Tag Archives: christianity

“He Gets Us” SuperBowl Ad is Dumb

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Seems even a lot of Christians aren’t actually that enthusiastic about the “He Gets Us” religious ads that played during the Superbowl. A few of them hate it so much, they think it’s actually “demonic”.

Part of the reason has to do with White Evangelicals deciding that their main guy is a bit of a pussy. They like a God of revenge, or smiting and casting people into the fiery pits of hell. This foot washing hippie isn’t at all like the guy they picture in their minds.

Political Huckster Matt Walsh also didn’t approve of this ad. He claimed it did more “harm than Good” because it didn’t have the “correct” messaging that he would have liked. No mention of submission, of telling people they are going to hell, or attacking whatever minority they currently dislike. No, these commercials were just a bunch of AI images of people getting their feet washed to the sound of INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart” (which is an odd bit of messaging for a religion that places faith over family). At the end, the ad declares that “Jesus didn’t preach hate” (even though he most certainly did, especially to people who rejected his teaching). You want some examples? No problem.

Matthew 10:34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.
I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Luke 12:51
Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth?
No, I have come to divide people against each other!

I bet guys like Walsh would have preferred these quotes from the Bible than the patronizing tone of the commercial. Evangelicals especially seem to need a far more “muscular” Christianity, since Jesus’ messaging isn’t really resonating with today’s modern believer. Many consider him a “liberal” for some of his sermons such as “turn the other cheek”. This religious group prefers the “eye for an eye” stuff in the old testament, not this pussy love they neighbor shit.

“The ‘He Gets Us’ commercial might seem harmless to some, but it’s obviously part of a psyop to trick Christians into thinking Jesus is fine with sin & apostasy. It’s the opposite of what our world needs right now,” pastor Ryan Visconti wrote.

I think the lesson to be learned here is that there is no form of Christianity that has universal appeal. It’s why there are so many denominations. Do you hate gays? We’ve got a church for you. Love gays, he, there’s a church for that as well! Consistency? What the fuck is that?

By the Way, did anyone give a crap about the Scientology ad that also played? How an organization with fewer than 30,000 members can still be trying to recruit is just sad, isn’t it?

 

Shootout at the Olsteen Corral

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If you’re familiar with Prosperity Gospel, then you know who Joel Olsteen is. With a net worth of over 50 million, Olsteen has used religion like a piggy bank, enriching himself by promising that large donations to his church, or seeding as they like to call it, would financially bless those stupid enough to give him money.

Now, instead of being just a con artist, Olsteen has joined the ranks of churches that have experienced serious gun violence during their services. The details are still a little fuzzy, but we do know that at around 1:50pm, a middle aged woman with a 5 year old child began opening fire in the church just as the Spanish translation of their sales pitch was about to begin:

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Estimated to be between 30 and 35 years old, she was not immediately identified by authorities. Finner said that the woman had threatened she also “had a bomb,” but authorities searching her backpack and vehicle had been unable to locate any explosives.

The child was also hit with gunfire, though it’s not clear if it was the result of the shootout with police. He’s still in critical condition. Thankfully, there were only a few injured people. Had the woman showed up a little earlier, when there was a full house of over 45k worshippers, things could have been a lot worse.

All we can do at this point is speculate about what happened. Considering the predatory nature of the church, I’m willing to bet that perhaps this woman’s had a financial bone to pick with Olsteen and his church. We’ll need for the investigation to be completed. With the woman now dead, it may forever be a mystery.

Kenyan Pastor Pleads Not Guilty for Death of 400 People

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Africa has become the wild west of religion. Every other day, there’s a tragedy happening on the Continent, all because of a toxic mixture of traditional beliefs and Abrahamic faiths.

When Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 29 of his other accomplices were arrested in connection with the death of over 400 of his followers, 191 of them being children, they seemed unusually calm and cool, all things considered. His ministry, Good News International, had told their followers that the End Times were just around the corner, and that only through starvation could they meet the bearded hippie. When these followers inevitably died from a lack of food, they were buried in mass graves and simply forgotten about.

