To be clear, Kim Davis is in contempt

In spite of as court order to do so Kim Davis, the Rowan County Kentucky clerk, says that her office will never issue a same-sex marriage license. That may be but her recalcitrance may come at considerable expense. Should US District Court Judge David L. Bunning (a GW Bush appointee) hold Davis in contempt of court she could face considerable fines that would mount daily. Continuing defiance could land her in jail until she either resigns or obeys the court.

Dobson claims that Obergefell was never about marriage

James Dobson, founder and former head of Focus on the Family claims that the fight for marriage equality was never really about marriage. Oh no. On Friday, according to Bob Unruh at WND, “Fundamentally, he contends, it’s a way to open up vast new avenues to attack Christianity.”

In his August newsletter, Dobson writes:

Staver: 'Churches will be next on the chopping block'

Mat Staver, head of the anti-gay hate group Liberty Counsel, has led an unsuccessful legal effort to allow Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis to continue to refuse service to gay couples. In the process his client, following his advice, has been – and is currently – in contempt of court.

According to American Family Association's “news” blog:

AFA and NOM are on the same page when it comes to discrimination

National Organization for Marriage calls it a “shocking new attack on religion in America.” According to the anti-gay hate group, American Family Association: “ACLU: Peyote smokers, not cake bakers, deserve their freedom.” Well, not exactly — as you probably assumed.

Todd Starnes claims that events in Roanoke are a hate crime

Thursday, Todd Starnes attempts to use the Roanoke tragedy to advance his anti-gay agenda. Todd Starnes is an idiot.

Starnes writes:

There were no headlines reading “Gay Black Man Guns Down White Heterosexual Reporters.” There were no calls to ban the rainbow flag. No presidential speeches or Civil Rights marches.

A black man killing white people because of the color of their skin — that’s not a narrative they wants to talk about. Because in their world — that’s not a hate crime.

Aside from the fact that there is no evidence that the two reporters were gunned down because of their skin color, white people are not a protected minority.

Oregon Catholic school changes hiring policy after local backlash

The AP is reporting that a Catholic school in Portland, Oregon has changed its policy on hiring gay employees. This follows the uproar over its decision to withdraw a job offer to a lesbian.

The school is St. Mary's Academy and its board voted for a change Wednesday night. In an email to parents, school president Christina Friedhoff said St. Mary's is a diverse community that welcomes gay and lesbian students and faculty. The position has since been filled but the school said they will reach out to her which probably won't do her much good.

Liberty Counsel needs adult supervision - and overdue sanctions

Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel

They might be religious crackpots but every attorney at Liberty Counsel has met the requirements to become a member of the bar. They have a client who is in contempt of court on the advice of Liberty Counsel (an anti-gay hate group). This makes attorneys at Liberty Counsel – who are officers of the court – subject to charges of misconduct and even disbarment.

The NOM challenge: Name the 38

Four guys who will probably never be president

National Organization for Marriage sent out an email to supporters with the subject “Marriage Champions Emerge From Presidential Field.” Those champions of regression are Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal and, of course, Rick Santorum. According to NOM's president, Brian Brown:

As you know from reviewing our five point plan, electing a marriage champion as president is our top priority. It is the quickest way to ensure that the illegitimate decision of the Supreme Court redefining marriage is overturned, and that supporters of marriage are protected from government discrimination and harassment. We are counting on your help to educate the American people by making an urgently needed donation to support our work.

Mormons are sticking with the Boy Scouts of America

Religion News Service reports that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons have decided to continue their sponsorship of the Boy Scouts of America. After the BSA decided to allow openly gay scout leaders, the Mormons considered starting their own international scouting organization. According to an official news release:

At this time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will go forward as a chartering organization of BSA, and as in the past, will appoint Scout leaders and volunteers who uphold and exemplify church doctrine, values and standards.

As RNS points out the LDS Church is far and away the nation’s largest Scouting sponsor, serving 437,160 boys in 37,933 troops. In 2013, more than a third (37 percent) of troops were LDS sponsored, accounting for 18 percent of the BSA’s 2.4 million total membership (Mormon troops, while more numerous, tend to be smaller in size).

