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Kenneth Anger, an experimental filmmaker who found a loyal cult following with his works that elucidated the dark side of pop culture, has died at 96. His gallery, Sprüth Magers, announced his death on Wednesday. Anger’s influence is vast, with filmmakers and artists of multiple generations having drawn on his lurid depictions of violence, fascism, and homoeroticism. In Anger’s films, Nazis proliferate, and the threat of carnage—of physical, mental, and sexual varieties—is ever-present. Pop music proliferates, and references to quasi-religious sects and celebrity worship are pervasive. “Anger’s films exploit Hollywood’s elaborate costumes, fantasies (both violent and erotic), otherworldly sets, and...

Vatican goes dark for Earth Hour, symbolizing membership in ‘church of environmentalism’Where the Gospel says, 'let your light shine before men,' the post-conciliar church responds, 'only if doesn’t harm the environment.' On Sunday, March 26, St. Peter’s Basilica went dark for Earth Hour. Somewhere, Pachamama is smiling. Earth Hour began in 2007 in Australia when more than 2.2 million souls denied themselves electricity for a whopping 1/24th of the day to express their shared concern for “climate change.” Immediately thereafter, they returned to their normal (sinful?) energy consumption rates. The Vatican has participated in this quasi-pagan act of mortification every...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been named "chief exorcist" by the head of the country's Orthodox Church as the Kremlin seeks to redefine the goals of its invasion of Ukraine. Putin, when he invaded the neighboring country on February 24, used the term "denazification," saying that was the goal of his so-called "special military operation," but now his security council is shifting to the phrase "desatanization." Aleksey Pavlov, assistant secretary of the security council of the Russian Federation, is now calling for the "desatanization" of Ukraine, saying that there were "hundreds of sects" in the country where citizens have abandoned...

A Chelsea man was arrested after he allegedly set fire to the Satanic Temple in Salem late Friday night, forcing its occupants to evacuate, officials said. Daniel Lucey, 42, faces charges of arson, interfering with civil rights, and destruction to a place of worship, Salem Police Chief Lucas J. Miller said in a statement on Saturday. Lucey remains in custody, according to the statement. Lucey told police he traveled to Salem to set the temple on fire and said he considered his actions “a hate crime,” Miller said. Security camera photos posted to Twitter by The Satanic Temple’s cofounder, Lucien...

The Church of Sweden has published an open letter signed by a long list of priests, deacons, and other church staff, proudly announcing that it is “trans.” Whatever that means. The Church of Sweden represents Europe’s largest Lutheran denomination and the letter was published on the Västerås diocese’s official website. “We write to you from a church that is also trans. A church is made up of people. People are different. We have confirmees, employees, churchwardens, elected representatives, non-profits, and other parishioners who define themselves as trans people. The church also consists of trans people. Therefore, the church could be...

Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton has denied online accusations that she worships Satan after she wished the Church of Satan a Happy New Year, affirming that she is a Methodist. "Oh goodness gracious. We can be civil, cheerful, respectful to & friends with people who don't share our religious beliefs. Sometimes, we even marry them. I'm a Methodist & my husband is Jewish, thank you for asking," Clinton wrote in a Twitter message on Wednesday. The tweet was in response to a now-deleted post by user Rhonda Kazmierski, who wrote earlier in the day: "At least @ChelseaClinton is open about...

Chelsea Clinton denies worshipping Satan By Brett Samuels - 01/03/18 05:38 PM EST Chelsea Clinton on Wednesday denied that she practices Satanism after a Trump supporter on Twitter took the former first daughter's exchange of New Year's wishes with the Church of Satan to mean she was affiliated with the group. “I’m a Methodist & my husband is Jewish, thank you for asking,” Clinton responded to the woman. Oh goodness gracious. We can be civil, cheerful, respectful to & friends with people who don’t share our religious beliefs. Sometimes, we even marry them. I’m a Methodist & my husband is...

The Michelle Obama Public Library in Long Beach, California hosted a satanic looking drag queen on Saturday who read books to young children as part of the libraryÂ’s celebration LGBTQ History Month. The shocking photo of a man dressed as a female demon with giant horns on his head reading to little children at a public library was posted to Twitter and Facebook by the Long Beach Library but taken down after a huge outpouring of critical replies, including from GOP Congressional candidate Omar Navarro. It also got the approval of the Church of Satan. From this promotional graphic posted...

The names of the tech workers in this story have been changed.Ten thousand miles from Silicon Valley, in a room near the Black Sea, Yegor Karpenchekov dreams of money. At night, while the rest of Odessa sleeps and cocaine smugglers drift in and out of the port under cover of darkness, Yegor logs onto FaceTime and talks to a 70-year-old woman in San Francisco. Her name is Sally Faubion, and five months ago she recruited Yegor from the freelancer marketplace UpWork to code her apps. She believes "divine intervention" brought them together; for Yegor, it was likely $20 per hour...

