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  • Miley Cyrus Calls Out Christian Conservatives

    Miley Cyrus is a liberal. That fact may drive her parents to drink. Though she loves them both madly, Miley calls them “conservative-ass motherfuckers” in her interview that accompanies the head-turning cover of Paper Magazine — you know, the one that ran the Internet-breaking cover of Kim Kardashian.

    Miley recalls the time she told her Christian conservative mother that she realized she was bisexual.

    “I remember telling her I admire women in a different way. And she asked me what that meant. And I said, I love them. I love them like I love boys,” she says. “And it was so hard for her to understand. She didn’t want me to be judged and she didn’t want me to go to hell. But she believes in me more than she believes in any god. I just asked for her to accept me. And she has.”

    Miley Cyrus says that she has had serious relationships with other women, but that the tabloids just didn’t catch on to them he way they did her boyfriends.

    “I’ve had that,” she says of deeper relationships with women. “But people never really looked at it, and I never brought it into the spotlight.”

    Where does this child of “conservative-ass motherfuckers” draw the line?

    “I am literally open to every single thing that is consenting and doesn’t involve an animal and everyone is of age. Everything that’s legal, I’m down with. Yo, I’m down with any adult — anyone over the age of 18 who is down to love me,” she says. “I don’t relate to being boy or girl, and I don’t have to have my partner relate to boy or girl.”

    Miley’s leanings inform her politics too. She wants everyone to have the kind of freedom that she has, and she thinks no one should be allowed to outlaw love, whatever form it takes.

    “Those people [shouldn’t] get to make our laws,” she says of homophobes. She also has deep ire for people who let their fundamentalist understand of Scripture inform their legislation. “That’s fucking insane,” she says. “We’ve outgrown that fairy tale, like we’ve outgrown fucking Santa and the tooth fairy.”

  • Shia LaBeouf ‘Becomes’ Christian; Or Did He?

    Shia LaBeouf ‘Becomes’ Christian; Or Did He?

    Sometimes it’s tough to tell if Shia Labeouf is pulling all our legs or if he’s really that guy walking around with an unkempt beard, wearing Uggs, grabbing Alan Cumming’s ass.

    The Transformers star has had some negative press of late for his antics, such as wearing a brown paper bag to a press conference, or getting arrested for disrupting a performance of Cabaret.

    But he says his recent experience in filming Fury with Brad Pitt changed him. In fact, he says, he became a Chirstian.

    “I found God doing Fury,” he told Interview Magazine.

    “I became a Christian man, and not in a fucking bullshit way—in a very real way. I could have just said the prayers that were on the page. But it was a real thing that really saved me. And you can’t identify unless you’re really going through it. It’s a full-blown exchange of heart, a surrender of control. And while there’s beauty to that, acting is all about control. So that was a wild thing to navigate.

    “I had good people around me who helped me. Brad [Pitt] was really instrumental in guiding my head through this. Brad comes from a hyper-religious, very deeply Christian, Bible Belt life, and he rejected it and moved toward an unnamed spirituality. He looked at religion like the people’s opium, almost like a Marxist view on religion.

    “Whereas [Fury writer-director] David [Ayers] is a full subscriber to Christianity. But these two diametrically opposed positions both lead to the same spot, and I really looked up to both men. It was nice to have conversations with Brad about the family he came from and what he was using to get through the day.”

    While many news outlets are reporting that LaBeouf is now a follower of Christ, not everyone is buying it. For example, WNG, a Christian news website, is not taking LaBeouf literally on this.

    “But in reading the entirety of LaBeouf’s comments in context, it becomes clear that there is another way to interpret them that isn’t quite so headline worthy. Rather than making a personal declaration of his devotion to Christ, the actor could have been merely commenting on his immersive style of acting.

    “LaBeouf is a well-known method actor—a technique where the performer tries to simulate the psychological motives, behavior, mannerisms, and thought patterns of a character so deeply that he essentially becomes that character.”

