Religion/ Spirituality

If "Duck Dynasty" network A&E feared advertisers would scatter like waterfowl after a shotgun blast because of Phil Robertson's anti-gay comments ... it's not happening.

A company called Skyjacker -- which builds truck suspensions -- tells us it stands solidly behind Phil and the show ... saying it's a matter of God and country -- it's a free country and Phil has a right to his opinions.

Company brass tells us it goes beyond the Constitution ... to the Creator: "We are a Christian- based company and actively share our faith so standing with Phil Robertson is an easy choice for us."

Robertson opened up a can of worms when he said homosexuality and bestiality were the same sin ... his church seems to back Phil up on that.

Officials at White's Ferry Road Church just told us, "We love him and support him."

4:55 PM PT -- A&E just dropped the hammer on Phil ... putting him on indefinite hiatus. The network says its disappointed by his anti-gay comments -- which are his own personal beliefs and not reflective of "Duck Dynasty" or the network. A&E says it supports the LGBT community.

8:15 AM PT -- Phil's trying to backpedal by releasing a statement through A&E in which he says, "I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me."

But he's still doing some thumping ... adding that the Bible teaches "women and men are meant to be together."

"Duck Dynasty" patriarch Phil Robertson is blasting gays ... and not in the usual Bible-thumping way -- instead he's going off about the benefits of vagina as compared to a man's a**hole.

Robertson went on a rant about religion, homosexuality, and a bunch of other things in an interview with GQ -- saying, "It seems like to me, a vagina -- as a man -- would be more desirable than a man's anus. That's just me."

He adds, "There's more there! She's got more to offer. I mean, come on dudes! But hey, sin: It's not logical, my man."

Phil continued his verbal attack by claiming society's become too accepting of sin. He says, "Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and those men ... they won't inherit the kingdom of God. It's not right."

Ex-Scientologist Leah Remini's taking the high road after Kirstie Alley called her a repulsive "bigot" on the radio -- telling TMZ, she only wishes the best for people ... even if they hate her back.

Leah was out in L.A. last night when we asked about Kirstie's recent Howard Stern interview ... when Kirstie bashed Leah for criticizing Scientology after leaving the Church.

Kirstie called Leah an anti-faith "bigot" who picks on Scientologists for no reason ... then said Leah was her "enemy."

The leading Catholic rights group in America wants to organize their own hate campaign -- because they hate the anti-religious hatred they claim Bill Maher spews on his show ... and now it's calling for network execs to kill Bill's show for good.

The Catholic League -- which has had issues with Maher for years -- now say "Real Time with Bill Maher" finally crossed the line after a recent guest went nuts bashing Catholicism.

The guest -- author Dan Savage -- was ragging against a bishop who claimed kids adopted by gay parents have a higher chance of suicide. Savage's retort: "He's confusing children of gay parents with children who are raped by Catholic priests." Dan referred to them as "kiddie-f***ing Catholic priests."

Chris Brown hit up a fancy restaurant Thursday night to celebrate his exit from anger management rehab ... and he made it clear -- he was not in search of God.

Brown was leaving Aventine in Hollywood at around midnight when a guy with an awesome beard ran interference for him.

Chris was mum on selling his house and moving West to the 'Bu.

Tom Cruise admitted that Katie Holmes left him partly because of his ties to Scientology.

Cruise sat for a deposition in his $50 million libel suit against a magazine company that claimed he abandoned his daughter Suri.

In the deposition ... Cruise squirmed in his chair as the lawyer for the magazine repeatedly asked if Katie fled their marriage because of the Church. Cruise hemmed and hawed, suggesting it wasn't true, and then the lawyer asked whether "Katie Holmes left you in part to protect Suri from Scientology."

Cruise answered: "Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes."

Cruise also admitted that Suri is NOT a member of Scientology anymore.

The story that triggered the lawsuit claimed Tom abandoned his daughter. In his depo, Cruise says for the period between June 18, 2012 and Thanksgiving, 2012, he estimates he only saw Suri 10 days. During one stretch ... Tom admits he didn't see his daughter for more than 100 days.

The lawyer for the magazine grilled Tom about his desire to see Suri. The lawyer pulled out aviation documents showing Tom flew from Pittsburgh to London on Oct. 15 for the International Association of Scientology convention. Tom returned to Pittsburgh the next day. Tom said it was very important to attend, and then the lawyer made it clear Tom never took such quick trips to see Suri.

And in another part of the deposition, the magazine's lawyer brought up the part of the story in which they claimed Suri was "upset and crying a lot" when Tom was absent. In the depo, Tom admits being absent, but adamantly denied Suri was upset.

Clint Eastwood's wife Dina still loves her estranged husband ... but hopes a little new age voodoo -- the use of crystals -- will rid her home of Clint's negative energy ... TMZ has learned.

Dina tweeted a pic from the Crystal Fantasy in Palm Springs ... where she dropped a couple of hundred dollars on crystals, incense, sage ... and other stuff believed to have metaphysical powers of healing and cleansing.

While in the store, Dina was overheard dumping on Clint and his new squeeze ... because they had shacked up at a home the Eastwoods own in Palm Springs.

Now Dina apparently plans to do some heavy duty house cleaning ... using the crystals and incense to remove all of the bad energy left behind by Clint's visit.

NEWS FLASH: Pope Francis is a badass who owns not one, but TWO Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

BIGGER NEWS FLASH: He's auctioning them off for charity.

To get you up to speed, the Holy Father was gifted the two bikes by Harley-Davidson during a biker rally in Rome this summer, when 35,000 Harley enthusiasts rode into town to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the motorcycle company.