Mackenzie was a taxi driver before becoming a preacher. He quickly gained a following with his fiery sermons, and with his uncanny ability to predict events before they would happen (no doubt a result of simply reading the newspaper). His brainwashed followers were so convinced that he had special powers that when he told them to stop eating, they refused to do so even when they were dying at the hospital:

Several emaciated children escaped from the forest and locals alerted the authorities. Police found many followers close to death and took those still alive to nearby hospitals, where medical staff tried to feed the group. Many refused food, however, and as the situation grew more dire, the director of public prosecutions charged almost 65 people with attempted suicide for refusing to eat.

That’s the level of control that someone can have over others, thanks to the submissive nature of believers. Now the survivors of this cult have the difficult task of being deprogrammed. There’s bound to be more tragedy before this thing is all over.

Belgian Church seems mass exodus over Abuse

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A television series in Belgium has recently exposed the Catholic Church and their history of abuse in the country, and this has left many Catholics upset, so much so that many have requested that they be “debaptised”.

The documentary series called “Forgotten by God” is what we’ve come to expect: it’s a exposé about the church’s coordinated attempts to cover up child sexual abuse. It centered around a man named Roger Vangheluwe, who had been abusing his nephews since 2010. The church was aware of what was going on, and because the statues of limitation has expired on the crimes, Vangheluwe was free, and had even retained his job as an ordained bishiop. The people were not pleased.

The Belgian Church, facing rising protests after a television film on sexual abuse and cover-ups in its ranks, has appealed against a government data protection agency ruling that the Diocese of Ghent must let a person be “debaptised”.
The Church considers baptism a permanent act that cannot be done away with, but the agency ruled in December that the plaintiff’s personal data record overrides the Church’s interest in preserving its records.

The reason that the church is appealing the decision is that they never like the idea of ever removing someone from their little registry. It’s how churches around the world operate: once you’re in their little cult, they never want you to leave. Plus, it help them to pretend that there are way more active Catholics than there really are.

Oklahoma Senator wants to jail you for Sexy Selfies

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Are you feeling strangled by religious conservatives? Are you tired of zealots trying to control every aspect of your life? Well, too bad if you are, because these religious nutballs are just getting warmed up.

Oklahoma Senator and all around ballbag Dusty Deevers has introduced a bill that would outlaw sexting to anyone other than your spouse. This is all part of a larger effort to try and outlaw pornography altogether.

How he plans to accomplish this reminds me of bounty posters in the Wild West. You see, a person can file a lawsuit against someone they suspect of enjoying their freedom as an American, and they can receive up to 10k for snitching. The person you accused of witchcraft, I mean sexting, would face up to 25 years in jail, and a fine of up to 25k (presumably to help fund this sick game of tattle tale).

You might be wondering how broad this ridiculous and unconstitutional law is. It’s so broad that just about anyone who participates in any remotely sexual activity would instantly become a criminal:

This bill is broad enough to include any person’s, like butt selfie for example, it includes live performances in play. So that would seem to include strip clubs definitely and maybe also burlesque and drag performances and things like that,” Nolan Brown said.

The good news is that there’s no way in hell is this thing going to pass. Even in some Christian Nationalist nightmare world, I find it hard to fathom that any prosecutor would dare go after people for living their best life. Considering that Oklahoma is considered one of the worst states to live in, it sounds like there are more important priorities to focus on, like ranking 48th in healthcare, or almost dead last in educational standards.

Apart from crazy, unpredictable weather, the study said Oklahoma has one of the nation’s highest rates of drug abuse, and the second highest rate of people without health insurance. Homelessness is another big issue.

You know, there are way more serious problems in your state than people sending themselves sexy pictures, Dusty. If you want to help improve your state, maybe don’t create ridiculous laws that create dangerous witch-hunts.

Border Trucker Convoy Cancelled due to Paranoia

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Well, that didn’t last long did it? Just a day ago, TGA reported on a convoy of truckers calling itself “God’s Army” that was supposedly headed to Texas to “defend the border”. The event was cancelled, because many of the organizers started to think that the whole thing was an FBI operation, and that they were going to get coaxed into violence so that the feds could put cases on them.

According to Vice’s report, the less-than-stellar turnout was likely due to theories circulating in right-wing circles that the convoy could be a “psyop” or “honeypot” trap laid by the federal government to coax people into committing violence.

