Christianists

Via email from hate group leader Mat Staver: Ken Williams is but one of thousands whose lives have been saved by change counseling. As a young man, he struggled for years with unwanted same-sex attraction. “If counseling bans had been law in 1989, blocking me from the therapy I was asking for, I probably would have killed myself. I would …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott said he demanded that the state’s education agency investigate a Houston high school whose teachers were accused by a local conservative activist of “transitioning” a student they were calling by the student’s chosen name and pronouns. Denise Bell, who leads the Moms for Liberty chapter in Harris County, spoke at a school board …

The Austin Statesman reports: A fast-growing measles outbreak has infected dozens in Texas and New Mexico as officials suspect the highly contagious disease continues to spread. In just two weeks, an outbreak in West Texas jumped from two cases among unvaccinated children in Gaines County to 49 people across four counties, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. …

Kansas City’s NBC affiliate reports: A group of Christian counselors and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey have filed a lawsuit against the city of Kansas City and Jackson County over their conversion-therapy bans. In 2023, the Jackson County Legislature passed an ordinance banning the practice. The city of Kansas City banned conversion therapy in 2019, an effort led by KCMO …

Iowa Public Radio reports: LGBTQ topics would be banned from middle school and high school curriculum under a bill advancing in the Iowa House that seeks to expand a law that currently applies to Kindergarten through sixth grade. Republican legislators passed a law in 2023 that bans instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation before seventh grade. That law is …

The Washington Post reports: Linda McMahon, testifying before a Senate committee considering her nomination to be secretary of education, said she did not know whether a school would be legally permitted to offer a Black history class or allow clubs centered on racial or ethnic identity. She said she would “want to know what the clubs are doing.” “That’s pretty …

The Birmingham News reports: Alabama lawmakers debated Wednesday whether to require schools to start their day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a Judeo-Christian prayer. If a school refuses, it could lose a quarter of its annual state funding. The measure, HB231, is a state constitutional amendment that would appear on ballots in a future election. But the legislation could …

The Christian Post reports: Gary Thomas “Tom” Keesee, a son of Gary and Drenda Keesee, founders and senior pastors of Faith Life Church, a family-run, multi-campus megachurch in Ohio, is facing allegations of sexual abuse, including one from his sister, Kirsten McKinney. In addition to being a son of the Faith Life Church founders, Tom Keesee is also the former …

“Already there are signs, most notably from JD Vance, that this administration recognizes that these judges are breaking the law and that their rulings may not be respected, which they shouldn’t be. “In particular, Vance wrote, quote, if a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to …

The Oklahoma Voice reports: Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday replaced three of his appointees to the Oklahoma State Board of Education, criticizing the state’s top school board for driving up “needless political drama” rather than academic results. The board shakeup follows “ongoing controversy at the Oklahoma State Department of Education and disappointing scores on the (biennial) National Assessment of Educational …

Suburban Chicago’s Daily Herald reports: An electronic sign outside a Palatine church has sparked controversy with its use of metaphorical immigration-related language. “Heaven has strict immigration laws, hell has open borders,” reads the sign at New Hope Community Church. The church is near Winston Campus Middle School, 900 E. Palatine Road, which has a substantial Hispanic student population. The relationship …

Barron’s reports: Courts might stop President Donald Trump from completely eliminating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But many high-profile actions the agency took to rein in so-called junk fees and eliminate medical debt from credit reports are likely dead. Over the weekend, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, who is also the acting CFPB director, said the agency …

NBC News reports: A union filed two lawsuits against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s acting director, Russell Vought, on Sunday after Vought issued a series of directives halting much of the bureau’s activity. The lawsuits were filed by the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents employees in the CFPB. The filing that centered on Vought’s email argued that a judge …

Just in via press release: The Parents Television and Media Council (PTC) is warning parents and families about a sexually suggestive new Carl’s Jr. ad to air on traditional and streaming television outlets ahead of the February 9 Super Bowl game. The ad is already available to watch online. “Carl’s Jr. has taken a page from the pornography industry with …

Current reports: Thousands and thousands of Christian organizations, including Trump acolyte Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse, have taken federal money to help advance their missions. Christian charities have lost funds as a result of Trump’s cuts to USAID. They include World Vision, World Relief, International Justice Mission, Samaritan’s Purse, and Catholic Relief Services. Some Trump evangelicals are also attacking evangelical organizations …

The Heartland Signal reports: At the start of the new legislative session, a group of North Dakota legislators put forward a potentially unconstitutional resolution that would have the state “acknowledge the Kingship of Jesus Christ.” “Whereas, the founding fathers of this great state begin the constitution with the words, ‘We’, the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God … …

“I said we’re going to open a portal tonight over the White House. And we are going to give glory to God as this happens. God wants that portal to be opened, so we’re believing for that. “And we’re going to get rid of all that’s wicked, that all the presidents before Donald Trump invited by their actions and let …

Betsy DeVos writes for the Detroit Free Press: The Department has failed at its mission and no longer needs to exist. I can understand how that idea, which President Donald Trump is committed to advancing, might sound a bit radical. But having spent four years on the inside as secretary of education, struggling to get the department’s bureaucracy to make …

USA Today reports: The Senate on Thursday confirmed Russell Vought, a key architect of Project 2025, to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget. Vought, 48, was confirmed by a vote of 53-47. He served in the same role during President Donald Trump’s first term and was responsible for overseeing the president’s budget, reviewing federal regulations and setting …

Florida’s Mid Bay News reports: Police charged Aaron Craig Gleason with lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under the age of 12 by a person over the age of 18 on Tuesday. Okaloosa County Jail records show that Gleason remains in jail and has been denied bond. Profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook with the names A.C. Gleason and Aaron …