Tag Archives: church and state

Church Sues State For Right to Discriminate

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The great state of Maryland is being sued by the 7th Day Adventist church because it’s highest court ruled that religious organizations could no longer hire and fire people based on their religious beliefs.

Previously, they had enjoyed the ability to dictate the conditions of employment, which included not allowing for any religious or sexual preferences outside of their narrow confines. It also meant they could fire anyone they deemed to be immoral, or living in a way they disapprove of. That’s no longer the case.

In an opinion published in August 2023, the state’s high court narrowed a previous exemption allowing religious organizations to discriminate based on religion in employment. A majority of the Maryland Supreme Court justices found religious organizations could consider religion only when hiring employees who “directly further the core mission” of the group.

That’s the key concept here. The Church wants everyone they employ to be on board with their religious views, but realistically, the state of Maryland decided that if it wasn’t related to positions in the church that are of fundamental importance to their religion, a janitor, or landscaper doesn’t exactly fit the description of “core mission”. That means that if they discover that a bricklayer working on their property is gay, they can’t fire him anymore. It must be terrifying to them.

Since the plaintiffs don’t have much of a case, they’ve decided that the ability to discriminate against people who do not believe in the same things you do is a violation of the right to free speech and religious association:

“Application of (Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act) to Plaintiffs’ hiring practices would result in excessive government entanglement with the Church’s internal religious decision-making and would violate the First Amendment,” lawyers for the church wrote.

I guess they forgot that this was still about the right to hire and fire people. I also don’t recall the threat being posed here, unless they belief that a plurality of belief, which is what is the essence of the First Amendment, is a threat to their own. That would seem to imply that they consider these rights only to apply to themselves.

It’s hardly surprising that a church would consider itself above the laws that govern others. Unfortunately for them, this baseless lawsuit doesn’t have a chance in hell to going anywhere, since the Supreme Court ruling was pretty clear about how it defined the rights of churches to still practice there disgraceful practices so long as it was in pursuit of their “core mission”. Knowing how religions operate, I’m sure they will stretch that definition so thin as to be functionally useless.

If Only Jesus Counted Votes

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P.T. Barnum once famously said, there’s a sucker born every minute. While his observations was geared towards those people who gave him money for his attractions, the same thing applies to religious folks. It doesn’t matter if you think that faith is for morons. So long as you claim to be pious, people will believe the most insane things.

Take for example Donald Trump. If there was a reincarnation of Barnum, it would be him. Trump’s entire life has been a grift. His latest in his quest to regain the white house is to convince people that he is a believer. In a recent interview with Dr. Phil, he explained that the bearded one in the sky is on his side, and if only Jesus had been counting ballots, it would have been a very different election:

“If Jesus Christ came down and was the vote counter, I would win California, OK?” Trump said. “In other words, if we had an honest vote counter, a really honest vote counter—I do great with Hispanics, great, I mean at a level no Republican has ever done—but if we had an honest vote counter, I would win California.”

Keep in mind that Biden won the state by 63% in 2020. To a man so allergic to reality, this is merely an inconvenient truth, one that needs only to be ignored. His religious believers, themselves unaccustomed to honesty, are convinced that he’s a messenger of their god. The fact that he represents everything they hate is irrelevant: he offers them worldly power, and despite claiming that they are only interested in the afterlife, Christians have become obsessed with ruling over their fellow Americans.

It’s not surprising that a worm like Dr. Phil wouldn’t dare to actually ask poignant questions. He just listens to this insane man claim that the Christian God would have given him the presidency. That’s the kind of shit people in insane asylums say. The fact that this man has a good chance of winning the most powerful position on earth is terrifying.

FFRF Wins Lawsuit Against Censorship in Texas

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In a legal battle that lasted 8 years, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has won their lawsuit against Gov. Gregg Abbott, who had censored a display of the Bill of Rights back in 2016. In total, the state of Texas had to pay the organization over 350,000 dollars. The amount could have been lower, but due to the governor trying to delay a judgement that dated all the way back to 2017, it cost the taxpayers even more to settle the affair.

