Religion

NBC News reports: Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders met with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Saturday, calling the short visit an “honor and a joy.” “Today certainly was the highlight of the trip,” Sanders told NBC News of his 6 a.m. (midnight ET) meeting with the pontiff outside the papal residence’s breakfast room. He called the pope “one of …

Brian Tashman reports at Right Wing Watch: Televangelist Jim Bakker invited Dr. Dennis Lindsay on to his program on Wednesday to discuss Lindsay’s latest discovery in the realm of Creation Science: the truth behind Stonehenge. Hold on to your hats: Stonehenge, it turns out, was built by giants who were created by Satan. Lindsay told Bakker that these giants were …

Praise the lord and pass the ammunition. Literally. From the Jackson Clarion-Ledger: Gov. Phil Bryant has signed into law the Mississippi Church Protection Act to allow churches to legally have armed security if they choose. Bryant said in a Twitter post he signed the bill because “churches deserve protection from those who would harm worshippers.” State Rep. Andy Gipson, who …

From the right wing Washington Times: The sudden retirement announcement of veteran GOP Rep. Ander Crenshaw has ignited speculation about a potential high-profile successor: former University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. The district now represented by the 71-year-old Mr. Crenshaw includes the Jacksonville area, where Mr. Tebow maintains a residence, a business — XV Enterprises, a sports-consulting firm — and …

From the National Catholic Reporter: Tony Spence, director and editor-in-chief of Catholic News Service since 2004, unexpectedly resigned from that position Wednesday at the request of a U.S. bishops’ conference official. In recent days Spence had been attacked by conservative Catholic blogs for tweets he had posted about controversial religious freedom bills in North Carolina and Georgia. These sites accused …

Yesterday a spokesman for North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory called the Human Rights Campaign “a shadowy, left-wing group funded by anonymous donors that is recklessly leading the charge to mislead the public and smear North Carolina.” Today we get the below HRC clip with calls McCrory out on his lies.

The Associated Press reports: Republican Gov. Bill Haslam on Thursday vetoed a bill seeking to make Tennessee the first state to designate the Bible as its official book. Haslam, who considered entering a seminary before deciding to join the family truck stop business after college, said in his veto message that the bill “trivializes the Bible, which I believe is …

Yesterday Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant appeared on the American Family Association’s radio show to declare that he signed his state’s anti-LGBT bill in order to protect churches from being closed because they won’t host same-sex weddings. Seriously. Right Wing Watch has the transcript: “This is about the churches,” Bryant said. “The next stop will be American Family Radio and it …

CBS News reports: Lawmakers in state after state are passing bills to protect those who cite religious beliefs for refusing to serve or employ gay or transgender people. CBS News wondered why so many of these laws — including some that limit access to public restrooms — are surfacing now … and who’s behind all of this? We went and …

MSNBC today published the below video report on Harlem’s bankrupt hate church, which will back on court on April 21st when a new auction date might be set. Interviewed for the piece was Ali Forney Center founder Carl Siciliano, who tells us that he’ll be at the hearing with his attorneys. Ali Forney Center has raised $330,000 towards a down …

Last weekend Ted Cruz boldly lied about Pastor Kevin Swanson’s call to execute gays, saying that he’d denounced Swanson’s words as soon he heard them. In fact, for months Cruz refused so much as comment about Swanson despite many questions from the media. Then, earlier today, Right Wing Watch reported that Glenn Beck yesterday told his audience that he’s never …

Via Mediaite: A federal judge in Nebraska has ruled that the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSMism) is not a real religion, delivering a setback to practicing Pastafarians around the country. In an order filed Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge John M. Gerrard wrote that: “The Court finds that FSMism is not a ‘religion’ within the meaning of the …

Via press release: Today, Governor John Bel Edwards signed an executive order providing employment protections for state employees and employees of state contractors on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, political affiliation, disability, or age. This executive order also prohibits discrimination in services provided by state agencies, and recognizes an exemption for churches …

Duggar Duggar Duggar. Via press release from Tony Perkins: People have been wondering for years how to get porn out of their communities. Now they know: Make bathrooms gender-specific! That’s all it took in North Carolina, where one of the country’s leading adult sites is hitting the road to protest H.B. 2. A day after Bruce Springsteen’s tirade, xHamster is …

As most of you surely know, last fall Ted Cruz attended a religious attended a “religious liberty” conference at which Pastor Kevin Swanson called for executing homosexuals shortly before interviewing Cruz on the same stage. Cruz had been warned about Swanson’s track record by CNN’s Jake Tapper before the event and after three weeks of ignoring questions from the media, …

From Winston-Salem’s Fox affiliate: Hundreds of people from all over the state of North Carolina gathered Monday for a rally to show support for House Bill 2. The rally, organized by several groups including the Christian Action League and Return America, featured speakers from religious groups as well as victims of sexual assault. Sheriffs from Davie, Alamance and Rockingham counties …

The Associated Press reports: Colorado is not joining at least six states that ban or limit psychotherapy which seeks to change the sexual orientation of minors. The Republican majority on a state Senate panel voted against a bill Monday to limit so-called gay conversion therapy. The bill would have banned its use on people under 18. Research shows conversion therapy …

American Family Association spokesdouche Bryan Fischer this morning declared that cancelling rock concerts in states with anti-LGBT laws is an act of war against White Jesus. This is an ACTUAL FACT, people. Meanwhile the AFA has launched a boycott of PayPal. Walker Wildmon writes: It is astounding that Fortune 500 companies are ruining their reputation over a law that ensures …

Media Matters reports: ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos hosted Kristen Waggoner, senior counsel for the extreme anti-LGBT group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), who hyped the debunked “bathroom predator” myth to defend a discriminatory law recently passed in North Carolina. ADF is an multi-million dollar anti-gay Christian legal organization known for its work defending discriminatory “religious freedom” laws, which allow …

Tony Perkins took to Fox News yesterday to once again lie about the anti-LGBT hate laws in Mississippi and North Carolina, which he claims actually prevent discrimination against Christians, who are now free to refuse to refuse LGBT customers without penalties. Watch below.