Was there a full moon? I haven't been outside much this week...but it seems that reason has been in somewhat short supply lately. For instance, the revelation that employers aren't sure what to do about employees who ask for non-Christian holiday time, and reporters bemoan the 'fad' of ayahuasca ceremonies. But these are monor blips of silliness compared to some of this week's items:

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Officials in India want to build a canal bridging India and Sri Lanka; opposition comes from Hindu fundamentalists who don't want to see a natural formation- which they believe was built by the god Ram- destroyed by the project. A report by the government disputing the veracity of the moneky-built bridge story has predictable results.

A father in Mumbai is in prison after sacrificing his own adult daughter, because he hoped to exchange her for a son.

What's the logical thing to do when your 747 develops persistent mechanical problems? I'm pretty sure sacrificing goats to the sky god isn't in the top ten priority list for most airlines. Except this one.

Nobody's quite sure why a grave-robbing farmer swiped the heart and liver from an infant's grave, but it's just one of a series of bizarre events in Tanzania.

Bad News and Worse News

Is censorship a cure for prison violence? Probably not, but prison officials have decided that an approved-reading list means they won't have to pre-read any religious books to check for terrorist sympathies. As a result, prison libraries are subject to a pre-approved list of just 150 religious titles for each faith group. On the upside, that's a bigger list than most public libraries have. On the down side, it's still a pretty totalitarian move. Thankfully, it's as unconstitutional as it gets and probably won't survive a challenge.

I caught this next one on CNN, repeated by an incredulous reporter who seemingly couldn't believe what he was reading. Having worked in the public school system, I have no trouble believing that more than half of all Americans are so behind in civics that they believe the framers wrote Christianity into the Constitution. Hopefully Madison has enough room in his tomb to spin! (It gets worse, even: the same number think the bible makes a perfectly acceptable history book.)

A New Yorker is in prison after brutally murdering his mother-in-law, because he believed she was trying to hex him with "voodoo powder."

Kerfuffles

A Pennsylvania judge rules marriages made by ULC ministers null; a lot of east coast pagans may be in for an unpleasant surprise.

A Texas county comissioner is accused of performing black magic against political rivals after the names of said rivals turn up paired with black candles in photos of her office.

A very silly fight got even sillier. A group of UK witches successfully blocked a developer from using the name "Highcross Quarter" ofr a strip mall; now the developer is suing the witches to get the web domain of the same name. I hope they both lose.