    So, perhaps LaBeouf’s statement should be understood to have “air quotes” around it?

    Regardless of any conversion, LaBeouf admits that he has been a handful to deal with for a while, and says that multiple people have tried to talk him down, help him deal with his fame and success in a a calmer way.

    “Ben Affleck [told me], ‘Keep your head on straight, kid, and don’t let all this get to you.’

    “Spielberg was the next guy to try—I remember him saying to me, ‘Tom Cruise never picks his nose in public.’”

  • Kirk Cameron to Save Christmas at a Theater Near You

    Kirk Cameron is setting out to save Christmas. If you didn’t know it needed saving, the evangelist and former Growing Pains star assures everyone that it does.

    “My hope for Saving Christmas is that families all across the country will join with my family in putting Christ back into Christmas!” he said. For too many years Christmas has been attacked and hammered by those outside the church, and it’s even changed how we think about Christmas inside the church. We are proudly going to put Christ back into Christmas and remind Christians why this is not only a holy day, but a celebration as well. I believe that families will love this movie!”

    Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas is scheduled for a limited theater run beginning on November 14th. It is a collaborated effort on behalf of Cameron’s CamFam Studios and Nashville-based Provident Films.

    Post by Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas.

    “I am extremely excited to begin this new, ongoing relationship with Provident Films,” Kirk Cameron said in a press release.

    Two additional films are already in the works by this collaboration. It is expected that the second and third films in the partnership between CamFam Studios and Provident Films will release in 2015 and 2016. Cameron’s latest project arrives just months after he voiced enthusiasm for filmmakers in the Christian community.

    “I’m really excited about what I see coming out of the Christian movie industry,” the actor told The Christian Post. “There’s independent films coming out all over the place. You look at movies like ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ the Noah movie that’s coming out with Russell Crowe… Movies like ‘Fireproof’ and ‘Courageous’ which have done phenomenally well. It’s very exciting to see a new wave of young filmmakers come out with a biblical world view. They have an understanding of the Gospel and how to tell stories. They have the technology and equipment that’s so affordable that it’s all beginning to look fantastic.”

    Even though Kirk Cameron is a bit heavy hitting when it comes to his evangelism, he might just be on to something with this new film. Christians–whether they be fundamentalists or simply every day recognizers of Christ as their higher power–have long complained about the commercialism at Christmas time. Maybe something in Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas will resonate with some of them.

    Might you consider this as part one of your family’s pre-Christmas activities?

  • Alec Baldwin Comes to Defense of Rand Paul

    On Saturday, the state of Iowa hosted a conservative Christian event called the Family Leadership Summit. Originally scheduled to speak at said event was Senator and 2016 presidential hopeful Rand Paul (R-KY). However, Paul told the summit that he would be unable to attend the event due to a prior family commitment. So, one can only imagine the ire of the event planners when they found out that Rand Paul was partying it up with Alec Baldwin in the Hamptons on Saturday afternoon.

    The New York Post‘s Page Six first reported news of the celebrity-laden East Hampton Library fundraiser, sponsored by Alec Baldwin. The article brought special attention to the appearances made by Paul, Bill O’Reilly, and George Pataki due to their conservative presence in an otherwise liberal setting.

    The Paul camp was quick to come to the defense of Paul after seeing the reports of his supposed partying, confirming that the Senator did indeed have family obligations and that they just happened to be in New York near the Hamptons. Paul’s obligation was accompany his wife as she visited her future book publisher to finalize some details on her upcoming release.

    Alec Baldwin, himself, also came to the aid of Paul, despite their political differences:

    After hearing more information concerning the details of Paul’s weekend, event organizer Bob Vander Plaats simply stated that Paul and others should be more truthful with their wants and intentions:

    From my perspective, there are always choices to be made of where do you want to be and what message do you want to send. If you want to be at a fundraiser in the Hamptons with the rich and famous, you probably ought to tell people you want to be at a fundraiser in the Hamptons with the rich and famous.

