Religion/ Spirituality

'Hercules' star Kevin Sorbo's says he's being silenced and he suspects it's all being done for a shameless publicity stunt.

ThunderCon, a comic convention in Thunder Bay, Canada, recently rescinded Kevin's invitation for the October event. It was pretty odd because organizers had JUST announced he was attending. When we got Kevin at LAX, he said ThunderCon peeps never contacted him to explain why they were booting him, and left him feeling like they were trying to jack his freedom of speech.

He might have a point. A rep for ThunderCon said they felt Kevin's ultra conservative views were "distressing to their community." Kevin's stance on political and societal issues have drawn criticism in the past ... so, he's certainly used to that.

The pastor who presided over Charles Manson's funeral had ZERO qualms about it because he was comforting a follower of Christ -- Manson's grandson, NOT the mass murderer.

Pastor Mark Pitcher of Porterville Church of the Nazarene tells TMZ ... ordinarily he'd have a massive conflict performing a funeral service for someone with Manson's homicidal past, but he made an exception because Manson's grandson, Jason Freeman, is a Christian who was in need of a pastor.

Pitcher tells us the funeral director approached him last week with what he called a "unique situation." He says he agreed to meet Jason and his wife, Audrey, the day before the service.

Pitcher says he told Jason he wouldn't touch certain aspects of Manson's life -- namely the Manson Family murders. He did read a few scriptures, at Jason's request, during the ceremony.

TMZ broke the story ... Manson had an open casket funeral over the weekend. He was immediately cremated when the service ended and his ashes spread along a nearby creek bed.

Selena Gomez might be taking a break from Justin Bieber, but not the Bible.

Gomez was spotted with the other "B" in her hand walking into Nobu Thursday afternoon in Malibu. The actual title of the book is "The Everyday Life Bible: The Power of God's Word for Everyday Living," and it supposedly draws a line between scripture and personal experience.

There are reports Justin and Selena are taking a break after getting back together in October, and a big factor in the time out is supposedly Selena's family, who doesn't like or trust the Biebs.

Selena was MIA for the Biebs' bday earlier this month, which he spent with his mom and church pals, including pastor Carl Lentz.

Justin Bieber wants you to know 3 things: 1. His faith in God is stronger than ever ... 2. He's running out of tattoo real estate ... and 3. He can strike a pretty heavenly pose. Shout out to Jesus!

Bieber hit the beach in SoCal to stand with arms outstretched and eyes closed in what appears to be the golden hour ... getting perfect lighting on his heavily-inked bod. At last count he's hovering around 60 tats.

Of course, we know Justin had a "spiritual awakening" last year when he ended his tour early, and he's now a regular at Hillsong Church services. He certainly appears to be giving the big guy upstairs a good look at his body art.

Or maybe he's just air-drying?

Justin Bieber's hugging it out with his mom ... who gave birth to him 24 years ago today.

The Biebs just showed up at MB2 Raceway in the Valley with some of his church pals -- including pastor Carl Lentz -- and was welcomed by a warm hug from his mama, Pattie Mallette.

JB's plan to celebrate his birthday is apparently zipping around on go-karts on an indoor track ... which beats bottoming out a Lambo.

No sign of Selena yet, but based on how close the 2 have been lately ... it'll be no surprise if she shows up soon to join in on the fun.

As we reported ... Justin and Pattie reconciled recently and even went on vacay together, and it looks like things are still going well.

Alaskan Congressman Don Young says if Jewish people in Nazi Germany were armed, they could have prevented the Holocaust -- and that's his argument against gun control.

The U.S. representative was fielding questions about how to make schools safer in the wake of the Parkland, FL mass shooting when he floated his jaw-dropping theory. He was responding last week to Dimitri Shein, a democrat running for Young's seat, who recorded their heated exchange.

Young actually said, "How many Jews were put into the ovens because they were unarmed?"

Young is an NRA member who's down with arming school teachers. He's said video games and the breakdown of American families are to blame for epidemic gun violence. In video of his town hall-style meeting (around 2:10), Young added ... 50 million Russians were killed because they didn't have guns.

There was plenty of vocal support for Young's theories during the meeting.

For what it's worth, there was a Nazi law prohibiting Jews from owning guns -- but remember, they would have been battling Hitler's army, which was steamrolling entire countries.

Billy Graham, perhaps the most famous evangelist in U.S. history, is dead.

Graham died at his home early Wednesday morning in North Carolina. He had been ill for more than a decade. His death was attributed to natural causes.

Graham got involved in evangelism at 16 and rose to fame in his 30s when he held "sin-smashing" revival meetings under a circus tent in an L.A. parking lot. He then created his own ministry -- the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Graham was at one time a segregationist but, after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down Brown vs. Board of Education -- which ended segregation in public schools -- he flipped the switch and became a civil rights leader. He integrated seating at his revival meetings, and became a close ally of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. They preached together to millions who listened to their message.

He also refused to visit South Africa during the Apartheid era until the government allowed blacks and whites to sit together at his revival meetings.

Graham rubbed elbows with world dignitaries for decades, from Buckingham Palace to the White House. He was counsel to a number of presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama.

And this is interesting ... Graham was a Democrat, but fiercely opposed the candidacy of John F. Kennedy because he thought no good would come from a Roman Catholic leading the country.

Graham was married for 64 years to Ruth McCue Bell, who died in 2007. They had 5 children.

Graham was 99.

Lamar Odom's battle with drugs, alcohol and depression almost cost him everything -- so he's telling Johnny Manziel the #1 thing he's gotta do to avoid the same traps.