Robby George is (still) trying to undo marriage equality with fear of polyamory and incest

Princeton professor and staunch Defender of the Faith, Robert P. George, has written a rather verbose piece (4,200 words) in The American Interest titled “After Same-Sex Marriage is Polyamory Next?”

On its own terms, the logic of the same-sex marriage movement inexorably leads to the embrace of polyamory and, even, the removal of legal sanctions against incestuous marriages.

After wading through numerous paragraphs (mostly the quotes of others), George defines the issue to his liking:

Of course, the case for polyamory and its legal recognition presupposes that marriage is in fact what so-called “marriage equality” advocates have depicted it as being: committed sexual-romantic companionship or domestic partnership. And this is precisely what has been denied by defenders of what used to be known as “marriage” and is now called “traditional marriage” …

Mr. Brown speaks about Maine

Tuesday, a story is just posted to American Family Association's One News Now blog. It is written by Charlie Butts (who else?). According to Butts:

The head of the National Organization for Marriage feels political power may be the reason why it's seeing demands for its donor list.

The group recently won a case in which the IRS was trying to obtain a partial list of its donors – but the situation in Maine is different. That state's Supreme Court ordered the organization to turn over part of its donor list: people who contributed to ban unnatural marriage in Maine.

Exorcist: Pride is the Devil's favorite sin - I wonder who the priest has in mind

Dominican Father Juan José Gallego is an exorcist from the Archdiocese of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It has been nine years since Father Gallego was appointed as exorcist. In an interview conducted by the Spanish daily El Mundo, the priest said that, in his experience, pride is the sin the devil likes the most.

That settles it. No more parades for you. And, yes, pride may go well beyond the gay manifestation but that is irrelevant.

Have you heard about the incoming Christian freshmen at Duke U. who don't want to read a book?

Members of the Duke's class of 2019 have decided that they would not read Fun Home which was recommended but non-compulsory summer reading.

The Duke Chronicle reports:

Several incoming freshmen decided not to read “Fun Home” because its sexual images and themes conflicted with their personal and religious beliefs. Freshman Brian Grasso posted in the Class of 2019 Facebook page July 26 that he would not read the book “because of the graphic visual depictions of sexuality,” igniting conversation among students. The graphic novel, written by Alison Bechdel, chronicles her relationship with her father and her issues with sexual identity.

“I feel as if I would have to compromise my personal Christian moral beliefs to read it,” Grasso wrote in the post.
[ … ] Freshman Jeffrey Wubbenhorst based his decision not to read the book on its graphic novel format.

“The nature of ‘Fun Home’ means that content that I might have consented to read in print now violates my conscience due to its pornographic nature,” he wrote in an email.

AFA claims that giving them money is retirement planning

Sure. Give this crazy fuck some of your money.

I received an email this afternoon from American Family Association with the title “Want to plan your finances for the future?” It includes this remarkable paragraph:

Have you ever had financial or retirement planning needs but didn't know where to turn? Our AFA Foundation may be your answer. The AFA Foundation exists to help individuals and families leave a legacy that lasts for generations through bequests, charitable gift annuities, trusts and wills. Your charitable gifts help AFA continue its more than 37-year effort to stem the tide of secularism in our culture and to rebuild our Christian foundations.

This is blatantly dishonest. AFA Foundation isn't even a separate entity. It's just an AFA website begging for money through planned giving. They are certainly not around for retirement planning. More lies from the holier-than-thou crowd.

Ted Cruz proves what a dick he really is

Many of you have seen the video of Ted Cruz's colloquy with Ellen Page in Iowa. It's at about the 1:12 mark that I want to vomit. Mr. Cruz talks about the importance of respecting diversity but you know that does not apply to LGBT citizens. After all, he has said “I believe that engaging in homosexual conduct is a choice.” Cruz is a smart version of Michele Bachmann.

