UPDATED::Mennonite pastor who helped child flee lesbian ‘mother’ to go to prison | News | LifeSite

UPDATE:: US Supreme Court dismisses appeal of Christian imprisoned for helping child flee lesbian ‘mother’

The Supreme Court of the United States has refused to hear an appeal of a conviction of Christian businessmen Philip Zodhiates, who is currently serving a sentence in a federal prison for helping a Christian woman and her child escape court-enforced visits with an unrelated lesbian “mother” imposed on the child by a Vermont court.

The Court dismissed the appeal filed by Zodhiates’ private attorney, as well as three “friend of the court” (amicus curiae) briefs filed in support of Zodhiates appeal by several organizations and coalitions of groups concerned about the implications of the case for the rights of natural parents, as well as the dangers implied for constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure by government authorities.

UPDATE:: Religious Right Activists Are Working ‘Behind The Scenes’ To Get The White House To Protect Ex-Gay Kidnapper Lisa Miller

Linda Wall, who is an anti-LGBTQ activist and was a close friend of Lisa Miller, appeared on the “Focal Point” radio program yesterday to discuss the Miller saga with Bryan Fischer, who has been a vocal supporter of Miller’s decision to kidnap her daughter and flee the country from the very start. Wall attempted to paint the prosecution of Zodhiates as an example of anti-Christian bias, insisting that Zodhiates had done nothing wrong and was simply giving Miller and her daughter a ride to the airport so that they could go and serve the Lord.

“He simply gave a ride to them from Lynchburg, Virginia, to Buffalo, New York,” Wall insisted. “When these people were doing their Christian duty and [living] their Christian life, there was nothing wrong with Lisa leaving the country. Nothing had transpired in a court. She had a legal passport, her daughter had a passport, they simply decided, ‘We’re going to go serve the Lord.’ And these people were simply helping her go fulfill the call on her life to bring her daughter up in the ways of the Lord.”

Wall’s claim is ludicrous, of course, as Miller had been ordered to hand over custody of her daughter on January 1, 2010 but that never happened because she had already fled the country, with the help of Zodhiates and others, rather than comply.

Kenneth Miller, a Mennonite pastor who helped a woman and her daughter flee the country in 2009 to avoid court-ordered visitations with the girl's lesbian "mother," has ended his appeal against a 27-month federal prison sentence and will be required to begin his term on March 1.

Lisa Miller and her daughter Isabella are believed to have flown from Canada to Nicaragua in late 2009 after Kenneth Miller drove them to the Canadian border. Kenneth Miller was convicted of "aiding an international kidnapping" in 2012 but was allowed to remain free while he appealed the sentence.

"God allows hardships and trials to make us into the image of His Son. THAT'S GOOD. So if this time in prison makes this poor sinner a little more like Jesus, it will be good and I will be happy," wrote Kenneth Miller in response to his impending imprisonment.
,,,
The Mennonite community in Nicaragua, which is believed to have received Lisa and Isabella when they initially arrived in the country in 2009, has shown similar courage. After months of harassment by Nicaraguan police, the Mennonite Brotherhood of Nicaragua issued a statement in 2012 clarifying that "[w]e have chosen to obey God. We are willing to give up our rights, go to jail, or even die, for the cause of helping anyone become free from a sinful life and helping that person to live in obedience to God's Word."

Three others, including Lisa Miller herself, conservative businessmen Philip Zodhiates, and Mennonite pastor Timothy "Timo" Miller, have also been indicted for their role in the "kidnapping." According to the Associated Press, Zodhiates is scheduled to begin trial in September in Buffalo, New York.

Mennonite pastor who helped child flee lesbian ‘mother’ to go to prison | News | LifeSite

Bishop resigns after gay sex tape leak · PinkNews

A Romanian Orthodox bishop has resigned after a tape of him allegedly having gay sex.

Corneliu Barladeanu, the Bishop of Huși, was rocked by scandal this month over the shocking tape, which showed him having gay sex.

The Bishop was an influential voice within the ultra-conservative church, which is strongly opposed to LGBT rights and lobbied against the 2001 repeal of a law that criminalised homosexuality.

But Barladeanu was left with his reputation in tatters when the tape leaked online.

A blurry video, which has racked up more than 180,000 views, shows two male figures kissing and performing oral sex acts on each other.

According to reports, the figures are Barladeanu and a student at his seminary.

Bishop resigns after gay sex tape leak · PinkNews

UPDATED::Notes:: Twatwaffle of the Week for June 7, 2017 (#9)

UPDATE:: Pat Robertson: Nothing In The Bible Says Polygamy Is ‘Against The Bible’

Even the bloviating windbag knows complementarianism is bunk, I don't  know of “anything in the Bible that indicates that polygamy, as such, is against the Bible.”

My only caveat, as Robertson's point may not have been clear, while the OT does not condemn polygamy (without deep study) it appears as if polygamy is verboten in the NT. While the Matt and Mk verses speak to divorce, it talks of adultery - if one divorces one's spouse without valid grounds, the marriage is not truly dissolved and subsequent marriage is adulterous.  Paul, in Romans 7:3 pretty much says the same,"So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man."