The lawsuit began in February 2016, after Abbott ordered removal of FFRF’s duly-approved and permitted Bill of Rights “nativity” display from the Texas state Capitol. Abbott ordered the display removed only three days after it was put up on Dec. 18, 2015, lambasting it as indecent, mocking and “contributing to public immorality.”

Now, I must admit a little bias in my reporting. You see, I’m the artists that created the display all those years ago. It was a special request, done in a style that actually mirrored the nativity display, but instead of a baby Jesus, the founding fathers are kneeling to the Bill of Rights, which had been adopted in late December 1791. Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are the “three wise men”, and Mary is the Statue of Liberty. To say it was designed specifically to annoy Christians would be an understatement. It was created specifically to drive them nuts.

The solution to avoiding the display was simple: don’t put a nativity scene, and FFRF won’t put their display. Religious zealots like Abbott can’t help themselves, which is where this puppy comes into play. To say I’m proud of this work is an understatement. Every Christmas I look forward to this artwork appearing in the news. It’s one of the most effective ways to get under the American Taliban’s skin.

Trump Supporters Claim Harris Will Bring About Apocalypse

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How do you know you’re in a death cult? Well, for starters, your first clue would be that everything you dislike is always characterized in apocalyptic terms. Don’t like rock music or rap? It’s the work of the devil, you see! Painting everything with this brush ensures that you are constantly afraid, which is another important aspect of death cults. If you’re not scared all the time, you’re doing it wrong.

Most Christians out there have no idea they are in a death cult. That’s because it’s been around for so long that folks are just accustom to it. It’s a bit like how people in wars get used to the constant bombardment around them. Eventually, they are just blind to it, despite the fact that the real danger of death has not fundamentally changed. Merely their perception of it has.

So we can’t be surprised at all by conservative christians who support Donald Trump from behaving in some very strange ways. Since they have adopted the orange turd as their messiah, the departure of Joe Biden from the presidential race, and his biracial female replacement has sent waves of fear among their most loyal supporters. Seeing the writing on the wall, many are now claiming that she is the personification of all the evils in the world:

In just the past week, popular MAGA pundits warned that Harris is “Hitler and Stalin combined but times 200,” and also a “commie” who will choose a running mate who supports “allowing men to beat up women in the Olympics.” They also expressed outrage over the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics as the end of “Western civilization,” and singled out one woman on a Zoom fundraiser call for Harris’ campaign as another harbinger of end times.

Their list of grievances is perhaps some of the most pathetic braying in history. Transgender athletes and artistic depictions of The Last Supper are not exactly barnburner issues. If anything, it only demonstrates that the things that Christians fear as demonic is pretty milk toast. Meanwhile, this is the same group of people that want to outlaw all abortions, force the Bible to be taught in schools, and essentially blow up the separation of church and state in order to officially make America into a theocratic nightmare.

The only bit of good news in this is that Harris is genuinely terrifying these weirdos. The thing to remember is that the country is a vastly different place than when Donald won his presidency is 2016. Over 22 million baby boomers, which make up the vast majority of his base, have died since the last election. That’s a significant number, and with more young people being energized, this election is beginning to look like it could go Harris’ way. This means that as election night gets closer, you will begin to see the true desperation of these Christian Nationalists on full display. When the stakes are risen to the point of apocalyptic language, it’s difficult to predict exactly what will happen, but it’s safe to say that people should be extremely worried. Never forget that those who believe in absurdities can be easily convinced to commit atrocities.

FFRF Lodges Formal Complaint Against Catholic League

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I am not, by nature, a negative person. I like to see the best in people, and while I would like to think that I have a fairly positive outlook on life, I must admit that I have become completely disillusioned with America; specifically her commitment to secularism. The recent rulings by the Supreme Court allowing for the funding of religious charter schools, is but one of many attempts by Christians to formalize their alliance with government. School districts across the country are being forced to teach the Bible, and the 10 Commandments are popping up all over the place. The Republican nominee for President of the United States has allied himself with the religious right, and they have big plans for the country if he wins.

