More Chick-fil-A Bigotry From CEO Dan Cathy: 'Redefinition' Of Marriage Is 'Twisted'

via Good As You:

DAN CATHY, president and COO of Chick-fil-A:"It's very clear in Romans chapter 1, if we look at society today, we see all the twisted up kind of stuff that's going on. Washington trying to redefine the definition of marriage and all the other kinds of things that we go—if you go upstream from that, in Romans chapter 1, you will see that because we have not acknowledged God and because we have not thanked God, that we have been left victim to the foolishness of our own thoughts, and as result, we are suffering the consequences of a society and culture who has not acknowledged God or not thanked God—he's left us to a deprived mind. It's tragic and we live in a culture of that today."

Watch:

Chick-fil-A Backpedals Bigotry After Backlash

Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy

Just a few days after their CEO made anti-gay remarks you'd expect to hear from Pat Robertson, Chick-fil-A posted a note to their Facebook page affirming their commitment to "treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender." Chick-fil-A claims this is part of their "tradition." Right.

Here is the message in its entirety:

The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 Restaurants run by independent Owner/Operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.

Chick-fil-A is a family-owned and family-led company serving the communities in which it operates. From the day Truett Cathy started the company, he began applying biblically-based principles to managing his business. For example, we believe that closing on Sundays, operating debt-free and devoting a percentage of our profits back to our communities are what make us a stronger company and Chick-fil-A family.

Our mission is simple: to serve great food, provide genuine hospitality and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.

Two things:

1. You can bet your sweet fried ass that Chick-fil-A would never have posted that note had the public response to CEO Dan Cathy's comments been overwhelmingly positive. The words ring hollow, like the plaintive voice of a young child who has angered her parents, and who will say whatever she has to say to regain their favor.

2. If Chick-fil-A truly intends to "leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena," they will not funnel one more dime into SPLC-designated hate groups such as the Family Research Council. They will not support the ex-gay ministry Exodus International. And they will open up their camps and retreates to the LGBT population (not that many would want to go). Anything less amounts to a hill of beans.

Chick-fil-A, to be sure, is free to run their business as they please. This is America. And the great thing about America is that we have the freedom to vote with our pocketbooks and to call out bigotry in the public space. But until they have proven that they are not actively participating in the discrimination of human beings based on their natural traits, they can expect the boycotts to continue, and they can expect to live with the repercussions of their public comments.

Chick-fil-A's Dan Cathy Super-Sizes Anti-Gay Rhetoric In Latest Interview

Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy confirmed earlier this week what many of us already knew: Chick-fil-A really doesn't like gay people.

The story gained a lot of steam yesterday as bloggers and news sources reported Cathy's "Guilty as Charged" response to the company's Biblical, anti-LGBT stance.

Where most companies would be in damage-control mode after such public revelations, Cathy has upped the ante.

Appearing on The Ken Coleman Show, Cathy stated the following:

"I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,'" Cathy said. "I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about."

"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that … We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that," Cathy said.

"We need to be more faithful to depend on a God who does love us and wants to have a relationship with us, and wants to give us the desires of our hearts … We intend to stay the course," Cathy said. 

"We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles," Cathy explained.

Watch:

When Religious People Call Scientology Weird

In the wake of the recent split of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, there has been an increase in column inches devoted to Scientology. (The split also prompted some Twitter nastiness from Rupert Murdoch).

A recent Us Weekly article speculated on Tom Cruise's Scientology superpowers:

Having practiced Scientology for 30 years, Cruise has traveled the so-called "Bridge to Total Freedom" to achieve, through intense "auditing" sessions and other practices, a rarefied sense of enlightenment. Scientologists mark the path to the "Bridge" with ascending grades or stages, and, Janet Reitman's Rolling Stone story reports, Cruise is at the very advanced "OT VII" stage. Operative Thetans, Reitman says, have "have total 'control' over themselves and their environment. OTs can allegedly move inanimate objects with their minds, leave their bodies at will and telepathically communicate with, and control the behavior of, both animals and human beings." The more advanced Cruise and other Operating Thetans become, Reitman reports, they reach a God-like state: "At the highest levels, they are allegedly liberated from the physical universe, to the point where they can psychically control what Scientologists call MEST: Matter, Energy, Space and Time.