Roughly 800 of the riders went to the Vatican for a special blessing from the Pope, and during the event, Pope Frank was gifted two new hogs -- a 2013 Heritage Softail Classic (valued at $20,799) and a 2013 Dyna Super Glide Custom ($16,000).

Now Pope Francis has announced he's auctioning off the first bike to benefit a local homeless shelter. The second bike will also be auctioned off, but a charity hasn't been chosen for that one yet.

As for when the first auction takes place, that hasn't been announced yet either.

Amen.

Blake Shelton exercised his oral skills on his way out of a West Hollywood nightclub, urging the Westboro Baptist Church to wrap its head around his.

Blake was clearly tipsy as he left Usher's birthday bash at Bootsy Bellows nightclub ... but he was lucid enough to go after the hateful group that has urged a boycott of his concerts -- repeatedly saying the "Church" could "BLOW ME."

Members of the cretin org have beef with Blake, because he supports gay rights -- tweeting about his recent song, "Ya the boys 'round here think it's ok to be queer." They're also attacking Blake for having an affair with Miranda Lambert while he was still married.

Good thing to know Blake practices safe sex ... hate is not an STD.

(Harvey wrote that last line ... we don't get it either.)

Famed gospel singer Andrae Crouch was rushed to the hospital Sunday after falling ill in the shower at his L.A. home ... TMZ has learned.

The 71-year-old Grammy winner behind "Let the Church Say Amen" tells us he was "overcome by heat" during his shower ... and shouted for his assistant and his twin sister to call for help.

An ambulance arrived to the scene -- and Crouch was transported to a nearby hospital. A few hours later, doctors determined Crouch was OK, and he was cleared to go home.

We spoke to Crouch ... who tells us he suffers from diabetes and suspects his condition contributed to the incident in the shower.

The singer tells us he feels better now, but adds, "Diabetes is no fun."

He adds, "Thanks to all my fans for all your prayers and support."

Amen.

Wanna hear bible verses on the street corner? X gon' give it to ya ... and we've got the video proof.

DMX got downright religious outside of the Wi Jammin' Restaurant in L.A. recently ... and we're told it all started when X ran into a fan who told him she was going through hard times.

The rapper instantly sprang into action to help out -- and whipped out his bible to read her some passages. We'd tell you which ones ... but we're not really sure.

Head joins Hollywood's elite celebrity face-tattoo club -- alongside people like Mike Tyson, Gucci Mane, Lil Wayne and the Game.

Shades of Tim Tebow on the campus of Florida State -- where someone is making major coin off t-shirts depicting FSU QB Jameis Winston as Jesus Christ, and the university is trying to shut it down ... TMZ has learned.

If you hadn't heard ... Winston's become a Heisman frontrunner, scoring 6 TDs in just 2 games (that's a lot) -- and an enterprising FSU fan decided to cash in.

The fan, who wants to remain anonymous, tells us he sold 100 of his "Chosen One" shirts for $20 a pop last weekend. $2,000 ain't too shabby for a few hours work.

But a high-ranking source inside FSU's Athletic Department tells us they've fired off a cease and desist letter to the fan ... out of concern sale of the shirts could get Winston and FSU in trouble.

We're told the NCAA could punish FSU if it feels the school isn't doing enough to prevent someone from profiting off a player's image -- a right which is reserved for NCAA universities.

The other issue, according to our source, is a lot of people on the Tallahassee campus just think the shirts are sacrilegious.

For his part, the fan says he'll be hawking the tees again during today's home game.

Joan Rivers tells TMZ ... she doesn't believe Anthony Weiner is fit to hold public office ... 'cause he's a total "piece of garbage."

Joan was in NY yesterday -- and wished us a happy Rosh Hashanah -- when the topic turned to the most famous Jew vs. Jew battle since Cain and Abel ... Anthony Weiner vs. The Jewish guy in the deli.

"[Weiner] was like, 'Don't judge me!'" Joan said ... adding, "No, we don't, we just judge your penis."

There's a pretty good "pulling out" joke in the clip too. Check it out.

Here's something you probably didn't know: the stars of "Duck Dynasty" are hardcore Christian evangelists who frequently preach at their local church ... and TMZ has video of some of last weekend's sermons.

A ministry assistant at White's Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe, LA tells TMZ, Phil Robertson and his family have been active at the church for more than 30 years.

We're told Phil regularly gives fiery sermons -- but last weekend, the entire family joined in, when the church celebrated Duck Commander Sunday ... a yearly tradition where the entire Robertson family preaches to the congregation in full camo (not kidding).

Funny... we're told the Duck Commander Sunday tradition existed long before the A&E reality show.

Leah Remini is going from Dianetics to disco ... TMZ has learned, the famous ex-Scientologist will appear in the upcoming season of "Dancing with the Stars" ... and Snooki will be making her post-pregnancy debut along with her.

Sources close to production tell us, the former "King of Queens" actress is on the show.

As we reported, Remini recently underwent a very public split from the Church of Scientology after raising questions about the disappearance of church leader David Miscavige's wife Shelly.

Remini filed a missing persons report regarding Shelly's disappearance in July, demanding answers, and the Church was NOT pleased ... ripping the actress for her wanton betrayal.

FYI, police claim they made contact with Shelly in the wake of Remini's report and determined Remini's concerns were "unfounded." Eerie.

In addition to Remini and Snooki, our sources say Elizabeth Berkley, Amber Riley from "Glee," and Christina Milian will also be on the show.