I wrote an article not long ago about the fact that the IRS has essentially abandoned its own rules concerning churches getting involved in politics. The punishment is simple: get involved in politics, lose your tax exempt status. For almost a decade, not one organization has been held accountable for their gross violations, and the message is clear: regardless of how blatantly churches violate this law, they will never be in any danger of facing consequences for it.

Recently, the Catholic League has been making its stance on the presidential race quite clear. Over the last several weeks, they’ve published a number of articles attacking the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, and said (without any proof), that she would be harmful to religious freedoms if elected. This was quickly followed by another article defending the Republican Vic-Presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, and making it abundantly clear that a “good catholic” should vote red. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is not having it, and so they’ve lodged a formal complaint with the IRS over this extremely obvious infraction.

The problem is that this is going to do absolutely nothing. There is zero probability that the IRS will get involved. If anything, by acting, they could unduly influence the results of the election by actually following their own rules. The religious right would use the opportunity to claim that they are being targeted under the Biden administration, and this would only feed their claim that Democrats are dangerous to religious freedom. The fact that the rules were never being enforced means that doing so now would look suspicious. All this toothless and pathetic organization can do is continue to allow scofflaws to operate with impunity. I cannot imagine a scenario in which violators would finally face the same fate that we all do: pay our fucking taxes. It’s as though a wealthy organization like the Catholic League thinks that not having to pay their fair share is fine, since they are busy doing “charity” work, like acting as another wing of the Republican party.

Gay Furries Hack Heritage Foundation

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Alright, who had “gay furries try and protect democracy” on their political bingo card? Certainly not me. A few days ago, the Heritage Foundation , a conservative think tank that is the mastermind behind “Project 2025”, was hacked. Although it was difficult to determine exactly what the information pertained to, the breach royally ticked off the foundation’s executive director, Mike Howell.

The hacker group, named SiegedSec, is comprised of a gay men who dress up in smelly anime costumes and engage in something they call “yiffing”, which is just a nice word for sweaty sex. The group’s head rep, called “vio”, engaged in a rather interesting exchange with Howell, which has now gone viral. Here’s his totally non-supervillain response:

“Closeted Furries will be presented to the world for the degenerate perverts they are,” Howell said. “You cannot hide. Your means are miniscule compared to mine. You now can either turn yourself in or you can cooperate.”

When that threat did little to intimidate a group of people accustomed to being hated on, he said this little gem:

“Are you aware that you won’t be able to wear a furry tiger costume when you’re getting pounded in the ass in the federal prison I put you in next year?” Howell asked.

Threatening a group of gay men with ass pounding is not really that intimidating. In his angered state, Howell foolishly agreed to share the conversation, convinced that he would be vindicated in the end. All it shows is that when put under a microscope, he’s just as sad and vulgar as the people he so smugly looks down on.

Now I am not an advocate of wearing funny costumes and performing sweaty and smelly rituals, but I have to at least admit that one of these groups of weirdos doesn’t try and shove their perversions in my face. Furries are all consenting adults, and more importantly, they leave the rest of the world to live their own lived. Howell and his coven of sexually repressed tight-asses on the other hand are actively trying to undermine the very founding principle of their country they claim to love so dear. They are too ignorant of history to know that the European Wars of Religion had left deep scares in its refugees. Those looking for a fresh start knew the incendiary nature of faith, especially when it held the reigns of power. The separation of church and state was therefore vital in ensuring that different faiths could coexist. That, apparently, is no longer the goal.

To be honest, it should be other religious faiths fighting against Christian Nationalism. An Episcopalian or 7 Day Adventist should be more afraid of these cryptofascist than secularists. The long history of religious oppression is the result of countries having an official faith. Currently, Christian Nationalists are predominantly part of the Evangelical branch of America. To think they are at all capable of getting along with other Christian denominations is foolish and dangerous. If history is any teacher, there is only one way for religions to avoid being at the mercy of sectarian overlords: be being secular.

Will religion ever appreciate the fact that their only hope for freedom comes from people who could care less about their faith? I doubt it.

