Episode 257 – The Blasphemous Bible
By Dustin
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After the first segment we are joined by Craig Wells to talk about his new book The Blasphemous Bible and his upbringing in the Adventist church.
NEWS
France arrests 10 far-Right suspects over alleged plot to attack Muslims, say prosecutors
Since 2015 more than 240 people have died in terror attacks in France perpetrated by Islamic extremists. On Saturday anti-terrorist police, acting on information from France’s intelligence service arrested 10 would be terrorists, all linked to the far-Right, who were trying to stockpile weapons to use in attacks against Muslims.
French priest suspended after video of him slapping baby goes viral
You’ve probably seen the video by now, it’s an elderly Catholic priest trying to calm a crying baby that he’s supposed to baptize. When the normal soothing doesn’t work he slapped the baby across the face twice. It took both parents to force their child out of the priest’s arms.
In response to this the diocese in France that the 89 year old priest worked in has suspended him. He will specifically not be allowed to conduct baptisms, weddings, or mass until further notice. Of course they also had to explain this as “this loss of self control can be attributed to the fatigue of an elderly priest, but that doesn’t excuse it.”
South African court rules religion can’t be a defense for anti-gay hate speech
A pastor in South Africa had a complaint filed against him by the South African Human Rights Commission in 2013 for anti-LGBT hate speech. In arbitration the next year he agreed to not make statements blaming gays and lesbians for social problems or diseases, advocate hate, call for their remove from society, or advocate harmful behavior against them. He also agreed to not go beyond what the Bible says.
He then continued to advocate for gays and lesbians to be locked up in cages, blame them for pedophilia, suggest that ISIS should come rid South Africa of the homosexual curse, and more.
In response the Equality Court has held him in contempt ruling that his religious beliefs do not justify hate speech. Since he’s promised to be good they’ve suspended his sentence, but if he makes one more comment he’s going straight to jail.
Ivanka Trump Puts Her Money Where Her Mouth Is – by Donating $50,000 to Anti-LGBT Church
Ivanka Trump has made a $50,000 donation to Pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church. Graham is a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, member of Trump’s Religious Advisory Council, and a bigot who has worked hard to fight gay rights.
SCOTUS rules in Trump’s favor on Muslim ban
The US Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that Trump’s ban on travel to the United States for nationals of the predominantly Muslim countries of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen to be within the powers of the president. Additionally Cheif Justice Roberts wrote:
“The Proclamation is expressly premised on legitimate purposes: preventing entry of nationals who cannot be adequately vetted and inducing other nations to improve their practices. The text says nothing about religion.”
Justice Kennedy to retire; Trump can cement court’s conservative majority
Effective July 31st Justice Anthony Kennedy will be retiring from the Supreme Court. Kennedy has been the court’s swing vote tending to side with the liberals on civil rights issues, including gay rights. Our new swing vote will be Chief Justice John Roberts, so basically we’re all fucked.
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