Just to note how fucked up the Bile is concerning  polygamy and divorce, the usual song and dance given from an apologetic POV goes thusly,

• God allowed polygamy (Lamech the taking of two wives Gen 4:19; Deuteronomy 21:15-17 made provision in the Law for polygamous marriages; affirmed polygamy through His prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 12:7-8; and even required such Gen 38:6-10, Deut 25:5-10, Levirite marriage) but this doesn't mean that it is something God wants us to do.
• Divorce was "authorized" in the Mosaic Law (Deut 24), and "demanded" in the case of the returned exiles (Ezra 10). But, divorce is:: hated by God (Mal 2:16), prohibited by Jesus, except in extreme situations (Matt 19), permitted by God because of human failings (Mt 19.8).
•  BUT, the proscriptions above are "only" exceptions to behavioral norms that we are to follow. 

I don't know about you, but that ain't how I read it.  This is why I say that the Bile can not be used as a manual for relationships let alone anything else we face in the modern world.  Like Pat, it speaks from both sides.

_


 
Callie's thoughts
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10155367105709483&id=784114482

Some of DBs bullshit

• http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/david-barton-there-are-so-many-bible-verses-quoted-in-the-constitution/
• http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/david-barton-the-fact-that-there-is-no-mention-of-god-in-the-constitution-is-proof-its-not-a-secular-document/
• http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/david-barton-there-is-a-one-to-one-correlation-between-clauses-in-the-constitution-and-the-language-in-the-bible/
• http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/david-barton-claims-the-founding-fathers-used-the-exact-language-of-the-bible-to-write-the-constitution/

https://resources.christiangays.com/information/biblical-marriage-bad-source-debate/




See also:: http://theweek.com/articles/475141/how-marriage-changed-over-centuries


https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/more-than-marriage-obergefell-v-hodges-is-about-women-s-rights-too


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/gay-marriage-scotus-ross-douthat-oppression-vs-love 

https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/14-556q1_7l48.pdf (10-11, 70-71)

https://thinkprogress.org/justice-ginsburg-eviscerates-the-case-against-marriage-equality-in-just-five-sentences-3dcd28ffd8cd

See also:  When ‘Redefining Marriage’ Meant That Women Had To Be Treated Like Human Beings https://thinkprogress.org/when-redefining-marriage-meant-that-women-had-to-be-treated-like-human-beings-e9024a86ee44

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/10/the-genesis-code/379341/


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complementarianism  http://thewartburgwatch.com/2016/07/18/history-of-complementarianism-part-1/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danvers_Statement

https://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_ryan_are_we_designed_to_be_sexual_omnivores?language=en

http://jorymicah.com/dismantling-the-falsity-that-complementarianism-is-clearly-biblical/

https://classicalwisdom.com/greek_books/the-symposium/3/

Christian Hate-Pastor Continues Revolt Against LGBT People, Calling Them “Sodomites” and “Dogs”

I will say it loud and clear, Steven L. Anderson is a grade-A douchenozzle who preaches hate. What's worse he is preaching hate to children.

Pastor Steven Anderson is furious that the world is lashing out against his hate speech following the tragedy in Orlando. Speaking about himself, Pastor Donnie Romero, and Pastor Roger Jimenez, he says in a recent sermon that LGBT people and their allies have shut down their PayPal accounts, social media accounts, and other ways these pastors make a living.

You won’t find that sermon on YouTube, though, because Anderson is afraid the website will deactivate his account if he keeps posting his anti-gay sermons. So he posted it on Archive.org instead, a decision that may have given him even more freedom to speak out against homosexuality. I uploaded a clip from that sermon below… mostly because I saw Anderson do this,,,

Christian Hate-Pastor Continues Revolt Against LGBT People, Calling Them “Sodomites” and “Dogs”

Bryan Fischer: 'Homosexuals Were At The Core Of Forming The Nazi Party' | Right Wing Watch

As I have stated before, Fischer's pathetically false statement may come from Scott Lively's book the Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party, (1995) it is his favorite canard and he uses it very well.

Lively's ideas have proven too radical for the mainstream family values movement, but they've gotten some traction on the far right. Bryan Fischer, director of issues analysis for the influential American Family Association, regularly parrots his arguments linking gays to Nazis. ("Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler," he opined in a 2010 post on the organization's website, "and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews.")

Regardless of its origination, it nice to see Fischer owning up to his ignorance of world history.  While he recognizes the import of Night of the Long Knives (or Röhm Putsch) he totally misses the point - again!!

Fischer declared that nobody else within the conservative movement has been willing to admit this historical fact because they saw what happened to him when first did so several years back.

"I said that back in 2009, got absolutely hammered, got absolutely blistered," Fischer said, "and I think what happened is people like Jonah Goldberg saw what happened to somebody who was willing to step out and tell the truth about the origins of the Nazi party, that it was rooted in the homosexual movement, homosexual community; it was formed in a gay bar in Munich, most of the officers of the SA, the Stormtroopers, were homosexuals, you had no chance of advancing in the Stormtroopers unless you were a practicing homosexual."

It was a purge of those who threatened Hitler's power. Homosexuals like Ernst Rohm were tolerated as long as they were useful, then eradicated like everyone else wearing a pink triangle.

No Bryan, it had nothing to do with homosexuality.  Ernst Röhm was a founding member of the party who happened to be a homosexual. Hitler arrested him in 1934 and he was shot in a jail cell days later. There is much more to the story but the Nazi's arrested and killed gay people during their time in power. Ya know the whole pink triangle thing,,,WTF!!

If the LGBTQI community had half the influence and power the Reich gives us, we would rule the world.

Bryan Fischer: 'Homosexuals Were At The Core Of Forming The Nazi Party' | Right Wing Watch

Abusive anal exams get a thumbs-up from Kenyan judge | 76 CRIMES

The western church is not so innocent in this bullshit either,,,

A judge in eastern Kenya has rejected a challenge to the legality of anal exams, even though they are widely understood to be abusive and ineffective as a means of proving or disproving allegations of homosexual activity.

