...by our plagiarism and very public bitch fights.

Neale Donald Walsch, author of the best-selling series “Conversations With God,” recently posted a personal Christmas essay on the spiritual Web site Beliefnet.com about his son’s kindergarten winter pageant.

During a dress rehearsal, he wrote, a group of children spelled out the title of a song, “Christmas Love,” with each child holding up a letter. One girl held the “m” upside down, so that it appeared as a “w,” and it looked as if the group was spelling “Christ Was Love.” It was a heartwarming Christmas story from a writer known for his spiritual teachings.

Except it never happened—to him.

Mr. Walsch’s story was nearly identical to an essay by a writer named Candy Chand, which was originally published 10 years ago in Clarity, a spiritual magazine, and has been circulating on the Web ever since. Mr. Walsch now says he made a mistake in believing the story was something that had actually come from his personal experience....

Except for a different first paragraph in which Mr. Walsch wrote that he could “vividly remember” the incident, his Dec. 28 Beliefnet post followed, virtually verbatim, Ms. Chand’s previously published writing, even down to prosaic details like “The morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down.”

Walsch claims it was all a big misunderstanding—he copied, he pasted, he assimilated—but the story's original author isn't buying it. If you're the kind of person who enjoys one Christian author accusing another Christian author of all sorts of commandment-breaking activities (and you are, you are), you'll wanna go read the whole story.

Good News! The Vatican has officially approved iBreviary, a Liturgy of the Hours for the iPhone. In other news, I have approved the iPhone as an Official Unicorn Grooming Device™—no downloads necessary.

...kind of clueless about the female reproductive system.

Image via Boston Globe.

Also, members of other religions can't go to heaven, Jews are going to come around, and homosexuality is a "dangerous sin."

Some excerpts from sermons by Rick Warren, the homophobic, anti-choice pastor tapped by Obama to deliver his inaugural invocation.

On whether members of other religions can go to heaven:

Even those of you who have been believers for quite some time now are tempted to want to think, well, why wouldn't God let those people in? I know you feel that way; it's a tempting way to think in our world today. One of the reasons we're tempted to think that way is because we're tending to look more at this world and not enough at God and what he's really like. If we really understood God and how holy he is and how sinful we are.... we would realize it 's not a matter of comparing ourselves of, who gets in and who doesn't? It's a matter of the fact that we were so far, we were so lost, that we just have to pour our hearts out in gratefulness that God would reach his hand down in Jesus Christ and save us. All of the other religions of the world depend on people rising above other people, being a little bit better, having a few more good works. It's only in Christianity that you have God's grace being expressed in Jesus Christ... I don't think any of us will ever know what a terrible state we were in before Christ came to us... If Jesus Christ were not the only way to salvation, first of, all he would be a liar, because he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. But second, God the father would be a cruel father. Why would God the father send his son to die on a cross if there were other ways to salvation? ... He sent his son to die because he's the only way to salvation. ... Human history is littered with those who have followed idols rather than the true God, so that's what most cultures have degenerated into. In the united states we don't have to worry about that as much.

On whether gay people can be members of Saddleback Church:

The Bible says he created man and woman to be together. God's ideal, God's design is for a man and woman to be together in a committed relationship, in a marriage. ... Anything outside of that design is sexual immorality or sexual sin. ... God says that all sexual sin is dangerous because it hurts our bodies, it hurts who we are. ... Once I become a believer and become a member of Saddleback Church, our commitment, our covenant together, is to live by the truth of the Bible. We've decided together that we trust God's word. ... That's one of the reasons that someone who is actively involved in sexual sin ... and refuses to say that the Bible teaches that it's a sin, is not a member of Saddleback Church. ... Now, anybody can attend... but to be a member is something special. Homosexuality ... is a dangerous sin. Why is it dangerous? Because God loves us and he's designed us in a certain way out of that love to live the kind of life he has for us.

On whether women can divorce an abusive spouse:

I'd always rather choose a short-term pain and find God's solution for long-term gain than try and find a short-term solution that's going to involve long-term pain. ... [In scripture] adultery is one [reason for divorce] and abandonment is a second. I wish there were a third in scripture. Having been involved as a pastor in situations of abuse there's something in me that wishes there was a Bible verse that says if they abuse you in this and such kind of way then you have a right to leave them. ... If you're in this kind of situation I strongly recommend that you take advantage of our lay counseling ministers.