At least these guys were aware enough to know that when you put a bunch of these clowns together, people start getting hurt, or even killed. I also have a bit of news for these weirdos: people are not “coaxed” into acts of violence when they bring weapons to a protest. That shows that they are planning on getting their hands dirty.

We’re getting to an inflection point in Q-Anon it seems, where there’s a smattering of self awareness brewing at the service. Conspiratorial thinking is like a snake eating its tail. When you base all of your thinking in the idea that you can’t trust anything, eventually it all breaks down.

Here’s hoping that the Q-Anon people take the same approach to everything else in their lives. Maybe now instead of causing disturbances, they will all just stay home, since the outside world is just a giant conspiracy against them.

American Religious Wackos Headed to Border

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American conservatives have it all backwards. When you hear about evangelicals going nuts about all the illegal immigrants that are entering the country, there’s an important variable that I think they are ignoring due to their overwhelming distaste for different skin colors: they are chasing away the last group of religiously minded folks. Allow me to explain:

In Canada, my home country, the conservative side of the isle love immigrants. That’s because in an overwhelmingly secular nation, the people who wish to make the Great White North their new home are usually quite religious, especially when compared to their counterparts. These recent immigrants tend to be anti-abortion, have a deep hatred of LGBT people and their issues, and tend to dislike liberal policies. This means that the conservative parties are always trying to solicit their support. It’s very rare that you will hear them speak ill of immigration, and they would rather attract the votes of these religiously minded people than ire.

So when conservative Christians decide that they are going to show up at the border in Texas intent on trying to take the law into their own hands, they are chasing away the only people that “mostly” support their religious agenda. One such group planning on adding to the chaos south of the border is called “Take Our Border Back”.

The group said that one of their goals is to stop illegal immigration immediately and close the border. It is not clear how the group plans to confront migrants at the border and stop them from entering the country.

My guess is that they will show up with weapons, and someone is going to get hurt, or possibly killed, all because of the fear that they have for people who literally believe in exactly the same God that they do. They do this, while also believing that they are preventing an “army of darkness” from entering their country. What they really mean is “an army of darkies”, but that would be an unsavory thing to say in this day and age. Better to just imply it and shoot your guns at people.

It’s inevitable that if religious voters want to maintain their power base, they are going to need to dip outside of the white, evangelicals base that they’ve historically counted on for votes. In fact, this group is shrinking so fast that the Republican reliance on them as their voting base is going to blow up in their faces spectacularly. The face of America is changing. Religious “Nones” now outnumber white evangelicals, and the gap is only going to increase.

Still, we cannot be complacent simply because our enemies are slowly dying. A cornered animal is at its most dangerous. Before we are free of religious interference in our lives, these wackos will try every trick in the book to force their faith down our throats.

Russian Scientist Fired for Creationist Beliefs

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Creationism is always rearing up it’s ugly head where it doesn’t belong. In America, schools are always being bombarded by creationist propaganda masquerading as science. Religious folks know how devastating evolution is to their pet theory of how life originated, which is why they will do anything to undermine it. They will lie, obfuscate the truth, and make wild claims without evidence, all to further their pathetic agenda of turning the world into their little religious playground.

In 2023, a Russian scientist by the name of Alexander Kudryavtsev, did a presentation for his colleagues that left many of them in disbelief:

Kudryavtsev, who headed the Russian Academy of Science’s Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, made a presentation at a conference in 2023 in which he said people had lived for some 900 years prior to the era of the Biblical Flood and that “original, ancestral and personal sins” caused genetic diseases that shortened lifespans.

What I wouldn’t give to have been a fly on the wall for that conference. I can picture his colleagues squirming in discomfort as he tried to argue that the claims of the bible have scientific merit. It’s one thing to have a religious nut in the soft sciences; it’s another completely when it’s in the one profession that so clearly demonstrates that we are the product of natural selection.

This notion that death is caused by sin, or causes genetic disorders is so backwards that the Academy had no choice but to sack Kudryavtsev. This caused his beloved Orthodox Church to cry discrimination as a result. The irony of an institution that regularly blesses missiles headed to kill Ukraine children crying foul should be lost on no-one. A scientist being fired for not doing his job isn’t “discrimination”. It’s called standards, and without them, there is no discovery and progress.