Today’s ruling by the High Court in Mombasa means that a criminal case can proceed against two men accused of violating Kenya’s rarely applied law that provides up to 14 years in prison for male-male intimacy. The ruling is being appealed.

Abusive anal exams get a thumbs-up from Kenyan judge | 76 CRIMES

The Catholic Church in Michigan just made an important concession toward gay couples - The Washington Post

The Michigan Catholic Conference — which oversees health care for Catholic employees in the state — announced in a letter last week that it is modifying its coverage in a way that will make it possible for gay employees of the church to get health benefits for their partners and spouses.

 It does so in a way, however, that doesn’t affirm gay marriage, but simply redefines who qualifies for health coverage in a way that could include same-sex couples.
,,,

“The church’s teaching on marriage and human sexuality is not changing,” Maluchnik told The Washington Post. “Our health benefit plan is expanding its eligibility to include a legally domiciled adult and, as such, the benefit is not dependent upon the relationship. It’s dependent upon residency. As long as the qualifications are met, then the benefit can be extended.”

The Catholic Church in Michigan just made an important concession toward gay couples - The Washington Post

Ted Cruz's Michigan Legislative Co-Chair Wants To Ban Homosexuality | ThinkProgress

Another example of the type of people Ted Cruz chooses to "surround" himself with,,,

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has made no bones about his opposition to marriage equality throughout his presidential campaign, but the newly announced legislative co-chair of his Michigan campaign takes things a step further.

Republican Michigan state Rep. Gary Glenn — one of nine Cruz legislative co-chairs in the Wolverine State — has said he believes being gay should be a crime.
During a 2011 interview, Glenn, who also serves as the president of the American Family Association of Michigan, was asked if he supported criminalizing homosexuality. “The short answer to your question is yes, we believe that states should be free to regulate and prohibit behavior that’s a violation of community standards and a proven threat to public health and safety — including, as most of the United States did throughout its history, homosexual behavior,” he said.

Ted Cruz's Michigan Legislative Co-Chair Wants To Ban Homosexuality | ThinkProgress

UPDATED::Christian Activists To Debate Executing Homosexuals - Joe.My.God.

UPDATE::  So I guess the grand debate took place.  Sounds more like "my (interpretation of) god is bigger than your (interpretation of) god" but in the end junior Shoebat's vitriol and hatred shined bright for all the world to see.

Yesterday, Theodore and Brown finally faced off in a debate on Brown's "Line of Fire" radio program and Shoebat posted video of his side of the conversation in which he made clear his support for violent vigilantism against gay activists.

When Brown asked him point blank if he thinks it is a good thing when militant Christian activists go out and physically attack activists marching in gay pride parades in other countries and whether he'd like to see the same thing happen here, Shoebat was unequivocal.

"I'll give you a short answer," he said. "To the first question: yes; to the second question: yes, absolutely."

Shoebat said that physically assaulting gay activists was theologically justified and praised the nations where it takes place, saying that "I wish America had this stuff."

Theodore Shoebat Supports Violent Vigilante Attacks Against Gay Rights Activists 

__

For those that follow this blog, it is no secret that there is no love loss regarding Charisma's Michael Brown: 

Michael Brown exports anti-LGBT hatred to Peru. Michael Brown claims gay activists want Christians thrown into prison. Michael Brown claims that Hillary Clinton is controlled by Satanic homosexuals. Michael Brown claims that the Bible is 100% true except for the parts he doesn’t like. Michael Brown leads a hate march of hundreds of Christians to disrupt Charlotte’s gay pride parade. Michael Brown debuts his book with a video using small children to ridicule gay families. Michael Brown claims he’s “honored” to be featured on the SPLC’s “hit list.” Michael Brown claims he’s “outraged” to be featured on the SPLC’s “hit list.” Michael Brown denounces the “vulgar” post labels on JMG.

 nor Theodore Shoebat:

It’s rather comical that Matt Barber now denounces Shoebat considering that it was Barber who published multiple columns from Shoebat on his own site, BarbWire. Those columns were quietly deleted only after several posts about them here on JMG.

They are both jackals that need sedation.  The disputes (as JMG also notes above and I have posted about previously) I personally have with both are long and arduous and in some cases transcend the LGBTQI discussion.  So for this post we are going to ignore that for the moment and focus only on what JMG presents.

Today anti-LGBT Christian activist Michael Brown published a column for the viciously anti-LGBT Charisma News in which he denounced fellow anti-LGBT Christian activist Ted Shoebat for his many calls to execute homosexuals. Shoebat responded on Twitter by challenging Brown to a debate on this aspect of Christian Love™ and Brown has accepted. From the opening to Brown’s column,,,

I would pay money to see this as neither Brown nor the Shoebat's are being - shall we say, intellectually honest.  Brown can huff and puff all he wants but his failure to denounce the likes of Romero, Berzins, Anderson and Swanson is telling.  A week after the fact just doesn't cut it.  The fact that he endorses Cruz, he is thereby endorsing Swanson and the father's hateful rhetoric.

On the other hand we have daddy Shoebat defending his son, Theodore, who is advocating violence against homosexuals. In fact, Theodore, wants it to be legal, state-sanctioned violence which is supposed to make his reprehensible position more palatable.

Although I will not go quite as far in my praise for Charisma or BarbWire as the following comment, I believe Gigi is quite accurate in her summation of Shoebat's antics.

