Damned Christians

[Fake Messiah]

The Christian Far Right Took Over a Texas School District. Parents Want it Back.

Board members banned books and stripped vaccine curriculum. Now, a group of parents are running to make the school board boring again.

Cy-Fair, like all Texas districts, has a nonpartisan school board. Elections to fill the seats are often boring because there’s really only one campaign slogan that works: “I want what’s best for kids.” The race in 2021 was different. Far-right firebrand and megadonor Steven Hotze entered the picture.

Hotze sent out campaign mailers, branding his chosen three as “Christians, Conservatives, and Patriots.” Opponents were “Liberals, Leftists, Socialists, Communists.” Patriotic candidates would defend “historic American values,” oppose “Sharia law,” and uphold “Biblical marriage.”

Then came the books. In the 2022–23 school year—as Texas became ground zero for the national book-banning surge—Cy-Fair fielded 58 challenges to library books, up from just six in the previous three years combined.

In May 2024, approving the science curriculum was quietly slotted into the consent agenda, where it could easily have passed without comment. The 25 science and technical education titles had already cleared vetting by district experts and the State Board of Education—hardly a bastion of leftist orthodoxy. But Blasingame had something else in mind.

“I move that the board approve the posted instructional materials in 7.B for the 2024–25 school year with the following revisions,” she read. Thirteen lessons were cut in subjects like biology, environmental science, health science theory, and cultural diversity. Trustee Justin Ray asked Blasingame to explain the rationale—more as a tee-up than a challenge—and she obliged. In a chapter on vaccines, she said, “it discusses polio and all those” implying that vaccines were being presented as lifesaving, settled science, something she disputes. An extension lesson got into “a lot of COVID discussion.” In a chapter on earth systems, there were “topics of depopulation, and an agenda out of the United Nations.” In environmental sciences there was “a perspective that humans are bad.”

Some of her reasoning might sound like typical right-wing talking points; they also align with the fundamentalist Christian movement. In those circles, vaccines are at best debatable and at worst a product of the abortion industry; the UN is a vehicle for one-world government that would champion global depopulation efforts; and any limit on human consumption of natural resources is an affront to God’s command for his people to rule over the earth.

“Students don’t know that things aren’t there,” Schweighardt told me.

Part of why they don’t know, he said, is that there are no textbooks. The missing chapters—the ones that showed up later, downloaded, printed, and bound in Julie Hinaman’s three-ring binder—weren’t ripped from physical pages or blacked out. They simply vanished. The very digital format of textbooks had made the removal surprisingly seamless.

One Cy-Fair teacher told me most teachers are afraid to discuss current events or ethics at all. That’s because, along with the new curriculum, teachers told me they are required to steer clear of any topic that might be deemed “political.” That includes climate change, gender expression, vaccine mandates, and racial justice. The list of taboo topics didn’t come all at once, they said, but has steadily grown with the various policies adopted by the board over the past two years.

Kids like Schweighardt may not notice missing pages, but they do notice when teachers won’t discuss current events. When the class reached infectious diseases—now rewritten to remain “value neutral” on vaccines—some students found it odd that no one mentioned the deadly measles outbreak unfolding in Texas. Even at his high school, which Schweighardt said skews more conservative, politically, he felt like most kids would at least engage in a debate on the topic. “It seems like there’s no reason not to teach facts,” he said.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politi...ian-right/

[Fake Messiah]

Southern Baptists Endorse Effort to Overturn Same-Sex Marriage

Southern Baptists voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to call for the overturning of the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage, with strategists citing the successful effort that overturned the right to legal abortions as a possible blueprint for the new fight.

The denomination has long opposed gay marriage, but Tuesday was the first time its members have voted to work to legally end it. Expanding on conservatives’ success in overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, the vote signals growing evangelical ambitions to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruling that was handed down 10 years ago this month.

The Baptists’ vote against Obergefell took place at the end of the first day of the denomination’s annual meeting, which is being held this year at a convention center in Dallas. Attracting thousands of pastors and church members from large and small congregations across the country, the meeting is being closely watched as a snapshot of evangelical sentiment on a range of political, theological and cultural issues.