    Unfortunately for Paul, this is the second time, recently, that he has been called out for ditching on someone. The first time came last Monday as he was having lunch with Representative Steve King (R-IA). As the two were in the middle of their meal, they were approached by two DREAMers – children of illegal immigrants who have achieved a temporary legal status by meeting certain criteria.

    As soon as the two DREAMers labeled themselves as such, Mr. Paul and his aide immediately left the table, leaving many wondering what motivated Paul to pull such an insensitive stunt:

    Paul often finds himself in such quandaries due to his “Libertarian” and Tea Party political leanings – both of which promise ambiguity and uncertainty of political platform. However, this political ambiguity could serve as an advantage in the 2016 presidential election as Paul will be able to adopt his message to whatever the masses hope to hear at the time.

    Image via YouTube

  • Christian Death Row Conviction Overturned

    A woman in Sudan who stood convicted of apostasy and sentenced to die has now been freed.

    According to MSN, the Saudi state news agency SUNA announced in a release that 27-year-old Meriam Ibrahim, who was to have been hanged within the next two years, will not be put to death after all.

    We first told you about Meriam Ibrahim when her conviction came down. The woman was born to a Muslim father, but raised by her Christian mother. She married a Christian man. Her whole life has been spent as a Christian. But Islamic law does not see it that way. Since her father was a Muslim, she is, by default, a Muslim.

    Some of Ibrahim’s relatives on her father’s side of the family reported her to authorities. She was arrested and charged with apostasy, turning away from the Islamic faith, by marrying an American Christian man.

    At the time of the conviction, Ibrahim was pregnant. The law decreed that her sentence was to be carried out two years after the baby was born.

    Ibrahim’s conviction caused an international outcry. Her attorney’s flew into action and tried every angle they could to secure the overturn.

    During her trial, Ibrahim was pressured by the judge to recant her faith. She insisted that her christian faith was not a new thing, but the way she had always lived, therefore there was no apostasy. But Islamic law dictates that all girls must follow the religion of their father. Islamic women are forbidden to marry outside of Islam. Islamic men may marry who they want.

    Now that Meriam Ibrahim’s sentence has been overturned, rumor is that she and her husband intend to come to the United States. No doubt she could make a tidy living on the church speaking circuit, as well as on a book.

    Image via YouTube

  • Ann B. Davis: Alice from ‘The Brady Bunch’ Led Christian Life

    Ann B. Davis passed away this weekend at the age of 88, after falling in her bathroom and hitting her head. She, of course, played Alice Nelson, the beloved housekeeper/maid on The Brady Bunch throughout the show’s entire run. What many never knew about the actress, however, was that she led a very active Christian life. Of course her heyday came at a time when people didn’t have social media to promote their religious beliefs. Even if they did, it seems Ann B. Davis preferred word of mouth over everything else anyway.

    Davis’s active Christian life kicked into full swing once The Brady Bunch’s production came to an end. It was then she settled in a quiet Episcopalian community in Texas, led by retired Bishop William Frey.

    “I was born again,” she said years ago in an interview. “It happens to Episcopalians. Sometimes it doesn’t hit you till you’re 47 years old. It changed my whole life for the better. … I spent a lot of time giving Christian witness all over the country to church groups and stuff.”

    Davis no doubt drew great crowds when she witnessed to those church groups. Even those unsure of their faith would go to see Alice from The Brady Bunch. After all, she was funny, quick witted, and she had that famous smile that was always centered in the squares that comprised The Brady Bunch family members at the beginning of each and every show. That would draw people in–and Davis knew that. Once she had them she shared her strong beliefs with them.

    Ann B. Davis never married.

    “By the time I started to get interested (in finding someone),” she told the Chicago Sun-Times, “all the good ones were taken.”

    She maintained her career was always far more interesting than any man would have been anyway.

    The Brady Bunch wasn’t Davis’s only claim to fame. She starred many years earlier in The Bob Cummings Show as well as many stage productions. In her later years it was those church groups with whom she shared her laughter. She no doubt considered winning souls for Christ among her greatest achievements.

