Religious Affiliation: "??????"
We're not sure if that's a question or an answer
Today we learned that the Republican Party of Taylor County, Wisconsin believes the opposite of Christianity to be “??????.” In a pro-Trump ad that ran in the local paper, the group almost succeeded in making a list of antonyms. Never mind that hardly anything factual fell under Joe Biden’s category, we’re pretty hung up on their complete defeat in coming up with what someone stands for if not Christianity. Did they just not know how to spell “Anti-Christ” and forgot to proofread before publishing? (And again, for the record, Biden is Catholic.)
It’s been a rough year for white Evangelicals, if you ask them. They’re very sad about getting “unfairly” judged by the politicians and legislation they overwhelming support - roughly 81% voted for Trump in 2016, and by all indication, they’re still heavily in that boat. Arthur E. Farnsley II, the research director of Religion and Urban Culture 2.0 at IUPUI, wrote in his defense of white evangelicals:
“White evangelicals are routinely and unfairly stereotyped, lumped together in the basket of deplorables with the neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville and other supremacists.”
They’re really making this harder than it needs to be. They don’t want to be seen with the company they keep in this basket, yet they aren’t trying to climb out of the basket in any notable way.
Now for a lesson in true persecution, a man in Michigan has pled guilty to threatening to shoot a Black family that wanted to attend his church. There is no misinterpreting his violent intentions as read in the Facebook message he sent the victim. You can read that disturbing message in our post, if you want, but I’ll decline sharing it in this newsletter that goes straight to your inbox - because nobody should have those words unwillingly.
Of all the things for a Baptist preacher to yell after a Trump rally, this one may be a little too on the nose… Somehow, I filled up my entire Trump Bingo card with a single headline.
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn’s dystopian nightmare doesn’t sound too bad to me, but alas, she couldn’t be more wrong.
For the record, none of the current Supreme Court justices are openly non-religious. Neither are the former ones. And Sen. Chuck Schumer has only ever voted for religious justices.
Can anyone explain to me what a “Militant Secularist” is? As far as I can tell, it’s just me before drinking coffee each morning. But Attorney General William Barr is very, very worried about us.
Here’s my theory: This Illinois Republican is trying to lose her race, and that’s why she was caught on tape trashing her opponent’s race, his sexual orientation, and the incredible claim that he “wants to work for the chronically ill.”
The most awkward news of the day comes in the form of advice from conspiracy theorist / conservative activist DeAnna Lorraine, who urges ladies to pick their president like they’d pick their husband. Something about this monologue of hers tells me she’s never been to therapy.
When all else is failing, make stuff up, like former Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann. According to Bachmann, we’re about 139 days away from being a Communist nation, assuming Biden wins the election:
From [Biden’s] party’s perspective, they don’t care who’s at the top of the ticket because what they know is that 100 days after the election, should Joe Biden prevail, they intend to put in, I believe, a Marxist form of government.
The last Democratic presidential stretch was 2,922 days, yet we emerged on the other side with capitalism still intact. Her belief in the efficiency of Democrats is flattering, though.
In the U.S., if a church endorses a political candidate, it forfeits its non-profit status. Well, theoretically. While there has been no shortage of violations of the Johnson Amendment, only one church has lost their tax-exempt status in the last decade. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has a watchful eye on one such church whose own founder, Rick Kloos, is running for Kansas State Senate. We’re as eager to see if the church corrects the conflict as we are to see Rick Kloos (hopefully) lose the election.
Genesis 34 is a wild ride, everybody.
If you prefer your news in podcast form, here’s our discussion of the Supreme Court’s future and many other stories from this newsletter!
We’ll leave you with these words of wisdom from God:
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