Pastor Gets Pathetic Fine for Using Church Donations to Run for Office

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What is the point of a law if it is never enforced? I ask this question because there is one law in America that is violated so often , that it might as well cease to exist. The law in question was created over half a century ago, as part of the rules enforcing a kind of political neutrality for churches. If they wished to maintain their tax-exempt status, the law says that you cannot endorse or coerce your flock into voting for a particular candidate. Violation of this law is supposed to be the removal of their tax exempt status. So, you might be wondering, how many times has the IRS actually bothered to enforce this law? How about zero?

Since 1996, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has reported 125 churches to the IRS because we believe that they engaged in partisan political activity. Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division (TE/GE) appeared to be working hard to ensure that all houses of worship played by the rules. But it seems that since the IRS lost its case against the Living Word Christian Center in 2008, it has essentially abandoned enforcement of the no-politicking rule. Notwithstanding the “settlement” reached with another organization over this matter in 2014, I am unaware of any enforcement activity in the last eight years.

That’s right. The IRS has essentially abandoned the idea, even when the violations are so ludicrous that it should have been automatic. Take the case of West Texas pastor Scott Beard. Beard decided to run for public office, and it was discovered that not only was he preaching from the pulpit, but he actually embezzled church funds in order to do so. His penalty? A 3,500 dollar fine.

Beard, who was fined $3,500, showed a “lack of good faith” in accepting the donations and in posting campaign signs on church property for his unsuccessful Abilene City Council race despite the commission’s warnings against doing so, it found.

What is the lesson here? Considering that what he did is against the law, you would think that some serious repercussions would result. Instead, the IRS fined the pastor a pathetic 3500 dollars, which is the kind of ticket you get for pouring oil on your lawn. The IRS is within its power to revoke the tax-exempt status of the church, but instead, they issued a fine so small, it might as well have been a slap on the wrist. The message to other pastors wishing to obliterate the separation of church and state is clear: so long as you’re the right religion, no one in government will stop you from violating laws in order to push your political agenda.

Aussie Christians Threatens Violence Over Artwork

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If you thought that only Muslims react with threats of violence over the depiction of their religion, you would be mistaken. In Sydney, Australia, an artist by the name of Philjames was harassed after he painted a picture of Jesus and Mary with cartoon faces. The city council chose to act after it received over 60 calls from protesters, deciding that for the safety of everyone involved, the artwork would be taken down.

Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun called for the removal of the painting in the face of what he called “many complaints from numerous residents who were disgusted and offended that Liverpool Council was displaying this artwork”.

They were so disgusted, that they felt that death threats and other extreme reactions were fine. So fine, in fact, that one Christian leader congratulated everyone on a job well done:

Charlie Bakhos, the founder of conservative Catholic group, Christian Lives Matter, told supporters…“This is another attack on Christianity we have managed to put a stop to thanks to everyone’s support. Let’s keep defending our faith respectfully and we will get results as Jesus is on our side.”

Respectfully? These morons literally threatened violence over a cartoonish depiction of their messiah, and they consider this just another Sunday. Not only that, but they managed to pressure the city council into stifling free speech, simply with a few threatening phone calls.

My hope is that this will result in more unwanted attention for these assholes, who think that the best way to articulate their faith in their so-called loving god is to act like a bunch of violent thugs. It seems that the lessons they have learned from their Muslim counterparts is finally paying off. If you can’t justify your religion in the modern world, then just scream as loud as you can, and make sure to use any means necessary to stop people from making fun of you. If a few people have to get hurt or killed, that’s just the price of doing business. What a bunch of disgusting losers.

LifeWise Academy Using Copyright Claim to Silence Man

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In 2021, a man named Zachary Parrish was shocked when his daughter’s teacher enrolled her in a LifeWise “class” without his permission. Angered, he decided to volunteer with the organization to learn more about it. He was able to gain access to their core materials, which he promptly posted online for others to see.

“My view is that it’s a parental rights thing,” Parrish told The Dispatch. “I feel that any parent who wants to send their kids there should have access to this information.”

In response, LifeWise has decided to sue Parrish, claiming that they have suffered from “revenue loss” due to him publishing the material. They also feel that he is unjustly maligning them. Now, this butthurt organization, unhappy that people can actually read for themselves what kind of crazy bullshit they are peddling, is using copyright law to try and prevent this information from coming out.