    Her role as Alice Nelson likely took a close second, however.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Peru Inmates Perform Musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ for Holy Week

    Holy Week-the last week before Lent leading up to Easter Sunday-has kicked off to a theatrical start.

    Peruvian inmates at the Sarita Colonia prison performed their version of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar Tuesday as part of Holy Week in Lima.

    The cast, which has been preparing for the play since February, finally made their debut presentation among fellow inmates and prison officials.

    The production crew consisting of over a dozen actors, apparently designed their own costumes, built their own set, and studied their lines for two months straight.

    One of the inmates was chosen to portray Jesus.

    The reenactment of Jesus’ crucifixion couldn’t have been more realistic. The actor was forced to carry his own cross, was then tied to it, and mounted above for everyone to see.

    Sarita Colonia guards also had the opportunity to enjoy the show as they heavily monitored the play in the back of the prison yard.

    According to the prison’s press release, officials said that the purpose behind the rock opera was to encourage and inspire the prisoners during their time of rehabilitation.

    Director and convicted robber, Freddy Battifora, 35, told reporters that the performance was a “healthier means of self-expression for blowing off steam,” especially for the cast members.

    In other related news, an additional event started on Sunday April 13 in Seville, Spain.

    The Christian Easter Holy Week also includes Semana Santa de Sevilla, which comprises of floats, holy figures, and religious processions.

    One feature in particular involves penitents (sinners) dressed up in robes and hoods to conceal their identity while they confess of their sins in public.

    The traditional festivities are usually celebrated in most Spanish towns during this time of the year.

    In the streets of Jerusalem, both Jewish and Christian people of faith have also gathered to commemorate the Passover and Holy Week by remembering miraculous stories in the Bible.

    Check out this clip of the original 1973 musical Jesus Christ Superstar:

    Image via YouTube

  • Same-Sex Marriage Rule Lifted at Major Christian Org

    The Wire reports that a major Christian charitable organization, World Vision, has changed its employee handbook. The handbook used to prohibit sex outside of marriage, with marriage being defined as a strictly heterosexual union. Now their definition of marriage has been expanded to cover sex outside any kind of union.

    That may not seem like a big deal to some, after all it is just an internal policy. But to others it sounds like the beginning of a turning tide. This change in definition now means that a Christ follower that is united in a same-sex marriage is now eligible to be employed by World Vision. Some are thinking, “If a major organization like that, with a mission to work with Christian groups, can change its definition, who else might change?”

    World Vision president Richard Stearns told Christianity Today that this change is not a compromise,

    “Changing the employee conduct policy to allow someone in a same-sex marriage who is a professed believer in Jesus Christ to work for us makes our policy more consistent with our practice on other divisive issues,” he said. “It also allows us to treat all of our employees the same way: abstinence outside of marriage, and fidelity within marriage.”

    “This is not an endorsement of same-sex marriage. We have decided we are not going to get into that debate. Nor is this a rejection of traditional marriage, which we affirm and support.”

    “We’re not caving to some kind of pressure. We’re not on some slippery slope. There is no lawsuit threatening us. There is no employee group lobbying us,” said Stearns.

    For years, the notion of same-sex marriage has been cast as in opposition to Christianity. But more and more people are coming forward saying that they are gay, were born that way, and think it is sinful to deny how God made them. And they want to attend a church, help in charitable causes, and be recognized as just as valid a Christian as the next person.

    Stearns says that they are “deferring to the authority of churches and denominations on theological issues.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Rick Warren Works On Mental Health Ministry In Memory Of Son’s Suicide

    Rick Warren Works On Mental Health Ministry In Memory Of Son’s Suicide

    Pastor Rick Warren, author of best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life, is working on a new ministry a year after his son’s death.

    Matthew Warren, Pastor Warren’s 27-year-old son, committed suicide by shooting himself last year. He had been struggling with suicidal thoughts and depression for several years.