At about the 1:40 mark, Cruz starts to speak about the unfortunately named Odgaards who own a catering venue called Gortz House (I believe that Gortz is the wife's middle name). These are the folks who are responsible for those obnoxious billboards that oppose marriage equality, even post Obergefell. Getting back to Mr. Cruz (and I confess that I am not the best transcriber in the world but it's close):

NOM conjures up new reasons to continue to exist

Other than some fear and hate mongering, National Organization for Marriage doesn't really do anything anymore. Its purpose is to provide salaries for Brian Brown and some staffers who, in turn, don't really do anything except to raise funds to provide salaries … and so on. NOM will continue to do this, at our expense, for as long as the faithful – or the gullible – will donate money. Creflo Dollar's new jet is probably a more worthwhile cause. At least that aircraft has a purpose.

Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis - Temporary Stay Expires August 31

Tired of looking at this witch's photo

Kim Davis is the twice divorced Rowan County Kentucky Clerk who claims that her office cannot, and will not, issue marriage licenses to gay couples because of her religious beliefs. In summary, the current (temporary) stay requiring Davis to issue the marriage licenses expires on August 31. The Sixth Circuit could extend or terminate the stay at its discretion.

The Sixth Circuit is not going to decide this case until sometime in 2016 (see the briefing schedule below). My best guess is that the Court is going to allow Bunning's stay to expire on the 31st or terminate the stay between now and then.

Here's the ticktock through Thursday, August 20:

ADF's crowd funding scam

In addition to donations, Alliance Defending Freedom is aggressively pursuing inflated legal fees through subterfuge.

In April Barronelle Stutzman, the Washington State florist who discriminated against a gay couple, was engaged in a money-beg on one of the crowd funding sites, GoFundMe. It was subsequently shut down by the host but it was clear that the site was set up by ADF and that any money collected would go to ADF. Before it was shut down, Stutzman’s GoFundMe campaign had raise about $174,000 in donations. None of that money went to Stutzman. Stutzman's liability was a $1,000 fine.

No, Jack Phillips wasn't ordered to reeducation or sensitivity training

The graphic atop Fr. Schall's piece.
Note the rainbow armband on the "officer" beating the Christian

Conservative Christian polemicists are doing their best to portray the state enforcing anti-discrimination laws as comparable to the tyranny associated with North Korea or the People's Republic of China. The latest is Rev. James V. Schall, SJ. Writing for the orthodox Catholic outlet, Crisis. Schall offers a piece titled “On Court-Mandated Brainwashing.” There is much to take issue with in this piece starting with an error of fact:

Gay Catholics in a futile struggle with the Church

The Catholic Church is unlikely to ever accept that LGBT means anything other than behavior. The Church is possibly the world's largest closet. There are thousands of men at all levels of the Church – with undeveloped sexuality – who might turn out to be gay in far greater percentages than the general population. Acceptance of sexual orientation could cause the entire medieval structure, along with the monarchy, to crumble.

As the Washington Post reports:

Why is Jennifer Roback Morse still hawking her 2008 - $30 - "Defense of Marriage" DVD?

Wednesday I received an email from Jennifer Roback Morse, president of the (former National Organization for Marriage subsidiary) Ruth Institute. It's subject line reads “Let's stop experimenting with children.”

Morse, like some other conservative Catholics, is unable to accept the fact that marriage equality is a settled issue. They seem incapable of grasping the simple truth that no amount of arguing or complaining is going to change the law of the land. Theirs are the arguments that failed to persuade five justices of the Supreme Court.

The Blaze: "Same-Sex Marriage Advocates Intimidate County Offices"

I'm sorry that I looked at this because the sheer stupidity is enough to make me want to chew on a faucet. I gather that the Blaze is Glenn Beck's home asylum. According to Eric Patterson, who also happens to be the dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University, we are “intimidating” county officials by asking public servants to do their fucking job. It's really an astonishing point of view. According to Patterson:

County and city records offices across the country have been simmering for the past month due to the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling. There are many places where county clerks have refused to provide same-sex marriage licenses, citing religious freedom. Some are being fired while others remain, however perilously, on the job.

