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‘Bitch Just Make The Cake’: Bill Maher Takes On Anti-Gay Religious Fundamentalists

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Watch as Bill Maher takes on Christian and Islamic fundamentalists over their anti-gay positions, reminding Americans that both religions’ holy books call for the execution of gay people.

Bill Maher jumped into the nation’s recent debate over so-called “religious freedom” Friday night, reminding Americans that religious fundamentalists aren’t out of the mainstream, they are the mainstream.

First, the 59-year old atheist opened his “New Rules” segment by telling the religious right that they’ve already lost.

“Conservatives have to admit they’ve lost the culture wars when they’re reduced to demanding the right to not serve wedding cake to gay people,” Maher preached. “That’s the biggest problem facing America, not climate change, or terrorism, or the wealth gap, but gay cake? It’s not like gays are asking bakeries to make a giant penis cake that goes from soft to hard and squirts out butter cream,” he mocked.

And then Maher told some big truths that most Americans have chosen to ignore recently.

“Ever since Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed his Religious Freedom Restoration Act he and like-minded conservatives have been trying to have it both ways. They hate discrimination, but they love the Bible, a book that commands you to discriminate. That’s what it says. Gay is an abomination and we must destroy it by denying it pastry. Of course the root of this problem is that more than half of all Americans believe that the Bible is the actual or inspired word of God. But, now 55 percent also support gay marriage – which must be very confusing. On the one hand, clearly, God has spelled it out. He hates fags. But, you like your gay neighbors Rob and Larry. But, the Bible tells you to kill them. Yes, it literally says kill them. What to do?”

Maher used the example California’s Christian attorney Matt McLaughlin, who recently made headlines by paying $200 to file a ballot initiative that, should the voters of California pass it, would mandate the execution of every gay person in the state, or, “any person who willingly touches another person of the same gender for purposes of sexual gratification.” McLaughlin’s Sodomite Suppression Act calls for gays to “be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.”

McLaughlin, Maher notes, says that it’s “better” that non-gay Californians kill the gays rather than have to suffer “God’s just wrath.”

And more truth-telling.

“Now I know you’re saying, ‘this guy is so far out on the fringe,’ but that’s the scary thing: he’s not. And this is what never gets discussed in these ‘religious freedom’ issues. The reason fundamentalists are so stubbornly anti-gay is they truly believe that condoning homosexuality will bring on God’ wrath.”

Maher went through a list of professional anti-gay haters, including Rev. Jerry Falwell, whose Liberty University is were Ted Cruz chose to announce his candidacy for president. Also on Maher’s list were Pastor John Hagee, televangelist Pat Robertson, who is the head of Regent University, and Bob Jones University founder Bob Jones III.

“Take fundamentalists at their word. They literally believe this stuff,” Maher observed. “If you believe that God wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah for being too gay, then, yeah, he must be itching to hit West Hollywood,” Maher quipped.

Maher then turned his focus, as he recently has tended to do, on countries that have a majority of citizens who are Muslim, like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan.

“Suffice it to say, in many Muslim countries, you wouldn’t have to work hard at all to get signatures on your ‘kill all the gays’ ballot initiative. In ten such countries, it’s already the law.”

And he reminded that Mohammad calls for the killing of anyone who engages in sodomy.

Maher then called for moderates to “hijack” Islam, as, he observes, happened with Christianity.

“People say ISIS hijacked Islam. No actually, the opposite is true. Religions do have hijackers, but the hijackers are the moderates, and I thank atheist God for them. They’re the ones who took a Sharpie to the Bible and redacted all the crazy parts until there was almost nothing left to read – like an email from Hillary Clinton. And now someone in Islam needs to do that with the Koran.”

“There’s so much wrong with America these days, take pride in the one thing that is legitimately better. We don’t let fundamentalists rule our shit. What’s the proof? Our gay battles are over cake. And even then, not once has one of these religious freedom laws been used to deny a gay person his wedding cake. It doesn’t happen. What happens is, there’s a lawsuit, it goes to court, and the judge says, ‘bitch just make the cake!'”

