The biggest IRS scandal is the one virtually no one is talking about: How churches that pay no taxes in return for not endorsing political candidates are breaking those rules openly and receiving no punishment at all. (Some pastors even sent the IRS videos of their sermons.) It happens on “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” — and today, more than 1,000 pastors are expected to participate. Since there’s no presidential candidate to endorse, they’re speaking about why the congregation should oppose marriage equality: [Click headline for more…] Read more
In Virginia, Al Bedrosian is the Republican candidate in the race to win one of the five seats on the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors. There’s no Democrat in the race; he’s running against independent Gary Jarrell. None of this would be particularly newsworthy outside of Roanoke if it weren’t for this opinion piece Bedrosian wrote for the Roanoke Times nears six years ago, in which he talks about how this country is not only a Christian nation, but one where non-Christians should not be allowed to worship at all: [Click headline for more…] Read more
National Doughnut Day was Friday, but it’s never too late to use them to compare non-religious philosophies: [Click headline for more…] Read more
This is news to me: The Oklahoman has a daily prayer on its front page (I boxed it in red near the bottom left): [Click headline for more…] Read more
You’ve seen this happen before: A pastor sits for an interview. He’s asked what he thinks about homosexuality. Not wanting to be lumped in with known bigots — the Falwells, Warrens, Driscolls, and the like — he says it’s not his position to judge. It may be a sin, but so are a lot of things. But should gay marriage be legalized? Are civil unions acceptable? Do people choose to be gay? Can gay people be leaders in the church? Are gays and lesbians going to hell (assuming they act on their sexuality like everybody else)? Dodge. Pivot. Change the subject. Christian blogger Tony Jones had a conversation with a pastor recently and the topic came up. When Tony asked him some of those questions, the pastor was upset that he was being put in that awkward position — he said it wasn’t “his issue” so why bother asking him? Tony’s response is exactly the right one (emphasis his): [Click headline for more…] Read more
Oregon law currently states that parents can refuse to have their children vaccinated for religious reasons (“Jesus hated vaccines!”) or medical reasons (“Dr. Jenny McCarthy said I shouldn’t get them!”). Senate Democrats in the state can’t force everyone to get vaccinated against their will, so they’re at least trying to make it more difficult for parents to opt out of vaccinating their kids: [Click headline for more…] Read more
A few days ago, I posted about Roy Costner, a Christian valedictorian who used his time addressing the audience at his graduation to say the Lord’s Prayer: As far as the law goes, Costner’s actions were probably legal. He turned in a copy of his speech to the administrators. The administrators approved it. And when Costner went up on stage, he ripped up the prepared speech and did his own thing. You can’t blame the school for that. My concern was that Christians may have found a loophole allowing them to pray at graduation. Sure, it would require them to lie to administrators first, but Christians have never really had a problem with lying for the Lord. It’s not surprising that another student would take a similar approach and use the time onstage to talk about God, but one school district in Texas has found a brilliant way to respond. [Click headline for more…] Read more
It’s early in the morning and you’re not pissed off yet, so let’s fix that. Check out this panel discussion on the evils of homosexuality in response to Minnesota’s recent legalizing of same-sex marriage: The panel, which took place last Sunday at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, features Pastor Jason Meyer, John Helmberger (of the Minnesota Family Council), and Joe Rigney (professor at Bethlehem College and Seminary). It’s moderated by Minister Sam Crabtree. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Sylvia Broeckx is a filmmaker working on a documentary called “Hug An Atheist” about what atheists have to deal with in America and how we’re not as horrible as pastors make us out to be. Since it’s Hug An Atheist Day, it seemed like an appropriate time to release a teaser for the film (See if you can spot me in it): The film is scheduled for completion by September and will hopefully premiere at the Atheist Film Festival in San Francisco. Read more
Attendance is declining at the Creation Museum, they’re having trouble raising the funds to build Ark Encounter (the Noah’s Ark Theme Park), and to top it off, they’re getting hammered on their science from actual museums in the area. And now, they’re installing zip lines, too: [Click headline for more…] Read more
