, they were reviewing the Bible as a work of text that has had a significant impact on many pieces of literature, from Shakespeare to Chaucer to Dickens and more. The Supreme Court ruled forty-odd years ago that schools can in fact use Biblical verses and passages as part of the curriculum, if they are doing so in a method that is academic and not religious.

So, now we've got Jack Summers saying, "Well, I don't want to read it because I don't agree with it." What happens when a fundamentalist Christian student is asked to read Bullfinch's Mythology, and objects because he or she does not believe those other gods exist? Or someone says, "I don't want to read Romeo and Juliet, because I have a moral objection to a couple of thirteen year olds falling in love and committing suicide." Fact is, if you want to be an educated and well-rounded person, sometimes you need to read things you don't necessarily agree with -- and it's important to remember that no one was trying to coerce Jack Summers into believing in the word of the Bible.

His mom suggested that the school district look into forming an elective comparative religion class, so that students could learn about religions in an academic setting. However, Jack says he wouldn't be interested in taking such a class, because he prefers to get his information on religion from "various media sources."

Jack, a bit of advice -- anyone can be an atheist. But a really smart atheist has read enough religious texts that they're capable of holding an intelligent conversation about that which they do not believe. When you get to college, it's highly unlikely that your literature professors will excuse you from reading work like Paradise Lost or Dante's Inferno just because you don't like the religious basis of the story.

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One popular myth cycle among neoPagans today is that of the Oak King and the Holly King, and it's not uncommon to see re-enactments of the battle between these two mighty beings at Wiccan ceremones marking the two solstice dates. The Holly King is the ruler of the waning year, presiding over the world from Midsummer to Yule, as the nights get longer and the days begin to shorten. Then, on the day of the winter solstice, the Oak King rises up to reclaim his throne from the Holly King, and will reign once more from Yule to Litha. If you've got a group of people getting together for a Yule rite, why not hold a mock battle as part of the festivities? The Oak King and the Holly King

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A recent report from the Associated Press indicates that the Air Force Academy believes that the religious climate has improved significantly. Five years ago, allegations surfaced that evangelical Christians harassed their classmates, and that complaints went unheeded by administration. The academy superintendent, Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, recently told reporters that the changse are due to a "topdown campaign to foster respect and a commitment to accommodate all cadets, even nonbelievers and an "Earth-centered" religious group that needed a place for a stone circle so it could worship outdoors."

One of the Academy's most vocal critics is Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), but even Weinstein seems impressed. "This is the first time we feel positive about things there," he said. Weinstein gives Gould props for the change in atmosphere.

A significant change includes the development of a Cadet Interfaith Council, which aims to identify and accomodate the religious needs of incoming cadets. The members of the council also "helps identify upcoming religious holidays so schedules can be adjusted around them, when possible."

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This is one of those cases I read about and can just imagine as a Monty Python skit. Okay, a little background. Apparently, in the town of Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania, Sharlene Andreyko was charged with stalking another woman. Andreyko's antics included writing a couple of dozen religious-themed letters to the woman and her husband, their acquaintances, church members and even the police. Not only that, she repeatedly called the victim a "Jezebel," and made allusions to a violent death for the woman.

Fast forward to Andreyko's day in court, where she dramatically stood up, pointed at the woman she's accused of harassing, and announced, "(She) is a very powerful witch, it's true. She has grown more insolent."

It would be hilarious if it wasn't for the fact that Andreyko clearly believes this, which makes her very scary indeed. She told jury members, "The reason I went this far with this is I really am a prophet. I spent a tremendous amount of time studying the Scriptures." She claimed that "the Holy Spirit advised her to "instruct" the woman's husband that his wife is a witch and that he is being deceived."

The Pottsgrove couple, who attend church regularly, said that Andreyko's activities have left them afraid to leave the house. The husband said, "It keeps going and going and going. This will never stop. She has no fear of authority. She will not stop." Andreyko says that God has told her there are two dozen witches at the church.

What's really frightening is that Andreyko truly believes she's on a mission from God. It's a shame that an innocent couple has become the victim of someone like this, who's obviously not playing with a full deck.

Update: I just read that Andreyko was found guilty of stalking. It only took the jury ten minutes to reach a verdict, so evidently they weren't really convinced about her doing the Lord's work. Judge Steven T. O'Neill revoked Andreyko's bail in light of threats she had made towards the couple, and has sent her for mental health evaluation.

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About a year ago, singer Natalie Maines was sued by Terry Hobbs, who was the stepfather of murder victim Stevie Branch. In December 2007, Maines joined the list of celebrities who publicly supported the West Memphis Three. Hobbs' suit claimed that statements Maines made about Hobbs on her blog led to "loss of income, injury to his reputation and emotional distress."

Now, however, a judge has thrown out Hobbs' claims, saying that the suit could not proceed because Hobbs was unable to prove that Maines knew her statements were false. U.S. District Judge Brian Miller used what's called the "actual malice standard" as the basis of his ruling, and said that to proceed, Hobbs would have to show that prove Maines and other members of the Dixie Chicks "made the statements with actual malice, that is, with knowledge the statements were false or with reckless disregard for the statements' truth."