Considering how powerful copyright law is, and how rich the organization is, Parrish is fighting an uphill battle. In my opinion, the solution here would be to write a detail summary of all the course material, complete with commentary and opinion. This would place it squarely into the realm of fair use, which would insulate him from their litigiousness.

I think it’s pretty telling how nervous LifeWise is at people finding this stuff out. In any case, now that it’s out there, I doubt they will be able to put a lid on it. This is the “Streisand Effect” that people often refer to: when trying to bury a story actually amplifies it. I think it’s time that people fight back against this sinister attempt to indoctrinate kids with their toxic bullshit.

Personally, I’d like to thank Parrish for all he’s doing to expose them. We need more people like him taking a stand and telling these religious zealots to leave our kids alone.

Oklahoma wants to force Bible Study from Grade 5-12

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Oklahoma Superintendent, and all around douchebag Ryan Walters has demanded that school in Oklahoma teach the Bible for grades 5-12, in a move that’s been condemned by civil rights group as an obvious violation of the separation of church and state. Because Republicans have no idea what this concept means, they are convinced that because many Americans have historically believed in the Bible, that it must mean that this book was vital in the development of the nation. This therefore justifies in their mind that the book must be imposed on people who do not share their pathetic faith.

“The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone,” Walters said in a statement. “Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction.”

Let’s get real for a moment here. Christians who have never really delved very deeply into this book are always told that it’s full of wisdom and moral lessons. In reality, it bares all the hallmarks of a book written thousands of years ago. It’s filled with superstitious nonsense (like the idea that women on their periods are unclean, or that curses can be put on people), violent and pointless stories of death, and literally hundreds of instances of rape. If it was made into a movie, it would resemble House of a Thousand Corpses.

You may recall that this is just the beginning of a nationwide assault on educational institutions by Christian Nationalists. Louisiana is forcing teachers to display the 10 Commandments, and Texas is also trying to get in on the action. Y’all ready to live under the American Taliban?

American Churches To Get Government Money to Arm Themselves

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Holy crap, does America ever have a galactic hard-on for gun. It’s not enough that the country owns more guns than actual people there, now the government wants people to have more, which is why there is a new grant that Churches can apply for if they wish to get free money to pay for armed security guards. I wish I was making this up.

Unfortunately, houses of worship can often be soft targets. By their nature, these locations are easily accessible to large numbers of people and have limited security measures in place, which can make them vulnerable to an attack. With the Houses of Worship Security Grant, eligible organizations can hire trained security professionals who, in an emergency, can mitigate or prevent a tragedy.

What problem are they trying to solve? Mass shootings? Forget about trying to reform their gun laws: instead, the public will need to pay out of pocket so that paranoid churches can have bodyguards. In 2024, there have already been over 200 mass shootings, but only one of them was at a church, which happens to be owned by one of the richest pastors in America: Joel Osteen. This has precipitated churches to ask for volunteers to arm themselves and stand guard, despite the fact that random gun violence is the rarity. Let’s not forget that the megachurch shooter had already made multiple threats before she acted. The fact that she was “taken down” by two off duty officers was all people needed to hear: the solution is more guns.

Keep in mind that the vast majority of these shootings appear to be at parks, birthday parties, and in people’s homes. Does that mean that every house party now needs government subsidies to hire bodyguards for the event? Surely this should instead be a wakeup call for Americans. Even your houses of worship aren’t safe, and the millions of dollars they want to spend to put a sleepy, poorly trained guard on watch is the equivalent of putting a band-aid on an arterial wound. The solution is simple: stop selling guns to mentally unstable people, and then maybe you won’t have so many dead from the world’s most preventable tragedy.

More Bibles in Schools, Less Free Lunches

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What happens when you interview the coauthor of an insane bill designed to force the 10 commandments in schools? You get one of the more unhinged and deranged individuals yet! And let’s not forget this dangerous idiot is just getting started!

This woman is against programs that would help children from poorer families to benefit from a meal program. That kind of charity is not in the 10 commandments, so it can promptly go to hell I guess.

