Rachel Held Evans on Faux Persecution Complex of Conservative Christians, and Betraying the Gospel

Rachel Held Evans argues that when the Christian brand becomes assertion of the "right to refuse" service rather than serving, when it becomes standing against those suffering real oppression rather than with them, Christians shouldn't be shocked that large numbers of people are walking away from their "gospel" at this point in history:

After Ashley Madison, Lots of Talk about Mercy: Men, Women, Gays (and Kim Davis), and the Strangely Disappearing Mercy Seat of the Christian Churches

I told you, didn't I, only a day or so ago that the reason godly Christian heterosexual men are succumbing to sexual temptation right now is that their women have bitten the alluring but tainted apple of uppity feminism and are no longer servicing them? And the gays: if it's about uppity women, it has to be about the gays, too, doesn't it? Those two — uppity gals and the gays — go together like tea and biscuits or hats and horse races.

John Corvino on Kim Davis: "Willingness to Impose a Standard of Marriage on Gays That She Does Not Apply to Others, Herself Included" Reveals Her True Intent: Singling Out Gays for Discrimination

John Corvino on Kim Davis:

It's On in Rowan County, Kentucky (3): "Under God's Authority," Religious Freedom, and the Elite Commentariat

A YouTube user, 646guy, is uploading videos from today's events at the Rowan County, Kentucky, courthouse. The video above is more extensive footage than what I previously posted, showing Kim Davis denying a marriage license to a same-sex couple "under God's authority." It may be worth watching this YouTube page to see if 646guy uploads more videos today.

Titus Presler on Rising Religious Thuggery: Cynical Governments Exploit Bigotry As Resources Grow Scarce (and on Kim Davis As a Homegrown U.S. Religious Thug)

Titus Presler, an Episcopal priest and principal of an Episcopal college in Pakistan who was beaten by government thugs because of his religion, explains why such religious thuggery is on the rise in many places in the world: 

It's On in Rowan County, Kentucky (2): Kim Davis Claims She's Acting "Under God's Authority" in Treating LGBT Citizens as Second-Class Citizens

Davis came out of office briefly to speak to couple (part 1) pic.twitter.com/lzuHysWi0T

— Hillary Thornton (@HillaryWKYT) September 1, 2015

Video from the Twitter feed of Hilary Thornton, WKYT, of Kim Davis announcing she is denying rights to LGBT citizens and defying the Supreme Court "under God's authority" . . . .

(The U.S. Catholic bishops have surely yoked themselves to some . . . outright ugliness . . . through their faux "religious freedom" crusade, have they not?)

It's On in Rowan County, Kentucky: Kim Davis Opens Work Day by Continuing Defiance of U.S. Supreme Court

Rowan Co. Clerk Kim Davis still refusing to issue marriage licenses in wake of Supreme Court decision.

— Lawrence Smith (@LASmithReports) September 1, 2015

It's happening in Rowan County, Kentucky, as I type this posting this morning: