Religious Freedom is anything but.

Christianist Sharia Law has come to America

Alabama Senate OK's church police bill

The Alabama Senate has voted to allow a church to form its own police force.

Lawmakers on Tuesday voted 24-4 to allow Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham to establish a law enforcement department.

The church says it needs its own police officers to keep its school as well as its more than 4,000 person congregation safe.

Critics of the bill argue that a police department that reports to church officials could be used to cover up crimes.

The state has given a few private universities the authority to have a police force, but never a church or non-school entity.

Police experts have said such a police department would be unprecedented in the U.S.

A similar bill is also scheduled to be debated in the House on Tuesday.

Amen

Evangelical pastor: Taylor Swift will turn your children gay

A pastor has claimed that Taylor Swift is being exploited by Ellen DeGeneres to turn children gay.

Evangelist Larry Tomczak made the claims in an article for Christian Post.

He wrote: “The indoctrination and propaganda coming from those advocating a gay lifestyle in our country, classrooms and culture are increasing.

“All of us need to take note and take action to guard those we love.

“Here’s how Hollywood is promoting homosexuality right now:

“Glee features over five gay characters.

“Home and remodeling reality shows regularly feature lesbians and gays in partnerships exploring homes.

“Modern Family features a gay couple who married over two episodes recently.

“Ellen DeGeneres celebrates her lesbianism and ‘marriage’ in between appearances of guests like Taylor Swift to attract young girls.

“Anderson Cooper boasts openly on TV he’d rather ‘have sex’ with a man.

“Passivity is not an option. Check out how aggressive these well-funded and well-organized groups are in targeting innocent and impressionable children. In elementary schools, high schools, colleges and the media,

“LGBTQ advocates are extremely deceptive, sophisticated and strategic in working to lead a generation over the cliff to destruction.”

He also encourages Christian parents to teach their children that gay people on TV are wrong, writing: “Whether pausing the program for a quick moment of instruction or following up later at bedtime, in the car or at the table, skillfully share on God’s design for a man and a woman and the sanctity of marriage.”

Right-Winger: Gay Kids Are Recruiting Vulnerable Christian Kids to LGBT Clubs and Ruining Their Lives

You know how LGBT people try to *recruit* others to join them in spreading the gay agenda?

*crickets chirp*

Apparently, “gay clubs” in public schools do the same thing. And word on the street is they target Christian kids.

You remember infamous pastor/politician Gordon Klingenschmitt, who claims that LGBT people want to execute Christians and that Obamacare causes cancer. He recently welcomed Brian Camenker, of the anti-gay group MassResistance, onto his program “Pray In Jesus Name” to discuss how gay kids are ruining education as we know it.

Here’s their conversation, from a video collected by Right Wing Watch:

Klingenschmitt: Do you think there’s an effort to recruit the children of Christians or Catholics in Massachusetts using taxpayer-funded education? What are the teachers’ unions trying to teach in the classroom?

Camenker: Well, I have seen over the years, a movement of, in general, where you have kids who are very vulnerable, maybe having troubles at home, maybe having their own issues and the gay clubs will say ‘the reason that you’re not fitting in is because you’re really gay.’ And they will take them under their wing and they will persuade them to come out because ‘this is who you really are.’ And pretty soon these kids are getting involved in these really horrible behaviors, horrible things at these meetings. We’ve seen it up close and we’ve seen the anxiety that the parents go through when their kids are suddenly taken over by this. And, yes they love getting kids from Christian backgrounds. That seems to be something that they particularly enjoy to do.

It’s unclear what “horrible things” are happening at these meetings. Talking about acceptance and diversity? Discussing personal experiences of discrimination and bullying? Holding bake sales to buy rainbow-colored T-shirts? None of this sounds traumatizing for any student of any identity. I’m not sure what “horrible behaviors” Camenker has heard of, but it doesn’t sound like an accurate representation of what really happens in student clubs.