You know, when claiming that America is a Christian nation, I think that this religiosity should be pointed at whenever we see the legacy of racism. After all, the Bible condones slavery, and was one of the main documents used to justify it. That’s history folks, and if they insist on accuracy, I say we oblige them. “Introduction to Christian Atrocities 101” sounds about right, doesn’t it?

Colorado GOP wants Pride Flags Burned

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For the American Republican Party, it has become the norm to be in a state of near constant fear and hatred. They seem intent on being the voice for those who wish to see people of different sexual orientations ostracized, harmed, and even killed. They GOP is intent on spreading the dangerous lies that the LGBTQ community is grooming children to sexually abuse them. Since the party itself seems to have moved to a “post truth” view of the world, it matters little that there is no proof in the allegations. If only they showed such zeal for their own religious institutions which already have hundreds of thousands of incidences of child abuse. Instead, their hateful rhetoric becomes a calling card for the extreme fringe of their constituents; impotent men armed to the teeth, thinking that they will be heroes instead of domestic terrorists.

The most recent example of this is in Colorado. You may remember that in 2022, a pathetic excuse for a human being named Anderson Lee Aldrich entered a gay nightclub called Club-Q. Dressed in body armor and carrying an AR-15 style rifle, he opened fire on innocent people, killing 5 and injuring a further 25. The tragedy would have claimed further victims, were he not stopped by a patron of the bar, a U.S. Army veteran by the name of Richard Fierro. This true American hero tackled the 300 pounds of human excrement to the ground, knocking the gun out of his had. Two other patrons helped hold him down as the authorities made their way to them.

Aldrich had previous incidents with police in the past, including threatening his grandparents for “ruining his plans for a mass shooting”. Of course, because this is a red state, this ticking time bomb was allowed to continue to own weapons, despite serious incidents with police and even the FBI, or him hosting a website advocating for the killing of civilians to “cleanse society”.  It was therefore only a matter of time before the continued lies and propaganda against the LGBT community, now perpetuated openly by the Republican party, would incense someone into violence.

It seems that they are doubling down on the dangerous rhetoric now. No longer are they skirting around their hatred for the LGBT community. They are now openly calling for people to burn pride flags, as though we were in the middle of Kabul:

“Burn all the #pride flags this June,” the state GOP wrote Monday on the social platform X. Earlier Monday, an email sent by the party with the subject line “God Hates Pride” perpetuated the false claim that LGBTQ people are “grooming” children to abuse them. “The month of June has arrived and, once again, the godless groomers in our society want to attack what is decent, holy, and righteous so they can ultimately harm our children,” reads the email.

Social media response is of course mixed. People with crosses in their profile are just as likely to condemn it as embrace it. It’s telling. Those of us with our heads screwed on properly know that advocating for the destruction of private property by a major political party is outrageous to say the least, but this type of thuggish behavior is becoming all too common. Those that support this kind of open animosity and hatred should be closely monitored. They are at the knife edge of fascism without knowing what it is.

The only bright light at the end of this dark tunnel is that this type of strategy is going to blow up majorly for the GOP. You see, there is a large, unvocal majority that sees all of this and have a strong reaction against it. They just aren’t social media savvy, and are smart enough not to engage in online toxicity. But they vote, and often they have no real political alliance. They simply try to balance out the left-right divide, often punishing groups if their power goes unchecked. Well, this is as power hungry as it gets, and considering the fact that people are leaving churches that promote such hatred, I find it difficult to imagine where all of these voters are that the GOP is hoping to attract with open calls for assault and violence.

Hopefully, the decency of people will shine through when it comes time to elect their representatives anew. There is a lot of hatred in the halls of government, and it needs to be expunged. Judging by the fact that Fierro’s family has been endlessly harassed by bigots who invented stories to demonize him, our prospects for the future does not look good.

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 357

In this weeks episode, we discuss a wild murder plot from Mormon Fundamentalists, Louisiana and Texas trying to force religion in schools, and the new grift of Russel Brand. You don’t want to miss this news!

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 357
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