Trump brand Christianity.

I swear if these guidelines get any looser I might have to consider going back to church wearing my Black Sabbath t-shit and my Satanic Birkenstocks.

Just kidding, I'm never going back and they can't make me.

81 year old man shows off the gun he carries in case of a church shooting, accidentally fires it wounding both him and his wife.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

About 20 elderly people sat down for an early Thanksgiving meal Thursday at a church in East Tennessee, unaware that the pleasant afternoon would take a grim turn. 

During their meal, they decided to discuss gun safety in light of recent mass shootings — an idea that came to them after a neighboring county’s sheriff’s department chose to hold similar seminars at its local churches, said Tellico Plains Police Chief Russ Parks. 

“Well, I’ve got my gun on me,” an 81-year-old member of First United Methodist Church in Tellico Plains said, according to Parks, whose department investigated the incident. He pulled out his holster, which held a .38-caliber Ruger handgun. He removed the magazine, cleared the chamber and showed the gun to the other parishioners. They talked about how to safely bring guns to church — and how sad it was that so many people nationwide had been killed in recent mass shootings. Earlier this month, a gunman killed 26 people when he opened fire with an assault-style gun during Sunday service at a small Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Tex.

The 81-year-old man put the magazine back into the gun and put the gun back in the holster, Parks said. Later, while people were cleaning up, a church member who had missed the demonstration asked to see the weapon. 

Just as he was about to show it to the church member, the man accidentally pulled the trigger without realizing the gun was loaded. 

A bullet fired across the palm of the 81-year-old’s hand and toward his 80-year-old wife, who was sitting in a wheelchair next to him. It ripped through her lower left abdomen, out the right side of her abdomen, into her right forearm and out the backside of her forearm. The bullet then struck the wall and ricocheted, landing under the wife’s wheelchair, Parks said.

This of course is the kind of thing that I have predicted would happen if more people start carrying guns into churches, theaters, malls, and public schools.

But that does not make me any more intelligent than the guy who predicts that if you stand in the rain you are likely to get wet.

It is just common sense.

More guns, simply means more shootings.

People seem to think that guns work like crucifixes do in the movies to ward off vampires, in that simply wearing one keeps you safe from attack.

But that is not the case. If you have a gun on your person you are endangering everybody in your vicinity.

However, this being Tennessee, I doubt that is the lesson these people will learn from this.

I imagine that next you will see this man's wife strapped with a holster so that she can return fire if her husband "accidentally" shoots at her again.

Today was the day the largest church shooting in the history of the United States took place. Just in case you were wondering. Update!

At least 27 dead in Texas church shooting, @BBCBarbaraPlett provides updates on events in Sutherland Springs https://t.co/bQ52Gn8sSw pic.twitter.com/G5uXhJu54E

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) November 5, 2017

I think that 27 number might well change, but it will definitely not be going down.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

At least 20 people are dead after a gunman opened fire inside a Texas church on Sunday morning, officials say. The shooting occurred at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, approximately 30 miles from San Antonio, around 11:30 a.m. 

The shooter, who is believed to have acted alone, fled the church on foot and was killed by police, officials said. Two county commissioners said at least 20 people were dead; a police commissioner told the BBC that 27 had died. 

Whatever the final toll, it is already the deadliest shooting at a place of worship in modern American history, surpassing the nine killed at Emanuel AME Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. 

At least six helicopters transported injured people to hospitals, the Dallas Morning News reported, and a two-year-old child is among the wounded.

Here is more from the New York Times:

Albert Gamez Jr., another Wilson County commissioner, told CNN that he was told by the police that the gunman was chased into the next county and was killed, but it was not clear whether the police shot him or he killed himself. 

Mr. Gamez said he was told by an emergency medical technician that 27 people were dead and 24 others were injured. 

We do not yet know much about this, but what we do know is that it is tragic, unnecessary, and ultimately preventable if only we wanted to take the steps to keep it from happening again.

Update: Now we know why the Right Wing has not said much. It's probably a white guy.

NEW: Authorities have preliminarily identified TX church shooter as white male in his mid-20s from outside San Antonio, sources tell @ABC.

— ABC News (@ABC) November 5, 2017

If true we need to quickly expand that travel ban.

No more white men allowed in this country dammit.

Update 2: Yep, white guy. 

