For the better part of three decades, the religious right has insisted that all it wants is a place at the table for social conservatives and others with “traditional values.” But when they think they’re just speaking to their own, they quickly show what they really want–a Christianized version of Iran. One of those moments […]
Early on Wednesday morning, Puerto Rico was hit with the full fury of Hurricane Maria. The storm blasted Puerto Rico with winds of up to 155 mph–easily the most powerful storm that the island had seen in 85 years. Many areas were expected to get as much as 35 inches of rain, with flooding reported […]
A Christian Right activist, E.W. Jackson, said that homosexuality is unnatural because children find it “icky.” He was interviewing WorldNetDaily’s David Kupelian and both men agreed on the subject. Kupelian said: “We now have 4-year-old kids in preschool where we have lesbian and transgender teachers. They go in and they show two women kissing, two men […]
Unfortunately, many minority groups in this country experience persecution on a daily basis. Also, one majority group thinks they are being persecuted constantly when they aren’t. That would be right-wing Evangelical Christians. A recent Pew survey found that Evangelicals actually think they are persecuted more than Black people, Jewish people, Atheists, and other minority groups. […]
Hello, dear readers, your friendly liberal lawyer is back with another guide to the oft-misunderstood first amendment. This week we’ll look at religious free speech, specifically, what clergy can and cannot say and what lines they must not cross. 1. The Basics As you may remember from my first freedom of speech piece, the first […]
Remember when President Trump was campaigning and he said Christians would be able to say “Merry Christmas” again? Well, televangelist Jim Bakker is one of those gullible Christians who probably thought he couldn’t’. He falsely made the claim on his show yesterday that he could be murdered for wearing a hat with a cross on […]
It’s no secret that the religious right has bowed down to Donald Trump. It’s also no secret that the nation’s so-called moral guardians have convinced many of their followers to join them in doing so, often by bullying them. After all, well over 70 percent of white evangelicals approve of Trump’s performance–more than double what […]
Almost from the time Donald Trump’s upset victory in the presidential election was beyond doubt, the religious right has been warning us against opposing him. Their explanation? Any opposition to Trump is being driven by witchcraft, demons, and the devil himself. For that reason, if we oppose Trump, we oppose God’s plan for America–and we’re […]
If there was any remaining question about how totally ignorant President Trump is when it comes to matters of American government and the Constitution, one tweet from him on Friday evening reaffirmed our worst fears about this utterly incompetent man: Churches in Texas should be entitled to reimbursement from FEMA Relief Funds for helping victims […]
Last week, Joel Osteen, the nation’s most infamous spokesman for the prosperity gospel, treated the nation to a crash course in how a pastor should not respond to a major tragedy. Osteen, for those who don’t know, pastors Lakewood Church, which meets in a downtown Houston sanctuary that was once the Summit, home of the Houston […]
As of Labor Day weekend, Donald Trump’s average approval rating, as calculated by FiveThirtyEight, stands at 37.5 percent. At risk of sounding like a broken record, this is the lowest approval rating on record for a newly-elected president at this stage in his presidency. But, again at risk of sounding like a broken record, the biggest […]
Right-wing zealots in Nashville recently got together and crafted a statement saying that they don’t want same-sex couples to marry. Shocking! Groundbreaking! This statement thing isn’t new. There was the Manhattan Declaration back in 2010 that said something similar. Now, we have the Nashville statement, which has nothing to do with the city of Nashville except […]
Another Trump promise unmet! Surprise, surprise! Earlier this year, President Donald Trump promised to repeal the Johnson Amendment, which keeps churches from endorsing political candidates. What Is The Johnson Amendment? The Johnson Amendment is a piece of the tax code which keeps churches and other tax-exempt organizations from endorsing political candidates. It doesn’t prevent churches […]
Pat Roberston is one of the most well-know televangelists in the country. His daily show, the 700 Club, has been on the air since 1966. Robertson himself is worth at least $100 million. He even ran for the GOP nomination in 1988 and was soundly defeated. So what motivates Pat Robertson? Is it a genuine […]
For some time, the religious right has been mounting a ham-handed bullying campaign to warn white evangelicals against joining the resistance to Donald Trump. Their explanation? Those who oppose Trump are supposedly being driven by witchcraft, demons, and the devil himself to oppose God’s plan for America. Therefore, opposing Trump not only risks your salvation, […]
Our scripture this morning for church was from Genesis 45, where we read about Joseph’s reaction toward his brothers when they approached him in Egypt to ask for food. It is important to remember that these are the very brothers who earlier had sold Joseph into slavery. My sermon can be heard in it’s entirety by clicking […]
Governor Matt Bevin (R-Ky.) told a conservative radio host that he believes the reason why Saturday’s protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent is because the Bible isn’t taught in public schools. Yes, he really did say that. Thump The Bible, Prevent Violence? He was talking to West Virginia radio host Tom Roten, who asked him about […]
Lately, whenever we see tragedy in this country, it’s only a matter of time before one or more religious right personalities stick their feet in their mouths and jam them in deep. Last weekend’s carnage in Charlottesville, Virginia was no exception. Some, like Dave Daubenmire, suggested that the racist thugs who descended on Charlottesville are the real […]
It’s a question we may never find an answer to: Why do people of faith, including ministers, support a man as completely immoral and thoroughly vile as President Trump? Even though business leaders and members of the arts community–along with many Congressional Republicans–have distanced themselves from Trump after his post-Charlottesville press conference, many evangelical Christians […]
Professor George Hawley of the University of Alabama has a new book coming out next month called Making Sense of the Alt-Right. He was invited on NPR this week to talk about the events in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend. He gave a surprising answer when asked who makes up the alt-right. He said: “I would say […]