    Warren said that he was not going to waste the pain he felt over the death of his son. He believes that most of the time, a great ministry results from the deepest pain. Warren wrote on his journal to cope with his son’s death, and one of the things he wrote was “in God’s garden of grace even broken trees bear fruit.”

    After his son’s death, Warren and his wife Kay received thousands of letters and messages from people sharing their own experiences and struggles with various kinds of mental illness. The pastor, founder of Saddleback Church, will work on the ministry together with the National Alliance of Mental Illness and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange to spread awareness on the subject.

    About 12 years ago, Warren and his wife also began ministering about HIV and AIDS. Warren says that he thought that was the biggest taboo topic, but now he thinks that mental illness is one of the issues that people must be aware of.

    The conference will open talks on a wide range of mental illnesses including anxiety, bipolar disorder, addiction, and eating disorders, among others. There will also be 20 interactive workshops throughout the conference that are available to all attendees. The conference’s main goal is to provide churches the resources they need in order to aid churchgoers or their relatives and friends who are dealing with a mental illness.

    The Gathering on Mental Health and the Church will be held on March 28 at Saddleback.

     

    Image via YouTube

  • Candace Cameron Bure, From “Full House” to Family Matters

    Candace Cameron Bure has come a long way since her leading role in the 1990’s hit show “Full House” and it seems that she may have picked up on some of those theatrical family values.

    Most of you may remember her as D.J., the oldest sister of the on-camera family, which we had the privilege to watch grow up from a young adolescent to a respectable teenager.

    Now at the age of 37, the former childhood TV star has recently revealed her current life as a mother, wife and ongoing actress.

    Bure has been married for 17 years and she and former hockey player, Valeri Bure, have three children.

    Married at the age 20 and conceiving her first child at 22, Bure decided to take a well-needed break from the acting industry to focus on raising her children.

    Bure’s 2013 released book, “Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose,” is said to detail the aspects of her life.

    One thing that she emphasizes the most in her book is her Christian beliefs, which she incorporates into her marriage. Bure admits that she chooses to be a submissive wife because she believes that two heads of authority do not make a marriage work.

    Her personal view on the matter, of course, is a hot topic when it comes to leadership roles in relationships.

    In an interview with the Huffington Post, she clarifies her marriage views described in her book.

    “The definition I’m using with the word ‘submissive’ is the biblical definition of that. So, it is meekness, it is not weakness. It is strength under control, it is bridled strength,” she said.

    In her younger years, Bure suffered from bulimia and in 2011 she transcribed those experiences in her first book, “Reshaping It All: Physical and Spiritual Fitness.”

    Now, following years of growth and raising a family, a new edition to her publishing career shares the side of her that she values the most.

    “It’s much like an autobiography and it takes you through my life story, picking out those moments where I had to make choices that would help me balance my life,” she told ABC News.

    Bure plans to continue to embrace the fact that her TV roles will never match up to her role as a mother and wife, something she refers to as: “…where I’m going to be for however many years of my life.”

    Image via Youtube, B&H Publishing Group

  • Boko Haram: Priest Kidnapped in Cameroon Set Free

    On Tuesday December 31, the Islamic militia of Boko Haram set free French priest Georges Vandenbeusch following a seven-week captivity.

    He arrived in France Wednesday, greeted by President Francois Hollande at an air base near Paris.

    Members of the radical Islamist group kidnapped the 42-year-old priest November 13 in Cameroon. The armed men then took him to northern Nigeria where he says he stayed  “under a tree for a month and a half.”

    Fortunately, Fr  Vandenbeusch was not harm but still experienced a lack of compassion the group had for other hostages within his environment.

    “The leadership (of Boko Haram) decided to release the priest on compassionate grounds and having benefited from his medical expertise,” a source said within the radical Islamic group.

    However, the French priest denied treating any hostages or rebels of the Islamist group.