That's certainly some pretty weird stuff. Especially since there is no evidence whatsoever for psychokinesis. Magician and skeptic James Randi has offered $1 million to anyone who can produce a paranormal event, such as psychokinesis, in a controlled, mutually agreed upon experiment. Other organizations have come forth to offer prize money totalling $2.6 million for evidence of the paranormal. That money has been sitting there unclaimed, and I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon.

So yes, we all get a good laugh out of Scientology, just as many of us get a good laugh out of Mormonism. A lot of what drives the skepticism and ridicule is the fact that these religions are based on dubious narratives and extraordinary claims for which there is no evidence.

Why, then, are adherents of other religions so quick to call Scientology kooky? Don't they embrace some fairly outlandish beliefs as well?

Part of what seems silly about Scientology is its newness (not to mention the fact that the founder was a science fiction writer). Humans also are heavily influenced by tradition, and many of us are born into our religions. Something can't be that kooky if it's been around for 2,000 years and if we were born into it, right?

That depends on your perspective. To those who do not entertain supernatural notions, religions are all different shades of unbelievable.

A Tom Cruise-related story over at Discovery touches on this observation:

Though many elements of Scientology theology (written by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard) seem strange, it’s fair to note that many religions include paranormal or supernatural beliefs including virgin birth, walking on water, miraculous healings, garments and amulets that protect the wearer from harm, and so on. One man’s miracle is another man’s superstition.

Plus, there are many reasons for religious people to call Tom Cruise crazy without goofing on his religion.

Chick-fil-A CEO: We're Not A 'Christian Business,' But We Operate On 'Biblical Principles'

It's a well-known fact (and the source of many barbs) that Chick-fil-A is always closed on Sundays. And it's a fairly well-known fact that the chain is a supporter of anti-gay organizations.

What's the deal with the whole Chick-fil-A Christian thing? And is it okay, as a supporter of equality and church-state separation, to eat their delicious chicken sandwiches?

The short answer? Quite a lot, and no.

Chick-fil-A president and CEO Dan Cathy spoke to the Baptist Press.

"We don't claim to be a Christian business," Cathy said in a recent visit to North Carolina. He attended a business leadership conference many years ago where he heard Christian businessman Fred Roach say, "There is no such thing as a Christian business."

"That got my attention," Cathy said. Roach went on to say, "Christ never died for a corporation. He died for you and me."

"In that spirit ... [Christianity] is about a personal relationship. Companies are not lost or saved, but certainly individuals are," Cathy added.

"But as an organization we can operate on biblical principles. So that is what we claim to be. [We are] based on biblical principles, asking God and pleading with God to give us wisdom on decisions we make about people and the programs and partnerships we have. And He has blessed us."

Most people don't have a problem with the political or religious ideologies embraced by their eateries, so long as it does not affect their dining experience. (And to be sure, many Christians are more than thrilled that companies like Chick-fil-A are vocal about their religious beliefs.)

There are very good reasons why so many businesses go out of their way to stay out of religious and political debates -- they risk alienating a large part of their clientele. Customers at a Chick-fil-A are not likely to see bible verses on the walls, or to be asked by the fry-cook if they know Jesus, but one doesn't need to look too hard to know that Chick-fil-A is an organization deeply committed to promoting Biblical principles. This includes supporting anti-gay marriage initiatives and allegedly discriminating against its own employees who don't share their beliefs.

Cathy is very clear about Chick-fil-A's mission:

Cathy believes strongly that Christians are missionaries in the workplace. "Jesus had a lot of things to say about people who work and live in the business community," he said. His goal in the workplace is "to take biblical truth and put skin on it. ... We're talking about how our performance in the workplace should be the focus of how we build respect, rapport and relationships with others that opens the gateway to interest people in knowing God.

"All throughout the New Testament there is an evangelism strategy related to our performance in the workplace. ... Our work should be an act of worship. Our work should be our mission field. As long as we are stateside, let's don't think we have to go on mission trips by getting a passport. ... If you're obedient to God you are going to be evangelistic in the quality of the work you do, using that as a portal to share [Christ]," he said.

When asked if Chick-fil-A's success is attributed to biblical values, Cathy quickly said, "I think they're inseparable. God wants to give us wisdom to make good decisions and choices." Quoting James 1:5, he spoke of how often he asks God for wisdom.

So, okay, Cathy doesn't necessarily want his employees testifying from behind the register, so what's the big deal? There are a tons of companies with Christian CEOs and Christian values, right? Sure. And this is America, where people are free to believe what they want.

