WEEK IN REVIEW: The Mormon Church's Bigotry Just Cost Them a Very Wealthy Member
One of the richest Utahns said the Church's bigotry drove him out for good
Thank you for checking out this newsletter! Thank you even more if you become a full subscriber! Consider giving someone a gift subscription! Think of your friends! (Or your enemies.)
Just a reminder that I’m currently on a brief hiatus from posting regularly and I’ll be back writing at a website called OnlySky in early January. You can read more about my decision here!
OnlySky is an explicitly secular media outlet that goes far beyond blogs. You’ll find topical posts and longer reflections, sure, but you’ll also get podcasts, videos, news analysis, and more from a variety of progressive voices.
While the site isn’t live just yet, you can be updated ASAP when it goes live.The richest man in Utah just submitted his resignation to the Mormon Church, claiming it is “actively and currently doing harm in the world.”
The man in question is Jeff T. Green, a tech mogul worth about $5 billion (though that number can fluctuate depending on the day). He isn’t just making some symbolic move here. He’s formally leaving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints along with nearly a dozen family members.
He hadn’t donated to the Church in over a decade, so it’s not like the Church is losing money it was counting on, but his name and status are walking away and that may be the bigger blow for Mormonism.
Say it louder for the people in the back:
Keep an eye on this one: The people who made the popular documentary LuLaRich are working on a project focusing on the Institute in Basic Life Principles, the fundamentalist Christian ministry that supposedly helped Josh Duggar after his first scandal years ago. The ministry’s founder Bill Gothard has a long history of sexual abuse.
During a high-decibel rant at the right-wing Turning Point USA conference Monday afternoon, Rep. Lauren Boebert delivered her usual stump speech, full of insane attacks on Democrats.
But one line in particular was particularly egregious. It was a lie even more obvious than all her other ones.
“… I am tired of having godless people who hate America run this country!”
The fact is, America is run by Christians at just about every level of government. And — I know — this is just an attack line for her, not something she’s ever actually thought about. Still, I detailed all this in a much longer post.
Here’s an interesting chart. It seems to suggest that preaching abstinence, promoting purity culture, and taking prom pictures with your date's dad holding a gun doesn't lead to much statistical difference for evangelical Christians when it comes to divorce.
Interesting little nugget from a new study by @BradWilcoxIFS and @lymanstoneky. The annual probability of divorce for evangelicals is just as high as it is for the nones. And slightly higher than Catholics and mainline Protestants. Full report here: ifstudies.org/ifs-admin/reso…
BUT as Ryan Burge pointed out to me, that same study found that growing up religious, marrying early, and cohabitating — living with your significant other before marriage — were more reliable predictors of whether or not you would get divorced. Evangelical Christians often fit that profile.
BUT I would just point out that all those things also create a culture where divorce isn’t an option. Being pressured to stay in a broken marriage — therefore having a lower divorce rate — doesn’t strike me as a "win" for evangelicals.
Back in early November, the government of Oaxaca, Mexico donated a neat statue to sit outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City. It’s a “fusion of jaguar and eagle” and meant to symbolize a guardian of international peace.
A guardian for international peace and security sits on the Visitor's Plaza outside #UN Headquarters. The guardian is a fusion of jaguar and eagle and donated by the Government of Oaxaca, Mexico @MexOnu. It is created by artists Jacobo and Maria Angeles. UN Photo/Manuel Elías
Cool! Unfortunately, a bunch of conservative Christians insist that statue represents the Beast from Revelation, and Christian hate-preacher Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church in Tennessee told his audience that he planned to fly to NYC and film himself riding on top of (and preaching from) the statue.
In November, a neat statue went up outside the United Nations headquarters in New York as a gesture of peace from Oaxaca, Mexico. Christian hate-preacher Greg Locke says it's the sign of the Beast... therefore he plans to fly to NYC to climb it, gyrate on it, and preach from it.A guardian for international peace and security sits on the Visitor's Plaza outside #UN Headquarters. The guardian is a fusion of jaguar and eagle and donated by the Government of Oaxaca, Mexico @MexOnu. It is created by artists Jacobo and Maria Angeles. UN Photo/Manuel Elías https://t.co/q8SSsQhz1L
United Nations Photo @UN_PhotoHere is your weekly dose of Gene Kim:
Attendance at Ark Encounter is picking up after a year lost to the pandemic. And for the first time all year, the numbers are finally higher than they were before the pandemic. (Whether that translates to a boost in the local economy remains to be seen.)