It's also important to note that Maines' statements were based upon one side of the arguement against Hobbs. However, Miller said that just because Maines didn't "verify the truth of the allegations... did not establish that she knew they were false or that she was reckless concerning their truth."

In early 2007, new DNA evidence indicated that a hair found in the shoelaces used to tie the three murdered boys belonged to Hobbs. At that time, his ex-wife Pam Hobbs, said she thought it was "possible" that Terry Hobbs could have committed the crimes, but also admitted it was hard for to be objective because she was going on her "thoughts and feelings." Pam Hobbs did say that she no longer believes Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelly killed her son.

For more information, you can read about the case at the Citizen's Media Law Project: Hobbs v. Pasdar.

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No one partied quite like the ancient Romans, so it should come as no surprise that they had a huge way of celebrating around the Winter Solstice. The week-long festival of Saturnalia was known as a time of feasting, merrymaking, and general debauchery. Masters and slaves swapped places, the wine flowed freely, and sacrifices were made in honor of Saturn, the agricultural god, to ensure the fertility of crops and livestock in the coming year. There were also gift exchanges, ornaments on trees, and naked caroling (how's that for a way of startling your neighbors?).

Read all about the fun the Romans had during the week of December 17 - 23: Io, Saturnalia!

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In our family, one of our annual traditions is to make a Yule log. I leave the kids in charge of putting it together, and it's typically full of ribbons, pine cones, and berries by the time they're done. We each stick a note in it, containing our wishes for the coming year, and then we burn it with much fanfare and celebration.

The custom of the Yule log that goes back to Scandinavian societies, where a giant log was hoisted onto the hearth to celebrate the return of the sun each year. The Norsemen believed that the sun was a giant wheel of fire which rolled away from the earth, and then began rolling back again on the winter solstice. If you'd like to make a Yule log of your own, it's not hard to do: Make a Yule Log

Want to hold a formal ceremony with your Yule log once it's done? Try out our Family Yule Log Ritual this winter.

And of course, no winter celebration is complete without food -- especially chocolate. The idea of a chocolate Yule log is a popular one, and they're really not that hard to make (particularly if you cheat a little and use a boxed cake mix). I try to do one of these each year for our coven's Yule celebration: Make a Chocolate Yule Log

A quick note for those of you with a gluten sensitivity like me: Betty Crocker has a gluten-free Devil's Food Cake mix that works nicely with this recipe. It's very moist and easy to roll into a log, just like regular cake mix. If you find it's a little dry, just add another teaspoon of oil and you're good to go.

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Okay, so back in August we talked about a church group in Florida that was sending kids to school wearing shirts that read "Islam is of the Devil." The school sent the kids home and told them not to wear the shirts because -- no shocker here -- the shirts are disruptive. At the time, school district staff attorney Tom Wittmer said "the school district allows students to express their religious beliefs but also must protect other students, such as members of the Muslim faith, from discrimination based on their religious beliefs."

Now, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of two sets of parents whose children wanted to wear the shirts. The ACLU says that although it doesn't agree with the anti-Islamic message, they do support the rights of the students to free speech.

As we talked about last summer, though, a school doesn't necessarily have to give everyone free speech privileges, especially if the message is one of hatred and intolerance. The federal Supreme Court has ruled that students do not in fact have a right to "absolute free speech" while on school grounds.

Personally, I think if they let kids wear the shirts, that just makes it much easier to identify the students that are bigots.

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Those poor atheists. I swear, if we have it rough as Pagans and Wiccans, the atheists have it far worse when it comes to being attacked by the religious right. Asheville is a lovely town in the mountains of North Carolina, and they recently elected 59-year-old Cecil Bothwell as a city councilman. His platform this fall included being pro-environment and anti-death penality, and the voters decided he was the man for the job. He happens to be an atheist.

Now, conservative activists are saying it's illegal for Bothwell to even be in office. Why? Because of an obscure little piece of legislation in the state Constitution that disqualifies officeholders "who shall deny the being of Almighty God." Bothwell says as far as he's concerned, he has no interest in whether deities exist, and doesn't think it should have any bearing on holding political office.

A lawsuit has been threatened by a guy named H.K. Edgerton, who says his Baptist upbringing leads him to "have problems with people who don't believe in God." Here's the problem -- well, one of them, anyway. A state Constitution always gets trumped by the Constitution of the United States. And Article VI of the federal constitution says that no religious test can be required for anyone to hold office. Wonder if Edgerton's lawyers will tell him that, or if they'll just go ahead and waste taxpayer money on a frivolous lawsuit?

Bothwell himself is being a pretty good sport about this, and says a legal challenge to his appointment on city council would be "fun," but he also believes the issue has more to do with politics than religion. He says, "It's local political opponents seeking to change the outcome of an election they lost."

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It's small, it's cute, and if you're really lucky, you might get a lip lock from someone special when you stand underneath it. Any plant that gets me a kiss is okay in my book -- but there's a lot more to mistletoe than this. Over the centuries, it's been known as a cure for tumors and boils (decidedly unromantic), a call to lay down one's arms, and the center of ancient agricultural rituals. No matter how you look at it, there's far more to this botanical parasite than meets the eye: Mistletoe: Myths, Mysteries and Medicine

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