The Bible answer is yes. Does God expect me to stay in a miserable marriage, and why would he do that to me? I often say to people when they're facing this decision, really, you're choosing your pain in this moment because it's going to be painful either way. If you stay in your marriage there is the opportunity for reconciliation and for the loss of pain, but there is going to be short-term pain on the way there. ... There is lifelong pain in divorce. ... I wish there was a way to say there is a choice here where you're not going to have pain but there is pain in relationships. Now, God understands that... He can be with us in our pain and he can comfort us, he can strengthen us, he can give us perspective. He can also give us wisdom. Does God expect me to live with this pain? No. I think he expects us to ask for wisdom to do the things that would cause the pain to begin to be solved. ... The Bible says the husband is to sacrifice for his wife and the wife is to respect her husband and if that doesn't happen you have the right to keep pushing for that.

On whether Jews can be "saved":

Jews and gentiles are alike. We come to faith the same way—through Jesus Christ... the Bible says there is going to be a great outpouring of faith among the Jewish people at the end of time. ... The Jewish people will recognize and come to him. ... They'll see he is the Messiah. They'll see the truth of who he really is. If you talk to someone who is Jewish you'll find that one of the real struggles they have is with the fact that Jesus claimed to be God... To understand the Trinity, that the father, son and holy spirit are one God, is a difficult concept. But when the Jewish people realize that Jesus is god... there's going to be this great outpouring of faith among the Jewish people. We're all saved the same way: through Jesus.

On whether Christians who commit suicide can still go to heaven:

The Biblical answer is yes... there is no sin you can commit that will cause you to not go to heaven if you've truly had an experience with Jesus Christ... That's not the end of the answer, though. ... I do know that some people commit suicide out of mental illness but someone who commits suicide not out of mental illness ... you'll go to heaven but you'll lose all kind of rewards.

Dear Mr. Savage,

I am the “Bud Bundy,” “secret communiss,” “douchebag”or so called by your readers of the Nov 28 Youth Pastor Watch. I never heard of you until someone sent me a link to your blog featuring my face. I do wonder what inspired you to add me to the lineup (care to share?). As most of your readers concluded there is guilt-by-association implied. I laughed out loud at some of the comments… people never surprise me. After reviewing your blog I was reminded why I do what I do. I don’t know who hurt you in the past that made you feel empowered to only report evil things youth pastors do, but I forgive you for adding my face to your lineup. I hope you will keep watching what God does in my life and see that not every pastor is a homophobic, narrow-minded, right-wing freak. I love to help my gay friends learn about the life transforming love of Jesus for all sinners. I am happy to admit I am wrong, when I am. I also criticize my right-wing representatives when they drop the ball.

Maybe sometime you will pause long enough to listen and hear people for who they are rather than the box you assume they fit in. Though I have never been a sex offender I am a sinner like those other pastors and I need God’s forgiveness for my sin too. Have you ever counted how many times you have sinned against God? You may consider thinking about the consequences for your actions and repenting when you see the error of your ways. All I request is that you add a line in your “We Regret These Errors” article and apologize for implying that my conduct is as evil as the other men simply because I’m a youth pastor. I am not holding my breath but like I said people never surprise me.

Your fellow human,
Jonathan

Dear Jonathan,

I started including the odd—as in "occasional," not "strange"—item about a youth pastor who did something right, or did something praiseworthy, or did something neutral, to offer some balance. You and a handful of other good, upstanding, decent youth pastors have appeared in YPW precisely so that all the posts aren't "only... evil things youth pastors do." Typically a "good" youth pastor makes it in because a story about him turned up on the same day as a story about a bad youth pastor. You're not the first "good," or neutral, youth pastor item to appear in YPW.

I started these YPW posts to make the point that, despite what you hear from religious folks, the simple fact that someone is publicly religious is no guarantee that he or she is a good, safe, trustworthy person. As a non-religious person myself, I get tired of being told that there is no morality without religion; it seems to me that there is tons of immorality out there with religion, from rapist youth pastors to jihadists flying airplanes into buildings. People have complained that my YPW posts weren't fair: some youth pastors are good people! So... I started nodding toward that, toward the good ones, by watching good ones like you. There was no implication that your actions were evil. In fact, you're in there to exonerate, by proxy, all your fellow "good" youth pastors everywhere.

No one dropped a church on my head when I was a child. But as a gay man I get sick of being lectured about morality by people who can't seem to keep their co-religionists from raping kids. Funnily enough, I settled on youth pastors because I didn't want the flow of posts to overwhelm the blog. When I was posting items about pastors—youth and otherwise—there was just too many stories. Focusing on youth pastors was meant to show a little restraint.