His cult of personality in reminiscent of early Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church.  His competition with Anderson and Swanson, as to to whom can be the most vile, is laughable if not for the fact it is dangerous.  Ask Peter LaBarbera and Scott Lively how well that has worked out for them.

So,,, if these two debate, I do hope it will be available online and available to the general public.  While I dislike Michael Brown's stance on homosexuality as I believe he is wrong, I will give him some credit - for now- for taking a public stance against the out-right violence endorsed by the Shoebat's.  My question for you Mr Brown, is when will you do the same concerning Anderson and Swanson, et al?  Or does your dislike only apply to those of the Catholic faith?

[Please note::  If any of my readers are aware of a published article or video in which Mr Brown has chastised the likes of Anderson or Swanson, for their violent, anti-gay rhetoric, I would be much obliged if said article is passed along.  It is very possible that I have missed it; the aforementioned article not withstanding.  After the fact doesn't count in my book.]
__ 
Other recent shit good ole Theodore has said,,,

• Theodore Shoebat: ‘Gays routinely rape and murder young boys during Southern Decadence’
• ‘SWAT teams must raid the homes of gay couples and seize the children’
• Christian Extremist Proves They Are Exactly Like Islamic Extremists

Christian Activists To Debate Executing Homosexuals - Joe.My.God.

See also:   ‘Jesus single-handedly killed all the sodomites, annihilated them, caused Sodom and Gomorrah’

Pat Robertson: Leave 'The Homosexual Lifestyle' To Find 'Real Love' | Right Wing Watch

"We have all these myths about homosexuality and he was just being used by people, they just wanted to take advantage and he didn’t know any better,” he said. “He thought that what they were showing him was love when actually it was one form of lust. When he came free, he wasn’t ‘homosexual,’ he was a person looking for love, he wanted the real thing and he got it, God gave him real love.”

Pat Robertson: Leave 'The Homosexual Lifestyle' To Find 'Real Love' | Right Wing Watch

The Walmart Case That Could Expand Gay Rights at Work - Bloomberg Business

While some may see this as a case of gold-digging, the reality of it is it is not and has important implications.  The main premise, discrimination based on sexual orientation is discrimination based on gender.  Under Title VII, the EEOC has determined the reason for treating people differently is gender; it is based on the sex of the spouse.

As the article also notes it Walmart's "public persona" at risk as well, "If the company continues defending its old policy, that could carry significant reputational risks. Walmart boasts a 90 percent rating on the Corporate Equality Index compiled by the LGBT nonprofit Human Rights Campaign and last year drew friendly media attention for joining LGBT activists in opposing a religious liberty bill in its home state of Arkansas that would have shielded businesses that discriminated against LGBT customers. Walmart didn’t move to dismiss the Cote case after it was filed in July; efforts to settle the dispute through the EEOC before Cote sued were unsuccessful."

Is anti-gay discrimination a form of sex discrimination? Walmart Stores, the biggest private employer in the U.S., is the target of a lawsuit that might soon provide an answer to that question.

Walmart didn’t extend spousal health benefits to employees in same-sex marriages until January 2014, even in states where same-sex marriage was legal. Before then, when workers such as Jackie Cote applied for coverage for their same-sex spouses, Walmart rejected their requests, as it has maintained it had the right to do. While the Supreme Court last year ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 doesn’t mention sexual orientation.

The act does provide protection on the basis of sex, and that’s a premise of the lawsuit Cote filed last summer on behalf of herself and a class of plaintiffs that lawyers now estimate to be 1,200 current and former Walmart employees. Cote, who has worked at Walmart since 1999, married Diana Smithson in Massachusetts in 2004. In 2012, Smithson, a breast cancer survivor, was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. Within two years, without Walmart insurance to cover Smithson’s treatment, the couple racked up more than $150,000 in medical bills. “I thought that they would really have no choice because I was legally married in the state of Massachusetts,” Cote says.

Seeking compensation for the benefits that were denied and out-of-pocket medical expenses, the suit alleges that Walmart’s stance was unlawful because it’s a form of sex discrimination. “The sex of her spouse is the reason for treating people differently—isn’t that discrimination based on sex?” asks attorney Gary Buseck, legal director for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, one of the advocacy groups representing Cote.

The case, among a recent wave of lawsuits over the past several years to grapple with this question, is headed to mediation on Feb. 22; if a settlement isn’t reached, it’s scheduled for trial in federal court in Massachusetts in November. Legal experts, civil rights advocates specializing in anti-gay and gender-identity bias, and employment lawyers who defend large companies say whatever the outcome, the case against Walmart could help set a precedent by expanding the definition of sex discrimination. That might lead other employers to reconsider the risks of discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. The argument that sexual-orientation discrimination is a form of sex discrimination can apply to other types of workplace bias as well, such as employees alleging they were fired or denied promotions for being gay.

The Walmart Case That Could Expand Gay Rights at Work - Bloomberg Business

ADDENDUM::Christian Activists To Debate Executing Homosexuals - Joe.My.God.

As I was putting together the previous post, three items (two articles by Right Wing Watch and one video segment by Rachel Maddow) came to fruition - make that four items now.

As RRW notes in regards to Maddow's very scary video piece, 

But, as Maddow pointed out on Friday night, while the Cruz campaign would not bother to dignify her inquiries with a response, it did quietly distance itself from Swanson and his event in mid-December, telling USA Today that "it was a mistake" for Cruz to have attended the conference:

A tipping point, [Americans United for Separation of Church and State’s Barry] Lynn said, came at last month’s National Religious Liberties Conference in Iowa, where Cruz said, “any president who doesn’t begin every day on his knees isn’t fit to be a commander-in-chief of this country.” Cruz was also introduced onstage by Pastor Kevin Swanson, who, earlier in the conference, quoted a passage of the Bible that he claimed justified the execution of homosexuals.

