What is perhaps inevitable regarding recent events in Israel is that it tends to trigger some of the deeply religious into making bizarre claims.
Let’s start with QAnon conspiracy theorists Dave Haves (aka The Praying Medic) and Mary Grace. They think that it is “safe to say” that former President Barack Obama is “very likely” behind the current war in Israel.
- Er … nope, no actual “thinking” was involved to enable them to say that, literally none at all. That’s always been true with anything Dave Haves claims.
- Clearly the existence of a non-white POTUS brings out the inner-racist in all these folks on a regular basis
We also have all the self-appointed prophets who very predictably rushed to claim that they prophesied the current Israel conflict.
- It’s very basic fake prophecy 101. Pick some big news item and then simply claim, on the basis no evidence at all, that you predicted it. Their followers never question it, but instead lap it all up as “truth” and evidence of something supernatural.
- Funny how they never rush out their claims before stuff actually happens
What of course can be highly embarrassing is when they are on record with a prediction for the complete opposite …
Then there are the utterly bizarre “prophets” as well. Christian “prophetess” Kat Kerr says all the Israeli and “Hamas babies” killed in the war will be okay. “Every single baby goes to Heaven, gets a chance to receive Christ—and they all want to!“
- Now call me a tad picky if you wish, but this is not exactly standard Christian Theology.
- If you are wondering how she “knows” this to be factual, she has also claimed in the past to have been in heaven and has previously explained …there is football in Heaven as well as a warehouse where God keeps spare body parts and organs for those in need. She has also said that that if a woman miscarries a child, God will put the soul of that child into a second child if the woman decides to get pregnant again.
Also as usual, the loving compassionate brigade are out in full force. The National Faith Advisory Board, an organization created by evangelical Trump cultists, held an emergency prayer call for Israel during which pastor Greg Laurie prayed that the conflict will cause “many of our Jewish friends to turn to God and his son, Jesus Christ.”
- (sigh!) … Without fail, the deeply religious utilise almost every tragedy to make a soapbox out of bodies and then proceed to stand upon it to promote their beliefs.
- Can the Evangelicals be normal about Judaism for just five seconds? … (apparently not).
Meanwhile Mario Murillo asserts “the American leftist license to hate Israel came from Obama: “For the sake of truth and sanity, we must also tear the veneer of decency off of Obama, and see him for the historical villain that he is. He opened the door for these atrocities to take place and has left a legacy of hate and violence.”
- So there you go then you simply don’t like what is going on because (checks notes) … it’s all the fault of the black guy (yes, a second play of the same racist card, see first example at top)
What happened has also been bringing out the antisemites. Virulent antisemite Jon Miller says that the attacks on Israel are justified because “they literally are the ones who killed Christ.”
- According to the bible they are “literally” not the ones who crucified him, the Romans did that.
- Also, the notion that people alive in 2023 are in any way personally responsible for something that supposedly happened 2,000 years ago is quite frankly batshit crazy.
Gun restriction also get a mention, but only when it’s foreign and not domestic apparently …
Finally, here is one more before we move on. Let’s not forget this religious twist to it all is now in play …
Moving on, below you will once again find my usual selection of some truly bizarre and extreme claims that have popped up during the last 7 days. Each is laced with my snarky commentary.
With my usual hat tip to my various sources, let’s once again dive into this very murky pool of absurdity and stupidity.
Christian Nationalism
North Dakota state Rep. Brandon Prichard—who declared that every member of Congress must “submit to the Gospel of Jesus Christ”—insists that he’s not a Christian nationalist while literally advocating for the Christian nationalist agenda
- Brandon is a 22 year old religious extremist who managed to get elected into the state house by just a handful of votes and is now alarming his fellow republicans because he makes them all look crazy.
Lies, Damn Lies, and David Barton
This past week David Barton once again issued his usual claim that “the Bible is the most cited source in [the Founding Fathers] idea and thinking when they were writing the Constitution. That is not a matter of opinion, that is a matter of documentation.”
- Actually no, it is not a matter of documentation. What it really is is a lie.
However, he also that past week cranked things up a notch by Blaiming Slavery in the U.S. on ‘Progressives.
- When you simply make up history and then encounter a problem, the solution is easy, just make up more stuff. He literally has no interest in actual history at all, but instead strives to feed the right-wing mythology.
Christian Scam
A new report on Arkansas’ voucher program reveals how millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent almost entirely on private religious schools. Many of those kids were *already attending* private schools. You can find Hemant’s analysis here.
- Stealing from the taxpayers to help the greedy rich religious … just like Jesus said.
- Attorney Andrew Seidel points out: “Vouchers are a scam. When Georgia created a new voucher program, the lawmakers were caught on tape admitting that the vouchers “would support students already in private schools.”
Homophobia on Steroids
Liberty Counsel warns that … “Planned Parenthood has also joined forces with the LGBTQ agenda to enforce its anti-science biological insanity through the U.S. Congress.”