Finally, I'm sorry about the personal insults in the comments thread. Commenters on blogs can be real assholes. I get it in the teeth from 'em all the freakin' time.

All the best,

Dan

P.S. Not homophobic? That's terrific! Tell me: is my relationship—14 years with the same guy, one adopted kid (adopted at birth, 10 now, thriving)—a sin? Is it something that I need to repent for? Do you support marriage rights for your fellow human beings who happen to be gay? (Civil marriage rights, not religious marriage rites?) And do you support the right of same-sex couples to adopt children?

...helipads.

A Federal Way megachurch won approval Monday to add a helicopter takeoff and landing area, called a helistop, on its property.

It will enable Pastors Casey and Wendy Treat of Christian Faith Center to shuttle by air between the 15-month-old Federal Way church and its Everett campus.... The church will use the helistop only on major religious holidays and for special guest speakers... Another case would be a special event, such as Wendy Treat’s birthday, so she could be at both campuses for services, Hulsmann said.

Halle-fucking-lujia!

Slog tipper John directs us to this:

A Federal Way megachurch won approval Monday to add a helicopter takeoff and landing area, called a helistop, on its property.

It will enable Pastors Casey and Wendy Treat of Christian Faith Center to shuttle by air between the 15-month-old Federal Way church and its Everett campus.

Federal Way hearing examiner Phil Olbrechts granted the helistop with limits: no more than four landings and/or takeoffs a week, no flying over adjacent residences, no takeoffs or landings after 10 p.m., and no night-time flying.

Any of the seven people who spoke at a Dec. 10 public hearing or submitted comments can appeal the decision to the City Council. If none of them does, the hearing examiner’s decision is final.

Here is Casey Treat. Note that he can't talk about faith without talking about money:

Many thanks to John.

The lds.org newsroom reflects on the year gone by in the Mormon Church:

It's been a year of nauseatingly high numbers:

Sometime during 2008 the 140 millionth copy of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ was distributed, passing another milestone in the book’s history. Since it was first published in 1830, the Book of Mormon has been taken worldwide by over a million missionaries. It is currently available in 107 languages.

A year to celebrate tolerance that the church agreed to only under pressure from a world disgusted at their racism:

On 9 June 2008, thousands packed the Salt Lake Tabernacle to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the revelation in June 1978 to extend the lay priesthood to men of all races. Church leaders and members, including many who are African American, spoke to those attending the gathering. A video was also produced to celebrate the event.

And a year to celebrate the intolerance that much of the world still deems acceptable:

Recognizing the importance of marriage to society, the Church encouraged members in California and Arizona to support broad-based coalitions to define marriage as between and man and a woman. Both ballot measures passed in November.

Sadly, the blog post doesn't allow comments, so there's no way to leave my prediction for the Mormon Church in 2009: I predict that, in keeping with the Mormon Church's history, the LDS church will find new and disgusting ways to hate next year, and they will somehow retain their tax-free status even while they do it.

Florida:

Thousands of images of child pornography, investigators said Friday, were found on the computer of a former local youth pastor. Deputies found the images and said the suspect admitted he's addicted to child pornography.

Investigators said 36-year-old Joel Price worked as a youth pastor at New Tribes Mission in Sanford. They said he resigned after undercover agents busted him looking at and distributing more than 6,000 child pornography pictures and videos online.... Volusia County investigators said Price confessed that he's obsessed with child pornography.

Detectives said they got a tip that more than 6,000 child pornography photos and vidoes were being distributed on the Internet from Price's Deltona home, which is right across the street from a church.... A representative with New Tribes Mission said Price worked in a missionary maintenance role with tribes in Venezuela, not as a youth minister. But WESH 2 reporters found a picture of Price going over a bible verse with a boy.

This New Tribes outfit is getting a bit of a reputation...

It is the second time in two years someone associated with New Tribes, whose missionary work reaches tribal communities, has been in trouble.

In December 2006, George Allen Goolde—a foster parent and full-time mission employee—was arrested and charged with molesting four children in his care. He was convicted and is serving a 50-year prison sentence. At the time he was arrested, officials at the mission said its internal investigations showed "no incidents of concern."

MSNBC:

Nearly two-thirds of the families living at a polygamist group's ranch—targeted in a high-profile raid last spring—had children who were abused or neglected, Texas child welfare authorities conclude in a new report.

The Department of Family and Protective Services said that 12 girls, ages 12 to 15, were sexually abused "with the knowledge of their parents" after being "spiritually" married to older men within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

"Seven of these girls have had one or more children," the report added.

None of this polygamy crap would be happening if it were illegal for gay people to get married in Utah.