    Initially, Fr Vandenbeusch’s abductors demanded money in return for his freedom, which the French government refused. Instead, they asked of his safe return since he holds a significant title of a clergyman.

    Fr Vandenbeusch was released on terms unknown. However, the French government and his captors have denied that his freedom involved a ransom.

    Hollande has stated that the French government terminated a previous policy of paying ransoms for captives. However, the release of previous hostages abducted by Boko Haram has been under suspicion.

    Six other French nationals still remain in captivity in Syria and Mali.

    Since 2009, The Boko Haram Islamic movement has terrorized and killed thousands of Christians. Recently 12 victims were killed in Christian Villages in Northern Nigeria.

    Although the country is predominantly a Muslim state, the group “desires to establish a separate Islamic state in Nigeria’s northern states where it can enact an ultra conservative interpretation of Sharia law.”

    Unfortunately, the Nigerian government struggles to control the violence perpetrated by Boko Haram and their brutal attacks continue daily in an effort to control the Nigerian government.

    Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told BBC News that the French government hopes violence would soon subside within the country.

    “We hope that all forms of violence, hatred and conflict in the tormented regions of Africa be stamped out, as well as elsewhere in the world.”

    Image via Youtube, Euronews

  • Paul Crouch: His Replacement Better Be Sincere

    As you know, Paul Crouch, famed televangelist and co-founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network passed away yesterday from degenerative heart failure. He had been battling the condition for two years.

    The history of televangelism is a rocky one so it would be natural to raise concerns as to who will be the next face on the Christian TV. Televangelist need to have a strong personality with very strong beliefs. Years ago, there was the huge possibility of someone like Jim Jones slipping into that position and terrorizing the mentality of those who followed him. But since the rise and domination of the access to information, the odds of being manipulated without the chance of the truth coming to the surface before hand are pretty low.

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    There have been so many leaders who tried straddling being in the limelight and maintaining their dirty little secrets. But everyday it gets easier for society to bring to light the shadows.

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    Televangelist frauds will have a hard time to dodging incriminating photos and statements made. For every follower that needs a fraudulent prophet to follow, there are a few investigative social media reporters waiting to break a story, and what better way to do that but to air someone’s dirty laundry on Twitter or Instagram.

    There’s a good chance that the fraud is not squeaky clean and if they are, skids marks should show up not far into the journey. There is no choice but to have access to knowledge. Do you really this Jim Jones would make it if Twitter was readily available? Today’s followers have high demands and most will not tolerate the foul taste the internet can leave when secrets are uncovered.

  • Southern Baptists Oppose Gay Boy Scout Policy

    The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) this week officially expressed “opposition to and disappointment” with a recent Boy Scouts of America (BSA) policy change with regards to homosexual scouts.

    Back in May, the BSA National Council voted to remove a ban on openly homosexual scouts, though openly gay scout leaders are still banned. The organization faced pressure to change the policy from current scouts, former scouts, and pop stars.

    The SBC’s condemnation came at the organization’s 2013 Annual Meeting this week in Houston. It states that the SBC believes the new policy will “needlessly politicize human sexuality and heighten sexual tensions within the Boy Scouts.” The resolution does not explicitly prevent SBC churches from hosting Boy Scout troops. SBC leaders have called the resolution “balanced” in its approach toward the new policy.

    Though the SBC’s resolution does not mandate cutting BSA ties, it does explicitly show the SBC believes the new Boy Scout policy is only a “first step” along the path to the organization accepting homosexuality. From the resolution:

    RESOLVED, That we express our well-founded concern that the current executive leadership of the BSA, along with certain board members, may utilize this membership policy change as merely the first step toward future approval of homosexual leaders in the Scouts…

    The resolution also encourages churches that abandon the Boy Scouts to use the Royal Ambassadors instead. The Royal Ambassadors program is a Christian-based Boy Scouts-like program for boys in grades 1 through 6. From the resolution:

    RESOLVED, That we encourage churches that choose to sever ties with the Boy Scouts not to abandon their ministry to boys but consider expanding their Royal Ambassadors ministry, a distinctively Southern Baptist missions organization to develop godly young men…

    The SBC is a highly conservative sect of protestant Christianity with churches found throughout the U.S., and particularly throughout the southern U.S. The organization’s “Statement of Faith” includes the opposition to what the organization calls “sexual immorality,” which includes homosexuality. The SBC, andmany other U.S. Christian organizations are large sponsors of the BSA and Boy Scout troops, and were the primary opposition to the BSA’s new policy.

