Do All Dogs Go to Heaven? How Losing a Pet Challenged My Views on the Afterlife

I love dogs. I love all animals, really, but dogs hold a special place in my heart. Anyone who grew up with a pet can easily understand why animals can hold such an important and profound place in our lives.

Pets do a tremendous service to mankind that comes in all forms. We often hear heartwarming stories of service dogs giving people with disabilities a sense of independence. Military veterans who suffer from severe PTSD are given a chance to heal through service animals. Stories about cats and dogs helping children with mental disabilities circulate through social media on a regular basis. Beyond that, every pet owner has a story about some act of joy his or her pet brought into his or her life. Many of us cannot think of our pets without smiling or remembering something they did recently. 

I often read these stories, cry for an hour, and have to tell people at work that my eyes are red from allergies and not from reading sweet animal stories when I should be answering client emails. Reading about the tremendous love our pets have for us and seeing it with my own pets proves just how much God loves us.

The Corruption of the Privacy of Marriage

A guest post by Daniel Michel

It's a good time for churches in USA to separate civil ceremonies and church ceremonies to clearly show the difference.

— Fr. Jonathan Morris (@fatherjonathan) June 27, 2015

Within just a few days of the Supreme Court's decision on same-sex civil marriage, those on the victorious side of the case began calling for new discriminatory laws and policies to be put into place. One columnist suggested scrapping the longtime tradition of tax-exempt status from religious institutions — and even polygamists feel emboldened by the decision. Other radical ideas are sure to come about.

It already looks bleak for many of us who support traditional marriage: the true definition, nature, and substance of what marriage, in fact, is. This issue over marriage and same-sex unions has obviously become divisive, and outside of the legal realm, there appears no end in sight to this debate. This is why it may be time to take a new, or rather old, way of dealing with this issue: privatizing it altogether.

Not O.K., Takei: On Defining Dignity

By now, any of you with an Internet connection and even a mild interest in pop culture has heard about George Takei's unfortunate remarks about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. In short, Takei, who is in a civil marriage with another man, took issue with Thomas' dissent in the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which found that there is a Constitutional right to civil marriage for same-sex couples. Much of the media focus has been on Takei's racially-charged remarks and not on the merits of his criticism of Thomas. Takei finally apologised for being "uncivil" in his remarks towards the Justice (after explaining that there is totally nothing racist about saying that a black person is a fake black person, because famous actor, or something), but he stands by his critique. The problem is, his critique is as baseless as his racist remarks are offensive.

Don't worry, George. This won't hurt. Much.