The Non-prophets

He was a top church official who criticized Trump. He says Christianity is in crisis, NPR.org, By Scott Detrow, Gabriel J. Sánchez, and Sarah Handel, August 8, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192663920/southern-baptist-convention-donald-trump-christianity Evangelicals Are Now Rejecting 'Liberal' Teachings of Jesus, Newsweek, By Aila Slisco, August 9, 2023 https://www.newsweek.com/evangelicals-rejecting-jesus-teachings-liberal-talking-points-pastor-1818706 The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.34.2 featuring Cynthia McDonald , Phil the Skeptic Atheist, Jonathan Roudabush and Infidel64Russell Moore stood out in evangelical circles for criticizing Trump. He also was critical of the Southern Baptist Convention's handling of sexual abuse and white nationalism. And this resulted in his departure.The Non-Prophets covered Russell Moore and Beth Moore in April of 2021 when they both left the SBC over some of the same reasons the articles mention.Moore recently addressed what he called a crisis in American Christianity. H

Police in Jamaica charge Catholic priest from Kenya with abduction and sexual assault, ABC News, By the Associated Press, July 11, 2023 https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/police-jamaica-charge-catholic-priest-kenya-abduction-sexual-101106170 Kenyan priest charged with rape, abduction of 12-y-o girl in St Catherine, Jamaica Observer, Jul 11, 2023https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latest-news/kenyan-priest-charged-with-rape-abduction-of-12-y-o-girl-in-st-catherine/ The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.34.1 featuring Cynthia McDonald , Phil the Skeptic Atheist, Jonathan Roudabush and Infidel64A a 39-year-old Roman Catholic priest from Kenya, Lawrence Muvengi, has been accused of the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl. Muvengi has been charged with rape, sexual grooming, having sexual intercourse with a person under 16 and abduction.The accusations include abduction and rape within the church premises. The charges encompass sexual intercourse with a minor, sexual touching, grievous sexual assault, and child abdu

'Barbie' review: Greta Gerwig film celebrates female empowerment but falls short on biblical values, The Christian Post, By Leah MarieAnn Klett, August 3, 2023, https://www.christianpost.com/news/barbie-lauds-female-empowerment-falls-short-on-biblical-truths.html The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.33.4 featuring Helen Greene, The Well-Known Skeptic, Aaron Jensen and"Jimmy Jr"Today's topic is a review of the recent smash hit Barbie. A review of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film, which celebrates female empowerment. But according to Leah MarieAnn Klett, it falls short of biblical values.Leah’s concerns centered around her claim that it falls short of biblical morality. The review assumes the Bible is a paragon of gender equality, but her case fails miserably. She puts forward the idea that the bible teaches that all are created equal, she even included links to Genesis 1:26. But, there's nothing in the verse about gender equality. Yet another example of a Christian misquoting the Bible.The bible is rife with examples of mi

Southwest will appeal judge's ruling requiring 'religious liberty training', Reuters, By Daniel Wiessner, August 8, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-orders-southwest-lawyers-undergo-religious-liberty-training-2023-08-08/#:~:text=Aug%208%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20Southwest,prominent%20conservative%20Christian%20legal%20group. The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.33.3 featuring Helen Greene, The Well-Known Skeptic, Aaron Jensen and"Jimmy Jr"Southwest is appealing a judge's ruling that requires religious liberty training for three of its senior lawyers. This was in response to Southwest not meeting the judge’s previous ruling.They had been ordered to inform their employees of the judges previous order, in their notice to employees they said, “Southwest does not discriminate against our employees”. The judge had previously said, “may not” instead of “does not”.In his decision, Starr said, “Some of those entities laudably provide training free of charge for those who have struggled to respect religious liberties in

Skeptical Inquirer, March 2023, by Rob Palmer:Iranian Schoolgirl Gas Attacks and Havana Syndrome: A Conversation with Robert BartholomewThe Non-Prophets, Episode 22.33.2 featuring Helen Greene, The Well-Known Skeptic, Aaron Jensen and"Jimmy Jr"Today we are discussing Havana syndrome and Iranian school girls' Mass poisoning reports. An article in the Skeptical Inquirer which is called Iranian School girl cast attacks and Havana Syndrome a conversation with Robert Bartholomew.What do these two situations have in common? One began in late 2016 when the US government claimed there were ongoing attacks against its Embassy Personnel in Cuba by unknown forces using unknown weapons. In subsequent years the scope of these claimed attacks include intelligence agents other government officials and even family members stationed in a very long list of countries. Eventually, it was even claimed to have happened on the White House grounds.The symptoms of these attacks were eventually called Havana syndrome. They included e