Besides, it seems to me that Kudryavtsev should change his career to pastor. It sounds like making shit up and trying to make other people feel bad is in the job description, and from the look of it, that’s right up this guys’ alley.

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 348

This week, we discuss Christian Nationalists wanting to beat up gay kids, Scorsese wastes his time trying to propagandize Jesus, and a mathematician tries to prove god, and fails.

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 348
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Denver Pastor Scammed flock with Cryptocurrency

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I feel bad for today’s young people. When I was entering my adulthood, the Internet was coming into itself, which meant that there were real opportunities for people to succeed with the invention of new technology. Today, however, all that’s been invented is new ways to scam people. The creation of cryptocurrency has tanked an estimated 2 trillion dollars from the economy. That’s not counting the 3 billion that is stolen annually by hackers, which account for almost half of their own losses. This is the grifted generation, to be sure.

Imagine now what happens when you combine the scam of crypto, with the fraud of religion? Why, you get something called INDXcoin. The brainchild of Rev. Eli Regalado, an online only pastor that congregates his virtual flock on a (former) website called victoriousgracechurch.org. The site has since been taken down, as Regalado is currently in a legal battle with State regulators, for his little scam.

Regalado and his wife did what all of these crypto hucksters do when they have people’s money: they spent it. So, while easily manipulated people sent him their savings under the promise that the proceeds would be donated to “orphans and widows”, it went instead into purchasing handbag, snowmobiles, a Range rover and countless other luxuries. Almost 300k of it went to their “church”, which again was simply a way for these people to pay themselves.

Both of these bozos were also not very experienced coders which meant that their crypto and virtual exchange were sloppy messes that was given a “zero out of 10” grade by a company that specializes in evaluating crypto security. It mattered little, as all of the transactions were done via Regalado’s Venmo account, or by direct money transfers. Since they were both spending the money so quickly, they routinely had to close their exchange to avoid running out of money. They were essentially operating as a bank, and then spending any deposits they received. The virtual coin they were given was merely a representation of what they thought was in investment in new technology. In reality, it was nothing more than a basic con with a fresh coat of virtual paint.

What’s crazy in all of this is the fact that the 3.9 million they stole from their own flock is a civil matter, and not a criminal one. This means that they face no jail time for this huge scam. All the victims can hope for is that some of the money can be recouped. Judging by how quickly these bozos burned through the funds, it’s not looking too good.

Connecticut Youth Pastor Guilty of Sex Abuse of Minors

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The hits just keep on coming. Yet another youth pastor has plead guilty to cohering minors into sexual service. Jean Bernard, a 45 year old had been moving around to various cities in Connecticut, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

In one arrest warrant affidavit, he is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy at the boy’s home in Bridgeport and in the parking lot behind Madison School. The boy later told police that Bernard… would kill him, his sister and his father if [he] told anyone what Bernard had done to him, the affidavit states.

He plead guilty to other crimes, which include driving a bunch of kids to his place, and paying each of them 50 bucks to have sex with him. He would do these abominable acts around 2-3 times a week. It was, quite literally, routine for this pervert to sexually abuse children. Bernard’s new routine will involve attempting to survive the confines of an institution that tends to make quick work of such “men”.

When he was finally arrested, a number of other victims started coming forward, each story more heartbreaking than the last. I’m sure this is merely the tip of the iceberg. Considering that many of his victims were also recent immigrants, he knew that many of them would be too afraid to approach law enforcement for fear that they might be deported.

Each time I write about these stories, I’m continually baffled by the depravity of these sexual predators. The manipulation, the threats of violence, and the targeting of the most vulnerable human beings is sometimes more than I can bare. Think of the emotional scars that this vile human being has left on all those people. How many collective years of torture will they endure reliving their trauma? If there was any real justice in the world, those same tortures would be visited upon him. Tenfold.

Until we actually invent some form of empathy machine that would force these reprobates to experience the nightmares they inflict upon others, we must rely on locking them away, far from the innocents they love to torment.