The problem arises when highly successful companies like Chick-fil-A start using their muscle to support initiatives which are discriminatory.

There was a time when the Atlanta college football bowl game, which is now named after Chick-fil-A, was called the Peach Bowl. The annual bowl features teams from the ACC and the SEC. It struggled for a long time. Then 15 years ago the Chick-fil-A organization got involved. It was rebranded as the Chick-fil-A Bowl and has been incredibly successful with 15 consecutive sellouts.

"We are the only bowl that has an invocation. It's in our agreement that if Chick-fil-A is associated in this, there's going to be an invocation. Also, we don't have our bowl on Sunday, either," Cathy said.

So if you attend a Chick-fil-A bowl, you better be ready to pray to Jesus. If you're Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or a non-believer, then, well, suck it.

Chick-fil-A also invests in Christian growth and ministry through its WinShape Foundation, which offers scholarships, camps, retreats, and foster homes.

In order to be eligible for a WinShape scholarship, one must sign a contract which includes Christianity-based rules, and commitment to a fundamentalist Christian lifestyle.

Gay couples are not allowed at WinShape retreats.

WinShape gave $2 million dollars to anti-gay groups in 2010, including the gay 'conversion therapy' organization Exodus International, and the Family Research Council, which has been designated a hate group by the SPLC. The company also gave $2 million to anti-gay groups in 2009.

Cathy is absolutely unrepentant regarding his company's support of anti-gay organizations:

"Well, guilty as charged," said Cathy when asked about the company's position.

"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.

"We operate as a family business ... our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that," Cathy emphasized.

"We intend to stay the course," he said. "We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.

So, there you have it straight from the horse's mouth.

Many Christians might agree with Cathy in his assertion that Chick-fil-A is not a Christian business. A Christian business might actually refrain from actively contributing to the denial of others' rights.

The Difference Between Science And Religion, Explained With Bunnies

Via reddit:

CNN Anchor Calls Bill Nye A Kook For Linking Wildfires To Climate Change, Gets Schooled

Science educator Bill Nye is introduced by a CNN anchor as a 'kook.' Nye says that climate change is to blame for the recent spate of wildfires.

Watch:

Gay Marriage Is Inevitable: Pew Data Shows Continued Trend Of Acceptance

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life just released some new data which allows us to view the changing attitudes on gay marriage over the course of the past 11 years.

It's easy for supporters of equality to become frustrated with recent anti-gay marriage legislation (and the promise of more coming down the pike), but it is encouraging to step back and view the changing attitudes over the past decade or so. While a decade seems like eternity when you are being denied the rights that others enjoy, it is a relatively short period of time for such a sea change in acceptance.

While there's a lot of data to pore over, let's take a look at four graphs that provide us with a basic overview of this shift.

2012 is only the second year (2011 being the first) in which Pew recorded a majority in favor of gay marriage.

Take a look:

Due to vocal support for marriage equality in the media, in businesses, on social networks, and even in religious bodies, it is likely that we may have reached a tipping point, in which case we can expect an accelerated rate of acceptance in the coming decade.

We also can expect to see a continued rate of increase of support as millennials age into the working and voting demographic, and as the older generation of politicians, business owners, and clergy members start to, uh, get out of the way.

Check it out:

So, who exactly are these people who are so anti-equality? As they say, sometimes stereotypes exist for a reason.

Let's see:

If you guessed that white evangelicals were the most anti-equality religious demographic, you're right. And lo and behold, it's the 'religious nones' who by and large don't have any problem with the gays marrying. This would be the atheists, agnostics, and those who are religious but simply don't belong to any of the main doctrine-driven denominations.

Also, if you guessed Republicans are the most anti-equality political affiliation, you win a prize.  However, Democrats and Independents aren't exactly the 'live and let live' types as we are often led to believe.

There's more where this came from, but the takeaway should be clear. Gay marriage is inevitable, folks. It's just a matter of how soon, and certainly for many it couldn't be soon enough.

We have seen the future of America. They're young, they're not beholden to antiquated dogma, and they're not scared of the gays.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson Tweets More Baseball

During the 2011 World Series, Neil deGrasse Tyson treated his Twitter followers to an entertaining and informative stream of tweets about baseball from the perspective of an astrophysicist.

