Religion/ Spirituality

Marvel says it's bringing its first Muslim superhero to the big screen, and a couple of the universe's smaller screen actors say it's about time ... 'cause we need a new normal.

We ran into Coby Bell and Emma Dumont at LAX -- who both star in FOX's "The Gifted," which is a spin-off of the X-Men series -- and they give their bosses at Marvel major props for discussing how to bring their Pakistani-American character, Ms. Marvel, to life.

The president of Marvel, Kevin Feige, told the BBC this week that the studio plan on introducing Kamala Khan once they got Brie Larson's movie, "Captain Marvel," out of the way in 2019. Coby and Emma are looking forward to it for a few different reasons.

Coby says he wants his kid growing up to see heroes of color as the standard, not the exception ... even shouting out Obama in comparison. Emma's take is ... more broad strokes.

The 2018 Met Gala has quite the theme this year, and it'll be interesting to see if the Hollywood elite stick to its holy overtones. Let us pray?

Celebs started trickling into the Metropolitan Museum of Art Monday evening in NYC for this year's Gala -- hosted by Anna Wintour with a "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination." Yeah, we didn't know what to expect either ... until Rihanna showed up rocking the traditional Papal headgear.

Other early arrivals include George and Amal Clooney, Donatella Versace, Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, and Blake Lively -- and of course many more are expected.

Traditional Vatican garb is on display throughout the museum, but it's unclear how many celebs will follow in RiRi's footsteps with the theme. One thing's for sure, though ... A LOT of them definitely got the heavenly memo, especially Katy Perry.

Kanye West just told the TMZ newsroom why he believes slavery is a choice and why he decided to sport his Make America Great Again hat ... and it all went down Tuesday morning on "TMZ Live."

Kanye appeared on the show with Candace Owens where they explained "free thought" and how it can make the world a better place ... from a place of love.

During the conversation Kanye said, "When you hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years?! That sounds like a choice."

Van from our newsroom took great offense and fired back. Things got intense and ultimately led to a face-to-face at Van's desk.

There's A LOT more that went down -- and it's all on today on "TMZ Live"

With the 76ers up 3 games to 1 ... Joel Embiid is calling in the big guns for help -- making a surprise appearance at a Philly-area church Sunday night in his team warm-up pants.

We spoke with officials from St. Kevin Parish in Springfield, Pennsylvania who tell us Embiid arrived around 5:30 PM for the evening mass and stayed about an hour after the service for some personal prayer time.

But the churchgoers were STOKED to see their hero in the building and several people went up to Joel and asked if it would be cool to take some pics.

We're told Embiid was VERY cool about it -- chatting up and posing for everyone who came up to him.

One church rep tells us, "He was super nice."

Embiid and the 76ers get back on the court to face the Miami Heat on Tuesday. We'll see if Joel's prayers get answered.

#TrustJCsProcess

Challenge: Forget how you feel about Curt Schilling and judge this post purely on art. Good?

The ex-MLB star-turned-political firebrand got a brand new tattoo -- Jesus on the cross -- and he's essentially sharing an arm with JC.

The tat is inspired by Mark 15:33 -- "At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon."

But, the artist designed the tattoo to make it look like Jesus' left arm becomes one with Curt's arm -- and the illusion is actually pretty cool.

Justin Bieber might be back in touch with the Lord, but he apparently has no patience for would-be swindlers trying to make fake a quick buck.

Biebs was leaving L.A.'s El Rey Theatre Tuesday night -- after "An Evening With Adam Sandler" -- and a strange man was standing at his SUV waiting to hand him something -- a $100 bill, or so it seemed.

JB exchanges words with the guy, and seems to be irritated by the offer ... and then tries squeezing by him to get in his SUV. The dude holds his ground, and Bieber tells him to get the hell out of the way. The guy scrams after that ... leaving Justin with the bill.

If there was any doubt Justin Bieber is a true believer in Christ ... he just put all that to rest with a huge plug to his Lord and savior on the holiest of days.

Bieber posted an Easter message Sunday that confirms pretty much everything we knew about his renewed Christian faith. In the post he starts with ... "JESUS HAS CHANGED MY LIFE," going on to mention the true meaning of the holiday -- and it ain't about a bunny or eggs.

It's pretty clear JB gets down with JC -- he's at church quite a lot these days, and hell, even canceled the rest of his world tour last year over him. But this appears to be one of the few explicit endorsements of his religious views coming straight from the horse's mouth.

Miley Cyrus appears to be having a good Friday ... even if she's getting spanked by the Easter Bunny.

Miley just released a sultry set of pastel-colored Easter pics to celebrate the religious holiday in her own way in a shoot with Vogue ... featuring the singer wearing bunny ears, standing in an Easter basket, petting a fluffy cat, flaunting a see-through top and cleavage, and yes ... getting spanked.

Justin Bieber is showing compassion for folks who are down on their luck ... and this could have religious overtones.

Bieber was spotted Wednesday plopping himself down onto an L.A. sidewalk after a SoulCycle sesh to chat up a homeless man and woman who were sleeping on the pavement.

We're not sure what he was talking to them about, but he was clearly interested in what they had to say ... and was in no rush to wrap up the convo.

'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.