Tom Steyer For California Governor

 

May 11, 2026 Mehdi Unfiltered

Billionaire Tom Steyer is on track to spend more on his campaign to succeed Gavin Newsom than any other gubernatorial candidate in California history. Steyer is running on a progressive agenda to build one million homes, ban corporate PAC money from state elections, and prosecute ICE agents. He’s polling near the top of a tight race. In this ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ interview, Mehdi Hasan asks Steyer about his promises, Eric Swalwell dropping out of the race, how he would grade Gavin Newsom as governor, and Trump calling him a ‘SLEAZEBAG' and a 'LOSER.' Watch the full video to hear Mehdi press Steyer about his past, his policies, and his billionaire status. In his late 30s, Steyer had "a revelation" and began an involvement in the Episcopal Church, the religion of his mother (his father was a non-practicing Jew). He has stated that during this time, he became much more interested in religion and theology. The new interest reportedly galvanized his political advocacy.

How do we live our lives while the world burns? By Andrea Palpant Dilley

Mary’s Song is an expression of maternal love By Aleta Payne

Translating God’s inclusive embrace through love and lace By Maria Teresa Gastón

Delivering care for pastors who are also new parents By Susan Rowland Miller and Pamela Graf Short

A Christian nation?

A Christian nation? At 250, America is still fighting over what that means
Religion News Service: Scholars say American history is more Christian than secular advocates claim — and less religious than Christian nationalists would assert. A look at the complicated, contested history of America as a Christian nation.

 

How progressive Christian activism might bring Gen Z back to church*
The New Republic: Liberal faith leaders are hoping to show through community participation that they are a safe haven for young people interested in exploring religion.

 

The megachurch caught in Brazil’s largest bank fraud*
Christianity Today: Lagoinha Global is the fourth-largest megachurch in the country. One of its pastors is involved in a multibillion-dollar scheme.

 

Israeli lawmakers set up a special tribunal and allow for death penalty for Hamas-led 2023 attackers
The Associated Press: Israeli lawmakers approved a bill on Monday setting up a special tribunal that would try and have the authority to sentence to death Palestinians convicted of taking part in the 2023 Hamas-led attack that triggered the war in Gaza.

 

She was shunned for renouncing Zionism. A decade later, a rabbinical college is honoring her.
Religion News Service: Hasia R. Diner’s honorary doctorate from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College is another sign of the breakdown of the American Jewish consensus over Israel.

4 Issues with the Vatican Synod Document

 

What Will Happen to the Historic Stained Glass Windows of Notre Dame de Paris?

Courage, a Catholic-Orthodox ministry that supports gay people, has filed a complaint against the Vatican Synod for slander and defamation

Valentina di Giorgio

Courage International, a ministry founded more than four decades ago to accompany men and women seeking to live according to the Catholic Church’s teaching on chastity, issued an unusually forceful statement on May 8 accusing the Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod of publishing what it called a “false and unjust” portrayal of its work

128,750 Christians in Nigeria killed over 17 years: the $10 million cover-up of the genocide in Nigeria

ZENIT Staff

Tinubu’s administration has launched a $10 million lobbying front to silence human rights accountability in the U.S. and whitewash the genocide of Nigerian Christians. This isn’t just spin — it’s a calculated effort to rewrite history while innocent lives are increasingly at risk

The Vatican Bank releases its 2026 results: a 55.5% increase in profits compared to 2024

ZENIT Staff

The robustness of the Tier 1 ratio, as well as the liquidity ratios, rank the Institute among the most solid financial institutions in the world in terms of capitalization and liquidity

What Will Happen to the Historic Stained Glass Windows of Notre Dame de Paris?

ZENIT Staff

Declared a historical monument along with the rest of the Cathedral, the stained glass windows by Viollet-le-Duc were saved from the devastating fire of April 15, 2019.

Israel expels (from Palestine!) a young Catholic priest: the most influential figure in Palestine’s Christian community

ZENIT Staff

Father Salman’s influence among Palestinian youth helps explain why his removal has resonated so deeply

Over 100 dead, 98,000 displaced, 217 churches destroyed in the diocese of Wukari

ZENIT Staff

After destroying houses, churches, and other buildings, the attackers often illegally occupy the land of the displaced residents. The herding raids exacerbate the centuries-old land conflict between the Tiv and the Jukun.

Venezuelan archbishop: Maduro’s gone, but the same people are still in charge

Brownback says China’s actions amount to systematic assault on freedom of belief “We're in a battle today with the Chinese Communist Party and their authoritarian view," Former Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback said at an event at the Hudson Institute. Pro-life groups praise FDA commissioner’s exit, flag acting leader’s Planned Parenthood role Pro-life advocates said they hope President Donald Trump replaces Marty Makary with someone who will further regulate the abortion pill mifepristone. Venezuelan archbishop: Maduro’s gone, but the same people are still in charge The leadership of the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference updated Pope Leo XIV on the political situation in the country, noting that only limited progress has been made and the economy hasn't improved. Jimmy Lai’s daughter says she’s ‘very hopeful’ ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese president “It would mean so much to have our father back,” Claire Lai said ahead of the president's trip to China.