Desperate for money, Brian Brown loses his last traces of integrity and dignity

Brian Brown — Grifter

National Organization for Marriage has little interest in the so-called First Amendment Defense Act. They know that President Obama is never going to sign it even if, by some chance, it passes both houses of Congress. They also know that there is little that NOM can do to effect its approval. For Brian Brown FADA is nothing more than an excuse for NOM to continue to exist.

According to Brown in a blog post titled: “This Is What's Coming Unless We Pass the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA):

Hood County TX settles suit against clerk Katie Lang for $44K

Hood County, TX will pay $44,000 to two men, James Cato and Joe Stapleton, who were humiliated by County Clerk Katie Lang who refused to issue a marriage license. The settlement will not personally benefit the plaintiffs. Rather, it settles their legal fees to date in return for dropping the action. Lang was represented by Liberty Institute which seems to benefit from ADF's leftovers.

Taxpayers got off easy. Counsel for the plaintiffs estimated that the exposure was in excess of $500,000. The attorneys say that they will donate a portion of the settlement to the Equality Texas Foundation. I suspect that Cato and Stapleton just wanted to get this idiocy behind them.

AP confirms that Kim Davis has been divorced at least twice

Rowan County Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis claims that her office will not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because doing so offends her religious convictions. Now you can add hypocrisy to the imbecility of this woman, this civil servant, whose real objective is to demonstrate her disapproval of gay people by refusing service. There had been unconfirmed suggestions of Davis' marital history but now the AP reports:

KY Clerk's application for a stay denied yet temporarily stayed

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis' application for a stay pending appeal has been denied. Among other things the judge found that Davis has little likelihood of success on appeal to the Sixth Circuit. He did, however, stay his decision temporarily, pending review by the Sixth Circuit. In other words, the Sixth Circuit will determine whether the judge's order to issue marriage licenses should be stayed pending appeal.

In his order the judge did not address contempt charges or the misconduct of Liberty Counsel for advising their client to disobey the judge's ruling.

So as it stands, at least for the moment, Davis' office can continue to deny marriage licenses to gay couples because it offends her religious beliefs.

Does Florida need a Pastor Protection Act?

Florida Pastor Terry Jones is probably not going to be asked
to solemnize many same-sex weddings.

Our citizenry and houses of worship do not require protections from gay people. Conservative Christians are intent on suggesting that we are a sinister threat to their way of life. In point of fact, it is  LGBT citizens who require protections from workplace and public accommodation discrimination by those same conservative Christians.

Brian Brown levitates the White House

In 1967 Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman orchestrated an event to levitate and exorcise the Pentagon. Legend has it that the GSA permit for the event was denied when organizers planned 300 feet of levitation. It was subsequently granted when Hoffman agreed to raise the Pentagon a more modest ten feet.

What would Friday be without a head scratcher from NOM?

National Disorganization for Marriage has a new email and blog post titled “White House Witness.” According to Brian Brown:

One of the most encouraging developments since the US Supreme Court issued their illegitimate and wrongly decided ruling on marriage is the degree to which faithful citizens have been stirred to work to reclaim marriage. Countless community-based efforts are underway, developed spontaneously simply because people cannot tolerate a ruling that is so profoundly wrong for society, families and especially children.

FRC hawking "conservative" mobile phone company that isn't really that conservative

I received an email Friday from my friend Tony Perkins, head of the anti-gay hate group Family Research Council. The subject line reads “Does your phone support Planned Parenthood?” According to Perkins:

AT&T, Verizon and other mobile carriers have provided tens of millions of dollars to elect pro-abortion candidates to public office.
[ … ]
"Big Mobile" companies like AT&T and Verizon helped elect both Obama and Clinton and thousands of other pro-abortion candidates to public office. Those candidates, once elected, then send billions of your taxpayer dollars to pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood.