BREAKING: Texas church shooter identified as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley, law enforcement officials say https://t.co/TkbmGRdByn

— NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) November 5, 2017

Update 3: From the killer's Instagram page.

 The gunman was also dressed in all black and wearing a bullet proof vest.

Evangelical church urges members to commit fraud so that they can continue tithing.

Courtesy of Raw Story:

An evangelical church already under investigation for luring foreign believers to the U.S., where they were kept as virtual slaves, has been accused of encouraging parishioners to file fraudulent unemployment claims so they could keep tithing. 

According to an Associated Press investigation, the founder of the Word of Faith Fellowship reportedly encouraged church members to defraud the government so that they could keep filling her coffers at Sunday services, saying it was “God’s plan.” 

In an interview, contractor Randy Fields related how he appealed to church founder Jane Whaley to allow him to scale back his tithing because his business was faltering, only to have the religious leader encourage him to file fraudulent unemployment claims in the names of his employees. 

According to the report, Fields was not alone, with multiple other church members — and fellowship employees – also admitting they committed fraud in the name of the church. The report goes on to note that the allegations are being investigated by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

Detailing years of fraud, former church adherents estimated that the fake claims — including “some filed by the business owners’ wives and other family members” — would have diverted hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to the church over a six-year period.

Tax fraud AND slavery?

Damn!

You know I love it when people try to convince me that we cannot be moral without religion.

I personally think that being truly moral can only be accomplished by ignoring religion.

And ESPECIALLY self serving religious leaders.

Another senseless shooting. This time at a church in Tennessee.

"He was just shooting." Witness recounts church shooting outside Nashville that left one dead and six injured. https://t.co/gRKfVGoHj3 pic.twitter.com/R975iWM1Xs

— ABC News (@ABC) September 24, 2017

Courtesy of Tennessean: 

One person was killed and eight others wounded Sunday after a man in a ski mask opened fire following a church service in Antioch. 

The shooter, identified as Emanuel Kidega Samson, a 25-year-old Rutherford County man, accidentally shot himself after he was confronted by an armed member of the congregation and is being treated at the hospital, according to Metro Nashville Police. 

Police say the gunman wore a neoprene ski mask when he shot and killed a woman in the parking lot of Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, as the service was ending shortly after 11 a.m. With his blue Nissan Xterra still running, the gunman then entered the rear sanctuary doors of the church and began "indiscriminately" shooting, police said. 

Among those shot were three men and three women, police spokesman Don Aaron said.

Apparently the gunman was confronted by an usher at the church and while pistol whipping the man he inadvertently shot himself in the chest.

He ultimately survived and is in police custody.

No reason has been given for the shooting.

Just another day in the NRA's America.

After keeping his doors locked while Texas drowned, Joel Osteen invites flood survivors into his church and then tries to fleece them.

Courtesy of Newsweek:  

A televangelist whose church closed its doors during Hurricane Harvey claims that he is the victim of “misinformation” and told flood victims not to have a “poor me” attitude. 

In his Sunday sermon, multimillionaire pastor Joel Osteen addressed the criticism that has been directed at him after his 16,000 seat Houston megachurch initially closed its doors during the storm, in which thousands of people were left homeless and 40 were killed. 

Pictures and video posted on social media showed the church apparently undamaged by the storm, and Osteen initially claimed he had not opened its doors because he had not been asked to by the state. The church re-opened Tuesday, as floodwaters began to recede. 

“You know I really believe in these times of difficulty it's, for me, certainly not the time to question your faith but to turn to your faith because God is the one that gives you the strength to make it through the difficult times," he said in a video of Sunday's sermon posted on YouTube. 

“We are not going to understand everything that happens but, you know, having a 'poor old me' mentality or 'look what I lost' or 'why did this happen', that's just going to pull you down. Like we've been talking about all night, you just got to turn it over and say 'God you're still on the throne'.”

Yeah don't get a "poor old me" attitude just because your home was swept away by the flood and you lost everything. After all on the bright side Joel Osteen's church was completely untouched and he is still a very, very wealthy man.

However as bad as this completely out of touch sentiment was, it was not the worst of it.

On Saturday, the day before Osteen made his comments, his sister led a service.

