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24XO7 = 1 800-299-7264 Austrian Airlines Phone Number F0r Flight Reservations

An Open Letter to CEO Jeff Smisek On United Airlines’ Blasphemous Safety Video

…ual recompense. In the video message that was played before my last United Airlines flight, you expressed your desire to greet each and every passenger; you invited us to sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight. If I could greet you now, I would want to know: were you unaware of the monstrosity that was about to follow? There, rising above the hiss of the pressurized air, as the video monitors snapped to the image of an engorged sun bursting from be…

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Austrian Court Okays Head-Colander in Driver’s License: Is Pastafarianism Becoming a Religion?

…unreasonable. In America, people have been pushing this envelope since the 1960s, but for the opposite reason: to gain religious exceptions. In 1966, Arthur Kelps created the “Neo-American Church,” which claimed LSD as a sacrament. Demonstrating the sort of silliness that defines Pastafarianism, the Neo-American Church hymnal included “Puff the Magic Dragon” and their motto was “Victory Over Horseshit.” While their bid to legally use LSD was stru…

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Mile-High Identity Politics: What We Can Learn From the Same-Sex Seating Controversy

…omen have long been marginalized by men. A man asking a woman to move on a flight may reasonably be interpreted as another chapter in a seemingly never-ending story. I am sympathetic to such a view. But haven’t Orthodox Jews experienced a long history of oppression? As far as who feels marginalized in the specific context of a typical commercial flight, consider that separation of sexes is far more common in traditional religious environments. Doe…

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Our Failure To Understand Ferguson: A Cognitive Explanation

phone, he underscored the long-term effects of this last policy. During the 1940s and 1950s, suburban subdivisions were built in St. Louis, and throughout the country, using federal loans stipulating that no homes be sold to African Americans. Priced at about $125,000 in today’s dollars, these were affordable—with a mortgage—to working class families, black or white. Yet black families were prohibited from purchasing them. “Today those homes sell…

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The Key to Understanding the Federalist Society Isn’t Originalism — It’s This 800-Year Old Tradition

…cognate, “textualism”) peppers the Federalist Society website, with nearly 1,000 references associated with Federalist Society events, videos, and publications. What one might be more surprised to discover, however, is that a search for “natural law” and related substantive matters such as “religious freedom” outpaces “originalism” with more than 1,000 mentions. Recent law school lectures sponsored by the Federalist Society include University of…

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Hajj Journal: The Journey Begins and Ends

…ly swarm to three million persons! But others travel to Jeddah too on this flight, including Muslims and non-Muslims. Jeddah is a port city; and as the major airport hub for Saudi Arabia, this flight has all types. Now, I’ve been on many planes, but this is the first time I’ve been on a plane where 50% of the seats are business- and first-class. Sorta gives you an idea who comes to the Kingdom, among Muslims and non-Muslims alike: big business. Ok…

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6 Reservations About U.S. Intervention in Libya

…. Here are six reasons why I don’t feel right about Operation Odyssey Dawn: 1) Just because Obama is a Democrat doesn’t mean the Constitution allows him to go to war without consulting Congress—there’s simply no excuse for violating the democratic principle of checks and balances. If another President down the road starts a war without asking us, and then tries to explain him or herself a week later, is that supposed to make it okay? Let’s say it’…

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Spiritual Unplugging, Or What to Do When There is Wifi at the Ashram

…self-interrogation boiled, my hand extended to the right. I reached for my phone, but I found nothing. At first I laughed at my instinct, my muscle memory. The phone, with its glowing screen, gave me solace and control. But I was tied to my cushion for another hour, and in this ashram for another day, so email would have to wait. I panicked. My heart raced. Would my editor be asking for me? Would a reply from that politician’s secretary sit unansw…

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AFA: Native Americans Lost their Land for Not Being Christians

…ht of conquest.” Fischer went on to blame poverty and alcoholism on Indian reservations on Native Americans themselves, because they “continue to cling to the darkness of indigenous superstition” and refuse to come into “the light of Christianity” and assimilate “into Christian culture.” How Christianity would have helped Native Americans adapt to confinement on reservations is anybody’s guess. Fischer was apparently propelled into his diatribe by…

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Should Christians Confess to Plants? A Cranky Meditation

…t to participate. If liturgy asks people to pray or sing things that raise reservations, they find themselves in a quandary. It feels wrong to participate, and it feels equally problematic to refrain. Although I very much appreciate innovative worship, I have experienced this situation too many times. To be sure, I feel uncomfortable with worship every week. I’m asked to affirm things I desire to believe when the truth is that I carry doubts and r…

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