“This is over-the-top rhetoric, even for a conservative presidential candidate,” Lynn said. “There is a lot of religious fervor going on in [Cruz's] campaign.”

Tyler, the Cruz spokesman, called Swanson’s comments “reprehensible” and said Cruz has spoken out repeatedly against anyone who calls for hatred or violence against homosexuals.

“Senator Cruz is passionate about religious liberties” Tyler said in an email. “Many respected organizations were sponsoring [the conference], but, given these offensive comments, it was a mistake for Senator Cruz to appear at the event.”

In regards to the cat-fight between Brown and the Shoebat's:

The fighting has only escalated in the wake of Shoebat's recent assertion that Jesus would have personally beaten gays to death, which was denounced by LaBarbera, as well as by fellow anti-gay activist Michael Brown.

This did not sit well with Shoebat's father, Walid, a supposed "ex-terrorist" who posted a furious screed on his website attacking LaBarbera, Brown, Matt Barber and anyone else who has dared to criticize his son's extremist views, accusing them of worshiping gay blogger Joe Jervis of Joe.My.God instead of the one true God,,,

And the last item, which is very peculiar, Cruz Spokesman Ousted After Suggesting Rubio Renounced The Bible:

In another strange development in the Republican presidential primary, Ted Cruz’s top campaign spokesman is out of his post after circulating a news article suggesting that Marco Rubio mocked the Bible.

Cruz, whose campaign has been dogged by allegations of perpetrating dirty tricks, said that his spokesman Rick Tyler committed “a grave error of judgment.”

Cruz asks senior spox who spread false Rubio story to resign. Says he committed a "grave error of judgement"

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) February 22, 2016

Now keep in mind what Maddow said at the end of her clip concerning disavowing someone like Swanson when one considers all that came before (ie Mike Bickle and, for shits and giggles, Phil Robertson) and now, this: Cruz, Carson To Attend Right-Wing Media Convention Featuring Anti-LGBT, Anti-Muslim Extremists. 

Remember, Michael Brown endorses Rafael Edward Cruz.  Don't mind me as I get my popcorn ready!! 

February 14-15 2016::End of the day round-up (pg 2)

 Bryan Fischer: 'The Proper Christian Response' To A Gay Couple's Wedding Is 'Grief And Sorrow'

"If you have a biblical worldview, you'd be grieved for them," he said. "You'd be grieved for what they're heading into, grieved for the way in which homosexual behavior separates them from God, the risks that it's putting them at, the risk that it's going to put children to if they're adopted into that household. So the proper response would not be joy, it would not be celebration; the proper Christian response would grief and sorrow over what these two people are doing to themselves and also to others."

Although this is pre-Iowa in date, it highlights the split or implosion that is occurring within the Reich. You have evangelicals that are bonkers against Trump and say to support Cruz but yet the support for Cruz does not align with the entire GOP.


The Fate of the Religious Right May Be Foretold in Iowa

Speaking at the rally, Vander Plaats invoked his severely disabled son, Lucas, and said he was outraged to see “a candidate for president of the United States openly mocking and insulting people with disabilities.” (He was referring to Trump’s scornful imitation of the disabled New York Times reporter Serge F. Kovaleski.) Vander Plaats recalled that only a week before, at an event in Sioux Center, Iowa, Trump boasted that he wouldn’t lose support even if he shot someone.* The crowd in the packed hall hissed. “Right away I thought of John Lennon and the Beatles saying, ‘We’re more popular than Jesus,’ ” Vander Plaats said. “That’s a pride, and an arrogance, and a temperament that is a roll of the dice to be president.” 

Soon it was Cruz’s turn to speak. He promised that on his first day as president, he would instruct the Justice Department to open an investigation into Planned Parenthood. Cruz said he’d appoint judges who would overturn last year’s “shameful” and “fundamentally illegitimate” Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage. He asked the assembled to pray. “Father God, please, continue this awakening. Continue this spirit of revival, awaken the body of Christ, that we might pull back from this abyss,” Cruz said. His cadences were those of a preacher.

The near-forgotten history of the Holocaust's gay victims

To this day, the number of homosexual men interned and killed in concentration camps is unknown; it is estimated to lie between 10,000 and 15,000 people, of whom at least half died in the camps.

It can’t take into account the lives of those arrested and detained for other reasons – the gay Jews, Gypsies, and ‘Antisocials’ whose sexuality was considered the least of their ‘crimes’.

In the film Paragraph 175, highlighting the plight of the Holocaust’s homosexual victims for recognition of their suffering, Heinz F. recounts his ordeal in the camps, starting with a call from the local police station.

‘”You are suspected to be homosexual. You are hereby under arrest.” What should I do?’ he says.

‘And then it was straight to Dachau. From there, without a trial, I was immediately sent to Dachau.’

Without knowing why, he spent one and a half years in the concentration camp; just days after he was released, Heinz was arrested again, on charges of homosexuality, and sent to a prison to wait for a trial.

‘I couldn’t understand all of this. And while I was there, nearly all the homosexuals were deported to Mauthausen,’ he says.

‘And nearly all of them were killed.’

Heinz himself was sent to Buchenwald, where prisoners were first labeled with ‘Paragraph 175’ on their jackets, before the pink triangle was introduced.