Five important take-aways from the Masterpiece Cakes case

You probably know that an appellate court found that ADF's Colorado “cake artist,” Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop discriminated against a gay couple by refusing to serve them with a wedding cake. Such discrimination was in violation of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. The Court was careful to write a dispassionate opinion but one can sense eyes rolling while thinking “oh please” and “cake artist my ass.” In any event here are what I thought were the five most important findings by the Court.

This matter has two implications. The first is not to discriminate. The second is that Phillips will become the poster child for attempts to pass laws that permit, and even encourage, this kind of discrimination.

Back to Court in Florida to Protect Families

Click on the image to add your name!

According to Equality Florida, Florida’s Bureau of Vital Statistics is refusing to allow hospitals to list both same-sex parents on their baby’s birth certificate. The state has had almost a year to fix this problem ever since a federal judge declared the marriage ban unconstitutional.

Liberty Counsel advises KY clerk to defy federal judge while it appeals to the Sixth Circuit

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis

Rowan County, Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis' office turned away David Moore and David Ermold just hours after a U.S. district judge ordered her to do the opposite.

Deputy clerk Nathan Davis (her son — it's a family biz) claims that the office was advised by its attorneys with the Christian law firm Liberty Counsel to continue refusing same-sex couples as it appeals the ruling to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Jonathan Christman and Roger Gannam, both of the Liberty Counsel, appeared on behalf of Kim Davis.

NOM's bullshit and paranoia collide in their latest money plea

National Organization for Marriage continues to exist only because they can still convince some dead enders that NOM is more useful than foot fungus. It's a remarkable feat if you think about it and given the fact that they haven't a single success to their credit. Then again people are willing to fund the private jets of millionaire preachers. And that brings me to the latest email asking people for money. Shall we wade through? It's subject is: “Good News! You and NOM are Having an Impact!”

A short Porno Pete comment

Peter LaBarbera has a new piece up titled: “Megyn Kelly’s Loaded ‘Gay-Marriage’ Question and John Kasich’s Pandering Answer Show Why the Left Is Winning the Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Debate.” Pete likes long titles.

Correction Mr. LaBarbera. We are not “winning” the debate — We won. Further debate is pointless.

No, Todd Starnes - There is no "Christian purge"

Todd Starnes exists to remind us of just how persecuted the 70% majority is. It must be especially difficult for Mr. Starnes as a white-Christian-professed heterosexual-male. Today Starnes writes “The Christian Purge has Begun: Chaplains Banned From Preaching Homosexuality is a Sin.” And what is it that has caused Mr. Starnes to go batshit?

Starnes has a persecuted Christian — a victim at the hands of the state:

Witherspoon's Straw Men

If Mr. Crenshaw then argues that, because of his religious beliefs, I do not deserve the protection of anti-discrimination laws then he is a bigot in my opinion.

Wednesday Witherspoon Institute provides a graduate student, Ben R. Crenshaw, with a platform at the organization's blog. His polemic is titled “‘Shut Up, Bigot!’: The Intolerance of Tolerance.” It is not a very original idea. Over time we have seen numerous varieties of this theme which oh-so-cleverly turns the tables on LGBT citizens asking for tolerance.

IRS makes the obvious official - Christians claim victory

Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt

Apparently that “bearing false witness” thing doesn't have much traction. People who understand the mechanics of 501(c)3 operations have been saying, with little doubt that Obergefell doesn't change anything. Parenthetically it should — but it doesn't due to the fact that neither sexual orientation nor sexual identity are protected by federal law.

Focus: Workplace nondiscrimination

Tuesday, Guam's senate approved a workplace nondiscrimination bill intended to protect LGBT citizens and military personnel (Guam has an enormous collection of US military bases). Guam provides a microcosm of our nation and the status of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.

According to current Guam law discrimination based on ancestry, age, color, race, religion and sex is prohibited in the workplace. Sexual orientation and gender identity are left out. The bill that was debated will correct that omission. I lived in Agana, Guam for a few months many years ago (long story about a beautiful but boring place). The culture, which is very much like the Philippines,  has sure changed over time. But I digress.