The measure opposing same-sex marriage was part of a sweeping and unusually long resolution under the title, “On Restoring Moral Clarity through God’s Design for Gender, Marriage, and the Family.” It includes calls for defunding Planned Parenthood, for “parental rights in education and healthcare,” and ensuring “safety and fairness in female athletic competition,” a reference to the debate over transgender women in women’s sports.

The resolution is nonbinding, but suggests that evangelicals have long-term ambitions to dismantle an institution that many Americans now accept as a basic right.

The resolution that passed on Tuesday criticizes the pursuit of “willful childlessness” and refers to the country’s declining fertility rate as a crisis. That language goes beyond Baptists’ traditional support of general “family values,” embracing a cultural agenda that encourages larger families as a matter of civilizational survival.

The Southern Baptist Convention is the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, and is often seen as a bellwether for conservative evangelicalism writ large. Like many Christian denominations, it is broadly in decline, with about 12.7 million members in 2024, a 2 percent decline from the year before. But church attendance and baptisms were up, suggesting an ongoing vitality in the pews.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/us/so...riage.html

[zebo-the-fat]

It simple, if you don't want gay marriage, don't marry a gay person.

[Alan V]

It simple, if you don't want gay marriage, don't marry a gay person.

They are weak on the concept of a pluralistic, secular society.

[Fake Messiah]

Christians react to landmark decision decriminalising abortion in England and Wales

A landmark parliamentary decision to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales has drawn strong criticism from Christian campaigners.

MPs voted 379 to 137 in favour of an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which removes the threat of prosecution for women ending a pregnancy at any stage, including those who obtain abortion pills online.

Archbishop John Sherrington, lead bishop for life issues for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, said: "We are deeply alarmed by this decision. Our alarm arises from our compassion for both mothers and unborn babies... This decision significantly reduces the protection of unborn lives and will result in grave harm for pregnant women. Women will be even more vulnerable to manipulation, coerced and forced abortions. This legal change will also discourage medical consultation and make the use of abortion pills for dangerous late-term, at-home abortions more likely... [It] will result in women being more alone, vulnerable, and isolated."

Caroline Ansell, Director of Advocacy and Policy at social policy charity CARE, said: “This outcome is truly heartbreaking. Parliament has taken an extreme and retrograde step that will pave the way for more, harrowing late-term abortions. The decriminalisation of abortion will place women at greater risk of trauma and hospitalisation."

Dawn McAvoy, Both Lives UK lead, said: "This is not a victory for women – it is a tragic failure. The purpose of abortion law is to protect and support both lives in every pregnancy from toxic substances or dangerous operations."

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said:“This is the first time this extreme abortion amendment has been debated in the House of Commons, and there has been no consultation with the public on this seismic law change. We will be fighting this amendment at every stage in the Lords.”

Calvin Robinson, presbyterian priest, said: "Sometimes I hate opening up this app to be reminded of the evil taking hold of my beloved country.

It is now legal to kill your baby up to the moment he or she is born.

I should pray for the Lord to have mercy upon us. But at this point, I am not sure we deserve it."

https://premierchristian.news/en/news/ar...-and-wales

[Fake Messiah]

Pregnant Hindu Woman Dies By Suicide Amid Alleged Pressure To Convert To Christianity By Husband & In-Laws

A distressing case has emerged from Kupwad in Maharashtra’s Sangli district, where a 27-year-old, four-month pregnant Hindu woman has died by suicide. Authorities are investigating allegations that she was subjected to relentless mental and physical harassment by her husband and in-laws, who were pressuring her to convert to Christianity.

The woman, identified as Rutuja Rajge, reportedly took her own life on 6 June 2025. According to a police complaint filed by her father, the groom’s family had presented themselves as Hindus from the Dhangar caste before the wedding. However, Rutuja allegedly discovered they were practicing Christians who had abandoned Hindu customs.

The complaint details a campaign of sustained coercion that began soon after the marriage, involving her husband, in-laws, and a local pastor. Rutuja reportedly told her father she was scolded for following Hindu traditions and was forced to attend prayer services with the aim of compelling her to formally convert.

Following her death, a case was registered at the Kupwad MIDC Police Station. The incident has sparked public outcry, with activists holding a protest in Sangli to demand justice for Rutuja and the enforcement of state-level anti-conversion laws.