In the camps, a majority of gay men were supposed to be re-educated – but only Germans were spared the gas chambers.

Instead of sending them to their immediate death, the Nazis selected the Germans in their camps for slave labor, castration or forced them to take part in human experiments.

Almost two thirds of the men held in the camps died.

[Please note the film Paragraph 175 can be found online!!]

From what I can tell, this bill has been withdrawn (for now) but still important as it seeks to amend "Section 9-703 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Special Assembly Occupancies," by providing for additional types of activity to be regulated, amending the application procedures and increasing the fee for a Special Assembly Occupancy license and for Promoter registration, clarifying the role of the Police Department in approvals of licenses, and making other technical changes; all under certain terms and conditions."

This treads dangerously close to the types of censorship that Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), achieved in the 80s-90s, and continuing today.  To borrow from Frank Zappa, "the PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years dealing with the interpretation and enforcement problems inherent in the proposal's design."

New bill would create a registry of all the bands and DJs that play Philly: ‘It’s become necessary’

A new bill from Philly City Councilman Mark Squilla would require owners of nightclubs, cabarets, bars and restaurants in the city to collect the names, addresses, and phone numbers of entertainers — bands, rappers and DJs — in a registry, and to share that personal information with police upon request.

The proposal, which was introduced last week and is headed to a committee hearing, would directly involve the Philadelphia Police Department in the approval process for so-called “Special Assembly Occupancy” licenses — giving law enforcement de facto veto power over whether shows can be held at venues that hold 50 or more people.

Police spokeswoman Denise James would not comment, instead referring Billy Penn to the department’s public affairs office, which did not respond.

Police would factor into their decision-making things like “crime, traffic, litter, noise, parking and hours of operation; as well as any community concerns, particularly those of neighbors in the immediate vicinity,” according to the bill. The bill even covers live-streaming of shows.

 ‘The bill will be amended’: Squilla, Oh respond after artist registry uproar

Comments from other city officials seemed to echo Oh’s words. Commissioner Richard Ross’s legal advisor, Captain Francis Healey, claimed the bill was being “misinterpreted and the department was only interested in getting advanced notice so police can be properly prepared for shows or other events,” according to a report on Philly.com.

Kenney spokeswoman Lauren Hitt told the site the Mayor would “work with the community and City Council to make any changes to the legislative language necessary to make the intent clear and assuage public concerns.”

Squilla, in his statement, stressed that “this provision is NOT intended to restrict artistic expression or any kind of entertainment, but rather is aimed at addressing public safety and quality of life issues.”

Like previous remarks he made to Billy Penn, Squilla did not cite any specific incidents that may have prompted this legislation; why collecting information on performers playing venues hosting 50 or more audience members improved “public safety”; nor why police involvement in license approval was necessary. Squilla also did not address opponents’ concerns about his proposed annual licensing fee hike from $100 per year to $500 every two years.

Home remedy for 18-month-old's case of lice ends in tragedy

Though the Head Lice Center says it hasn't been scientifically proven that mayonnaise helps treat head lice, it's an oft-used technique that many people have claimed success with. Mayonnaise is used because it contains oil, which suffocates the lice.

It's a simple enough treatment, and an inexpensive one: Spread full-fat mayonnaise on the scalp, and then cover the coated area for about eight hours. Something like a shower cap or plastic wrap would work well, but the Head Lice Center reminds parents that plastic wrap should never be used on children.

That's the fatal mistake that the unnamed Massachusetts couple made, resulting in their young daughter's death. CBS reports that the toddler fell asleep with the bag on her head. Investigators suspect that it then slipped down over her mouth. At the time of the CBS report, no charges had been filed against the parents.

The Netherlands has recognised the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster as a religion

A spokesman for the Dutch arm of the group said: ‘The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is since today officially registered as Denomination!

‘Our church stands for equality for all. Therefore, anyone can sign up free of charge and without obligation.
‘To express our faith we put a colander on our heads. Also on official government documents.

‘We come together in local churches and at events. Our services are especially devoted to socialising. So we eat pasta, we drink beer and discuss faith.’

Albino woman murdered in Kasungu: Malawi Police hunt for killers | Malawi Nyasa Times Malawi breaking news in Malawi

February 12-13, 2016::End of the day round-up (pg 3)

Texas DA: ‘I’m Pro-Life, But the Law Is the Law’

It didn’t take long after Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson announced the indictment of anti-Planned Parenthood videomakers David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt for the conspiracy theories to swirl.

It also didn’t take long for Anderson to shut all of them down. In a two-minute video statement posted Wednesday night, Anderson vehemently rebuts the idea that her office was ideologically predisposed to punish the pro-lifers.

“Anyone who pays attention knows that I’m pro-life,” Anderson said. “I believe abortion is wrong. But my personal belief does not relieve me of my obligation to follow the law.”
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Even though Anderson’s beliefs don’t align with Planned Parenthood, she told doubters in her Wednesday video statement that the grand jury had to follow the evidence: “The inconvenient truth of a criminal investigation is that it doesn’t always lead where you want to go.”

The Harris County grand jury cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing. So far, none of the many state-level investigations into the organization sparked by Daleiden’s undercover video campaign have turned up evidence of criminal behavior.

That hasn’t stopped the tinfoil hats from coming out in force to protest this first criminal indictment of the anti-abortion activists.

Fox analyst throws a tantrum at DA over Daleiden indictment: How dare a ‘Republican woman’ support abortion

Fox News judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano lashed out at a Texas district attorney on Tuesday, suggesting that she had no right as a “Republican woman” to support Planned Parenthood.