In case you’re curious, I created a spreadsheet to keep track of their attendance.
This is what Christian Nationalism looks like in practice:
While we’re on the subject…
Back in 2019, an online Christian jewelry was forced to stop selling dog tags with emblems of the Marine Corps and Navy after those military branches demanded they cease the unauthorized usage. Now that store, Shields of Strength, is attempting to get its revenge.
The military allows people to make shirts and gear about them, but they don’t allow anyone to use the actual logos of the branches without explicit permission, and regulations prohibit any kind of permission to advocacy groups.
Now the company is suing the Department of Defense and the individual branches of the U.S. military claiming that all of this is a form of religious persecution.Alleged Christian sex predator and very real congressman Madison Cawthorn got divorced this week after about eight months of marriage. I don’t really care about his personal life and the public doesn’t know what took place behind the scenes. But since his press release cited the difficulty of “balancing the enormity” of becoming a congressman with his personal life, it seems fair to point out this tweet from [*checks watch*] last month.
The country would be better off if he left government and focused on his family.
I'll be honest: I’m still not sure why this came out this week, but the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $5 million for information about the 2015 murder of atheist author Dr. Avijit Roy. (Some men, but not all, have been convicted in Bangladesh.)
In a statement, the Center for Inquiry told me: “We hope very much that everyone involved in Roy's murder is brought to justice, and... that this renewed effort... serves as a reminder of what we lost and how much work is yet to be done on behalf of nonbelievers and dissidents everywhere.”Some pastors take the “War on Christmas” very, very seriously…
… and some are even admitting there are people worse then Joe Biden. Kind of.
I regret to inform you that Creationists made a horror (?) movie called "Night at the Creation Museum." The main character, played by Eric Hovind, seems to be an atheist laughing at the exhibits because these people "don't even believe in science."
Then the dinosaurs attack.Did I watch the entire movie? YES I DID. And you know what? It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen as far as Creationism propaganda goes… but I’m also not sure it’s all that appealing to Creationists either. I explained why in this article.
Bottom line? Hovind is no Kirk Cameron. And that’s a compliment to him.I think every church should show this DarkMatter2525 Bible video in Sunday School. It’s only fair. It has citations and everything.
An adorable Baby Baphomet display just went up inside the Illinois State Capitol, and right-wing Catholics are furious about it, because they believe freedom of speech and religious neutrality should exclude viewpoints they don’t like.
How much pushback was there? So much that the conservative Catholic group American Defense of Tradition, Family and Property showed up with banners reading “Satan has no rights!” and “Begone Satan! Mary Crushes the Serpent!”
It’s a sign of how weak their faith is that a small display of Baby Baphomet could destroy it…
In case you’re looking for a wacky lawsuit to read, have a go at this one. It’s a from a former student at Rhema Bible Training College in Oklahoma, who’s now suing the school’s leaders for allegedly spreading a rumor about him that he was possessed by “contagious demons.”
There’s absolutely no proof of that, and his lawsuit doesn’t bother justifying the claim in any legally relevant way. But the plaintiff is demanding a small sum for all his troubles.
Finally, there are priests who behave badly… and then there are priests like Stephen Sauer.
The former Jesuit leader and head of a non-profit aimed at helping people with developmental disabilities was arrested for allegedly taking lewd pictures next to unconscious men who, obviously, were unaware of what was happening to them.
According to court documents, Sauer had sent his computer’s hard drive to a company based in New York for repairs. When the technicians looked at the hard drive, they discovered hundreds of pictures depicting sexual assault… and contacted the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.
That’s it for this week! Have a wonderful holiday weekend if it applies to you. Happy Saturday to all the rest! Please become a full subscriber or share this with someone who may enjoy it. It would mean a lot to me :)
"You know what, fuck it, I'm gonna stop the earth." I got a good laugh out of that one.