LGBT student clubs like gay-straight alliances are safe spaces for everybody, and persuading a person to do something they’re not comfortable with or be someone they’re not is the complete opposite of what these clubs seek to do. A GSA is the last place anybody would try to do any “recruiting.” If Christian kids happen to seek these clubs out because they’ve experienced anti-LGBT sentiment at home… well, go figure

Ark Encounter: Kentucky Is Discriminating Against Us For Our Discriminatory Hiring

Earlier this month the state of Kentucky announced that it will be denying $18M in tax incentives to the Ark Encounter because its employment application stipulates that prospective staffers must be fundamentalist Christians. Today Answers In Genesis, the creationist parent organization of the Ark Encounter, claims that their religious freedom to discriminate is being discriminated against.

In addition to refuting the myth that tax dollars will be used to build our life-size Noah’s Ark in Williamstown, Kentucky, Answers in Genesis has had to spend considerable effort rebutting another myth: that it is illegal for the Ark Encounter to hire only people who can sign its statement of faith. Yet the state, in its letter to AiG last week (and simultaneously leaked to the press), is illegally denying the Ark the opportunity to benefit from the Tourism Development Act (TDA) due to hiring issues. Kentucky is demanding that AiG check its religious freedoms at the door if it is to receive TDA benefits.

It is interesting to note that the state and activist secular groups can point to no specific law or statute that would deny a religious organization like AiG or Ark Encounter the right to hire staff members who agree with its mission. Indeed, why should we give in to the state’s demand and give up our rights to hire people of faith? Nobody seems to want to force the group American Atheists to hire Christians (and we do not advocate it).

The demand by the state to have the Ark Encounter surrender the hiring rights it has under state and federal law in order to benefit from the TDA—otherwise made available to all other qualifying parties—imposes a huge burden on the Ark Encounter’s freedom of religion and smacks of overt religious discrimination. We have assured state officials many times that the Ark Encounter will follow all applicable federal and state laws in operating our theme park, and the state has no basis to demand otherwise.

Have American Atheists requested $18M in tax breaks to build a for-profit amusement park?

Here’s The Internal Document The Salvation Army Doesn’t Want You To See

‘Tis the season. In cities across the country, Salvation Army volunteers wearing red Santa hats and aprons are ringing bells and soliciting donations. But if you were already thinking twice before dropping your hard-earned coins into those little red coffers you may want to think a third time.

We have obtained SA internal documents that give lie to its propaganda campaign to win back LGBT donors and staff and confirm what we’ve suspected all along: The Christian charity discriminates against LGBT people, but it doesn’t want anyone to know about it.

Of course, this isn’t an entirely new revelation. But the documents underscore the tug of war within the Methodist organization between religious laws, which leadership believes requires discrimination when it comes to marriage and sex, and civil laws, which ban discrimination in hiring and in the workplace.

SA is no stranger to antigay scandals. Perhaps the most infamous occurred in 2012, when Andrew Craibe, media relations director for SA Australia, said gay people should be put to death. SA officials denounced the claim in the strongest possible terms, but each time a similar incident occurs, the organization goes into public relations crisis mode, arguing that the individual incidents do not reflect its larger stance.

One of the documents Queerty obtained is a memo regarding the SA’s official views on what it calls “LGBT issues,” by midwest Commissioner Paul Seiler. Dated February 21, 2014, the policy statement was emailed to officers in the Salvation Army’s Central Territory, which serves Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North & South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana.

Subject line: “LGBT issues in light of equality of marriage laws.”

“This is not for public use,” the letter warns, “including social media of any sort.”

CALLERS THREATEN TO BEHEAD KANSAS PASTOR FOR PERFORMING SAME-SEX MARRIAGES

The pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church in Wichita, Kansas, says she's been receiving about one threatening phone call a day since same-sex marriage became legal there last month.

The Rev. Jackie Carter says the calls have ranged from heavy breathing to someone threatening to cut off her head off and carry it through the town square on a stick. 

This past Monday, someone called the church, rang the doorbell and threw rocks at the windows all at the same time, The Wichita Eagle reports:

“Honestly, I’m beginning to get more scared every day that this goes on,” she said. “I’ve kind of talked myself into trying to be more calm about it and realizing that there are more people out there that are supporting us than threatening harm to us.” 