Florida Students Now Need Parental Permission to Use Nicknames, 'Alternate' Names Under New Ron DeSantis Rule, People, By Virginia Chamlee, August 9, 2023 https://people.com/florida-students-now-need-parental-permission-use-non-legal-name-7571342The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.33.1 featuring Helen Greene, The Well-Known Skeptic, Aaron Jensen and"Jimmy Jr"Florida students now need parental permission to use nicknames under new Florida law. Just another example of speech policing.This is not legislation, this is persecution. This is another example of religion finding its way into public life via government under the guise of parental rights. Just discrimination, repackaged and re-branded. It should disgust everybody, including Christians.Florida is determined to be Gilead from The Handmaid's Tale. We have seen their effort to make slavery seem like an internship while blocking AP African-American studies. AP Psychology is banned because it teaches that some people are different than others.Students and teachers a

The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.32.4 featuring Phoebe Rose, Dr. Ben, Scott Dickie and Helen GreeneGallup: Belief in God, Satan, angels, heaven, hell at 23-year low, Baptist Press, By Diana Chandler, July 31, 2023 https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/gallup-belief-in-god-satan-angels-heaven-hell-at-23-year-low/

The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.32.3 featuring Phoebe Rose, Dr. Ben, Scott Dickie and Helen GreeneAP Psychology ‘effectively banned’ in Florida over sexuality lessons, College Board says, Politico, By JUAN PEREZ JR. and ANDREW ATTERBURY, August 3, 2023https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/03/ap-psychology-banned-in-florida-00109720

The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.32.2 featuring Phoebe Rose, Dr. Ben, Scott Dickie and Helen GreeneBelfast street preacher who said gays are ‘out to rape our children and country’ complains of being ‘vilified’, Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist, August 2, 2023 https://the-angry-atheist.com/2023/08/02/belfast-street-preacher-who-said-gays-are-out-to-rape-our-children-and-country-complains-of-being-vilified/

The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.32.1 featuring Phoebe Rose, Dr. Ben, Scott Dickie and Helen GreeneRichard Dawkins used his new podcast to promote more transphobic lies, Friendly Atheist.com, By Hemant Mehta, July 31, 2023 https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/richard-dawkins-used-his-new-podcast The Science of Biological Sex, Science Based Medicine.org, By Steven Novella, July 13, 2022 https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-science-of-biological-sex/

The Non-Prophets 22.31.4 2023-08-02 featuring Cynthia Cynthia McDonald, Infidel 64, Timothy Bethel and Teo El ATeoHow a Christian transgender man increased his faith by taking the fight over LGBTQ+ rights to religious schools, USA Today, By John FritzeMegan Smith, July 24, 2023, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/24/christian-lgbtq-discrimination-religious-schools/70383458007/ This segment is about discrimination towards a trans man who finds a deeper connection to his faith through activism. Zayn had applied to a Christian educational institution, and was denied for being trans, he has been battling them in court, but was ultimately denied.U.S District Court Ann Aiken dismissed Silva's case in January, Ann Aiken was appointed by Bill Clinton. He wrote that the exception appeared to be related to the government's objective of accommodating religious exercise and that Congress did not appear to have discriminatory intent when it approved the language.But LGBTQ protections are not guaranteed a

The Non-Prophets 22.31.3 2023-08-02 featuring Cynthia Cynthia McDonald, Infidel 64, Timothy Bethel and Teo El ATeoScience 'supersedes' creationism, Einstein tells religious students in newly revealed letter, Life Science via Yahoo News, By Harry Baker, July 21, 2023https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/science-supersedes-creationism-einstein-tells-165250255.htmlThis was a letter that Einstein sent to a teacher has recently been put up for sale for a hundred and twenty five thousand dollars. A religious studies teacher had written Einstein and asked if he could tell them basically his thoughts on God and how they coexists with science. Einstein responded saying that science does not refute the religious attitude but in a certain sense replaces and supersedes it.He also said that as long as the stories in the Bible have been taken literally it was obvious what kind of Faith was expected from the readers, but if you interpret the Bible metaphorically it is nothing but stories.When asked about God in another popular l