"Put higher power first," Odom told TMZ Sports, "Whoever his God may be."

Lamar, of course, was in a coma for days after OD'ing at a brothel in Nevada ... but he continues to party hard despite his brush with death.

Johnny, meanwhile, says he's got his life back on track ... after years of hitting the bottle while he struggled with bipolar disorder.

Lamar doesn't want him to go through that pain again -- telling us he's a big-time Johnny Football fan ... and that he truly believes JM can make an NFL comeback.

Now Carson Wentz will know what it's like to come off the bench ...

The Eagles QB got the call to fill in for Vice President Mike Pence at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday ... since Pence will be in South Korea for the Olympics.

North Dakota Rep. Kevin Cramer told Valley News Live ... Wentz will be the keynote speaker at the event -- which is usually attended by some pretty powerful politicians and business leaders.

It'll cap off a crazy day for Wentz ... the Eagles Super Bowl parade goes down in Philly a few hours before the event!!

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez hadn't been seen together for almost a month ... until Wednesday night.

Justin and Selena were leaving a Hillsong Church service in L.A. when he spotted photogs, gave an audible grunt, and then got downright sarcastic when they screamed Selena's name.

Earlier in the day Justin hit the ice for a little hockey and Selena watched rinkside snapping pics.

Mel Gibson's not dishing out any details about the reported upcoming sequel to "The Passion of the Christ" ... even if everyone else can't shut up about it.

We got the 'Passion' director leaving E. Baldi restaurant Wednesday and asked if the big news is true -- will there be a 'Resurrection' to his 2004 blockbuster? He certainly doesn't deny it.

Gibson playfully suggests it's an industry secret, but with Jim Caviezel -- aka the dude who plays Jesus -- declaring Mel's sequel is going to be "the biggest film in history" ... it's fair to say the secret's out and the buzz has risen.

Vladimir Putin is not losing his religion -- he IS getting half naked for it though ... in public.

The Russian President took off a perfectly warm sheepskin coat and boots to take a dip in an icy lake about 250 miles north of Moscow. He wasn't alone. Putin was commemorating the baptism of Jesus in Orthodox Christian tradition ... and people do it all over Russia every year.

This was the first time Putin publicly marked the Epiphany.

His favorite horse was spared from the bone-chilling tradition.

Pope Francis went from Pontiff to Good Samaritan on a dime, after a police officer fell off her horse during a procession in Chile.

The Pope was in Iquique, Chile to urge the country to end its ongoing conflict with the Mapuche people -- the indigenous people of Chile -- when the incident occurred.

The Pope got off the Popemobile and stood by the cop until an ambulance arrived.

The Vatican says the woman "received words of consolation from the Holy Father."

She was taken away in the ambulance and her condition is unknown, although the Vatican stated she was conscious the entire time.

The daughter of former Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke allegedly yelled at a woman, "Hurry up, Jew" ... and then bashed her son with a purse.

She was arrested ... and there's video of the crazy aftermath.

The woman who wound up in cuffs is 29-year-old Jacqueline Kent Cooke -- her dad owned the NFL team from '61 to '97. He also owned the Lakers from '65 to '79. The family is rich as hell.

Fast-forward to New Year's Eve when Cooke allegedly got pissed off while waiting for her coat at Caravaggio restaurant in Manhattan ... and yelled at the 77-year-old woman in front of her, "Hurry up, Jew. I got places to be."

The situation escalated and the woman's son -- 52-year-old Matthew Haberkorn told the NY Daily News he followed Cooke and her boyfriend outside to confront them about the comments.

That's when Cooke allegedly struck Haberkorn with her glass purse -- causing 2 lacerations on his head.

The video begins right after the alleged purse strike ... you can hear Matthew say, "She just f*cking hit me!"

Cooke responds, "You called me a f*cking bitch. You called me a c*nt."

Matthew fired back, "You called me a f*cking Jew.”

Cooke then tries to tackle him to the ground. She fails. Cooke's boyfriend yells out, "What are you doing? You're throwing a woman on the floor."

Matthew responds, "I didn't f*cking touch her."

One last reminder 2017 totally sucked -- the most photographed Jesus ever didn't make it to Christmas ... TMZ has learned.

Family members tell us the man known as West Hollywood Jesus died Dec. 13 after a brief hospitalization in L.A. for pulmonary issues.

WeHo Jesus, real name Kevin Short, was a mainstay up and down Hollywood Boulevard, and famously posed for pics with countless tourists over the years. If you've been, you know there are multiple Batmans and Supermans, but only one Jesus. And now he's gone. Again.

WeHo Jesus was 57 ... 20 some years more than the O.G. made it.

Of course, WHJ didn't have Pontius Pilate on his ass.

RIP JESUS

Rabbi Shmuley isn't giving Lorde a pass for what he calls "the height of bigotry" ... and has one question for her -- What did Israel ever do to you?

We got Michael Jackson's old pal on Manhattan's Upper West Side, and asked him about the singer's recent decision to cancel her show in Israel ... while keeping 2 concert dates in Russia. He's still very fired up about it.

Shmuley thinks Lorde's joined a movement seeking the "economic annihilation" of Israel, and though he doesn't call her an anti-Semite ... he believes she needs to be more responsible as an influential celeb.

In case you don't think he's serious ... the Rabbi took out a full-page ad blasting Lorde for boycotting Israel while ignoring Putin's beyond-checkered past with human rights.