    RESOLVED, That we express our gratitude for the thousands of individuals within the Scouting family and the culture at large who expressed their opposition to the BSA executive leadership’s intent to change its membership and leadership policies in regard to homosexuality, leading to the compromise recommendation it presented to the BSA National Council…

  • Pat Robertson: Cheating Husband’s Wife Should be Grateful [VIDEO]

    Pat Robertson is well-known for making controversial statements. In addition to failed end of the world and presidential election predictions, the well-known conservative Christian has blamed everything from the 9/11 attacks to hurricane Katrina on gay people and non-Christian society.

    This week, Robertson has made headlines again, this time for blaming the victim of marital infidelity.

    While addressing questions on his Christian Broadcasting Network, Robertson told a woman who was cheated on and trying hard to forgive her husband that men can be expected to do that sort of thing. He goes on to tell her that she should be grateful for all of the things he provides for her and attempt to “fall in love with him again.”

    “Stop. Talking. About. The. Cheating,” said Robertson. “He cheated on you. Well, he’s a man, ok. So, what you do is begin to focus on why you married him in the first place. On what he does good. Does he provide a home for you to live in? Does he provide food for you to eat? Does he provide clothes for you to wear? Is he nice to the children?…”

    After that, things get a bit cathartic for Robertson, who gets specific on a scenario the question did not even mention.

    “You’re praying ‘oh, God, keep me not to hate him for what he did when he was with that stripper in that hotel room ten years ago and I’ll never forgive him…please help me.’”

    Robertson goes on to make his excuse for men even clearer, and implies that the woman who sent the question may, in fact, be at fault.

    “Like it or not, males have a tendency to, uh, wander a little bit and what you want to do is to make a home so wonderful that he dosen’t want to wander.”

  • Joel Osteen: Hoax Hasn’t Upset Him, “Nothing Has Changed”

    Earlier this week, a late April Fool’s hoax made its debut, alleging that popular U.S. pastor Joel Osteen had renounced Christianity. Osteen is the pastor of a mega-church in Houston, Texas, and has a worldwide broadcast ministry that has made him one of the most recognizable Christian figures in the U.S.

    The elaborate hoax involved a fake blog, YouTube videos, and a fake Twitter account (which has now been suspended) that laid out the fake Osteen’s reasoning for no longer believing in Christianity. From the fake blog:

    I believe now that the Bible is a fallible, flawed, highly inconsistent history book that has been altered hundreds of times. There is zero evidence the Bible is the holy word of God. In fact, there is zero evidence “God” even exists.

    Though Osteen and his ministry have not officially acknowledged the hoax, Osteen gave an interview to ABC and confirmed that he is still a Christian.

    “All is well,” said Osteen. “I still have my faith, nothing has changed.”

    Osteen also stated that he isn’t upset about the hoax, and that it is somewhat amusing.

    “I’m really not angry,” said Osteen. “I don’t feel like a victim. I feel too blessed that life is too short to let things like this get you down.”

  • Microsoft Fans Aren’t The Only Ones Who Think Apple Is Blasphemous

    Apple fans, like many other fandoms, create what could be called a religion around the company’s products. It’s usually all in good fun though with only a few fans taking their dedication to extreme ends. Now, what would happen if a real religion clashed with the “religion” that forms around products? Let’s ask the Russian Orthodox Church.