She said the church has instructed people to leave the building in pairs, especially at night, for safety. Carter said that she has reported some of the threats to the Wichita Police Department, but that the department’s ability to investigate is limited because the callers have been anonymous and no number shows up on the church’s caller ID.

Even a leading opponent of same-sex marriage, conservative Wichita pastor Terry Fox, is condemning the threats:

“Anybody who does something like that, there’s nothing Christian about threatening someone bodily damage or something like that. In fact it’s about as unchristian as anything can be,” Fox said. “And it helps no one’s cause. If anything, it hurts that cause. It breaks my heart to hear that anyone would have to endure those kinds of threats from the right or anywhere else.”

Last month, Carter performed a group wedding ceremony for 15 same-sex couples on the steps of the county courthouse. The ceremony was interrupted by a protester chanting "God says no," but the wedding party drowned him out with chants of "God says yes" as he was led away.

"I'm not going to change my message of inclusion, I'm not going to change my message of love, and I'm not going to stop marrying people. I'm going to keep it up," Carter told KSN.com.

American Bible-Thumper Travels To Scandinavia, Freaks Out After Discovering How Secular They Are

A Georgia-based pastor had his mind blown when he took a recent trip to Scandinavia and discovered, to his horror, that nobody hated gay people or believed God created the Earth in a week.

Pastor Marty McLain, who describes his religious belief as deriving from a literal interpretation of the Bible, was given the opportunity to see how secular Scandinavia is by a documentary series called The Norden. The concept is simple: find narrow-minded Americans and throw them into countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark and watch them have panic attacks. It actually sounds like a lot of fun.

McLain wanted to use his time in the north to explore how Scandinavians worship God. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that most of them don’t.

McLain, who’s favorite expression is “wow,” is wowed a lot. Almost no one he talks to on the street seems interested in God. One guy puts it bluntly: “If there is no god, why should I believe in him?” Ouch. 

A few highlights:

• While interviewing several members of a church in Copenhagen, McLain makes the mistake of assuming that, given their faith, they must be homophobes like he is. After he laments the fact that the oppressive government made Denmark’s churches perform same-sex marriages, the Reverend had to awkwardly tell him that neither he nor anyone else at the church had a problem with gay people. McLain’s pained expression is priceless.
• He runs into a man on the street who (finally!) says he believes in God. Excited, McLain asks if he is a Christian. The man tells him, no, a Muslim. McLain: “A Muslim!”
• An excruciating discussion with a humanist over coffee ends with the humanist telling McLain, “In short, I have no need of a god. To put it bluntly.” McLain stares off into space, his mind melting.

While the show is shot with the Georgian pastor as the focus, if we inverse the perspective things get quite a bit sadder. It’s impossible to tell just what these secular people make of the shellshocked American staggering around their country, unable to cope with the idea that they don’t believe in Adam and Eve. It must look to some like a time traveler from an ancient era, confused by the progress we’ve made. We can only hope that they are generous with their assumptions. It would be embarrassing to think that they consider this guy a representative of all Americans, because between the “homosexuality is a sin!” and “There’s no proof of evolution, you weren’t there!” all I can say is, “Wow.”

Anti-gay activist Robert Oscar Lopez is furious to be called out on his homophobic statements

How do you know that you've gotten the religious right's attention?

When they publicly lie about you.

Unfortunately I am not the subject of that riddle.

Robert Oscar Lopez is a foul individuals who claims to have been raised in a same-sex household. But he spends so much time denigrating that household and other same-sex households in such ugly fashion that he has caught a lot of attention from folks on our side of the spectrum.

Needless to say, he is not happy over it. In a piece published on the anti-gay BarbWire, he takes specific attack at lgbt groups which he claims distorts his point of view:

Read this about Paul Singer. He gave millions to the Human Rights Campaign to launch their global media initiative. The HRC then used the money to pay character assassins, formed on the mold of Jeremy Hooper (mastermind of GLAAD’s infamous Orwellian Commentator Accountability Project). The HRC had people working full-time scouring everything I’ve written or said, in order to smear me. Why? Because Paul Singer’s son is gay and I am a bisexual son of lesbians with a story that undermines the consensus on same-sex parenting, which in turn undermines the case for same-sex marriage. 