Georgia:

Jeffrey Alan Wasley, 37, was indicted Monday by a federal grand jury on charges of producing and receiving child pornography. Wasley is accused of taking videos of boys—some as young as 4 years old—while they were using public rest rooms....

Wasley was known as “Magic Jeff” when he performed his popular magic act at amusement parks, local hospitals and schools. He last performed at American Adventures amusement park in Marietta, where he was employed as a magician. He also served as youth minister for Calvary Jesus Church in Kennesaw. The investigation of Wasley began in July, when he was arrested by Cobb police on child molestation charges, which are still pending.

Two boys, ages 5 and 7, told detectives Wasley approached them in the bathroom of a Target store at 740 Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw. He is accused of pulling down the pants of the 7-year-old to tuck in his shirt.... The 5-year-old said Wasley was standing behind him while he was using the rest room. The child reported hearing clicking noises, like pictures were being taken. When police searched Wasley’s home, they found six videos on his computer showing young boys, between the ages of 4 and 8, using the rest room, according to the complaint.

Mike Huckabee told a crowd of Baptists that Christians need to be firm when dealing with atheists, fags, and baby killing presidents-elect:

Christians need to be "very firm" but not angry in addressing issues like the recent flap in Washington state, where atheists have placed a sign in the rotunda of the state capitol denigrating religion, former presidential Mike Huckabee told the Florida Baptist Witness in an interview Dec. 7.

"It's not a matter of turning the other cheek," Huckabee said. "Atheists resent that there's a holiday that Christians can celebrate." ... Huckabee suggested that atheists who criticize the celebration of Christmas work on Dec. 25 and then choose another day for their holiday—perhaps April 1, he joked.

That's funny—because this atheist is blogging from his living room, with a Christmas tree in front of him and a creche behind him. Do atheists really criticize the celebration of Christmas? None that I know. Some have a problem with the state promoting religious belief or practices, or favoring one religion over another, or showing favoritism to one religion, or displaying religious imagery on public property. But a problem with Christmas? P'shaw. In 2006 the New York Times interviewed superstar atheists Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins about their holiday plans—and guess what? Both men celebrate Christmas.

“It seems to me to be obvious that everything we value in Christmas—giving gifts, celebrating the holiday with our families, enjoying all of the kitsch that comes along with it—all of that has been entirely appropriated by the secular world,” [Harris] said, “in the same way that Thanksgiving and Halloween have been.”

...

“[Christmas," said Dawkins,] has long since ceased to be a religious festival. I participate for family reasons, with a reluctance that owes more to aesthetics than atheistics. I detest Jingle Bells, White Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and the obscene spending bonanza that nowadays seems to occupy not just December, but November and much of October, too.”

Dawkins added: “So divorced has Christmas become from religion that I find no necessity to bother with euphemisms such as happy holiday season. In the same way as many of my friends call themselves Jewish atheists, I acknowledge that I come from Christian cultural roots. I am a post-Christian atheist. So, understanding full well that the phrase retains zero religious significance, I unhesitatingly wish everyone a Merry Christmas.”

Atheists celebrating Christmas—it should warm Huckabee's heart. As should the ability of post-Christian atheists to take enjoyment—in a secular and hedonistic sense—from the Christmas holiday. I mean, it's evidence of Christianity's cultural triumph, right? But Huckabee won't take the compliment, of course, not so long as there's a political benefit to stoking the paranoia and delusions of oppression that characterize the GOP's evangelical base. Back to Mike:

"We shouldn't be angry, but we should be also very firm in saying that we are a nation that not only allows, but actually encourages people of faith to express themselves," Huckabee said. Citing foot baths provided for Muslims at the University of Michigan, he said accommodation are made for people of "every faith except Christians."

"It's perfectly legitimate in our culture today to engage in outright persecution against Christians with seemingly no social penalty for doing it."

Yeah—remember how the gays organized to strip Christians of their right to marry? That was crazy, man. Why couldn't we just live and let live? Why do we feel a need to engage in outright persecution like that? And is it any wonder that Christians are upset right now, what with Barack Obama asking a militant atheist to give an entirely secular invocation at his inauguration. That had to sting.

Huckabee tells the Baptists that he hasn't decided if he's going to run again in 2012, but he says he'll make up his mind by 2010. He also says that civil unions are "prelude" to same-sex marriage, that Obama is pro-infanticide (to a crowd that thinks it's okey-dokey to shoot abortion doctors, btw), and that Sarah Palin is a "wonderful person." You can almost hear his teeth grinding when he's talking about Palin...