Tyson is arguably one of the most popular, charismatic, and likable scientists since Carl Sagan. It's only natural that we would want to know what it's like to sit on the couch with him during the All-Star Game.

I was pleased to find Tyson tweeting about baseball last night while the game was on. (It wasn't much of a game, so his commentary was probably the only thing keeping me from shutting the thing off.)

I've collected those tweets below for your enjoyment:

Fischer: Gays Are Driven By A 'Dark, Venomous, Demonic Hatred'

Bryan Fischer, the man with absolutely no self-awareness, says the gays are the "real haters," because they are fueled by a Christophobic, heterophobic demonic hatred.

Watch:

Evangelist Claims To Have 200,000 People Who Will Write In Jesus For President

Via Christian Post:

An Internet evangelist who is advocating that Christians vote for Jesus as a write-in candidate says he has more than 200,000 people who have committed to do so. However, a political science expert believes the evangelist's demonizing rhetoric about both candidates is not Christ-like.

You may recall Bill Keller. He's the guy who launched an attack against Joel Osteen and Franklin Graham for promoting Mitt Romney and failing to expose Mormonism as a cult.

It appears that perhaps Keller is not thrilled with his choices this election cycle.

"It is literally Satan flipping a two-headed coin with his head on both sides. How can a Christian in good conscience vote for President Obama, who has proven to be the most pro-baby killing, pro-radical homosexual, pro-enemy of Israel President in our nation's history," Keller stated in a "Vote for Jesus" campaign update.

"On the other hand, how can a Christian in good conscience vote for Mitt Romney, a 5th generation member and priest of the Satanic Mormon cult," he added. "His Presidency would give his cult the mainstream acceptance they have always wanted since being founded 200 years ago by a documented con-artist, racist, pedophile, polygamist, and murderer named Joseph Smith."

Watch:

Robertson: The Bible Was 'Terribly Wrong' About Slavery, But Not About Homosexuality

Evangelicals love to cherry-pick their scripture. They love to cite 'The Word of God' when it rails against homosexuality. "The Bible is quote clear," they'll tell you.

The Bible is quite clear about a lot of things that Christians have long dismissed: slavery, wearing blended fabrics, eating shellfish, executing people for petty offenses, etc.

Pat Robertson has a long history of hating gay people. "The Bible is so clear about homosexuality," he's said.

However, Pat, like many evangelical Christians, loves to cherry-pick.

"Despite what the Bible says, “We have moved in our conception of the value of human beings until we realized slavery was terribly wrong.”

Have we, Pat? It seems like just a few months ago, evangelicals were up in arms when Dan Savage suggested the same thing.

SAVAGE: We can learn to ignore the bullshit about gay people in the Bible the same way have learned to ignore the bullshit in the Bible about shellfish about slavery, about dinner about farming, about menstruation, about virginity, about masturbation. We ignore bullshit in the bible about all sorts of things. The Bible is a radically pro-slavery document. Slave owners waived Bibles over their heads during the civil war and justified it…We ignore what the Bible says about slavery because the Bible got slavery wrong.…If the Bible got the easiest moral question that humanity has ever faced wrong, slavery. What are the odds that the Bible got something as complicated as human sexuality wrong? 100 percent.

So, we have Pat Robertson admitting that the Bible was "terribly wrong" about slavery. To extend Pat's thoughts on the "value of human beings" idea into the treatment of the LGBT population doesn't seem to be much of a stretch, does it? It's not that radical a notion.

It will happen. Eventually. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until bigoted dinosaurs like Pat Robertson die out.

Fired Voice Of Chuck E. Cheese Hopes You Experienced Christ Through His Work

Apparently the E. in Chuck E. Cheese stands for "Evangelical." Not that you'd really gather that from the rodent's pizza-pushing persona. But according to the recently fired voice behind the rat, Christ flowed through Chuck like melted mozzarella.

The two-decade relationship between Duncan Brannan and CEC Inc. came to an end in a rather underhanded way. According to reports, Brannan found out he was replaced when he heard "Chuck's Hot New Single," which was, according to Brannon, "clearly not my voice."

Brannan posted a letter on his Facebook page, which has been reprinted on pizza industry sites and elsewhere over the past few days, in which he stated the true mission of Chuck E. Cheese for the past 20 years: "What it was about, what my sincere hope is that you -- you Fans, you parents, and all you kids who have loved Chuck E. Cheese over the years -- have seen, heard, or experienced Jesus Christ in and through my life in some way. For He is all that matters, now and for all eternity. I hope that you have seen Christ in me. I hope that He touched your life through mine in some special way and, if that happened, then I was doing my one true real job, which is sharing Him with all of you."