Catholic homeopaths claim to cure homosexuality

The German ‘Association of Catholic Doctors’, Bund Katholischer Ärzte, claims that homeopathic remedies can cure homosexuality!

Yes, I kid you not, this is what they state on their website. Specifically they advise that ‘…the working group HOMEOPATHY of the Association notes homeopathic therapy options for homosexual tendencies…repertories contain special rubrics pointing to characteristic signs of homosexual behaviour, including sexual peculiarities such as anal intercourse (die Vereinigung Katholischer Ärzte, BKÄ, weist mit Ihrem Arbeitskreis Homöopathie auf homöopathische Therapiemöglichkeiten bei homosexueller Neigung hin. Im Repertorium gibt es spezielle Rubriken, die auf charakteristische Zeichen von homosexuellem Verhalten hinweisen.

Oregon Judge Who Refused To Marry Same-Sex Couples Found 'Unfit'

A judicial oversight panel investigating complaints against Marion County, Oregon, Judge Vance Day, has recommended that the State Supreme Court remove Judge Day from the bench. Judge Day came to the panel's attention in May of 2014 when he refused to officiate at the weddings of same-sex couples after Oregon legalized marriage equality. The judge maintains it is against his Christian beliefs to participate in a same-sex couple's wedding.

The Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability sent its formal recommendation to the Oregon Supreme Court this week, accusing Judge Day of discrimination based on sexual orientation, among other serious charges.

"His misconduct is not isolated. It is frequent and extensive,” the commission found.

The commission charges Judge Day “willfully” violated ten different rules of the Code of Judicial Conduct, including his refusal to officiate at the marriages of same-sex couples. The commission said whenever a same-sex couple asked Judge Day to officiate, he told his staff to lie about his availability and direct them to another judge. Judge Day did not dispute that practice, but argued same-sex couples were not denied their rights because another judge was always found to marry them.

Boko Haram in Nigeria kills at least 86, burns children

A survivor hidden in a tree says he watched Boko Haram fighters firebomb huts and heard the screams of children burning to death, among 86 people officials say died in the latest attack by Nigeria's homegrown armed group.

Scores of charred corpses and bodies with bullet wounds littered the streets from Saturday night's attack on Dalori village and two nearby camps housing 25,000 refugees, according to survivors and soldiers at the scene just 3 miles from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and the biggest city in Nigeria's northeast.

The shooting, burning and explosions from three suicide bombers continued for nearly four hours in the unprotected area, survivor Alamin Bakura said, weeping on a telephone call to The Associated Press. He said several of his family members were killed or wounded.

The violence continued as three female suicide bombers blew up among people who managed to flee to neighboring Gamori village, killing many people, according to a soldier at the scene who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to journalists.

Hearing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' on a 110-year-old fairground organ is oddly perfect (VIDEO)

First-Ever Excavation of Nazi Death Camp Treblinka Reveals Horrors

Gay man was forced to have 'conversion therapy' for FIVE YEARS to turn him straight | Daily Mail Online

'It was extremely difficult to come home from school and not talk to them. The word uncomfortable doesn't even describe it.'

Mr Shurka, who is currently single, said: 'The therapists tried to teach me that there was no such thing as homosexuality and that it was a psychological condition that's routed from some sort of childhood trauma.

'One of the psychotherapists I saw believed we are born innately heterosexual, but a childhood trauma we have been holding on to can become sexualised, or that your feelings are a response to that trauma.

'He said the trauma can be something really subtle or something dramatic.

'Therefore, it's believed you have to heal this trauma through therapy and the attraction for the opposite sex will return because it's "natural".

'They believed that, through therapy, you could 'work on it.'

Gay man was forced to have 'conversion therapy' for FIVE YEARS to turn him straight | Daily Mail Online

ISIS Murders Teenage Boy for Being 'Gay' in Syria | Advocate.com

Militants with the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have reportedly thrown a 15-year-old boy from the roof of a building in the northern Syrian city of Deir ez-Sor, reports ARA News.

Friday’s execution is the latest report of deadly violence targeting those believed to be (or accused of being) gay in the Middle Eastern regions controlled by the the terrorist group also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh.

As with other antigay executions, the young man’s murder was conducted in front of a large crowd, who watched as militants bound and blindfolded the 15-year-old, before throwing him off the roof to his death. In similar incidents over the past year, victims who have survived the fall have been stoned to death by militants and residents waiting on the ground. Other executions have contained beheadings of people thought to be LGBT or otherwise at odds with the group's radical interpretation of Islam. 

ISIS Murders Teenage Boy for Being 'Gay' in Syria | Advocate.com

Conversion Therapy Event at BYU-I Axed - The Daily Beast

Michael D. Williams, the Rexburg, Idaho-based counselor in question, told The Daily Beast “that I do not act on behalf of the [LDS Church], but as a member of the congregation who has taken a good look at much of the research regarding same-sex attraction [SSA], and who has assisted a number of young adults—male and female—to overcome unwanted SSA both here and in California.”

Williams did not immediately respond to further questions about the event, nor did he provide evidence of the supposed efficacy of his treatments. But a few hours later, he emailed to say, “Due to negative publicity the presentation has been called off.”

“I regret that the fears of some who’ve experienced repression and bigotry have resulted in others not being allowed to learn alternative viewpoints and options,” he said

No media outlets had reported on the event at the time of cancellation but The Daily Beast had made press inquiries to BYU-I and the Mormon Church. A BYU-I spokesperson later told The Daily Beast that the event was planned and subsequently cancelled by a local student congregation, not the university itself.