Courtesy of Nova Magazine:  

In a video from a Saturday service at Lakewood Church, his sister Lisa Osteen Comes asks for the Hurricane Harvey survivors to stand up so that people could “touch” and “lay hands” on them. Before she does that though, she sends the ushers into the auditorium to start passing around collection plates. As they do, she throws out false words of comfort and carefully avoids ever telling these poor people that the church would help them. Instead, she keeps saying that God will. 

“All these people who stood tonight, they have needs, and financial needs, and you know, I just feel like we should pray for them that God is going to bless them with unprecedented favor in the next coming days and the next coming weeks and the next coming months because you know they have a lot of calls to make, they have a lot of work to get done, and their lives were so interrupted, but you know what we can trust God that it will go smoother than anyone could ever imagine.” 

Comes then called for the congregation to “touch them, hold hands with them…let’s touch them, let’s just let them know we’re praying for them and let’s believe right now that God is going to move supernaturally in their favor.”

So yes this woman actually sent out ushers to ask for donations from the people who had just lost EVERYTHING.

Comes actually went a little further than that and suggested that the flooding might turn out to be a good thing as God will likely reward them with better homes and more prosperity.

That is the trick that these people use to convince morons to give them their last nickle in the belief that God will reward their generosity with great wealth, health, and happiness.

It's really too bad that I don't believe in Hell, because if ever there were people who deserved a standing reservation in that place it is these slimy pieces of shit.

Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof has pleaded guilty to all state charges clearing the way for his execution.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Dylann Roof, who shot to death nine people in a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to all state charges in the killings. 

Roof was sentenced to death by a federal jury back in January for the June 2015 massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The deal reached in the Charleston County Courthouse clears the way for his federal imprisonment, on death row, to begin. 

"This is the surest way to see that Dylann Roof is executed," said Scarlett A. Wilson, solicitor for the state's Ninth Judicial Circuit. "We hope that today truly will close a chapter for these victims." 

The deal means no state trial or sentencing phase will be necessary. 

Roof pleaded guilty to nine murder charges, three attempted murder charges, and one weapons charge. He was sentenced to nine consecutive life sentences and three consecutive 30-year sentences.

For me it is impossible to think about this case without feeling a real sense of loss. 

Not just over the lives that were lost in the shooting, though of course that's a large part of it, but also over the loss of this young man's life.

I work with troubled kids all of the time, and in all of them there is something worthy that you just have to identify and nurture in order to help them feel connected.

No person is simply evil, there is always something worth saving if only somebody recognizes that and makes the effort.

I have seen the worst kids become the best adults. It can happen.

For some reason Dylann Roof never had anybody to provide that guidance for him and because of that nine innocent people lost their lives. And one guilty one did as well.

New legislation in Alabama might allow a fundamentalist church to form its own police force. Wait, what?

Courtesy of Salon: 

Donald Trump’s election didn’t just empower the alt-right troops with their #MAGA hats and Pepe the Frog avatars. The religious right is also more quietly making moves to consolidate power on a state and local level, aided by Trump’s promises to appoint conservative-friendly judges and to strike down legal limits on church-based politicking. 

But even in the current environment, it’s startling to learn that the Alabama legislature is considering a bill to give a Birmingham-based church its own police force. The bill, Senate Bill 193, would specifically authorize the Briarwood Presbyterian Church, which has more than 4,000 members, to hire its own police force that would be “invested with all of the powers of law enforcement officers in this state.” 

“The sole purpose of this proposed legislation is to provide a safe environment for the church, its members, students and guests,” the church said in a memo sent to Salon after requests for comment. The memo also mentioned the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut, claiming that the church needs “qualified first responders” in case such a thing would happen there.

As the article goes on to point out this church is not sitting in the middle of the wilderness. In fact it is within the jurisdiction of two different sheriff's departments.

Besides allowing this may be unconstitutional.

“This proposed legislation seems like a clear violation of church-state separation, and a clear violation of the Constitution,” Alex Luchenitser, the associate director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in a phone call. “Government bodies must not delegate official power to religious entities.” 

Luchenitser cited a 1982 Supreme Court case, Larkin v. Grendel’s Den, in which an 8-1 majority found that states could not give churches the official authority to grant and deny liquor licenses. 

The ACLU of Alabama cited the same decision in a memo sent, upon request, to Salon. 

“Indeed, allocating any quintessential governmental power to a religious institution plainly violates the Establishment Clause,” the memo said, warning the state of Alabama that giving a church its own police force “would not survive a legal challenge.”

