“Just post the bottom six.”Michael Urbanski, U.S. district judge, suggesting how Virginia’s Giles County School Board could resolve an aclu lawsuit over a contested Ten Commandments display at Narrows High School by dropping the four that mention God.Source: The Roanoke Times
“Our chickens have come home to roost.”Dale Jones, Nazarene researcher for the U.S. Religion Census, explaining how American emphasis on a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” has contributed to more than 80 percent of Americans claiming to be Christian but less than 50 percent being affiliated with a congregation.Source: RNS
“They were punching way above their weight.”Robin Sloan, Twitter researcher, noting that messages from evangelical celebrities such as Joyce Meyer, Max Lucado, and Andy Stanley have 30 times more engagement than messages from pop culture celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.Source: The New York Times
“Praise the Lord and pass the rattlesnakes, brother.”Mark Randall “Mack” Wolford, one of Appalachia’s most famous Pentecostal serpent handlers, on Facebook promoting an outdoor service where he later died of a rattlesnake bite. His father also died while handling serpents.Source: The Washington Post
“They believed time was going to end [and] Jesus Christ would return.”Robert Webb, attorney, defending Kentucky internet evangelist Ronald Weinland from tax evasion charges. Federal agents say Weinland owes $357,000 in unpaid taxes; Webb said the evangelist had no “criminal intent” because his church believes the end times began in May.Source: WLWT Cincinnati