The Non-Prophets 22.31.2 2023-08-02 featuring Cynthia Cynthia McDonald, Infidel 64, Timothy Bethel and Teo El ATeoAlabama Republicans refuse to draw a second Black congressional district in defiance of Supreme Court, NBC News, By Jane C. Timm, July 21, 2023https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/alabama-gop-refuses-draw-second-black-district-supreme-court-order-rcna94715 What will be the implications of Alabama’s State Legislature completely disregarding this Supreme Court rulings, and instead passing a map that does not meet the two black majority districts? Will this set precedence for other states to do the same? One of the major impacts is on US House of Representatives, this is one way the GOP has held onto power in spite of being the minority.Gerrymandering is when a state legislature draws up district lines to deliberately dilute groups of a populace that they are not aligned with. They are basically trying to maneuver a vote the way the party in power stays in power. They draw lines in areas in or

The Non-Prophets 22.31.1 2023-08-02 featuring Cynthia Cynthia McDonald, Infidel 64, Timothy Bethel and Teo El ATeo New Florida standards teach students that some Black people benefited from slavery because it taught useful skills, NBC News, By Antonio Planas, June 20, 2023https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-florida-standards-teach-black-people-benefited-slavery-taught-usef-rcna95418A new Florida standard teaches students that some black people benefited from slavery because it taught useful skills. The stop woke act requires Florida teachers to promote the view that black people benefited from slavery because they could learn skills that they could use in life in order for them to actually earn a living.We could speculate all day about why they do this, but the most obvious reason seems to be they don't like the idea of dealing with the oppression of minorities, women, LGBTQ people anytime they're faced with one of these groups being oppressed.They have to try to soften it and make statements about how

The Non-Prophets 22.30.4 2023-07-26 featuring Kelley Laughlin, Malley O’Sirus, Chris and Scott DickieComputer-generated prayer? How AI is changing faith., The Christian Science Monitor, By Ingrid Ahlgren, July 18, 2023 https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2023/0718/Computer-generated-prayer-How-AI-is-changing-faith?icid=rss

The Non-Prophets 22.30.3 2023-07-26 featuring Kelley Laughlin, Malley O’Sirus, Chris and Scott DickieJudge: West Virginia can’t require incarcerated atheist to participate in religious programming, AP News, By Leah Willingham, July 20, 2023 https://apnews.com/article/west-virginia-atheist-corrections-prison-andrew-miller-a431dcba19dea53fec098d23755bc594

The Non-Prophets 22.30.2 2023-07-26 featuring Kelley Laughlin, Malley O’Sirus, Chris and Scott DickieFlorida Teen Takes School to Court for Religious Persecution, Medium.com/Backyard-Theology, By Dan Foster, July 17, 2023 https://medium.com/backyard-theology/florida-teen-takes-school-to-court-for-religious-persecution-b282b45355

The Non-Prophets 22.30.1 2023-07-26 featuring Kelley Laughlin, Malley O’Sirus, Chris and Scott DickieTexas atheists sue Fort Worth for rejecting ads for event opposing Christian Nationalism, Friendly Atheist, By Hemant Mehta, July 18, 2023 https://friendlyatheist.substack.com/p/texas-atheists-sue-fort-worth-for

The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.29 1-4 featuring Cynthia McDonald, Aaron Jensen and Teo el AteoFor too many Christians, the lines between dominionism, nationalism and fascism are blurred Religion News Service, By Karen Swallow Prior, July 11, 2023 https://religionnews.com/2023/07/11/for-too-many-christians-the-lines-between-dominionism-nationalism-and-fascism-are-blurred/

The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.29.2 featuring Cynthia McDonald, Aaron Jensen and Teo el AteoHow The End Of Affirmative Action Reroutes The Talent PipelineForbes, By Corinne Lestch, July 9, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/sites/corinnelestch/2023/07/09/how-the-end-of-affirmative-action-reroutes-the-talent-pipeline/?sh=518ad1495886 Clarence Thomas Wins Long Game Against Affirmative Action Bloomberg Law, By Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, June 29, 2023,https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4073736-thomas-in-rare-occurrence-reads-affirmative-action-opinion-from-bench/ Supreme Court Decision https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf “In the decades since, I have repeatedly stated that Grutter was wrongly decided and should be overruled. Today, and despite a lengthy interregnum, the Constitution prevails,” - Justice Clarence Thomas.Recently the Supreme Court decided that affirmative action is no longer constitutional because it ruled that it violates the 14th Amendment which states that there sh