You know it is bad enough that some churches and Christian schools still allow corporal punishment, but allowing them to have their own police force?

Oh hell no!

Sarah Palin links to article claiming that the Wasilla church fire led to her resignation. Uh, nope.

In the article that Palin links to it says this:

Ever since she burst onto the national stage as Sen. John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election, Sarah Palin has been scrutinized and ridiculed by the “tolerant” left. 

Palin’s family has come under attack, as well. 

Over the past decade, the former governor of Alaska has handled things with a grace unseen from most politicians. 

Yesterday was the anniversary of Palin’s church being burned that led to her announcement to step down as governor.

Wait, what?

This article then links to another article which does not mention the church fire at all but gives Palin credit for Donald Trump's rise to power. (Right along with Vladimir Putin I would assume.)

The article also claims that Palin was under constant attack from the Left, (You're welcome.) and that those attacks are why we do not have Palin in office any longer. (Once again, you're welcome.)

Now look, at this point nobody knows for sure who started that church fire. The investigation kind of just petered out.

Those on the Right blame Palin critics, though that makes no real sense. (I mean if WE really wanted to hurt Palin we would have burned down the Mugshot Saloon.)

And those on the Left think that it was likely a supporter burning up records that she did not want revealed.

However what I do know for sure is that it in no way had any impact on Palin's decision to leave office.

Trump supporters deface Maryland church with racist message.

Courtesy of WJLA: 

A church in Silver Spring Maryland was vandalized with racists statements in support of Donald Trump Saturday night. 

According to church officials, the phrase "Trump Nation whites only" was written at the Episcopal Church of Our Savior at 1700 Powder Mill Road on a sign advertising the church's Hispanic service and on a wall in the church's memorial garden which serves as the church cemetery. 

"I guess none of us realized where we were living," says Margaret Gordon, a member of the church's vestry. 

According to Robert Harvey The Rector of the Episcopal Church of Our Savior, about 80 percent of the church's members are immigrants and there are people from more than 50 countries of origin as part of his congregation. 

"They're afraid," says Harvey who also says that this was not the first such incident of racism in the community during the week.

This is just one example I literally had dozens of others I could have chosen to illustrate what is happening all across our country right now. 

Somebody on Twitter actually had the gall to point out that there was a similar outbreak of racism after Barack Obama was elected, right up until somebody pointed out to them that those instances of racism were directed AT the President, not inspired BY the president.

Historic church in Mississippi burned and tagged with pro-Trump message. Welcome to Donald Trump's America.

Courtesy of WDAM: 

Authorities are now investigating the burning and vandalism of a historic church in Greenville as a hate crime. 

Tuesday night, at 9:15 p.m. authorities responded to the scene of the 111-year-old Hopewell M.B. Church. The church was not only burned, but also vandalized with the words "Vote Trump" spray painted on the side of the building. 

Officials said during a press conference held on Wednesday that the incident is now being investigated as a hate crime and Greenville Police Chief Freddie Cannon called the incident "a form of voting intimidation". 

We're told that there is heavy fire, water and smoke damage in the sanctuary of the church. The pastor's study and the kitchen also were damaged.

What's more this was found in the yard of the suspect named in the case of the murder of those two police officers in Iowa.

Neighbor tells me that shooting suspect Scott Michael Greene put this Trump sign in his yard approx 2 weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/8HjtthB51I

— Grant Rodgers (@GrantMRodgers) November 2, 2016

I think this is just the beginning.

I would bet that we are going to see a lot more of this kind of aggression directed at minorities, government employees, black churches, mosques, and Democratic headquarters all the way up to November, and afterwards.

And that will be true whether Donald Trump gets elected or not.

He has opened the door into a type of ugliness that will be in no hurry to run back and hide in the shadows anytime soon.

Donald Trump visited a black church today and taught them about President Lincoln. Good thing he didn't talk down to them.

.@realDonaldTrump: "A lot of people don't realize" Abraham Lincoln was a Republican https://t.co/q9Gu8G8cMw https://t.co/i4kQQ7cPF2

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 3, 2016

Did you notice how Trump said that like he just learned it this morning?

(While he was there perhaps he could have also taught the congregation about the Southern Strategy, of which I am sure they are also quite aware.)

And don't think Trump was done spreading his "wisdom" with that history lesson either.

Thank you Great Faith Ministries International, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, and Detroit!https://t.co/4Ucx678ZCC

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2016

Yes I absolutely believe that he wrote that the other day and is not haltingly reading it for the first time.

Fortunately there were probably only a handful of African Americans offended as the place was very close to empty.

Nowhere near a full crowd as Trump enters (far left) pic.twitter.com/kL1AlVukG4

— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) September 3, 2016

It appears that most of the neighborhood was outside protesting.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the church before Trump arrived, some of whom chanted, "Whose city? Our city!" 

At one point, several tried to rush toward a gate near the church's entryway. Four police officers on horseback blocked them. Some of the protesters urged others to remain peaceful. 

Lawrence Glass, the president of the Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity, addressed reporters and demonstrators at a news conference earlier in the morning, declaring that black voters "will not be trumpets to get his message of fear and hate out." 

"He is speaking at a black church, which is not equivalent to speaking to a black church," Glass added. 

Don't worry I am sure that the Trump team is already spinning this into a rollicking success.

Great visit to Detroit church, fantastic reception, and all @CNN talks about is a small protest outside. Inside a large and wonderful crowd!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2016

See?

After all facts are just a matter of inconvenience for this campaign. 

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Mocking religion? Always a good thing in my book.

Starting another new religion? NEVER a good thing.

I mean sure right now everybody understands that it's a parody and probably attend the services with their tongue firmly implanted in their cheek, but fifty to a hundred years down the line this could be the next tax exempt place of worship fighting to get their creation story taught in middle school science classes.

You know I bet those early Christians thought it was all for shits and giggles too.

But then the next thing you know you have some guy building a tax funded amusement park in Kentucky paying homage to a children's story about a giant boat.

Slippery slope my friends.

North Carolina church threatens repercussions against woman for getting gay married, despite fact she has not attended the church for 15 years.

Courtesy of LGBTQ Nation: 

Upon learning that one of their former members, Kelly Toney, is in a loving, committed marriage with another woman, the church took it upon themselves to intervene. 

It didn’t matter that Kelly hadn’t actually attended the church in a decade and a half. 

The letter calls for Kelly to see the light, admit her sins, divorce her wife — essentially turn her happy, loving life completely upside-down so that it fits with one subjective interpretation of an ancient text. 

“If there is no willingness on your part to receive this appeal and display repentance and abandonment of this area of open immorality,” the church writes, “then the Church will have no choice but to take appropriate and prayerful action to address the standing of your fellowship with this Body at such a time that will be determined by the leadership and members of this congregation.”

Apparently this church is kind of like the Mafia. You don't quit them, they quit you.

How arrogant must you be to think that you can destroy a woman's relationship, shame her into denying her sexuality, and then convince her to rejoin your congregation after fifteen years?

I'm sorry I forgot, she's just a woman. And according to the Bible she really does not have an opinion until a man tells her what it is.

Texan accidentally exercises his 2nd Amendment right on himself during church. Dammit Jesus!

Courtesy of the Longview News-Journal: 

Sulphur Springs police say a man accidentally shot himself in the foot Wednesday evening at a church. 

Police said at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, officers responded to a shooting at the Davis Street Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs. Officers discovered a person, who was not identified, had accidentally discharged his pistol and shot himself in the foot. 

The victim sustained a minor wound, and no one else was hurt.Police said the shooting happened in the church's family life center.

For some reason the fact that this happened in the "family life center" makes it seem especially ironic.

Once again the best thing that can be said about this is that at least he didn't shoot somebody else. 

Man punches child in face for getting ready for church too slowly. Wow, church is tougher than I remember.

Courtesy of News 6:  

A 49-year-old man was arrested Sunday in Orange County on allegations of punching a child in the face because the child wasn't getting ready for church quickly enough. 

Angel Rivera was arrested on charges of child abuse and battery (domestic violence). 

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the child, whose age was not released, was getting ready to go to church with Rivera, but the child was having trouble putting on shoes because of an ankle brace. 

According to deputies, the child said Rivera got upset, so the child went into a room and tried to close the door. 

Rivera tried to stop the child, but the door hit him in the face, deputies said. Rivera was able to get into the room and punched the child in the face, deputies said. The child, who was bleeding and had a black and blue eye, was taken to a hospital, deputies said.