Elton John called Pope Francis "my hero" for his compassion and push to accept gays in the Catholic church, at his annual AIDS benefit. John hosted the event, "An Enduring Vision: A Benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation," Tuesday night in Manhattan. He said Francis is pushing boundaries in the church and told the crowd: "Make this man a saint now, OK?"

Since its beginning, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has proclaimed to the world...there was an apostasy of the church which had been founded by Jesus during his earthly ministry...This is a fundamental belief of the restored church. In fact, it is the apostasy of early Christianity which creates the very need for the restored Latter-day Saint faith: if there had not been an apostasy, there would have been no need for a restoration.2 Latter-day Saint theology asserts...the church of Jesus and his apostles came to an end...the doctrines which its inspired leaders taught were corrupted and changed...

Across the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, congregants and clergy today reacted with heavy hearts to word that Bishop V. Gene Robinson is retiring. Robinson, 63, whose consecration seven years ago as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church divided the Anglican Communion worldwide, yesterday announced at the annual convention of the New Hampshire diocese that he plans to retire in January 2013, short of the mandatory 72-year-old retirement age for Episcopal bishops. He cited death threats and the considerable strain that the worldwide rift has placed on him, his family, and the church.

CLEAR LAKE — Two pastors of Clear Lake’s largest church have refused to leave their jobs despite an order from their bishop. Bishop Steven C. Ullestad of the Northeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said the Rev. Dean Hess and the Rev. Derik C. Yarian were notified of their removal on Oct. 28. “... You are now to function as a layperson ... your ordained status is in suspension,” said Ullestad in separate letters to the two men. Both Hess and Church Council President Mark Shepp declined to comment Friday. Pastors holding dual memberships —...

Lutherans Concerned / North America (LC/NA) responded with sadness to yesterday's announcement proposing a new church body to be formed by and for former ELCA members and congregations opposing the full inclusion of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the church. In August 2009, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, by a 2/3 majority, passed a social statement on sexuality. The statement, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" described as faithful four positions on beliefs within the denomination on the inclusion of people in same-gender relationships. The four positions ranged from the view that same-gender...

Minneapolis, Minn., Nov 20, 2009 / 03:54 am (CNA).- Following the decision of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to allow sexually active homosexual clergy, an objecting Lutheran group has begun to form a new church body for those Lutherans who want to “remain faithful to the Orthodox Christianity of the last 2,000 years.”Lutheran CORE leaders on Wednesday said their working group would immediately begin drafting a constitution and taking other steps to form the new denomination. They hope to launch the denomination by next August.Rev. Paull Spring, a retired Pennsylvania ELCA bishop and chairman of Lutheran CORE said...

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand. -- Romans 5:1-2a November 19, 2009 Sisters and brothers in Christ of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, I greet you with the words of the apostle Paul to the Romans: "Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand" (Romans 5:1-2a). Where does the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...

Gay, lesbian priests nominated for bishop LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Two Episcopal priests in same-gender relationships are among the nominees for assistant bishop of Los Angeles, officials said Sunday. The Rev. John L. Kirkley of San Francisco and the Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool of Maryland will be among six candidates on the ballot when lay people and clergy vote in December, despite a long-standing request from world Anglican leaders for a moratorium on consecrating openly gay bishops. Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno said in a statement Sunday that he was "pleased by the wide diversity" of the nominees. Separately, the...

Episcopal Church leaders in Los Angeles today nominated an openly gay priest and an openly lesbian priest as bishops, becoming one of the first dioceses in the national church to test a controversial new policy that lifted a de facto ban on gays and lesbians in the ordained hierarchy. The nominations of the Rev. John L. Kirkley of San Francisco and the Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool of a Baltimore-based diocese are likely to further inflame theological conservatives in the U.S. church and their global partners in the Anglican Communion, who have repeatedly warned about the repercussions of such action....

Anaheim, Calif. (AP) -- Episcopal bishops authorized the church Wednesday to start drafting an official prayer for same-sex couples, another step toward acceptance of gay relationships that will deepen the rift between the denomination and its fellow Anglicans overseas. The bishops voted 104-30 at the Episcopal General Convention to "collect and develop theological resources and liturgies" for blessing same-gender relationships, which would be considered at the next national meeting in 2012. The resolution notes the growing number of states that allow gay marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships, and gave bishops in those regions discretion to provide a "generous pastoral...

Associate director of Duke University's Center for Health Policy, Frank Lombard, was recently arrested by the FBI and charged with offering up his adopted 5-year-old African American son for sex to an undercover cop. Lombard admitted to molesting his own adopted son to the undercover officer in an online chat room under the user name "Perv Dad for Fun". He invited the under cover officer to travel to North Carolina to rape his already-molested adopted son. Lombard faces 20 years in prison if convicted but is not eligible for the death penalty.Lombard bragged to the detective that “the abuse of...