www.chron.com

Terry Mark Mangum #fundie #homophobia chron.com

A Cypress man charged in the death of a Southwest Airlines flight attendant said Saturday that he was doing God's work when he went to a Montrose-area bar last month, hunting for a gay man to kill.

"I believe I'm Elijah, called by God to be a prophet," said 26-year-old Terry Mark Mangum, charged with murder June 11. " ... I believe with all my heart that I was doing the right thing."

Interviewed in the Brazoria County Jail Saturday morning, Mangum said he feels no remorse for killing 46-year-old Kenneth Cummings Jr., whom relatives described as a "loving" son who never forgot a holiday and a devoted uncle who had set up college funds for his niece and nephew. He worked at Southwest for 24 years.

Mangum, who described himself as "definitely not a homosexual," said God called on him to "carry out a code of retribution" by killing a gay man because "sexual perversion" is the "worst sin

Mangum, who described himself as "definitely not a homosexual," said God called on him to "carry out a code of retribution" by killing a gay man because "sexual perversion" is the "worst sin."

Mangum believed Cummings to be gay.

"I planned on sending him to hell," he said.

Michael Brian Protzman #wingnut #magick #conspiracy chron.com

More than 200 days after they first gathered in Dallas last November, QAnon cult leader Michael Brian Protzman has once again ordered his followers to return to Dallas this weekend for the true culmination of his prediction that JFK will return to the site of his 1963 assassination

Protzman told his followers in a livestream early Wednesday morning he’d figured out that JFK would reappear at Dealey Plaza in Downtown Dallas on Saturday, June 11. He claimed former president Donald Trump had spoken to him in code at his last rally, and based on his analysis of Trump’s words, this Saturday was the actual date that the slain Kennedy family scion would return to Dallas

"He’s gonna keep it not so obvious," Protzman said of Trump’s coded messages to him. "He’s not gonna tell too much all at once. You don’t play your trump cards until the end of the match. So of course he’s got it balanced at the moment, or else people will find out too much too fast"[…]
At the time of Protzman's first prediction, QAnon followers arrived in droves from around the world to witness its fruition. After the events their leader predicted never came to pass, a core group of Protzman’s followers stayed in the Dallas area to follow his "teachings"[…]
In the intervening months, Protzman has led the group through ceremonies in Dealey Plaza and conducted public "classes" on gematria, an alpha-numeric system he believes can uncover truths the government wishes to keep secret[…]
Experts and researchers have sounded the alarm over the cult’s behavior at several points, including when Protzman allegedly ordered cult members to drink a toxic bleach-like substance from a communal bowl to ward off illness

Betty Brown #racist chron.com

Brown suggested that Asian-Americans should find a way to make their names more accessible.

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.

Brown later told Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”

Dan Patrick #fundie chron.com

USTIN — A Dallas-area imam became the first Muslim cleric to offer the Texas Senate's daily prayer on Wednesday.

The visit raised the eyebrows of a conservative talk-show host turned senator who questioned the religious leader's background and the timing of his visit.
Sen. Dan Patrick stepped off the floor for Imam Yusuf Kavakci's prayer, in which he recited a passage from the Koran in Arabic and read an English translation.

"I surely believe that everyone should have the right to speak, but I didn't want my attendance on the floor to appear that I was endorsing that," said Patrick, a freshman Republican from Houston.

Christine Butler #fundie chron.com

[After Judge Malott of NM ruled same sex marriages legal in New Mexico]

Christine Butler of Albuquerque, who opposes gay marriage and attended the hearing, said the judge's ruling violates her rights.

"I don't want to bring my children or go to places and see same-sex couples showing a lot of affection. ... That's against God's law," Butler said.

FredsMom #fundie chron.com

Running with Scissors, the thing I like about your post is that you speak your truth and aren't afraid to say it. I respect that. I am only replying about one of your statements. About reading the Bible. I have. So let's take the Muslim thing off the table. Let's just talk about liberal Democratic beliefs vs. the Bible. Let's see. The bible says Abortion is a sin. Democrats are ok with it. The bible says homosexuality is an abomination, but Democrats are ok with it. The bible says the Lord helps those who help themselves, but Democrats believe in giving people something for nothing. That is why I would never vote for a Democrat. And that is why I don't believe any true Christian could actually support the Democratic party. Now I know a lot of people feel differently and that is ok. I am just speaking my truth.

Bob Hankins #fundie chron.com

Then you have to ask yourself the question, who would oppose a prayer meeting for our nation? The answer of course is Satan and those who are deceived by him, including atheists, gay pastors, the Democratic Party and the Houston Chronicle. If they were having a big homosexual rights rally or a Muslim prayer meeting at Reliant, I bet the Houston Chronicle would not be attacking it.

The article said the American Family Association opposes gay rights and evolution. Evolution is a myth that was believed before modern science discovered DNA and the complex design of the human cell and the solar system. Recent scientific discoveries prove that the universe and life have a complex design and if there is a design, there has to be a designer. Nothing happens by chance, including life and a complex universe. The one good thing about the article is that it clearly shows that the Houston Chronicle is opposed to fundamental Christians practicing their faith and expressing their beliefs in public.

H.B. London #fundie chron.com

[Discussing Rev. Haggard's treatment for homosexuality. Isn't this what got him in trouble in the first place?]

"From the Christian perspective, we think in terms of prayer, we think in terms of what we call godly counsel, where godly men who are clean themselves insert themselves in the life of the one who is struggling," London said.

The symbolic laying on of hands may also be a part of the recovery, London said.

Charles Eugene Flowers and Stephanie Bassitt #fundie chron.com

The director of a Christian boot camp and an employee were arrested Friday for allegedly dragging a 15-year-old girl behind a van after she fell behind the group during a morning run, authorities said.

Charles Eugene Flowers and Stephanie Bassitt of San Antonio-based Love Demonstrated Ministries, a 32-day boot camp, were arrested on aggravated assault charges for the alleged June 12 incident.

The two are accused of tying the girl to the van with a rope then dragging her, according to an arrest affidavit filed Wednesday by the Nueces County Sheriff's Department.

Both remained in Nueces County Jail late Friday on $100,000 bond each.

A call to Love Demonstrated Ministries was not immediately returned Friday. No listing was found for Bassitt. An answering machine at a listing for Flowers cut off during an attempt to leave a message Friday.

Flowers, the camp's director, allegedly ordered Bassitt to run alongside the girl after she fell behind, the affidavit said. When the girl stopped running, Bassitt allegedly yelled at her and pinned her to the ground while Flowers tied the rope to her, according to the affidavit.

The girl's mother gave investigators photos of her daughter's injuries that were taken at a hospital where the girl was treated and a sworn statement from a witness who claimed to see the girl being dragged on her stomach at least three times.

Freegrace #fundie chron.com

Some attempt to disprove the Bible by arguing the impossibility of Jonah surviving in the belly of the fish for three days. I think there is sufficient evidence that the Bible could be accurately describing the situation.
- - -
Thus, by all accounts, it is entirely possible for a human to be swallowed by a large fish like a sperm whale or a Great White shark or a large fish that was specifically created for this purpose.

Roland Weisselberg #fundie chron.com

[Priest's suicide leaves questions (Statement against Islam?)]

The church was full so he did it outside, just after Communion. Had a can of gasoline under his coat, drenched himself and went alight. The janitor saw a flash and yelled for help. The flaming man stumbled to the ground as worshippers rushed past and a nun knelt beside him, praying and touching a sliver of his unburned skin.

Someone said he whispered: "Is Jesus here?"

The Rev. Roland Weisselberg died the next day. His widow said the 73-year-old retired Lutheran priest committed suicide to protest Islam's growing influence on a Christian continent that had lost its faith. That's all the bloggers and neo-Nazis needed. Screeds whirled and a troubled man was turned into a martyr, candles lit in his honor, flowers dropped on the place he fell.

MaryWaterton #fundie chron.com

[Re: Houston's election of an openly lesbian mayor:]

Congratulations Houston. You have become a Godless Sodomite city. Don't bother to show up in your churches on Sunday mornings ... the Spirit of God will not be there.

Desperado #fundie chron.com

I believe more poeple have been killed in the name of atheism any other religion. Stalin murdered millions to create a godless Soviet Union, Mao murdered millions in communist China, in the name of atheism. If the athiests believe God is just a myth, why do they expend so energy trying to eliminate Him from society. I believe Santa and the Easter Bunny are myths, but I don't demand removal of all references to them. It seems to me you are not just athiests, you are anti-theists. There is a difference.

Rick Wiles #fundie chron.com

Rick Wiles, a Dallas preacher with an internationally syndicated nightly radio broadcast aired in 29 U.S. states, warned listeners that the mild Jade Helm 2015 is likely a rehearsal for a biblically-foretold strike that will wipe Texas off the map.

"Don't fear Jade Helm 15, but beware Jade Helm 16," he said on his show TruNews.

[...]

"I assure you it has to do with the gold," said Wiles, who last month interviewed the gold bill's author, Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R-Keller), on the air.

He hypothesized that Texas' founding of a gold bank will irk federal authorities so much that tensions will spiral into violence, fulfilling his interpretations of biblical prophecy. He said Texans are poised to fight, which is exactly why they'll be target number one when order breaks down. Troops are drilling in Texas for Jade Helm this month, he opined, in preparation for a full scale operation to come.

"I believe that they would level the state of Texas. I believe they would use an EMP against Texas," he said. "I believe that they would use all kinds of new weapons against the Texas people before they would allow anyone to challenge the Federal Reserve."

That, Wiles alleges, will be the end of times.

Rep. Jonathan Stickland #wingnut #quack #conspiracy chron.com

In response to a Hotez tweet that the latest increase in vaccine exemptions in Texas shows its children have been “placed in harm’s way for the financial gain of special and outside interest groups,” Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, let loose.

“You are bought and paid for by the biggest special interest in politics,” tweeted Stickland. “Do our state a favor and mind your own business. Parental rights mean more to us than your self enriching ‘science.’”

When Hotez replied that he doesn’t take a dime from the vaccine industry and that as a Texas pediatrician-scientist who develops neglected disease vaccines for the world's poorest people, it is “most certainly my business,” Stickland dug in even deeper.

“Make the case for your sorcery to consumers on your own dime,” tweeted Stickland. “Like every other business. Quit using the heavy hand of government to make your business profitable through mandates and immunity. It’s disgusting.”

Hotez, a Baylor College of Medicine professor of infectious disease, bowed out at that point. But Stickland continued the onslaught with others happy to engage the fight. In a span of an hour, he tweeted that vaccines are “dangerous,” that a doctor concerned about the child’s vulnerability to disease is a “brainwashed commie” and that a defender of science is a “typical leftist trying to take credit for something only The Lord God Almighty is in control of.”

The twitter tussle was triggered by a Houston Chronicle story reporting on the latest and continuing increase in the number of Texans vaccine exemptions by parents claiming a conscientious objection to the state requirement.