So I must be destroyed by Paul Singer, with the help of the horrible Human Rights Campaign. Unsuccessful at finding real dirt on me, the HRC, Jeremy Hooper, and GLAAD had to resort to filthy slander. First, financing an artist to draw a sketch of me, caricaturing my face as a wanted criminal. Then, they resorted to lifting endless quotations from my blog that were so out-of-context, they were essentially slanderous misquotes.

Pathetic. First of all, Lopez has GLAAD's Commentator Accountability Project mixed up with Human Rights Campaign's The Export of Hate report. The purpose of both projects is not to silence or intimidate folks but to educate on statements made by anti-gay activists

And both are accurate. 

As a so-called example of the so-called distortions against him Lopez put down a transcript of testimony he gave in Minnesota. That's nice, Mr. Lopez. However what about these other statements you made - which are linked to their original sources (taken from GLAAD's Commentator Accountability Project):

- Directly compares gay parents to slaveowners: "Slavery is the buying and selling of children. In US history, people whose families weren't large enough to work their own land paid slave owners to breed their male and female slaves, then bought their babies and raised them, presumably as beloved members of their family. Gay couples are no better when they arrange such things, even if they lie to themselves and say it's for love. To love a child you have to love yourself and the other biological parent; it all goes hand in hand. Otherwise you're being selfish and abusive. You are selfish and abusive in the way you put forth fraudulent arguments to justify the sale of human chattel and give over to modern slavery in the name of gay liberation." 

-- Accuses a lesbian couple fighting in court for marriage of "us[ing] their special-needs children as propaganda to force gay marriage on a state" 

-- Writes of his critics on "the left": "If you are on the Left you suffer from a severe mental disorder...To Hades with all of you. Go play in traffic. 

-- Writes of gay men and their sex lives: "I have often wondered if a very large percentage of gay men have chronic PTSD that one would expect of rape victims." 

-- In open letter to a theoretical lesbian couple with a child, refers to same-sex parenting as "this crime": "Why engage in debate with me at all if you are going to limit our vocabulary to brainless platitudes like "my family counts," "my family exists," and "I am as good as you"? Do you plan to keep your daughter in this Orwellian state of dumbed-down doublespeak for her entire life, lest she suddenly realize that you deprived her of a dad and spent much of her childhood trying to deflect blame for this crime onto other people?" Adds: "Do you ever plan to apologize to the girl you are raising for violating her basic human rights, severing her from her father and denying her a father and controlling her for your own quest for validation?" 

-- Equates same-sex adoption with "cultural genocide once used against blacks and Indians": "The gay community is now entirely allied to the cultural genocide practices once used against blacks and Indians, since they are determined to say that, in the words of Nancy Polikoff, genetics doesn't matter as long as an adoptive couple can sway the powers that be to award them children. It all feels new and shiny to the gay community, because to them it's a way to overcome past inequality. But they are repeating the same genocidal practices of the past." 

-- Yet another slavery comparison:"Gay marriage has caused slavery to return to the United States and the nation's courts and lawyers are ignoring the 13th Amendment. We are failing as a society." 

-- Suggested both Matthew Shepard's murder and Tyler Clementi's suicide were midtern elections ploys.

On the same day that the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority gave its preliminary approval for $18 million in tax incentives for the proposed Ark Encounter theme park, its backers at Answers In Genesis posted a help wanted ad which makes it very clear that non-Christians need not apply. And many actual Christians shouldn't either. From an op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader:

When Ark Encounter was originally approved for much larger tax incentives they were required not to discriminate in hiring. However, it is apparent that Ark Encounter is likely to discriminate against non-Christians. Moreover, Catholics, mainstream Protestant Christians and some conservative Christians who have different doctrinal beliefs are also unlikely to be hired. The ad has specific religious requirements for employment. These include a salvation testimony, a "creation belief statement" and a requirement that applicants agree with the organization's "statement of faith." This required statement includes articles that imply that fundamentalist Christianity is the only acceptable religion and that denigrate non-Christians, non-fundamentalist Christians, and homosexuals (regardless of their theological views). The governor, tourism secretary, and various Grant County officials claim the granting of tax incentives is about jobs for the area. However, even in such a religiously conservative area as Grant County and Williamstown, many people will not be eligible for employment. I suspect that even [Gov. Steve] Beshear would not be eligible for a minimum-wage position selling corn dogs.

The author of the above-linked piece is the president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society.

North Carolina Restaurant Says No To PFLAG Fundraiser Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/#ixzz39FjyML2c

A North Carolina pizza restaurant has received heavy criticism for refusing to host a fundraiser for the local Gaston County chapter of PFLAG, something it has done repeatedly for other organizations in the past.

According to the Gaston Gazette, Doug Rogers, owner of Johnny B’s Pizza Pad, claims he was not being discriminatory:

“I think everyone on our planet is entitled to happiness,” Rogers said Thursday. “It’s not my decision to determine how to live your life. I’m just making a business decision not to host that organization here because I feel like it’s not a good business decision.”

However, the PFLAG chapter's president, Ginger Feimster, says she spoke to Rogers herself and he was distinctly more blunt with her.

“He said he just couldn’t do it because of his personal feelings,” she said. “He said, ‘I just don’t approve of that lifestyle, and I’m not doing anything to support it.’”

Rogers has also allegedly deleted many critical comments on the restaurant's Facebook page.

A PFLAG Gaston board member suggested that his actions might affect Johnny B’s Pizza Pad in the future:

“I think it’s extremely disheartening in today’s world and today’s reality,” he said. “I don’t think he was thinking clearly or understood what he was doing will have broader implications. I know there are a lot of us who will not patronize his business now.”

On the bright side, Rogers has agreed to attend a PFLAG summer theater production this weekend at a local Episcopal Church. The PFLAG chapter has been active in Gaston County since 2009.

Wingnut Bryan Fischer Accuses Obama Of Using MH17 Tragedy To 'Normalize Homosexuality'

Wingnut Bryan Fischer has accused Barack Obama of using the MH17 tragedy to “advocate for the normalization of sexual deviancy,” reports On Top Magazine.

Referring to those on MH17 who were on their way to the AIDS 2014 conference in Australia, Obama said:

“In this world today, we shouldn't forget that in the midst of conflict and killing, there are people like these. People who are focused on what can be built, rather than what can be destroyed. People who are focused on how they can help people they've never met…[the United States] is going to continue to stand for the basic principle that people have a right to live as they choose, that nations have the right to determine their own destiny, and that when terrible events like this occur, the international community stands on the side of justice and on the side of truth.”

However Fischer, head of hate group the American Family Association, told his Focal Point radio listeners that the president was using the tragedy “to advance the normalization, the legitimization, of homosexuality. President Obama politicizes this event to turn it into an opportunity to advocate for the normalization of sexual deviancy.”

Me thinks someone dost protest too much! A bit obsessed of what gay people do in private aren't we Bryan! 

Maggie Mocks Gay Parenting Study

"The New York Times and the media are widely reporting the results of a new study of 500 children raised by same-sex couples. Researchers are aghast that such a shoddy piece of work, which is based on a convenience sample of parents who volunteered to be surveyed, and which relies solely on these parents’ reports to determine child well-being, should have been published in a reputable peer-reviewed journal. The author is facing a petition and statement signed by hundreds of reputable academics, questioning his moral character and scientific integrity, and the editor of the journal who published such a thing faces similar attacks and enquiries about whether the peer-review process was compromised. Oh wait, the study shows children of same-sex parents do better than the average child, after adjusting for income. Never mind." - Maggie Gallagher, writing for the National Review.

How My Conservative Religion Almost Killed Me

Connor Brassington

I stood in the rain peering over the bridge onto U.S. 31, not even a mile from the campus of Andrews University. Not caring to dry my face, I let the raindrops trickle down my forehead and onto my eyes, mixing with the salt from my tears.

What would a wet face matter anyway if in a few minutes I’d be lying unconscious on the asphalt of the highway below? It was Saturday night, October 13, 2012, and I was determined to end my miserable existence.

I wrestled with depression since the eighth grade, when I made the connection between the attractions I was having and the words that society — specifically the church — used to label people like me. I was a faggot, a homo, a freak, and an abomination in the eyes of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The only options I was offered were celibacy, a life of lies, or sin. I wasn’t OK with any of those choices.

Having grown up in the SDA community, I knew what the Bible said about homosexuality. I knew the verses, and I knew the arguments. For years I used them to convince myself that what I was feeling was wrong, and to act on my attractions was the fast track to hell. I spent years trying to "pray away" my attractions, often crying myself to sleep at night, my head whirling with hopelessness and self-loathing.

By my sophomore year of college at Andrews University, I quit going to church altogether. I felt no need to expose myself to the superficial hellos, smiles, and handshakes every Saturday morning. I spent a lot of time in bed on the weekends, brooding on my self-hatred, convinced that the deepest relationships I would ever experience were those of casual jokes and hasty conversations. I was positive that my life was going to become an endless circle of lonely days, self-contempt, and tear-stained pillows. I would rather die than live such a life.

Back to October 13, 2012. Rather than throwing myself from the bridge, I resorted to overdosing, placing myself on the road to heart and liver failure, rather than the asphalt of U.S. 31. I was admitted to Lakeland Healthcare, where I lay in bed after chugging a mix of charcoal and cherry flavoring. My heart was racing, but my mind had become sluggish as my body absorbed the 7,950 milligrams of meds I had forced myself to swallow earlier that night. Medical assistants were chatting around me, but it sounded like a foreign language, as my mind was no longer able to process the words I had spoken since a toddler. I was in the hospital until the middle of the week, undergoing numerous heart and blood tests while under constant suicide surveillance.

My homosexuality became a matter of life or death, rather than heaven or hell.

Having dodged the bullet I had shot at myself, I needed to understand my sexuality from a different perspective. I could no longer ask, “What do I need to do to make the people in the church happy?”

It became imperative that I ask, “What do I need to do to become happy and ultimately stay alive?”

Since I joined the unofficial Gay-Straight Alliance at Andrews University, my life has made a 180-degree turn for the better. I have made friends whom I will have for life. I joined a family of love, acceptance, and understanding. Most importantly, I have resolved my sexuality with Christ, and I no longer question his love for me.

His love is not bigoted. I pray that my friends, family, and fellow members of the church will come to see me through God’s eyes of love and acceptance, instead of through eyes of judgment, apathy, and bigotry. In God’s eyes I am not a fag, a queer, or a homo. I am simply his child as I will always be. God’s love is big enough for all of us.

CONNOR BRASSINGTON is a freelance graphic designer studying photography at Andrews University in Michigan. He loves chocolate-covered pretzels, synth music, and deep conversations. You can follow Connor on twitter and check out some of his work on his website.

Best Liberal Memes in Response to the Stupid SCOTUS Hobby Lobby Decision

Ind. clerk denies marriage licenses to gay couples because of ‘biblical beliefs’

A southwestern Indiana county clerk says she won’t issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because of her biblical beliefs and what she calls a lack of clear direction.

WRTV

Sherri Healey

Daviess County Clerk Sherri Healey tells the Washington Times-Heraldthat at least two same-sex couples who’ve tried to get marriage licenses from her office have been turned away since U.S. District Judge Richard Young threw out Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday.

Healey says there’s a gray area between Young’s ruling and an advisory from the state attorney general’s office, so she’s waiting for something more precise.

She told one disgruntled license seeker that the U.S. “was founded on the biblical principle of one man and one woman in marriage.”

She says that’s what she’ll follow until she hears otherwise.

Marion County, home to Indianapolis, the state’s capital city, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples immediately following Young’s ruling on Wednesday, and as of Friday has issued nearly 500 marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

But many county clerks were still awaiting guidance from the attorney general’s office on Friday on whether to proceed with issuing same-sex marriage licenses.

Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s office instructed clerks in Hamilton, Allen, Boone, Porter and Lake counties, which were named in the lawsuits challenging the ban, that they must comply with the court’s ruling or be subject to contempt of court.

Zoeller’s office said other county clerks aren’t under the direct jurisdiction of Young’s order but urged them to “show respect for the judge and the orders that are issued.”

On Wednesday, Zoeller filed a request for an emergency stay, asking Young to put his ruling on hold while the state appeals. Young has not ruled on that request.

MINNESOTA: Supreme Court Nominee Vows To Put The Bible Above State Law

Lawyer Michelle MacDonald, who faces DUI charges, just won the Minnesota GOP’s nomination to become a state Supreme Court judge. Just before getting the nomination, MacDonald explained how she would make decisions: Forget the law. It’s all about the Bible. "When judges used to enter the courtroom, they would hold the Bible over their head, like this. In the words of George Washington, it is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." She’s a bad historian, too. There’s no evidence whatsoever that Washington said that. (Even Christian pseudo-historian David Barton, who popularized that lie in the first place, later admitted there was no proof he said it.)

UK Bans Teaching Creationism in State-Funded Schools

Lo! Creationism cannot be taught as scientific fact in any state-funded school in the UK. That goes for all free schools as well as any existing and future academies. 

"It is already the case that all state schools, including academies, are prohibited from teaching creationism as scientific fact. That has not changed," says a Department of Education spokesperson. So what’s new exactly?

Academies are state-maintained but independently-run schools with some outside sponsorship. The Academies Act 2010 made it possible for all schools -- such as church schools -- to become an academy. This month, the government added new clauses to the funding agreements between the Secretary of State and any church school converting to an academy.

In what’s being hailed as a secular triumph, these clauses not only require that students at academies be taught evolution, but they also prevent teaching creationism as scientific fact. 

The clauses define creationism as “any doctrine or theory which holds that natural biological processes cannot account for the history, diversity, and complexity of life on earth and therefore rejects the scientific theory of evolution.” 

And furthermore, it goes on to say creationism is rejected by most mainstream churches, religious traditions, and the scientific community -- that it doesn’t agree with the scientific consensus or the very large body of established scientific evidence. 

Here are the exact words from the “Church of England and Catholic single academy model supplemental agreement,” which you can download as a Word document. 

… the requirement on every academy and free school to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, in any case prevents the teaching of creationism as evidence based theory in any academy or free school.

And just to clarify, free schools are funded by the government, but they’re set up by parents and independent groups; they’re like charter schools in the U.S.

But all of that isn’t to say creationism can’t be taught in schools. The clauses don’t prevent the discussion of beliefs about the origins of our planet and living things, just as long as it’s not presented as a valid alternative to established scientific theory. 

All the documents to help church schools convert to academies can be found here.

HARLEM: Activists Demand City Take Action Against Hate Church

As Harlem's now nationally infamous hate church continues to post racist and anti-gay messages, activists are demanding that the Landmarks Preservation Committee take action for illegal changes that have been made to the building. Leading the charge is Harlem historian Michael Henry Adams.

Among changes for which the church has been issued violations are installing the free-standing sign, replacing portions of the iron gates surrounding the building and removing a balcony and signage, all of which was done without permits. The lighted sign sits on a slab of polished granite with a giant cross atop. The previous sign was smaller. The violations were issued from May 2013 through June 6 of this year. Now Adams and his supporters want the city to take strong action against the church. "I'm doing this as a means of applying pressure to Landmarks," Adams said after his protest. According to LPC rules, if corrections are not made after multiple violation notices and a hearing, civil fines of up to $250 per day, with a minimum of $5,000, can be issued for serious violations such as altering important architectural elements of a building. The LPC can also seek restraining orders and injunctions. The agency also has the authority to seek criminal fines that range from $500 to $15,000 per day.

Pastor James David Manning has taunted the activists to do their best, saying, "Let them take it up with Landmarks."