- Translation: Planned Parenthood, along with many many many other groups support the US HR15 bill (a.k.a. the Equality Act). This is a bill that is designed to prevent discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and for other purposes.
- You can read more about the bill here to understand what it does.
Christian hate-preacher Duncan Urbanek says gay people should be executed. A bullet in the head is “too merciful… That’s too painless… It should be rocks. They should all just be stoned to death.“
- Others on his stoning list … Catholic priests and the Pope … and of course Richard Dawkins.
Religious Weirdness
Greg Locke will be “burning all things related to witchcraft and the occult” on Halloween.
- Not too long ago he was claiming he had witches attending his church … hopefully, this does not mean he will be going full Salem and burning people.
- Meanwhile, the producers of Halloween stuff will be only too delighted to create extra supplies to sell to Greg for him to burn because it is all very profitable for them.
Pastor Bernadette Smith told Mike Lindell not to “spend another penny on your legal funds,” assuring him that their prayers will ensure that he is victorious in all his lawsuits: “You will win.”
- Yes indeed Mike, take legal guidance from yet another con-artist. That will of course go really well for you.
- Meanwhile that “Pastor” telling Mike Lindell what to do is This specific one … She has an “impressive track record … apparently unemployed, has filed bankruptcy (twice), was charged with a class H felony for welfare fraud, and while on probation for that was found guilty for 2 misdemeanors that injured a 10-year old’s brain … so back in 2018 after all of the above the GOP featured her is a tweet praising Trump for handling unemployment.
Weird
Stew Peters is outraged that Rep. Scalise is wearing a mask, proclaiming that it disqualifies him from ever becoming Speaker.
- Scalise has in the past been anti-mask. However, now that he is currently being treated for cancer and its his own heath on the line, he has suddenly discovered that masks do actually work after all.
- As for Stew Peters, well yes, any and every whacky crazy claim is his to promote. He has always been a very strong COVID-19 misinformation promoter, and has a literal body count associated with his promotion of misinformation.
Conspiracy Theorist Frank Gaffney claims that he has “studied it closely” and come to the conclusion that President Joe Biden is a “controlled asset of the Chinese Communist Party.”
- Some of Franks previous claims include … the claim that the logo of the US Missile Defense Agency is a coded indicator of “official U.S. submission to Islam” … the claim that Barack Obama is a Muslim … etc…
Charlie Kirk says that the first murder in the Bible was caused by … socialism.
- Er … according to the Bible you just had Adam and Eve (husband and wife), Cain and Abel (brothers), and literally nobody else … so I guess that would make every single meal a “socialist gathering“
Only in the MAGA movement can someone like Adam Johnson steal a lectern from the House of Representatives during the Jan. 6 insurrection, get sent to prison, and then translate that into becoming a right-wing commentator.
- Its OAN who have embrace him … they will have literally anybody who is willing give up a few things such as intelligence, integrity, and honesty.
Looking for Right-wing Crosswords …
The False Profit$
Ali Alexander declares that he “will not allow” Reps. Steve Scalise or Elsie Stefanik to become the next Speaker of the House.
- This is the guy who has previously claimed he is like Jesus and has also claimed he is a time traveller, so here he is having another go at claiming he is really very important, and once again makes a laughing stock of himself.
- Oh and let’s not forget that the self-appointed player in the Presidential Game of Thrones has also previously claimed to the “the father of dragons”.
The Gym Jordon fan Club
Scam of the Week – Vouchers
This is how it works.
Pick a problem. Claim #schoolchoice fixes it with no proof. Hint: Just massage some statistics. In reality there are no impartial studies proving that vouchers increase ACT scores. In the real world, they don’t. Once done, just move onto the next complaint. #Vouchers are the panacea that never works.
Here is what happens when you put in the Y axis scale correctly …
Hypocrisy of the week – Eldon Phelps
Awhile back, Indiana libertarian, Eldon Phelps was promoting stuff like this …
Well guess who just got arrested and guess what he got arrested for …
Also worth noting … NOT a Drag queen.
Wait Who?
Seriously @fox32news, that is not Brendan Reilly, unless of course Chicago now has an alderman who battled The Mummy, journeyed to the center of the earth, and won an Oscar …
Oklahoma Education
Perhaps he really should spell it that way if we assume that “constitonally” is a portmanteau of “constipated” and “tone deaf”?
John Oliver – Homeschooling
Now that the writers strike is over, he is back.
If time permits, check out this excellent segment on the problems with homeschooling … (apologies for the non US based folks, this clip is region restricted).
John starts off by covering some of the really good reasons for homeschooling and how excellent it can be, but then moves on to cover just how abysmally bad it can actually get for some, and when I say bad, I mean really really really bad, as in teaching Nazi principles to your kids … literally. Then, just when you think it is not possible for it to get worse because we have apparently hit bottom, he takes us into even darker areas …
(It’s a 24 mins clip)