Not to mock - but to contrast (with a cure for cancer no less)

What you are looking at, in the above photo, is the wax statue of Saint Maria Goretti which contains her skeletal remains. The skeleton is complete except for some small amounts of bone that went into reliquaries and her right arm that her mother Assunta donated to the Church of St. Nicholas.

We Jews have very nutty Hasidim who seem to be confused about what century they live in — not to mention the schmuck who murdered a young woman at Jerusalem Pride. Baptists have their snake handlers and Catholics have their ultra-orthodox who are not only ultra-religious but see themselves as subjects of the Vatican monarchy. They also believe in the mystical power of saints; different saints for different troubles.

Tony Perkins cynically guarantees that Americans will be in conflict

Tony Perkins manages a frown and a smile simultaneously

6:13 AM Friday I received an email from Tony Perkins, head of the anti-gay hate group, Family Research Council. It is titled; “Why the Supreme Court's Marriage Ruling is Not ‘The End’.” Some of the highlights:

"Finished." "Settled." "It's over." These are the pronouncements I'm hearing since five of the nine justices on the Supreme Court caved in to the radical homosexual-rights propaganda machine in its ruling on same-sex marriage.

So, according to Perkins, it wasn't an analysis of Equal Protection and Due Process that caused the Supreme Court of the United States to rule in favor of marriage equality. Not at all. Five of the nation's finest constitutional lawyers lost control of their faculties and “caved” to radical propaganda. Sure.

Aww - Maggie has a Report Card

Maggie Gallagher has a report card on Republican Presidential hopefuls. It is based on their reaction to the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. Apparently tweets count. Maggie says of Trump:

He was very bad in response to the Supreme Court. He issued no statement; he tweeted nothing.

Not surprisingly Mr. Santorum gets the top score. Of course he's never going to be President of the United States so what's the point.

The rabidly anti-gay Ben Carson received an “F” because he said that same-sex marriage was the law of the land and that it is time to move on. That saddened Maggie.

I have a theory that Maggie Gallagher ceased her day-to-day responsibilities at National Organization for Marriage when she realized, years in advance, that it was a hopeless cause. Maggie did not want to be identified with a sunk ship. Maggie is still around in ultra-Catholic world. She is now associated with the American Principles project; another Robby George enterprise.

Planning my religious pilgrimage to Havana

On Tuesday The Mormon Church released photographs of a so-called “seer stone.” Adherents believe that the was egg-shaped brown rock was used by Joseph Smith, to write the Book of Mormon. You see Smith found gold plates engraved with ancient Egyptian symbols in upstate New York 185 years ago. God helped Smith translate the text into English for the Book of Mormon while examining the “seer stone” inside a hat.

They've got the rock but they don't seem to have the plates (or the magic hat). Nor, for that matter, has anyone since claimed that the rock (inside a hat or not) has facilitated any kind of supernatural abilities, multi-lingual or otherwise.

Reasonable compromise? Why should we compromise equality?

Ryan T. Anderson, Defender of the Faith™, has devoted most of his energy over the past few years to opposing marriage equality. Anderson's Crusade came to a screeching halt on June 26 when the Supreme Court determined that marriage equality was required to provide gay citizens with equal protection and due process. Since then, Anderson has written innumerable polemics and even a book about the evils of gay marriage, the evils of “radical” gay activists, the absurdity of Justice Kennedy and the need to “resist” the judgment of the Court. He has called for civil disobedience and a resistance movement.

Anderson is no Gandhi and we are not living in occupied France.

The desperate desire to continue debate when the issue is settled

The issue of marriage equality was settled on June 26 by the Supreme Court of the United States. However, orthodox Catholics – defenders of the faith – see some virtue in trying to convince people that the Supreme Court got it wrong. To make their “case” they are employing the arguments that failed to persuade a majority of the justices.