New Hampshire Official Quits after Religiously Motivated Harassment

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By all account, Jim Gleason is a good man who always wanted to do right by his community. For over three years, Gleason had acted as town manager for Littleton, N.H., working diligently to serve his fellow neighbors. All of this changed recently after a row with one of his constituents over a number of paintings that had been commissioned by a local LGBTQ group.

It began first when one of the board members, Carrie Gendreau, had labelled the paintings as “demonic”. Her responsibilities as a state senator are, in her words, “informed” by her religious faith, which simply means that she has theocratic justification for spewing hatred. If this would have been the only pushback, it would not have been sufficient to merit a resignation. After all, religious people are always calling things they dislike “evil”. The unpleasantness that led to him quitting was the result of something far nastier. A woman by the name of Jean Chouinard visited him, and things did not go well:

Jean Chouinard came to Gleason’s office in October to complain about a production of La Cage Aux Folles by Theater UP at the municipally owned Littleton Opera House. She wanted Gleason to shut it down. He said he couldn’t because it would be an infringement of First Amendment free speech rights but told Chouinard she could exercise her own rights by protesting the show. She then called him weak and asked if he was pleased that his son Patrick, who died of cancer in 2016, “was in hell with the devil where he belonged.

Not long after the incident, this hateful bitch also sent a picture of him with the words “Queer Bastard” written across it. The fact that she admitted to sending it allowed Gleason to file a restraining order against her.

Meanwhile, state rep Carrie Gendreau defended her actions, and has zero sympathy for a man being harassed for allowing the citizens he worked for the opportunity to express themselves. It’s just another sad example of how religion makes people into hateful monsters with no understanding of just how messed up their behavior is. Now, the city of Littleton is a poorer for losing such a committed member of government. This is how Christian nationalists win: they make the world unpleasant for everyone, and when there’s no one left to rule, they simply take over and impose their faith on the rest of us. Expect this kind of thing to happen more and more.

Evangelicals Think Jesus is Weak

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If you’ve ever attended church in the south, odds are you may have heard the song “Give me that old-time religion”. If you have, you might remember these lyrics:

It was good for our mothersAnd it’s good enough for me,

Makes me love everybodyAnd it’s good enough for me

It seems that this message of love is no longer resonating with Evangelicals, specifically those that have been spoon-fed the recent rhetoric of Christian Nationalists, who see Donald Trump as their new messiah. They now see this Jesus character as a bit of a pussy.

Moore told NPR in an interview released Tuesday that multiple pastors had told him they would quote the Sermon on the Mount, specifically the part that says to “turn the other cheek,” when preaching. Someone would come up after the service and ask, “Where did you get those liberal talking points?”

The whole, “turn the other cheek”, and “judge not lest ye be judged” sounds like liberal hogwash to them. They want that REALLY old time religion, the one where there was lots of smiting from God, and where his enemies were routinely destroyed. This is the great wish of Evangelicals of today. Even though they have won major victories, such as the Supreme Court repealing Roe v Wade, they are still convinced that the world of the future is a terrifying secular hellhole that needs fixing, and only their special brand of crazy is the solution.

Unlike the election that first won him the presidency, Trump’s new strategy is bound to blow up in his face. Sure, he has the loyalty of the Religious Right, but it’s impossible to win the office without getting a lot of independent voters on your side. The first time he ran, these voters were already sick of Democrats in the White House, and they felt a change was needed. It didn’t last long. Now that he’s literally referring to himself as the new messiah, the messaging is proving quite distasteful to pragmatic voters who have no real party affiliation. The Republican party used to understand this, but because of how much Trump loves to be worshiped, it’s doubtful he’ll change his tune to appeal to a broader base.

He’s even slowly eroding his base, by essentially acting as a false prophet. When he loses the presidency, there’s no doubt that there will be a need for the Evangelical community to do some serious soul searching. As new sexual abuse scandals erupt, the hyper focus on Trump will spell disaster for their membership in the long term. If there’s any comfort to be had, it’s the fact that this is decimating churches all over the country. It’s a reckoning that’s been a long time coming.