The letter in full:

Why CEC, Inc. chose to do this, or do it in this manner, one can only speculate and that is not my place. The fact is I am grateful for the time I have had to do this, to be "Chuck E." -- grateful to God for the appointment and grateful to the people at CEC, Inc. for the opportunity.
But, more than all of that, here's what I know: I am a Christian, and that is all that matters. I am one who believes that salvation (from sin, God's judgment, and hell) is found in no other name under heaven but the risen Lord and Savior and returning King, Jesus Christ. And, if being the voice of Chuck E. Cheese for any length of time has meant anything to me, it was never about a paycheck because God will always provide for His children in one way or another. No. What it was about, what my sincere hope is that you -- you Fans, you parents, and all you kids who have loved Chuck E. Cheese over the years -- have seen, heard, or experienced Jesus Christ in and through my life in some way. For He is all that matters, now and for all eternity. I hope that you have seen Christ in me. I hope that He touched your life through mine in some special way and, if that happened, then I was doing my one true real job, which is sharing Him with all of you.

Regardless then of how all this has transpired, God is faithful and worth of praise. He knows the good plans he has for this man and His people everywhere. And, I'm just a little teeny spec in that big, beautiful picture! I trust Him, rejoice in Him, and will continue looking to Him for His guidance, provision, and everything else, and I want to encourage all of you to do the same because He will never fail or forsake you. I am looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store and will continue to press toward the mark of His high calling. To God alone be the glory and honor and praise forever through His Son, the only Lord and Savior, the only true hope for mankind, Jesus Christ!

Warmest Regards,

Duncan Brannan

Former Voice of Chuck E. Cheese
Forever Child of God through Christ Jesus

What Part Of 'Consent" Does Bryan Fischer Not Understand?

Bryan Fischer's latest batshit rant is about how condoning gay marriage will only lead to the legalization of pedophilia and bestiality.  Not that we haven't heard that one before.


It's a common refrain with Fischer.  His Twitter feed is rife with comparisons of homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality.

The anti-gay spokesman for the American Family Association has this meme he thinks is clever. To support his view that it's perfectly okay to discriminate against LGBT folks, he serves up endless examples of our intolerance of pedophilia and bestiality.

Here's the thing, Bry. In cases of child molestation or sex with a minor, the acts are not consensual. In cases of bestiality, the acts are not consensual. In gay marriage, there are two consenting adults.

I can't decide if you're willfully ignorant or just an idiot.

Bryan Fischer's Christian Approach To Health Care: Hospitals, Turn Away The Poor

Another day, another batshit quote from the AFA's Bryan Fischer.

In a blog post on the AFA website, Fischer serves up some ideas on fixing Obamacare. The post is titled, Bringing down health care costs so easy a caveman could do it.

Apparently, Fischer is not aware that Neanderthals actually showed "a deep seated sense of compassion."

Fischer writes:

People need medical care, you will say. Right. People need to eat, too. How long would a grocer stay in business if he was required to offer food to everyone who walked in the door regardless of their ability to pay? He’d be broke in a week, and then nobody would have food.

In the very next paragraph, Fischer actually states the following:

The American people, because of the spirit of Christianity, are the most generous people on earth.

There you have it. Bryan Fischer is not only a terrible human being. As I've stated over and over, he is also the world's least self-aware.

Christian Group Backs Away From 'Gay Cure,' But Still Wants To Help Gays Live Heterosexual Lives

Left to right: Chambers, beard

Via msnbc:

The president of the country's best-known Christian ministry dedicated to helping people repress same-sex attraction through prayer is trying to distance the group from the idea that gay people's sexual orientation can be permanently changed or "cured."

That's a significant shift for Exodus International, the 36-year-old Orlando-based group that boasts 260 member ministries around the U.S. and world. For decades, it has offered to help conflicted Christians rid themselves of unwanted homosexual inclinations through counseling and prayer, infuriating gay rights activists in the process.

This is interesting news for those who have followed Exodus International's history.

Michael Bussee, one of the founders of Exodus, and Gary Cooper, a leader within the ministry of Exodus, left the group to be with each other in 1979. Bussee has since been a long-time critic of Exodus.