In the end, isn’t it time to put hate in the name of “religious liberty” back on the shelf, where old books, and not people, live?

Watch:

 

Image: Screenshot via YouTube
Thanks to Crooks & Liars and Towleroad for portions of the transcript

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News

White House Confirms Trump’s Shift That Pushes SAVE Act Further Right

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The White House has confirmed President Donald Trump is moving to push the controversial SAVE America Act further right — which could make it even easier for the left to reject.

Many were confused or critical when President Trump claimed on Thursday that the SAVE Act — a voter ID bill that critics say will disenfranchise millions of Americans — would reshape rules for sports participation and health care access for transgender people, which the current text of the bill does not actually do.

According to Trump’s Truth Social post, the bill requires voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote, and no mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military, or travel. It also bans “men in women’s sports,” and “transgender mutilation surgery for children, without the express written approval of the parents.”

The president, after uproar from the right, dropped the parental approval portion and called to ban all transgender surgery for children.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked on Friday about Trump’s additions to the legislation.

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After declaring that he wants the SAVE Act passed “as soon as possible,” Leavitt acknowledged that Trump “has added on some priorities” to the bill in recent days, “namely no transgender transition surgeries for minors. We are not gonna tolerate the mutilation of young children in this country. No men in women’s sports. The president putting all of these priorities together, it speaks to how common sense they are.”

“These are all common sense priorities of this president that are backed by the vast majority of Americans and he wants Republicans to act on them as quickly as possible,” she claimed.

According to Democracy Docket, Leavitt’s comments “mark the first time the White House has publicly confirmed that Trump is pushing to attach anti-transgender policies to the SAVE America Act.”

Noting that even if the Senate were to pass the legislation with Trump’s latest priorities in it, the bill would have to head back to the House, Democracy Docket reported, “for another vote — a potentially difficult hurdle given the narrow margin by which it passed initially.”

But, even “without those additions, the bill faces long odds in the Senate, where most legislation requires 60 votes to pass and where Democrats have vowed to block it.”

Republican Majority Leader John Thune has said he opposes changing the Senate’s filibuster rules to help the bill’s passage.

READ MORE: ‘Dreaming of Gilead?’ WaPo Hit for Op-Ed Mourning Lack of Evangelicals in ‘Halls of Power’

 

Image via Reuters

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‘Pure Amateur Hour’: Trump Slammed for ‘Absolutely Racing to Betray His Voters’

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President Donald Trump and his administration are under fire for what critics say is a lack of planning for his war against Iran. The fallout is already being felt in the economy, from rising gas prices to sinking financial markets, and a myriad of other potential crises.

“I’ve seen a lot of Presidents fall short of their promises but I’ve never seen any President just doing the opposite of everything promised on purpose,” charged U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI). “Prices, Epstein, wars. Just absolutely racing to betray his voters.”

One hour later, he followed up, writing: “Did they think this through?”

The Atlantic’s Karim Sadjadpour earlier this week reported, “I have spoken with current and former U.S. officials privy to the decision making” on Iran, “who describe a total lack of planning and contradictory aims among those worried about the war effort and those more concerned about the war’s domestic political implications.”

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Ken Martin earlier in the week charged: “Trump and his incompetent administration had no plan to get Americans out of danger after their planned attack on Iran. Now, American citizens are stuck in an active war zone. This is a complete disaster.”

READ MORE: ‘Dreaming of Gilead?’ WaPo Hit for Op-Ed Mourning Lack of Evangelicals in ‘Halls of Power’

On Friday, the State Department said that 24,000 Americans had returned from the Middle East, but thousands more remain. The “vast majority” of those who returned “were able to make their way home on their own through commercial means,” the Associated Press reported.

The rapidly rising price of oil and gas, and access to them, appear to be among critics’ greatest concerns.

“Apparently no one in the White House thought starting a war in the Middle East might affect oil prices,” lamented U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ). “Now families are paying the price at the pump for pure amateur hour.”

Longtime journalist Jim Roberts delved even further.

“Listening to White House official Kevin Hassett this morning is making it crystal clear that the Trump administration had no plan for dealing with the disruption of energy supplies in the Mideast,” he wrote, adding: “And now the Pentagon is trying to figure out how to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson warned, “By April, energy experts say, the Iran War could be a full blown energy crisis.”