    A translated report from Interfax-Religion says that Orthodox Christians in Russia are upset over Apple’s logo. Why? They say the bitten apple represents the original sin committed by Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. It’s apparently offensive to the practitioners of the Russian Orthodox faith.

    In response, Russian Orthodox Christians who own Apple products are now covering the logo with a picture of the cross. The symbol is a ward against the original sin that brought death, pain during childbirth, and Jack Chick tracts into the world. By covering up the logo, maybe Russian Orthodox Christians think they can beat back the sinful nature of man as conveyed through technology.

    The phenomenon seems to be mostly isolated to the Russian Orthodox faith. I can’t imagine any other Christian groups in other parts of the world doing this. There are, however, practitioners of the Christian faith in America who also believe in Apple being connected with the sinful ways of man. Take for instance a post from Texe Mars on Jesus-is-savior.com:

    Consider Apple’s choice for its corporate symbol? The company’s logo is an apple that has had a bite taken out of it. To many occult insiders, this signifies that the eating of the forbidden fruit (symbolically, the apple) by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was a good thing. Occultists and New Agers teach that taking a bite out of the apple gave the first two humans knowledge, or gnosis, putting them on the path to self-divinity and godhood.

    Apple Computers was cofounded in the 70s by Stephen Jobs, a weird, New Age guru-type, and Steven Wozniak, also an advocate of the Aquarian Age culture. When entrepreneurs Jobs and Wozniak first marketed their earliest, crude personal computer, they put a price tag of $666 on the product. 666! Coincidental–or on purpose? You decide.

    We’ve reached out to Apple for comment on the inherent sinful nature of their products and will update if we hear back.

    Of course, maybe the Russian Orthodox Church is onto something here. Windows fans have been rallying against Apple for years by saying they’re a soulless organization dedicated to money and nothing else. You know what they say – money is the root of all evil. By that logic, however, Microsoft and every other company on the planet is also evil. I guess we’ll just have to start covering every logo with a cross, star of David or crescent moon from now on.

    [h/t: CNET]

  • WWJD? Read The Bible On A Christian Tablet

    Religion and technology have traditionally been at odds. Whenever somebody creates a new innovative technology, somebody somewhere is going to say it’s of the devil. It’s just the nature of things. One Christian group is hoping to buck that trend, however, and appeal directly to the technology obsessed masses.

    Family Christian, a company that deals in wholesome family friendly products, is now selling a tablet called edifi. It’s an Android powered tablet that’s all about the Bible and family-friendly programming. Speaking to Fox News, technology supervisor for Family Christian, Brian Honorable, says that the tablet came about as a way to “offer our customers the ability to use our Holy Bible application.”

    The edifi tablet definitely has the Bible, in 27 languages no less, but what else can it do? It features the Family Christian Reader app so that you won’t have to expose yourselves to the evils of the modern publishing industry. Other apps include a browser with pre-installed safe search, Christian Internet radio and movie playback capability. While the tablet doesn’t have Google Play, user reviews indicate that you can download apps from third party Android app vendors.

    The actual hardware behind the machine isn’t too shabby for its asking price of $149. It features a 7 inch touch screen at 480×800, 8GB of internal memory that can be expanded to 40GB through SD cards and HDMI output up to 1080p. The actual innards, while a mystery, are reportedly similar to that of the Kindle Fire.

    Despite the number of Christians in the U.S., you would think the edifi serves a niche demographic. Most of my Christian friends are happy with their iPads or Android tablets and wouldn’t even give the newest competitor a chance. He wouldn’t cite sales numbers, but Honorable did tell Fox News that sales have been strong. It’s impressive enough that a small Christian company was able to make a tablet, so I’m willing to accept that it’s at least probably profitable for them.

    If you find yourself in need of some digital salvation, the edifi might just be what you need. You can pick it up from their online store or at one of Family Christian’s many retail locations.

    Check out the promotional video which features odd choices such as music from Sister Act and a video clip from Wall-E. I would have figured they would use VeggieTales instead, but to each their own.