In 2007, Bussee, along with Jeremy Marks, the former president of Exodus International Europe, and Darlene Bogle, the founder of Paraklete Ministries, an Exodus referral agency, issued an apology to those who had been misled by Exodus. The three stated that although they acted sincerely at the time of their involvement, their message had caused isolation, shame and fear. The three had, in time, become disillusioned with promoting gay conversion.

"Some who heard our message were compelled to try to change an integral part of themselves, bringing harm to themselves and their families," stated the three in the apology.

Another Exodus Chairman, John Paulk was removed by the board of directors when he was identified drinking and flirting at Mr. P's, a Washington, D.C. gay bar, Paulk was introducing himself to patrons of the bar as "John Clint," a name he had used in his previous life as a hustler in Ohio. Paulk was the author of "Not Afraid to Change; The Remarkable Story of How One Man Overcame Homosexuality," and was on staff with Focus on the Family, where was manager of their Homosexuality and Gender Department.

Essentially, Exodus International's ex-gay therapy doesn't work. It never did. It hasn't worked for its clients, and it hasn't worked for its leaders.

At the group's annual conference, president Alan Chambers plans to start disassociating himself and his organization from the ex-gay, or conversion therapy, movement.

"I do not believe that cure is a word that is applicable to really any struggle, homosexuality included," said Chambers, who is married to a woman and has children, but speaks openly about his own sexual attraction to men. "For someone to put out a shingle and say, 'I can cure homosexuality' — that to me is as bizarre as someone saying they can cure any other common temptation or struggle that anyone faces on Planet Earth."

Chambers has cleared books endorsing ex-gay therapy from the Exodus online bookstore in recent months. He said he's also worked to stop member ministries from espousing it.

That's great news, right? Finally, Exodus admits that ex-gay therapy is a sham and that people don't choose their sexuality. So, what will Exodus International do now? They're through, right? Kaput?

Of course not. If they can't convert the gays, they'll just help them live a lie.

Chambers said the ministry's emphasis should be simply helping Christians who want to reconcile their own particular religious beliefs with sexual feelings they consider an affront to scripture. For some that might mean celibacy; for others, like Chambers, it meant finding an understanding opposite-sex partner.

"I consider myself fortunate to be in the best marriage I know," Chambers said. "It's an amazing thing, yet I do have same-sex attractions. Those things don't overwhelm me or my marriage; they are something that informs me like any other struggle I might bring to the table."

While we can applaud Exodus International's admission that ex-gay therapy doesn't work, it's certainly not much of an improvement to then state that gay people still need to change.

"We appreciate any step toward open, transparent honesty that will do less harm to people," said Wayne Besen, a Vermont-based activist who has worked to discredit ex-gay therapy. "But the underlying belief is still that homosexuals are sexually broken, that something underlying is broken and needs to be fixed. That's incredibly harmful, it scars people."

So, we have moved on from "it's a choice" to "it's not a choice, but it's an affront to God and must be suppressed."

It's almost like progress. Except it isn't.

Would The Discovery Of Alien Life Spell Doom For Religion?

The vastness and complexity of the cosmos tends to bolster the faith in a creator for many. Certainly something so intricate and expansive could not have just 'happened.'

For many others, myself included, the more we learn about the cosmos, the more we question the validity of religion.

Mike Wall writes at Space.com:

The discovery of life beyond Earth would shake up our view of humanity's place in the universe, but it probably wouldn't seriously threaten organized religion, experts say.

Religious faith remains strong in much of the world despite scientific advances showing that Earth is not the center of the universe, and that our planet's organisms were not created in their present form but rather evolved over billions of years. So it's likely that religion would also weather any storms caused by the detection of E.T., researchers say.

Many believers tend to compartmentalize their religion and their understanding of the world. How else would we explain geologists, astrophysicists, and biologists who adhere to a young-earth creationist belief system? (Yes, they do exist.) While this seems inconceivable, it speaks to the power of belief, and the unshakeable nature of faith.

While it is not inconceivable that people of faith could reconcile alien life with their faith, it certainly would seem to raise many questions -- questions that I often wrestled with during my time as a believer:

According to the Drake Equation, there are "at least 125 billion galaxies in the observable universe. It is estimated that at least ten percent of all sun-like stars have a system of planets, i.e. there are 6.25×1018 stars with planets orbiting them in the observable universe. Even if we assume that only one out of a billion of these stars have planets supporting life, there would be some 6.25×109 (billion) life-supporting planetary systems in the observable universe.

