Borat 2 "Star" Prayed for a Year Before Learning Film Was a Joke

That was not Very Nice.

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• The United States is not and never was a “Christian Nation,” but that won’t be heard by the rising cult of Christian Nationalists who are emboldened by their bastardized Holy Trinity of God, guns, and a distorted understanding of the Constitution. “Patriot Churches” were once a fringe breed— but in a time of MAGA, they’re creeping up all over the U.S. to serve the many conservative white Christians who long to return to a time 60-some-years ago when they were unapologetically more than equal.

• Christian “Prophetess” Kat Kerr was told by God that all the people in early voting lines are voting for Trump, and that “there’s no evidence that Biden has any people behind him.” (This is patently false.)

  Right Wing Watch @RightWingWatch

  "Prophetess" Kat Kerr has seen the lines of people waiting to vote early and was told by God that "all those people in that line are voting for Trump."

  

  Since when does “evidence” matter to a woman who thinks Heaven is home to cows driving tractors and a city made entirely out of Jell-O?

• He has all the best words, this guy…

  Acyn Torabi @Acyn

  Trump: We will vanquish the vaccine

  

• You’ve probably seen, or at least heard of, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm by now. Actor Sacha Baron Cohen plays Borat, a journalist from Kazakhstan who journeys to the U.S. and casts unsuspecting people — many stupid, some well-meaning and kind — to see how they’ll react to his outrageous, culturally alien behavior. While it seems like harmless fun at first glance, real people are getting duped into Borat’s story and damage has been incurred.

  

  Consider Jeanise Jones (above), who played Borat’s daughter Tutar’s “moral compass” babysitter. Jones was encouraged by her pastor to interview for what they believed was a documentary about a 15-year-old girl who was being married off to an older man. Jones was respectful of what she believed was a difference of culture, but she was authentic, loving, and empowering toward the young woman. After months of praying and worrying about Tutar’s well-being, she learned a week ago that she actually took part in a comedy film.

  Pastor Derrick Scobey, who was also none-the-wiser when he was asked to recruit an older Black woman from his church, has posted a GoFundMe to benefit Jones.

  Jeanise Jones is a Mother(3), Grandmother (6), faithful church member and just an overall great person who will help anyone. She recently emerged as the “STAR” in the new Borat movie. She was recruited from our church the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Oklahoma City after Producers spoke to me about needing a “Black Grandmother” for a small role in a “documentary.” Jeanise emerged as that person and she was completely unaware that this was a comedy, and all of this was made up. We have been praying for the young lady in the movie because we all genuinely thought she was in trouble. The joke is on us/Jeanise and that’s no problem. Many of you have reached from around the world to say thank you, so I thought it would be great to give people a vehicle to say thank you in a tangible way, She wasn’t paid much money at all for her role in this movie.
  
  This was not scripted for Jeanise. It all came from the heart. She is one of the most authentic people I’ve ever met. One good thing that has come from this is that Jeanise doesn’t have to worry about “Tutar” anymore. She has WORRIED about this young lady for a year.

  While Jeanise Jones and Pastor Scobey seem to be good sports about the situation, it would have been nice if the producers leveled with some of the “stars” of the film ahead of its release and threw them a little extra compensation. Jones, who recently lost her job, was paid $3,600 for her participation in what she thought was a foreign “documentary.”

• I’m glad the Mormon Church isn’t afraid to say “Black Lives Matter” but it would help if they acknowledged their own racism in the process.

  Hemant Mehta @hemantmehta

  "Oaks never mentioned the church’s own centurylong priesthood/temple ban on Blacks, which ended in 1978..."

  

  Sarah Pulliam Bailey @spulliam

  Dallin Oaks, next in line for the presidency of the LDS Church, called "Black lives matter" an "eternal truth," without adding any caveat like, "All lives matter." https://t.co/TlcX2azQ0r from @religiongal

• We’ve been waiting two weeks to find out the identity of the “well-known” pastor from North Carolina who peed on a woman during a red-eye from Las Vegas to Detroit.
  
  Finally, the name has leaked.

• A couple of Christian bigots on a radio show had nothing intelligent to say… so they resorted to Obama-is-gay jokes.

  Right Wing Watch @RightWingWatch

  Anti-LGBTQ activist Scott Lively says Obama was humiliated by speaking to a small crowd at a drive-in Biden rally: "That must be like the toughest thing he's faced since he lost his boyfriends back in Chicago."

  

  Leave it to people who look like they’re broadcasting from an old basement to spread lies about someone else being in the closet.

• Want to get a better understanding of QAnon? Well, this video won’t help one bit.
  
  But we did learn that these conspiracy theorists (which is putting it mildly) think whatever they believe will be proven so hard, it’ll be undeniable.

  “It’s a movement that’s being awakened to the very things we’re talking about,” Enlow added. “What’s coming out about the Biden family corruption, the Clinton family corruption, the Jeffrey Epstein thing — we heard that for two years from Q before it ever became public. We heard this Biden story, the Biden story with China. If anything, the Q operation is being validated as never before. And again, if anybody’s listening for the first time is like, ‘No, QAnon has been debunked,’ you have to understand it has not been debunked. It is going to be proven so thoroughly, it’s just going to be indisputable.”

  Anyone else getting an "every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God” vibe?

• Science misinformation is raging like never before, thanks to politicians, religious leaders, and the trough of alternative facts that make up the internet. Thankfully the University of Alberta is offering an inoculation to the anti-science pandemic all around us in the form of a free online Science Literacy course.

  In a world where we have access to unlimited information, it is hard to sift through the echo chamber of opinions fueled by emotions and personal biases, rather than scientific evidence… Every module will build your new skill-base with real life examples, and at the end of each module you will have to apply these skills to scientific questions, talking points, and controversies in the world.

  Now, how do we get the people who most need the course to take it? In the words of Bertrand Russell, “The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”