Sarah Palin has an answer for stopping mass shootings in America … and it has nothing to do with restricting gun sales or getting more weapons in the hands of law enforcement. We got Sarah Monday at LAX and asked about the…
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
Rep. Steve Scalise Blames Texas School Shooting on Not Enough Religion
GOP House Whip Steve Scalise says maybe if there was more faith, religion and God in schools across America the mass shooting at a Texas high school last week could’ve been prevented. The congressman was at Reagan National Airport on…
Monday, March 26, 2018
Joy-Anna Duggar Confesses: My Parents" Religion Is Too Strict!
Back in May of 2017, Joy-Anna Duggar married Austin Forsyth.
Just nine months later, Joy welcomed her first child.
Needless to say, at just 20 years old, Joy is already eagerly following in the footsteps of her mother and older sisters by devoting her life to marriage and motherhood in accordance with her family’s religious views.
But it seems she wasn’t always thrilled with the prospect of keeping the faith.
In a newly released preview of tonight’s episode of Counting On, Joy is seen giving a heartfelt speech the rehearsal dinner for Joseph Duggar and Kendra Caldwell’s wedding.
It seems Joy and Joe share a special bond, and he helped through an extraordinarily difficult period in her youth.
As she reveals in her speech, Joy had some serious doubts about the religious beliefs that shaped her upbringing, and Joe was both a guiding light and a source of love and support during this uncertain time.
“I can’t speak and cry. It’s terrible. First of all I want to say that Joe, I’m so thankful for you,” Joy says in her speech.
“You really did change my life.”
Joy goes on to reveal that her crisis of faith made her feel like an outsider at times, and Joe was always quick to remind her that she still belongs:
“Just through my teen years, I think I was having a hard time taking my parents’ faith as my own and you really befriended me as an older brother, and [were] the first in the morning to say ‘I love you’ and ‘What are you going to do today?’ and stuff like that,” she says.
“It just really meant a lot to me.”
It doesn’t sound like Joy ever fully abandoned her parents’ belief system or explored other faiths, but this is the first time that one of Michelle and Jim Bob’s children has admitted to harboring doubts about the beliefs that dominate all aspects of life in the Duggar home.
It’s a reminder that Joy once seemed to be the Duggar most likely “break away” and pursue a life far from her parents’ home that looked very different from the environment she was raised in.
A tomboy who seemed more interested in sports and the outdoors than marriage and family, Joy seemed to have little interest in pursuing the life that had been assigned to her at birth.
Needless to say, these days she’s given up the struggle and seems happy in her pious, domestic life she’s built for herself.
Her parents are likely thrilled – but it’s a disappointing turn of events for many Duggar fans.
Watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most controversial family.
Monday, February 5, 2018
Leah Remini Slams Scientology Super Bowl Ad: This Is Not a Religion!
Watching the Philadelphia Eagles pull out a nail-biter victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots is enough to make anyone consider the possibility that a benevolent higher power is pulling the strings of our universe and hates Bill Belichick just as much as the rest of us.
And the fine folks at the Church of Scientology would like you to consider the possibility that that godlike being is a spaceman who wants to help you rid yourself of all the pesky alien parasites that have been infecting your body since birth.
Yes, amidst all of the anticipated dilly dillies and Dortito-hawking celebs came an unexpected spot extolling the virtues of the world’s most controversial “religion.”
Sadly, David Harbour didn’t pop up and reveal it to be a Tide ad.
Really a missed opportunity…
Scientology commercials have become something of an annual tradition, and this is the sixth straight year that the CoS has shelled out the $ 5 million for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl.
And, just as in years past, fans reacted with a mixture of confusion and consternation.
For some, there were questions as to how a non-profit enterprise can afford such an exorbitant fee.
Others wondered why such a shady organization is allowed to continue operating in the United States, virtually free of government interference.
Hell, were it not for Leah Remini we might forget that the likes Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Moss have been sucked in and reprogrammed by an organization that’s been accused of human trafficking, targeted harassment campaigns, and systematic sexual abuse.
Fortunately, Leah’s war against Scientology wages on, and the actress was quick to offer her two cents on last night’s jarring Super Bowl ad:
“Yet again Scientology spends millions to buy #SuperBowl ads. Scientology continues to behave as a for-profit company rather than a tax-exempt religion. #NotCurious,” Leah tweeted last night.