Citing reporting from the Financial Times, macroeconomist Philip Pilkington wrote that the “Trump administration forgot to refill its Strategic Petroleum Reserve before launching Total War in the Middle East.”

Patrick De Haan, the widely cited head of Petroleum Analysis at Gas Buddy, referencing President Donald Trump’s remarks about the price of gas rising, warned: “it doesn’t appear the admin is yet aware there’s actually a problem, so that means there’s nothing yet to fix. I do hope this changes soon.”

READ MORE: ‘Flashing Red’: Jobs Report Sparks Expert Warnings of Recession — or Even Stagflation

 

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‘Dreaming of Gilead?’ WaPo Hit for Op-Ed Mourning Lack of Evangelicals in ‘Halls of Power’

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Washington Post readers are pushing back against the paper and an op-ed that laments what its author sees as a shortage of evangelical Christians in the “halls of power.”

“Evangelicals are 23 percent of U.S. adults and one of the most loyal Republican voting blocs, with 81 percent backing Donald Trump in 2024,” writes author Aaron M. Renn. “Yet despite six of the nine Supreme Court justices being appointed by Republican presidents, there are no evangelicals on the Supreme Court.”

The Supreme Court “is just one of the many elite institutions in which evangelicals are absent or underrepresented,” he continues. Declaring that evangelicals “have excelled in politics,” he points to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and House Speaker Mike Johnson as examples.

Arguing that evangelicals “are also prominent in well-run and profitable businesses with relatively low cultural impact, such as food processing (Tyson Foods) and retail (Hobby Lobby),” he says that “they are all but absent from the leadership of prestigious universities, major foundations, Big Tech companies, leading financial firms and large media companies.”

READ MORE: ‘Flashing Red’: Jobs Report Sparks Expert Warnings of Recession — or Even Stagflation

“A stronger evangelical presence in elite institutions could strengthen them while addressing polarization and public mistrust,” he continues. “The lack of evangelicals in the halls of power contributes to anti-institutional public sentiment. It also deprives those institutions of an important pool of talent.”

Washington Post readers scorched the op-ed and the paper.

“The author remarked, more than once, of the lack of formal education among the vast numbers of evangelicals,” wrote one reader. “He then questions the lack of said evangelicals on corporate and college boards and in executive offices. Am I the only one seeing a connection here?”

“Is this not a request for a new DEI program to benefit evangelicals?” asked a reader.

“I am an evangelical Christian,” said a critic. “Please don’t hold up Mike Johnson or Josh Hawley as an example of what Christ calls us to be. Perhaps the reason for our absence in the halls of power is the fact that the majority chose to elect an amoral, corrupt narcissist to be president. We should be absent from that depth of depravity.”

READ MORE: Revealed: The Real Reason Kristi Noem Was Fired

One reader encouraged the author to “go see the musical Godspell and see just how far off the mark the American Evangelicals are.”

“Since when did adherence to fundamentalist religious beliefs become a litmus test for government or institutional leadership?” asked a reader. “Aren’t we currently bombing a country based on that system? This ‘newspaper’ is devolving into an internet forum.”

“So now MAGA wants DEI for Evangelicals,” said one reader. “This is fantastic stand-up comedy material.”

“In some cases, not all, the author is confusing evangelical with fundamentalist,” wrote one critic. “The author is also narrowing the meaning of evangelical by using a political frame, not a theological frame. Many evangelicals define themselves via strict adherence to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (or the Plain) … I wish the author had explored at least modestly the increasing breadth of what the designation ‘evangelical’ represents in Christianity, not on Capital Hill.”

“Do you expect to be trusted in fields of science when you deny evolution?” asked a reader.

“Evangelical Christianity is the antithesis of intellectual pursuit, science, and progress,” wrote a reader.

And one critic, appearing to refer to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” charged: “Dreaming of Gilead, are you?”

READ MORE: Trump’s Iran War Triggers Gas Price Shock — Especially in Red America

 

Image via Reuters 

 

 

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