Christianists

Charisma News reports: Pastor Mike Evans, founder of Friends of Zion in Jerusalem, has filed a lawsuit against Pastor Jentezen Franklin and Free Chapel Worship Center, a multisite megachurch based in Gainesville, Georgia. Evans says Franklin and Free Chapel have withheld more than $3.3 million in money raised to support charitable projects for Holocaust survivors; Franklin has denied these claims. …

From my February 2020 report: Mike Heath, a long–time anti-LGBTQ activist in Maine who now runs Helping Hands Ministries, has been a regular participant in Dave Daubenmire’s daily program. On Friday, Daubnemire turned the mic over to Heath so that he could announce his plans. “I’m going to do a world tour,” Heath announced. “The theme is ‘Faggots are Maggots.’ …

Fort Meyers’ NBC News affiliate reports: Three people were arrested for resisting officers without violence outside of the Cape Coral City Council meeting Monday afternoon. The three were arrested after “causing a disturbance and disregarding officers’ multiple warnings and lawful orders,” according to the Cape Coral Police Department. All three of the suspects tried to get into City Hall through …

The Washington Post reports: The banner says “Welcome to Clifton where Black Lives Matter.” It was posted over the tiny Northern Virginia town’s Main Street, in a space mostly used to advertise community events, after residents proposed staging a protest like the ones that have swept the country since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of clergy sexual abuse cover-ups. The church’s haul may have reached — or even exceeded — …

The Christian Post reports: After suffering a stroke in May that was initially described as “minor,” televangelist Jim Bakker revealed Wednesday that he’s struggling with memory loss and could be away from his show for months as he recuperates while fighting to keep the troubled show on air. “It’s so good to be back. I didn’t know if I’d ever …

The Christian Post reports: First Assembly of God, a megachurch in Fort Myers, Florida, has denied reports that they hosted a huge party, attended by a 17-year-old girl who later died from COVID-19, where no social distancing was practiced or masks worn. The church reportedly hosted a “party” on June 10 which was advertised on Facebook but deleted from the …

NBC News reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for the Trump administration to give the nation’s employers more leeway in refusing to provide free birth control for their workers. The ruling was victory for the administration’s plan to greatly expand the kinds of employers who can cite religious or moral objections in declining to include contraceptives …

Peter Montgomery reports at Right Wing Watch: Conservative evangelical churches and advocacy groups led by vocal boosters of President Donald Trump have received millions of dollars in coronavirus relief funds, marking a new milestone in the religious​ right’s long campaign to take a wrecking ball to the wall separating church and state. The American Center for Law and Justice, part …

Reuters reports: A Dallas megachurch whose pastor has been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump was approved for a forgivable loan worth $2 million to $5 million, according to long-awaited government data released on Monday. Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a rally last month at the First Baptist Church of Dallas, whose pastor, Robert Jeffress, has been on …

The Texas Tribune reports: In the days after George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis last month, as massive protests against police brutality spread across Texas and other states, conservative power broker Steve Hotze of Houston called Gov. Greg Abbott’s chief of staff to pass along a message. “I want you to give a message to the governor,” Hotze …

Via email from hate group leader Tony Perkins: The Fourth of July is a time of national celebration and commemoration. We rejoice in our liberty and remember those who won our freedoms and have preserved them at great cost. Yet underlying these things is a foundation that must remain strong for “liberty and justice for all” to mean anything. It’s …

From hate group leader Mat Staver: New reports are surfacing that prove the much-publicized “sharp rise” in COVID cases is just more fake news. For example, if a person tests positive after getting a nasal swab and a saliva sample, these tests are counted as two new cases, even though it is only one new case. In order to keep …

The Indianapolis Star reports: Rev. Theodore Rothrock from St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carmel has been suspended from public ministry by Bishop Timothy Doherty Wednesday after calling Black Lives Matter organizers “maggots and parasites.” “The Bishop expresses pastoral concern for the affected communities,” the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana said in a statement Wednesday. “The suspension offers the Bishop an opportunity …

The Christian Post reports: A professional photographer has filed a lawsuit against a new Virginia law that he says would force him to violate his sincerely held Christian beliefs by requiring him to provide his services to same-sex weddings. Chris Herring filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division, against …

Via email from hate group leader Monica Cole: One Million Moms is asking you to encourage your member of Congress to support Rep. Doug Lamborn’s bill to defund public broadcasting. Congressman Lamborn (R-CO) has introduced legislation that would stop federal tax dollars from going to Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). According to congressional appropriation records, the federally subsidized Corporation for Public …

Released today by Pew Research: Amid rising coronavirus cases and widespread protests over racial injustice, President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped among a wide range of religious groups, including white evangelical Protestants – though they remain strongly supportive. Roughly seven-in-ten white evangelical Protestants (72%) say they approve of the way Trump is handling his job, according to a Pew …

The Christian Post reports: A Louisiana pastor is drawing criticism online for calling out his members by name during his sermon Sunday for skipping in-person church services despite ongoing fears about the new coronavirus. Pastor Tim Deason of Sugartown United Pentecostal Church in Sugartown, Louisiana, told his congregants Sunday that he doesn’t mind if people go on vacations. He just …

The Christian Post reports: Grace City Church, a fast-growing Hillsong Family church in Lakeland, Florida, waded into the divisive issue of mask-wearing in Florida Sunday when it announced that it would ask members to wear masks after the church’s husband and wife team of lead pastors revealed they had been infected with the new coronavirus. During an online service Sunday, …

Charisma News reports: Kathy DeGraw knows what it’s like to be shackled with fear. That spirit gripped her for a good portion of her life, she says. But once she found deliverance from that demonic spirit, DeGraw not only experienced the freedom she desired for her own life, but God gave her the tools to help others discover it as …