This is cross-posted from The Huffington Post. It expands and updates previous posts about the Neo-Confederate theocrats Michael Peroutka and Pastor David Whitney.

Maryland Tea Party activist and State Delegate Don Dwyer (R) is a well-known character who once enacted an Annapolis version of the Boston Tea Party - donning a tricorner hat and Colonial breeches to dump floating boxes labeled "tea" into the Annapolis harbor. He was once named Legislator of the Year by the far-right Gun Owners of America, headed by Larry Pratt.

Dwyer also floated an idea, Operation DINO (Democrats In Name Only), in March 2013, calling on Republican gun owners to become Democrats in order to vote out progressives in the 2014 Democratic primaries. And while he did not do the switcheroo he urged others to do, some of his political soulmates have switched parties and dressed up as Democratic candidates.

I'm not a lawyer, but let me give you a little free legal advice anyway: It's never a good idea to defy a federal judge's ruling.

A member of the Carroll County Board of Commissioners in Maryland may be about to learn that the hard way. Robin Frazier opened a meeting last week with a prayer that included a reference to Jesus Christ - even though the county is under court order to stop using sectarian prayers.

When the Supreme Court took up the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Woods cases on March 25, attorneys for the business owners argued that their religious freedom (and that of the corporations!) is being violated by the Obamacare contraceptive mandate. But not all religious leaders agree. In fact, 47 clergy including five current or former presidents of national denominations have released a joint statement arguing that the most significant religious freedom question at issue in the Supreme Court case is the freedom of the individual employees.

As religious leaders, we support universal access to contraception. We believe that all persons should be free to make personal decisions about their reproductive lives, their health and the health of their families that are informed by their culture, faith tradition, religious beliefs, conscience, and community. . . . Including contraceptives as a covered service does not require anyone to use it; excluding contraceptive coverage for those who choose to plan and space their families with modern methods of birth control will effectively translate into coercive childbearing for many.

If you've been waiting for someone to link the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 to The Rapture, thanks to the Reverend Billy Graham's daughter, your wait is over. According to Anne Graham Lotz, the disappearance of the Boeing 777 over the Indian Ocean could be a sign that The Rapture might be around the corner.

Ms. Graham Lotz's Malaysia Airlines theorizing, coupled with her brother Franklin's recent declaration of support for the way Russia's Valadimir Putin is dealing with gays in his country, makes one think that March Madness extends far beyond the nation's premier basketball tournament.

Today's Washington Post has an interesting story about how the personal religious beliefs of members of the Supreme Court might affect their decisions.

The question is especially relevant now with the high court poised to hear oral arguments tomorrow in a pair of cases that could have far-reaching consequences for what religious freedom means.

With a column vigorously supporting Vladimir Putin's anti-gay crusade in Russia, Evangelist Franklin Graham finds himself edging closer to inheriting the mantle of Fred Phelps, rather than that of his father, Billy Graham.  

In the column, titled "Putin's Olympic Controversy," Graham not only declares his support Putin's treatment of gays in Russia, he also maintains that the Russian leader is handling gay issues better than President Barack Obama.

“Many of you may be thinking that I have lost my mind,” Republican Del. Don Dwyer wrote in a March 2013 email and Facebook post to his GOP colleagues in the Maryland General Assembly. Dwyer's mind-losing idea was to switch parties in order to drag the Democratic Party to the right (indeed, the Neo-Confederate, theocratic right) in the 2014 primaries.

“If the gun community alone follows me in this strategic plan, we will have a devastating effect on the next statewide election,” he surmised. He posted a comment on a Maryland gun owners’ forum, stating, “Friends, I am considering taking ‘Operation DINO’ statewide. DINO stands for Democrat In Name Only.” He then spearheaded a Free State DINOS website, which urges Republicans to reregister as Democrats, and sells mugs and T-shirts of dinosaurs emblazoned with the Maryland flag.

Reports out of Topeka, Kansas, has it that the Rev. Fred Waldron Phelps Sr., is in hospice care near death in a Kansas hospital. I first encountered the Rev. Phelps when I was visiting friends in Kansas in the early 1990s and found out that an old friend, who had died of AIDS in California, was being brought home to Kansas for burial. The family was so concerned that the Phelps Family would find out about her death and picket the funeral that they decided not to publicize details about where and when she would be buried. At the time, Phelps, relatively unknown nationally, was clearly having a huge impact locally.

One thing regional Baptist GOP candidates share in common is a deep affection for gun rights.  The endorsements of pro-gun positions takes precedence over the promotion of public education, economic concerns and even social issues.  Second Amendment concerns trumps First Amendment issues.  The irony of such is that Baptist have a rich heritage in support of the First Amendment, even as a doctrinal statement of faith.

Who would have imagined that in 2014, Noah, yes the Noah of the Biblical story of Noah and his Ark, would be garnering so many headlines. A plan to build a Noah's Ark theme park in the hills of Kentucky is once again under serious consideration. Conservative Christian lawmakers in Texas have apparently fallen for a Ponzi-like scheme launched by a fellow who claimed to have discovered remnants of Noah's Ark near Mount Ararat in Turkey. And, hold on to your life rafts kids; in the coming weeks, two new films based on the story of Noah will be released.

Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri has so far survived  calls for his resignation or removal by Pope Francis. Finn is a convict who not only failed to report suspected child abuse by a parish priest under his charge:  He has become the symbol of ongoing institutional intransigence in addressing the problem of child sex abuse in the Church.

Many Catholics in Finn's diocese -- including priests and nuns -- have had more than enough of him. As the National Catholic Reporter recently reported they have formally appealed to the Vatican "to conduct a canonical review of Bishop Robert Finn say the church's lack of response to his misdemeanor conviction has caused further spiritual harm to the diocese."

Michael Peroutka's introduction at the 2012 League of the South conference was given a hearty cheer by the audience. The loudest applause came when he was described as "honored" by his inclusion as a "hater" in the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch, along with his pastor, League of the South Chaplain David Whitney. (Video after jump.) Peroutka and Whitney are running for office in Anne Arundel County Maryland, one as a Republican and one as a Democrat, as revealed by Frederick Clarkson in articles at Political Research Associates and at Talk2action. Talk2action contributor Jonathan Hutson tweeted links to the articles and a reference to SPLC's mapping of 15 hate groups in Maryland, including the League of the South.  In response he received tweets, also directed to the SPLC, from a member of the Ohio Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).  One read "Kill the Jews" and another called for the SPLC to "return to their Israeli homes."