If we are to make a conservative estimate and say that there are 2 planets in the cosmos with intelligent life, we can extrapolate that there might be three major religions on each planet (if religions even exist on these planets). Considering that humans on earth only stumbled upon monotheism 3000 years ago, and that we have run through numerous deities, it is fair to say that none of these hypothetical alien religions are Christianity, Islam, or Hinduism. What would that mean?

If Christianity is the one true religion, as many Christians will proclaim, did Christ also exist on these other planets?

If Islam is the one true religion, and if Islam doesn't exist on any other planets, are entire worlds of beings destined for Jahannam?

If religions did not evolve on other planets, what does that say about our own religions here on Earth?

Why do our religious texts (many of which are believed to be the word of God) not make any mention of life on other planets? Wouldn't that be a huge omission by an all-knowing creator?

Doug Vakoch, director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, doesn't think the discovery of alien life would have much effect on religious belief:

"I think there are reasons that we might initially think there are going to be some problems. My own hunch is they're probably not going to be as severe as we might initially think."

Rather than being shaken to its foundations by the confirmation of life on another planet or moon, organized religion may accept the news, adapt and move on.
Vakoch cited the example of Baptist theologian Hal Ostrander, who is an associate pastor at a church in Georgia.

"Dr. Ostrander is adamantly opposed to evolution, and yet he has no problem with the idea of there being extraterrestrials," Vakoch said. "He says it's as if a couple has one child, and then they decide to have a second child. Is that second child any less special? So too if God decides to have life on our planet, and then another planet, and another planet. It doesn't make us less special."

I especially believe this would be the case for many liberal religious people -- those who have not had any problems reconciling scripture with evolution, for example. These people do not tend to approach the scriptures literally. They understand that the scriptures were written by people with a limited understanding of the cosmos, and that much of the stories in the scriptures are parables, myths, and embellished accounts.

It is the scriptural literalists who may have problems with the news of intelligent life on other planets. If the evolution debate has taught us anything, we might expect them to doubt the science used to confirm intelligent alien life.

Or perhaps such a finding might finally be what allows these folks to evolve their religious views.

I, for one, welcome our new alien overlords.

Bryan Fischer: Satan Behind Gay Rights, Planned Parenthood & Environmentalism

Another day, another batshit rant from Bryan Fischer.

According to Fischer, Old Scratch is behind everything from gay rights to Planned Parenthood to environmentalism.

Watch:

Florida Teacher Accused Of Performing Cutting Ritual On Students To Rid Them Of Demons

Harkins

Florida, you so crazy.

Via First Coast News:

In what St. Petersburg police are calling a weird religious ritual, they have arrested 35-year old Danielle Harkins for encouraging several teenagers to cut and burn themselves.

The cutting was said to release evil spirits from their body, and the cauterizing of the wounds with fire was to prevent the spirits from getting back in.

The event happened close to the St. Petersburg Pier downtown.

Police say only two of the teenagers were actually cut.

According to authorities, she caused second-degree burns in an attempt to "brand" one of the students' hands with a cigarette lighter. Because of windy conditions next to the pier, the flame wouldn't stay, so she poured perfume on the wound and set it on fire.

Via New York Daily News:

"There was apparently some chanting and then dancing around this fire that was taking place," St. Petersburg Police Department spokesman Mike Puetz told Fox Tampa Bay.

Two kids were cut, and one sustained second-degree burns after the teacher allegedly poured perfume on his wound and lit it with a cigarette lighter, investigators told WTSP.

One of them was cut in the neck with a broken bottle and the wound was cauterized with a heated-up house key, authorities told Bay News 9.

Fischer: Gays Cannot Be Reasoned With Because God Has Given Them Over To Depraved Minds

Via Right Wing Watch:

"...you cannot reason with these people because they are impervious to facts, they are impervious to logic, they are impervious to reason, they are impervious to history, they are impervious to the truth."

Bryan, that's actually a pretty apt description of yourself and your fellow Christian Right lunatics.

Go on.

"And the reason that gays and liberals and the like cannot be reasoned with is because God has given them over to a "depraved mind," so "their thinking is messed up [and] they don't process information the way normal people process information."

Wait, what?. I don't even.