And it seems she wasn’t alone in her lack of curiosity regarding just what the Cult of Xenu has to offer:
“WHOA…. @Scientology took all the money they scam from poor, vulnerable people and spent it on a Super Bowl ad try to convince people they’re totally normal. What a way to spend your tithes,” tweeted one viewer.
“A Scientology ad?!!!” wrote another. “I knew the Super Bowl would be boring but I was not expecting SCARY.”
Yes, it seems the folks who run Scientology’s massive marketing and recruitment division forgot the key tenets of Super Bowl advertising:
Keep it simple; make us laugh; and whenever possible, get Peter Dinklage to lip-sync to Busta Rhymes.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Justin Bieber"s Religion Is His Escape, Chance to Be "Regular"
Justin Bieber’s religious lifestyle is the complete opposite of his life on the road … and that’s why he chose it over the Purpose tour … TMZ has learned. Sources at Hillsong Church tell us Justin worships in total peace, and at least feels he’s…
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Justin Bieber Denies Religion Drove Him to Cancel Purpose Tour
Justin Bieber is publicly denying religion played a role in him abruptly pulling the plug on his Purpose tour with just 14 shows to go. Biebs was grabbing lunch Tuesday in Bev Hills when a pap asked about the sudden decision to quit. Justin…
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Jeremy Vuolo SLAMMED for Calling Catholicism a Demonic, Pagan Religion!
A lot of people love the Duggars because of how strongly they value their religion, and how deeply they believe in it.
But a lot of other people wish they would cool their jets about certain issues.
For example, as we’ve seen in recent months, it’s always a big issue when one of the Duggar women dares to wear something other than a long, plain skirt.
From what we’ve heard, Jinger wearing pants is about to damn near tear the family apart.
There’s also the thing about having baby after baby after baby, regardless of the health of the woman popping out all those kids. Because the Lord isn’t down with contraception.
And then there’s the unwavering forgiveness for Josh Duggar, who molested four of his sisters …
The point is that the Duggars have many extreme views, and that they make a lot of people uncomfortable.
And a sermon delivered by Jeremy Vuolo, Jinger’s brand new husband, is following in that same tradition.
See, Jeremy as a pastor at a church in Laredo, Texas. And apparently a lot of Catholics live in Laredo.
For him, that is not OK.
In a recent sermon he preached at the church, he decided to offer up his stance on Catholicism, which he referred to as “demonic.”
Yeah, he doesn’t seem to be too fond of the whole thing.
“I just want to say this, kind of as an aside for us here in Laredo,” he said. “There are spiritual strongholds in our world today, aren’t there?”
“Just as Paul and Silas encountered the demonic in Phillippi, so we encounter that here in Laredo. In this city we have the pagan religion of Catholicism gripping the souls of the majority.”
Catholicism is a pagan religion? We thought it was a Christian religion, but OK, Jeremy.
It really seems like he doesn’t see Catholicism as a different denomination of Christianity, but as a different religion altogether — he suggested this in another part of his sermon.
“When the question comes, ‘What must I do to be saved?’, Catholicism tells you to clean up your life and adequately perform the sacramental duties,” he said.”
For Islam, he said “the only way for you to be certain of paradise is if you die in jihad,” and “for those who claim to be Jews but are not” (???), the key is to follow the Torah and “just do your best.”
However, “the message of the Christian is that of grace” — just not if you’re a Catholic Christian, it seems.
His views fit in with the rest of the Duggars pretty well: remember, Jill and Derick Dillard are missionaries in El Salvador, which is 85% Christian, just with a Catholic majority.
But still, Jeremy is getting a whole, whole lot of hate for the statements he made in his sermon.
“What is with the pagan religion of Catholicism?” one person asked on Twitter. “Do we believe a reality show whore, or a 2k year church founded by an apostle?”
“You should be ashamed for disrespect you show for Catholics,” another wrote. “Pagan? Please you and your church are spewing this hate. God is Judge, not you.”
One person pointed out that “Referring to Catholicsm as ‘pagan’ not only insults Catholics, but Pagans. Study both before making such off-base comments.”