On his professional blog, Williams has authored several anti-gay and anti-transgender posts. In one, he refers to Leelah Alcorn—a transgender girl who committed suicide in December 2014, prompting the Obama administration to officially oppose conversion therapy—as a “troubled young man” and repeatedly uses male pronouns to refer to her. Williams predictably opposed President Obama’s new stance on conversion therapy.

In another post, in which Williams predicts that the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Obergefell will have “dire consequences,” he claims that “[h]omes with same-sex ‘parents’ are remarkably unstable” and that the term “same-sex marriage” is “a misnomer and oxymoron.”

Conversion Therapy Event at BYU-I Axed - The Daily Beast

Brunei's LGBT Community Faces Terrifying Future

In Brunei, being gay could soon be punishable by death.
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Once the third phase is rolled out, activists are worried that the country will crack down on the LGBT community. This final phase, which was slated to be implemented later this year or in early 2016, will reportedly involve the introduction of executions for “offenses” like homosexuality and adultery.

“In Southeast Asia, the country that has the most worrisome state of rights for LGBT people is Brunei,” Ging Cristobal of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission says. “[The community] there is really concerned about their safety.”

LGBT activism in the public sphere is non-existent in Brunei, and based on anecdotal reports the small community that does exist keeps itself well hidden. Brunei was the only country in ASEAN where not a single LGBT person or advocate was willing to step forward to share their story with HuffPost -- even anonymously.

Brunei's LGBT Community Faces Terrifying Future

In Cambodia, Some Families Still Try To 'Cure' LGBT Sons And Daughters

When Meas Sophanuth started to transition in high school, his mother -- afraid that her child would bring shame to the family -- tried to stop what she saw as his “unnatural” behavior.

She took away his phone, kept him at home, and forbade him from seeing his friends. She finally took her son to a traditional healer, known in Cambodia as a Kru Khmer, in the hope that the shaman would be able to “cure” him.

It was a traumatic experience, Sophanuth, who identifies as transgender, told the Phnom Penh Post last year. “After that, I did not feel warm to my parents anymore. They frightened me,” he said.

Such attempts at “curing” are not uncommon in Cambodia, where LGBT people are often seen as being mentally ill or as being possessed with “bad spirits.”

“Usually the Kru Khmer will chant something [at the LGBT person], sometimes they burn the head, back or palm,” Srun Srorn, an LGBT activist, says of a typical “curing” ritual. “When they burn they believe the bad spirits will fly away. Sometimes they use the bamboo to hit the person.”

Homosexuality is not criminalized in Cambodia, which is a predominantly Buddhist country, but marginalization of the LGBT community is widespread.

In Cambodia, Some Families Still Try To 'Cure' LGBT Sons And Daughters

Peter LaBarbera Furious At Evangelical Leader For Acknowledging That Homosexuality Exists | Right Wing Watch

First off Mr. "I feel like a Jew", there are many things in the world today "that are not biblical".  You know like the the email system you so like or the inter-web that "hosts" your despicable lies.  But seriously dude, you may want to consider finding a more powerful god to worship as it seems us "homo-homo-sexuals" wield so much more power.  Apparently "we" cause hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts. Maybe its time you stopped fucking with us!

“Al Mohler has given credence to the idea of homosexual sexual orientation,” LaBarbera said. “And we know that sexual orientation is a political construct, it’s something that’s helped the homosexual movement advance. Because if people feel that people who struggle with homosexuality have a natural so-called orientation, they of course believe that they’re not really responsible for their behavior as much as they would be for any other sin. So, once again, we start treating this particular sin as a special sin needing all sorts of special terminology and semantics and caveats that are not biblical. And I think he’s starting to go down that route and it troubles me, because he’s probably regarded as the leading intellectual, one of them, in the evangelical Christian movement."

A second point, a bit more nuanced - which explains why Mr. "I feel like a Jew" - may have missed it. Mohler et al did a very good job of veiling their true message.  They may sound all loving, but 'ya' still gotta change'. So I'm not sure why Peter's panties are in such a twist:

In other words, for Southern Baptists — the largest Protestant body in the United States — the theology hasn’t changed. Homosexuality is still a sin, and gay people are still expected to renounce their sexuality, even if they spend their whole life “struggling” in that “battle.” The result, a celibate ex-gay life, if not a man-woman marriage, is the same. They’re just skipping the therapy step. Transgender people are expected to find the same kind of change through faith.

Mohler’s position isn’t new; he made the same rejection of reparative therapy at a conference on homosexuality last year hosted by the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). And at this year’s ACBC conference, like last year’s ERLC conference, the rest of the messaging contradicts this progress by promoting “change” and highlighting “change” narratives.
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This message that “change” is possible was particularly evident in Tuesday’s keynote address by Stuart W. Scott, associate professor of biblical counseling at SBTS. Describing the Bible as a “command,” not an “invitation,” Scott spoke in generalities about all of the ways Christians can change to suggest that changing homosexuality is no different. “To say a person is a gay Christian is an affront to the Gospel,” he explained, “or a Christian alcoholic or a proud Christian.”
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Condemning conversion therapies doesn’t change the fact that Southern Baptists are still teaching that LGBT youth should be condemned and rejected unless they change. The only difference is that they now expect that change to come through “Biblical counseling” instead of psychological therapy. As a recent study found, family acceptance is the biggest factor for determining positive outcomes for LGBT youth.

Peter LaBarbera Furious At Evangelical Leader For Acknowledging That Homosexuality Exists | Right Wing Watch