Scorsese Says New Jesus Film Isn’t “Preachy”

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Christians are always falling over themselves when it comes to praising their main guy. There isn’t a second on this planet where one of these poor brainwashed idiots won’t say his name, declaring him to be a “prince of peace”, and other such nonsense. As far as having a glowing reputation, there are few that benefit as much as this bearded weirdo.

However, if you’re a non-believer, Jesus just isn’t that impressive as a moral teacher. For starters, the man was always speaking in riddles. Most of the time, it was difficult to really pin his morality down, since there was always a confusing parable waiting to be recounted. Even religious folks are often unsure of what exactly the man was trying to say, though it doesn’t stop people from trying, often to pathetic results.

Well, I am not a child, and I am not one of the apostles, but let me admit it publicly, “I don’t think I understand Jesus’ parables.” And you know what? I think that is EXACTLY what Jesus wants. In fact, confusion is the goal of the Jesus’ parables. Did you know that? So if you are confused by what Jesus says in His parables, you are on the right track.

That’s some high level of copium right there. Morality is based on clarity, not interpretation. If I tell you that murder is wrong but them refuse to define murder, it doesn’t serve any higher moral purpose to state that.

So when brilliant filmmaker Martin Scorsese says that he’s releasing a new movie about Jesus that is meant to “take away the negatives associated with religion”, he doesn’t realize that his golden boy is actually quite lame when it comes to being a great moral leader. I can name on one hand the positive messages he conveys, while running out of digits for all the weird, inconsistent, and even morally repugnant things he says.

Everyone like to blame organized religion for corrupting the message of religion, but this is honestly just a copout. The founding documents of the three major Abrahamic faith are quite irredeemable, and it’s not surprising that any organization that adopts the Bible, or the plagiarized Koran as their primary foundation is bound to reflect the evils of these ancient tomes.

It’s sad that in Martin’s waning years that he is wasting his time making Christian propaganda. Unless he wants to completely rewrite the character, Jesus isn’t the kind of guy you should be basing your life on. He was purposefully aloof, occasionally violent and seemed more interested in fulfilling prophesy than actually doing any good. He left zero moral impact on the community he was trying to change to begin with. It was only decades after his supposed death that anyone started to pay attention to what he had to say, and even then, it was only when the religion was officially adopted by the very empire that had previously rejected it.

So, at best, the most positive thing I can say of “the prince of peace” is that more people have died in his name than any other human in history. Is that really something to be proud of?

Christian Nationalists Want Gay Kids Attacked

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Christian Nationalists are a cancer on American society. Not only do they want to transform the country into a theocratic hellhole by using the legal and political system, they also want children to join them on their violent crusade to rid the world of people who don’t share their zealotry.

You see, when it all boils down to it, when you can’t win an argument with someone, you terrorize them. Christian nationalists pine for the days when people were ritualistically beaten for being different. For instance, in this podcast called “Crosstalk”, the host and guests were tripping over themselves reminiscing about the good old days:

“There used to be a day and age, we beat up the kid at school who had two dads. And we weren’t jerks for that,” Szall says laughing. “That’s just what we did.”

Ah yes, those halcyon days when people were getting their asses kicked because they were loved by two same sex parents. These were also the good old days when people were dying of easily treatable diseases, and when black people had to ride in the back of the bus. I’m sure they would love for those nostalgic days to come again, wouldn’t they?

Since Christian Nationalists are so busy trying to infiltrate the government to impose their worldview, they naturally assume that other groups are doing the same. The fact that more and more Christians support same sex unions has convinced them that it’s a giant conspiracy, and they think that by allowing children to violently attack vulnerable minorities, more people will come around to their way of thinking.

If this all sounds familiar, it should. This is the kind of Brownshirt politics that extremists love. In the 1920’s, when Hitler needed an army of thugs to terrorize the populous, he claimed that this force was the only solution to the mounting problem of communism. These mindless zombies would routinely beat and kill anyone in opposition to their twisted beliefs. Ironically, the leaders of the Brownshirts were eventually murdered for their efforts, as Hitler was convinced that they would eventually try and usurp him.

This is what happens when you try an use violence to enforce your beliefs. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Will America wake up from it’s coma and put a stop to these dangerous cretins before it’s too late? If history is any indication, that’s a resounding “NO”.