Who punches a kid with an ankle brace for not getting his shoes on fast enough? I mean did this asshole even try to help the child?

You know I keep hearing how Christians are supposed to be my moral superior, but I really don't see it.

Ever.

(H/T to Raw Story.)

The new chairperson of senate committee that oversees education in Arizona believes church should be mandatory, the earth is only 6,000 years old, and that chem trails in the sky are manipulating the weather.

Courtesy of 12 News: 

An Arizona lawmaker who believes the Earth is 6,000 years old is the new chairwoman of the state Senate committee that oversees education-related legislation.

Here are a few of state senator Sylvia Allen's more controversial viewpoints:

The earth is only six thousand years old.

Church attendance should be mandatory:  

The original comment occurred during a vote on legislation to allow individuals who have permits to carry concealed weapons to bring them into public buildings. Allen said she did not understand the opposition and talked about moral breakdown. 

“Probably we should be debating a bill requiring every American to attend a church of their choice on Sunday to see if we can get back to having a moral rebirth,” adding “that would never be allowed.” 

Sen. Allen also thinks there is something hinky about those chem trails in the sky:  

Ok, I do not want to get into a debate about weather. However, I know what I see weekly up here on the flat where I live outside of Snowflake. The planes usely, three or four, fly a grid across the sky and leave long white trails streaming behind them. I have watched the chem-trails move out until the entire sky is covered with flimsy, thin cloud cover. It is not the regular exhaust coming from the plane it is something they are spraying. It is there in plain sight. What is it they are leaving behind that covers the sky? 

Things are happening all around us that we see everyday and just don't get what it is. I think we throw the "conspiracy theory" at people when we don't understand or have the information they have so we try and explain it that way. Plus we just don't want to believe that our government would do anything terrible to us. Well, just a few examples, the IRS attack on the Tea Party, Benghazi, wire taping, Fast and Furious just to name a few and we think that they would not manipulate our weather?

Okay so why is Sarah Palin selling her Arizona home and moving back to Alaska again?

If these are not her people, then who is?

California pastor shot by his own gun safety instructor. Well it's a good thing he was trained.

Pastor Tom Smith. Now holier than ever.

Courtesy of CBS News:  

A Modesto pastor is recovering after being shot during a gun safety class, CBS Sacramento reports. 

Tom Smith, a family pastor who also helps with church security, was shot by his own gun safety instructor. 

Modesto Police say they were acting out a scenario when a loaded gun the instructor was holding accidentally went off. They say they gun fired at the end of class after the instructor put a mock gun down and picked up his real loaded gun. 

Police say so far it's unclear if the instructor believed he was using the mock gun he had been using to teach the class.

You know I'm certainly no expert on gun safety instruction but it seems to me that the first rule of gun safety class is to NOT shoot any of your students.

But hey, maybe I'm wrong.

Yep, more guns in more hands is certainly keeping us all safe.

You might be surprised to learn I have no problem with this.

Church pamphlet

Despite what you may have heard Bibles are totally welcome in school so long as the students are not reading them during instruction time or instead of their textbooks.

In fact public school is a great place for young people to share their points of view about the world, current events, and religion with their peers.

However I would also encourage Muslims to bring their Koran, Hindus to bring the Vidas, and Atheists to bring "The God Delusion."

I think that would start a very interesting, and potentially lengthy discussion, that could last the entire school year.

On Sunday the 2nd Amendment kept this country safe from a mother, her new born baby, and a pastor.

Suspect James Junior Minter

Courtesy of CNN: 

A mother, her newborn, and a pastor were shot Sunday in an Alabama church, and the baby's father is in custody, authorities said. 

James Junior Minter, 26, is accused of opening fire inside the Oasis Tabernacle Church in Selma, Alabama. He faces three counts of attempted murder, Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson told CNN. 

"The mother is in critical condition. She and the baby were sent to Birmingham for medical treatment. The pastor is at a local hospital in Selma," Jackson said. 

The pastor was shot as he tried to get the gun out of the shooter's hand, he said.

It seems likely that the suspect was upset over the recent break up and visitation with his son.

So of course he shot the baby, which is what people living in a gun culture do to solve all of their problems.

The NRA to release statement urging all pastors and infants to be armed in 3..2..1