Chicago priest removed after ‘inappropriate conversations’ with children, women Cardinal Blase Cupich said Father Jose Molina was accused of "improper communications" and was barred from ministering in Chicago.

Book review: American Hope

Christopher Lamb, an English Vaticanologist who works for CNN (Cable News Network) and has written for The Tablet and the Telegraph, starts to answer the often asked question: will Pope Leo continue the policies of his predecessor as Bishop of Rome or will the brake on reform be put on again?

There are also fascinating descriptions of other characters, such as the newly converted American Vice-President J. D. Vance, who recently suggested that the Augustinian Pope should improve his theology! Lamb’s detailed sketches also include those of conservative bishops and cardinals who opposed Francis. These include those who accuse Leo of faults in safeguarding. Lamb lists where Leo has already put in place reforms, including his part in the abolition of a right-wing Peruvian Catholic society.

Lamb covers the place of women — or lack of it — in the Church, and also the way in which Leo welcomed an LBTGQI+ pilgrimage to St Peter’s. There is a fascinating chapter on the Vatican’s financial scandals, with prelates out of their depth in dealing with corrupt financiers. A final chapter looks at Leo and Gen Z Catholicism.

 

The Whore of Babylon Goes to the Mall

 

 Jesus was political and so are we ~ how Christians vote matters

On Sunday, May 17, thousands will gather on the National Mall in Washington for Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving — a day-long event organized to rededicate America as “One Nation Under God” as the nation approaches its 250th birthday. Among the speakers: Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, with a video address from Cardinal Timothy Dolan retired Archbishop of New York. Also on the program: Father Mike Schmitz, Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, Speaker Mike Johnson, Franklin Graham, and — centrally — the event’s most enthusiastic promoter, Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas.

One of these things is not like the others.

Robert Jeffress has been unambiguous about what he thinks of the institution that Bishop Barron and Cardinal Dolan represent. In 2010, on his radio program Pathway to Victory, he delivered an extended theological indictment:

“This is the Babylonian mystery religion that spread like a cult throughout the entire world. The high priests of that fake religion, that false religion… on those crowns were written the words, ‘Keeper of the Bridge,’ the bridge between Satan and man. That phrase, Keeper of the Bridge — the Roman equivalent is Pontifex Maximus. It was a title first carried by the Caesars and then the emperors and finally by the Bishop of Rome.”

He was not finished. Reflecting on the Catholic Church’s use of Scripture, sacrament, and the name of Christ, Jeffress drew his conclusion:

“After all, the Catholic Church talks about God and the Bible and Jesus and the blood of Christ and salvation. Isn’t that the genius of Satan?”

The Catholic Church, in Jeffress’s settled theological view, is a counterfeit religion — Satan’s masterwork precisely because it resembles the real thing so closely.

IN THE EXECUTIONERS SHADOW

 

May 12, 2026

What is the true cost of the death penalty? This documentary explores the complex moral landscape of capital punishment through the eyes of those who have lived it. From Jerry Givens, a former chief executioner who put 62 people to death before questioning the system, to families of murder victims who find themselves at odds over the meaning of "closure." We follow the harrowing story of Earl Washington Jr., a man with an IQ of 69 who came within days of execution for a crime he didn’t commit, and the survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing as they grapple with the sentencing of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. It is a raw, unflinching look at justice, error, and the human capacity for both vengeance and forgiveness.

Cruelty Is The Point

  

Jesus was political and so are we ~ how Christians vote matters

 May 12, 2026
Why does MAGA laugh and cheer when Trump is cruel? Because he hates the same people they do. This movement is not built on compassion, kindness, empathy, forgiveness, or basic human decency. It is built on resentment, selfishness, revenge, and cruelty. Trump gave millions of people permission to say the quiet part out loud — that they do not care who suffers as long as the people they hate suffer first. MAGA has shown us exactly what they value. They value guns more than children shot in schools. They value power more than democracy. They value their own comfort more than the lives of other Americans. And when Trump mocks, attacks, dehumanizes, or threatens people, they don’t recoil — they cheer. That is not politics. That is moral rot. Schadenfreude means taking pleasure in the suffering of others. And sadly, that has become one of the clearest features of the MAGA movement. This video is about Trump, MAGA cruelty, empathy, school shootings, guns, selfishness, and the complete collapse of basic decency in American politics.