A particularly upset Twitter user wrote “AS A PROUD CATHOLIC I AM DISTURBED BY THIS. BE ASHAMED! NOT CHRISTIAN OF YOU AT ALL! BLASPHEMY!”
Even though Jeremy is getting this much criticism, we highly doubt he’ll change his opinion or consider these other points of view.
That’s just not the Duggar way.
Friday, April 21, 2017
The Duggars: What Religion Do They Practice?
In recent years, the name Duggar has gone from a synonym for a certain brand of squeaky-clean family-friendly entertainment to a byword for the sort of hypocrisies and scandals often found at the heart of the world’s most secretive cults.
It’s impossible to separate the family’s religious beliefs from their rise to the the near-top of the reality TV totem pole, as so many of the practices that have made the Duggars fascinating to millions of outsiders are rooted in their faith.
Of course, it wasn’t so long ago that those same controversial beliefs nearly brought the Duggar empire tumbling down like the walls of Jericho.
But for as much as we know about the specifics of the Duggar creed (sex is for procreation between man and wife only; women are forbidden to wear pants or hold jobs, etc.), a lot of the larger questions regarding their religion remain sources of debate and speculation.
For example, the biggest Duggar-related mystery of all may have more than one answer, as the family has been accused of giving misleading answers when asked what faith they belong to.
Remarkably, it’s a question that you’ll never hear the Duggar kids fielding publicly.
Instead, they defer to Jim Bob, who has stated (on the rare occasions he’s addressed the issue himself) that he and his family are Independent Baptists.
Despite their name, Independent Baptists are an ultra-conservative lot with little tolerance for personal freedom.
They exist on the fringes of American Christianity, and are not a recognized sect, so much as a loose network of individual congregations.
Ultra-conservative televangelist Jerry Falwell abandoned the Independent Baptist Church for the more moderate Southern Baptists, which should tell you all you need to know about how extreme the IB belief system is.
Amazingly, the Duggars fall far to the right of even the most conservative Independent Baptists on most issues, which has led many to the conclusion that Jim Bob is taking his cues from somewhere other than the leadership of the IB Church.
To answer the question of where the most extreme Duggar beliefs and practices originate, we need to turn our attention to the Quiverfull movement.
There’s debate as to who founded the movement, but it’s widely agreed that Quiverfull was popularized by the Reverend Bill Gothard in the late 1970s.
In 2015, Gothard resigned in disgrace from his post with the Quiverfull-centered Institute for Basic Life Principles amidst a flurry of sex assault and harassment allegations.
He and his organization have shelled out an undisclosed amount of cash to keep the accusers at bay, but dozens of new allegations have surfaced over the past two years.
For that reason, and because of the movement’s extreme right-wing beliefs, the Duggars have been hesitant to publicly associate with the Quiverfull movement, but there’s no question that they’re believers in many of Gothard’s teachings:
The Duggars use Quiverfull teaching materials in homeschooling their children.
When they sent Josh Duggar to rehab after his involvement in two consecutive sex scandals (one of which involved the molestation of five young girls) they chose a faith-based facility with the approval of Gothard’s IBLP.
The Duggars called Gothard a close family friend and “an inspiration” in 2014, but cut ties with him (publicly, at least) following allegations that he groped and assaulted dozens of young male and female employees.
The most telling sign that the Duggars are Quiverfull devotees, however, is the fact that it was Gothard who first espoused the notion that it is the duty of Christians to have as many children as physically possible:
“In the Quiverfull movement, your kids are blessings from God and they are also weapons in the culture war,” exlained USC assistant professor of religion Cavan Concannon.
“Some people in the movement would say that part of having a lot of kids is an attempt to birth more conservative Christians in a world that doesn’t have enough of them.”
Some have wondered how the Duggars can reconcile their wealth and fame with their devotion to a religion that preaches the importance of poverty and humility.
Simply put, they see themselves as soldiers in an apocalyptic culture war, and they believe that TV is the most important weapon in their arsenal.
Jesus Christ said, “The meek shall inherit the earth,” but Bill Gothard said, There’s power in numbers, so help me expand my following through procreation and mass media.
The Duggars have left little mystery as to which message they value more.
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