194 - The Tide Turns in Virginia

Published: Oct. 20, 2018, 4 a.m.

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Original release January 28,, 2014.

Encore release October 20, 2018.

Encore release July 13, 2017.

[Illustration from\\xa0http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/virginia-gay-rights-terry-mcauliffe-ew-jackson-91763.html]

President Obama mentions "atheists and agnostics" in his annual Religious Freedom Day proclamation and there\'s hardly a peep from the conservative blogosphere. In year\'s past Obama has made occasional mention of "non-believers" so I guess an explicit mention is a step up. On the down side, the President is still schedule to attend the National Prayer Breakfast, sponsored by the secretive conservative religious organization The Family.

On the gay rights front: Amazing what a few weeks can do. On New Year\'s Eve Virginia had a Republican Governor, Lt Governor and Attorney General. Now they\'ve been replaced by Democrats. Virginia\'s newly-elected AG Mark Herring has said he won\'t defend the commonwealth\'s constitutional ban on same-sex marriages.

Meanwhile, in Maryland, a mother is in jail, accused of murdering two of her children as part of an alleged\\xa0exorcism. Tragic things can happen when mental illness and religion collide.

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