NOM loses in Maine - again - Must reveal donors

Tuesday, Maine's highest court rejected National Organization for Marriage's latest bid to shield the identities of the donors to its 2009 Question 1 campaign. Maine Attorney General Janet Mills released a statement praising the court's decision. Mills said that Maine residents deserve to know who's paying to influence their elections.

“Enough is enough. NOM has fought for almost six years to skirt the law and to shield the names of the out-of-state donors who bank-rolled their election efforts. The time has come for them to finally comply with state law like everyone else.”

With a vanished "victim" was the Terry Bean matter a setup for extortion?

Gay rights pioneer Terry Bean and his ex-partner, Kiah Lawson,  were accused in 2013 of hooking up with a 15-year-old through Grindr and then knowingly having sex with a minor.

The youth, now 17, cannot be located which means that the criminal charges are likely to be dismissed. Christian conservatives who were delighted by Bean's arrest will probably claim that Bean paid off the kid to get lost. The prospect of answering some tough questions under cross-examination under oath in open court is more likely yo have caused him to reconsider things. We might never know for sure.

American Family Association means the Wildmon family at the trough

Tim Wildmon

Don Wildmon is still an anti-Semitic and homophobic prick but he is no longer running the hate group, American Family Association. That would be Tim Wildmon who is also an anti-Semitic and homophobic prick. Prior to his father's retirement Tim spent most of his time as a Christian tour guide in Israel. Tim is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

Two new Wildmons are now on the scene. They might be Tim's sons. Both are blogging at AFA's new e-zine, Engage, which is supposed to attract millennials. Wesley Wildmon, 26, is AFA's director of outreach. His advice to college kids:

Holy crap - Public schools corrupt Christian children into 'LGBTism'

Joel McDurmon

This won't be the craziest paragraph I will read today but it might be the most hyperbolic. Joel McDurmon of American Vision (a certified anti-gay hate group) writes that public schools are responsible for same-sex marriage:

The system could, and can, only remain viable as long as Christians continue to support it and depend on it. And yet, the system continues, gradually over the years and decades, to secularize, corrupt, liberalize, and sexualize Christian children into socialism, paganism, feminism, LGBTism, and acceptance of all these as the norm.

Just that? McDurmon sports a Ph.D. Its source and subject are undisclosed in his bio on American Vision.

Holier-than-thou Texas AG indicted for fraud

Texas Attorney General and Tea Party star Ken Paxton has been indicted with two first-degree felony counts of securities fraud and a third-degree felony count of failing to register with the state securities board. These are serious charges. Under Texas law, a first-degree felony carries a sentence of 5 to 99 years or life in state prison; a third-degree felony is punishable by two to 10 years in state prison.

The Jerusalem anti-gay attack is now a homicide

According to the Observer Chronicle Shira Banki, 16, succumbed to her wounds, and her organs will probably be donated according to Hadassah Medical Middle spokeswoman Hadar Elboim.

Banki was among six people who were stabbed while participating in a gay pride parade in Jerusalem. Banki's alleged assailant, Yishai Schlissel, was released from prison just three weeks earlier. Schlissel, an ultra-orthodox Jew was imprisoned for ten years for a similar assault.

The source of those obnoxious billboards

Turns out that the new crop of anti-gay billboards are not a message from God (presumably you already knew that). Rather, they have been spawned by an Iowa couple that we have seen before. Almost two years ago, to the day, Brian Brown was pimping the Odgaards on behalf of National Organization for Marriage. The unfortunately named husband and wife are the owners of a wedding venue called Gortz Haus. Brown pulled out a hanky and wrote:

Speaking of exorcisms ...

In July a priest performed an aerial exorcism of the Italian seaside town of Castellammare di Stabia in response to a spree of thefts and vandalism in the area.

A local prayer group persuaded the priest to perform an exorcism over the entire town from a helicopter. According to a spokesman for the group: “If Satan exists, he has taken control of Castellammare di Stabia. There was nothing left but to try the exorcist.”

So … improved policing wouldn't help? At least he did not blame gays and abortion. Apparently the prayer group is not claiming that crime has declined in the area either. Maybe he should have blamed gays and abortion.