The Brew: Pope Opens Door to Blessing Same-Sex Couples as Reality Star Kat Von D Opens Heart to Christ
Happy Thursday!
We’re doing something a bit different with today’s Brew. We’re shoving all the political/Swampy stories into their own article called “The Washington Survey: FBI Creates New Extremist Category to Target Trump Supporters” to concentrate on stories of light and life, reality and faith.
And few stories this year involving faith are likely to be bigger than the three week-long Synod of Bishops which kicked off yesterday at the Vatican.
General Assembly of Synod of Bishops Opens, as Pope Francis Hints Approval of Blessings for Same-Sex Couples
Some 450 delegates are on hand for the synod, which could shape — or radically change — the Catholic church for decades to come. The month-long synod will be wrestling with such topics as clergy abuse, the role of women’s ministry, inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics and other questions surrounding the structure of church authority.
Traditional Catholics are wary that Pope Francis plans on using the synod to move the church from traditional Catholic teaching. Their worries were not eased by a letter from Francis released Monday. While declaring marriage is an “exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to conceiving children,” the Pope opened up the possibility of blessing same-sex couples. As National Review reports, this would be a radical departure for the Catholic church … and a reversal of a position Francis stated just two years ago.
In his response to five conservative cardinals who asked for clarity on his position, Francis wrote:
Defense of the objective truth is not the only expression of that charity, which is also made up of kindness, patience, understanding, tenderness, encouragement. For that reason, pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or several people, that do not transmit a mistaken conception of marriage.
The Slope: Men Identifying as “Non-Binary” Overrun Tech Conference for Women
The Grace Hopper Celebration is an annual conference and job fair to promote women in the computer industry. An industry traditionally dominated by males. This year’s event in Orlando was crashed by men who registered as “non-binary.” And according to some of the women at the event, many of the men acted like looters at Wal-Mart, shoving their way to the front of the line at the job fair.
“These men are acting like zoo animals, sprinting to the booths, and physically hurting some of the attendees,” one person wrote. According to production designer Lily Li, some of the “non-binary” men were even hitting on the women. She shared the “receipts of what happened” on TikTok. (WARNING: Foul language)
AnitaB, the non-profit that runs the conference, recognized the problem of “non-binary” men hitting the conference (or men claiming to be non-binary), but claimed they couldn’t do anything about men attending without running afoul of nondiscrimination protections.
As Outkick reports, AnitaB’s advisory president Bo Young Lee wrote about her frustration at the wrecking of what had been a “safe and loving and embracing” place for women in the past.
“We tried to create a safe space,” she said on X, “and this week we saw the outside world creep in. This makes me angry, and it makes me sad, but mostly it makes me want to fight.”
Fight, yeah. Good. But what fight? AnitaB promotes itself as “driving inclusive technology by serving @womenintech & non binary technologists.” (emphasis mine). So it wasn’t the “outside world” that crept in. But the inevitable result of the group’s own wokeness and embrace of radical LGBTQ+ agenda. They opened the door.
Down the Slope, Slamming Into a Tree: Swiss Writer Gets 60-Days in Prison for Calling a Journalist a “Fat Lesbian”
Talk about a Swiss miss. A French-Swiss writer named Alain Soral was sentenced to 60 days in the slammer by a court in Switzerland for defamation, discrimination and incitement to hatred after he criticized journalist Catherine Macherel in a Facebook post.
Soral called Macherel a “fat lesbian,” “queer activist” and claimed she was unhinged. Naturally, Swiss LGBTQ groups are delighted to see Soral behind bars. “This court decision is an important moment for justice and rights of LGBTQI people in Switzerland,” said Murial Waeger, co-director of the lesbian activist group LOS. “The conviction of Alain Soral is a strong signal that homophobic hatred cannot be tolerated in our society.”
No, Soral is no saint. He’s been convicted of being a Holocaust denier, which is a crime in Switzerland. But 60 days hard time for an insult?! His lawyers told the Associated Press Soral was convicted for the “crime of opinion” and having “sinned against the dogma of single thought.” Soral will appeal.
Celeb Tattoo Artist Kat Von D Goes From Witchcraft to Christ
Praise God and keep getting stars out of L.A.! Celebrity tattoo artist and reality star Kat Von D has found Christ and this past weekend was baptized.
As Breitbart reports, it’s been quite a journey the past couple years for the L.A Ink star. Kat Von D — full name Katherine Von Drachenberg — left L.A. for Indiana in 2017 to escape the crime, corruption and “all that’s taking place.” “We just felt the need to plant roots in a small town where my son can be free to play, and where we can eventually retire one day.”
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Then last year, the celeb and fashion mogul announced she was tossing away all her witchcraft and magic books.
“I’ve always found beauty in the macabre, but at this point, I just had to ask myself what is my relationship with this content?” she wrote on Instagram. “And the truth is, I just don’t want to invite any of these things into our family’s lives, even if it comes disguised in beautiful covers, collecting dust on my shelves.”
And now, a glowing Kat Von D robed in white, is baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Such a beautiful thing to watch:
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Along The Stream
Wrapping up all the political highlights from yesterday, including the Newsweek exclusive outlining how the FBI has created a new domestic terrorism extremist category specifically for Trump supporters. “The Washington Survey: FBI Creates New Extremist Category to Target Trump Supporters.”
Dr. Michael Brown’s latest, “Love Compels Us to Drop the Transgender Terminology.”
Part three of David Marshall’s compelling series, “The Genius of Genesis 3: ‘In His Image.'”
Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.