This case is highlighted as one example of a wider, often underreported issue involving alleged “crypto-converts.” Similar incidents have been recently reported from other states.

https://thecommunemag.com/maharashtra-pr...d-in-laws/

[Mister Agenda]

Christians react to landmark decision decriminalising abortion in England and Wales

A landmark parliamentary decision to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales has drawn strong criticism from Christian campaigners.

MPs voted 379 to 137 in favour of an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which removes the threat of prosecution for women ending a pregnancy at any stage, including those who obtain abortion pills online.

Archbishop John Sherrington, lead bishop for life issues for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, said: "We are deeply alarmed by this decision. Our alarm arises from our compassion for both mothers and unborn babies... This decision significantly reduces the protection of unborn lives and will result in grave harm for pregnant women. Women will be even more vulnerable to manipulation, coerced and forced abortions. This legal change will also discourage medical consultation and make the use of abortion pills for dangerous late-term, at-home abortions more likely... [It] will result in women being more alone, vulnerable, and isolated."

Caroline Ansell, Director of Advocacy and Policy at social policy charity CARE, said: “This outcome is truly heartbreaking. Parliament has taken an extreme and retrograde step that will pave the way for more, harrowing late-term abortions. The decriminalisation of abortion will place women at greater risk of trauma and hospitalisation."

Dawn McAvoy, Both Lives UK lead, said: "This is not a victory for women – it is a tragic failure. The purpose of abortion law is to protect and support both lives in every pregnancy from toxic substances or dangerous operations."

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said:“This is the first time this extreme abortion amendment has been debated in the House of Commons, and there has been no consultation with the public on this seismic law change. We will be fighting this amendment at every stage in the Lords.”

Calvin Robinson, presbyterian priest, said: "Sometimes I hate opening up this app to be reminded of the evil taking hold of my beloved country.

It is now legal to kill your baby up to the moment he or she is born.

I should pray for the Lord to have mercy upon us. But at this point, I am not sure we deserve it."

https://premierchristian.news/en/news/ar...-and-wales

It's a fantasy to think doctors would kill a healthy baby as it's being born. There's such a thing as standard medical practice, they don't need a law to keep them from doing what medical ethics already forbids. If an abortion is performed that late, something terrible has gone wrong and all a law against it would accomplish is denial of potentially lifesaving care.

[Fireball]

^ Make them go and dig up all the women and children badly handled and killed or allowed to die under the sigil of their unholy churches, and give them respectable burials. And they can stuff that royal "we", while they're at it.

[Fake Messiah]

Over 200 members of the Church of England have signed a letter criticising the amendment endorsed by the majority of MPs

Bishops have warned against the abortion law change.

Some 200 members of the Church of England clergy labelled the vote to decriminalise seeking an abortion at any stage of gestation, for any reason, “dangerous”.

On Tuesday night, MPs voted for the amendment with a majority of 242.

In a letter shared with The Telegraph, leading figures from the Church of England including 13 bishops, of whom five are diocesan bishops, warned that the amendment makes for “a dangerous change” that will fail to protect women, and instead places pregnant women and unborn children “at even greater risk of harm than previously”.

The letter reads: “We are troubled by the amendment voted through by the House of Commons on Tuesday to decriminalise terminations in utero up to full term. As many elected politicians move further away from the Christian moral values that have hitherto shaped much that is good in our national life, our concern is that the vulnerable and voiceless are increasingly overlooked.

“The tragedy of abortion will invariably move us to compassion for the pregnant woman, we are mindful also of the viability of the life of her child who is also deserving of compassion and needs protection under the law.

“This huge change in our understanding of the place of the termination of pregnancies also risks overlooking the vulnerable position of women who are victims of sexual abuse, domestic abuse and coercion, which is all the more acute due to the availability of the abortion pill by post without recourse to in-person consultation with a medical professional.

“This, together with the current debate on assisted suicide, indicates a worrying move to prioritise social liberalism and personal autonomy in a way that causes harm to the most vulnerable and those who are voiceless, both at the beginning and the end of life. It is the Church’s task to offer advocacy, protection, and to show society a better way. “

Abortion in England and Wales is currently a criminal offence. However, it is legal if carried out with an authorised provider up to 24 weeks, with very limited circumstances permitting one after this period.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06...aw-change/