by Eric Wuestewald

Bob Bennett, the head of a $17 million San Francisco family services agency, is under investigation over revelations that his personal blog features graphic images, discussions of the female anatomy, and the totally insane assertion that Christ fathered himself by inseminating his own mother.

The incident started when Bennett, who is the president and CEO of the Felton Institute Family Services Agency of San Francisco, sent out an email asking his board and staff to look at his personal blog while he was out on vacation. Naturally, one of these employees then...looked at his blog.

According to KPIX 5, Bennett's site contained comparisons between "human and animal sex lives," "x-rated photos and discussions of female body parts," and the theory that "Christ actually inseminated his mother and is his own father."

Matier & Ross report that some of the controversial postings further included an entry about Jesus being the perfect example of an Oedipal complex, photos comparing vaginas to lips, and a post about demonic nuns.

One staff member saw these postings and anonymously sent printouts to the City Hall representatives officials responsible for funding the agency.

Also, officials are currently treating the investigating as a 'whistleblower' investigation, although one city department head called the posts "more weird than pornographic."

Felton Institute board Chairman Paul Adams also chimed in, saying that while the blog has “no direct relationship to the agency, as a board we take seriously ... any and all inquiries that arise regarding our staff or services, and are actively assessing the concerns presented by this anonymous letter.”

The blog, culicarius.com, has since been taken down, but Bennett does try to explain himself on a cached entry from August 19:

I hardly know what to say

If you’ve been following this blog, particularly the part WHERE I WAS ON A CATHOLIC PILGRIMAGE TRAIL, you will notice that most of the posts are gone.

When I started the Camino Santiago, I let a small group of people-whom I trusted and who had asked to read the blog-know that I would be blogging about that experience. Apparently one of those people is not someone I should have trusted, since he/she has written to the newspapers in an effort to harm the organization of which I am CEO (and which is never mentioned in this blog).

These are my private opinions, unrelated to my work. There has not been a word in this blog that is sexist, racist, or homophobic. I have written extensively about my own spiritual beliefs.

I wrote two posts several years ago about the changes in human sexual dimorphism in the past three million years of evolution. My point was that human men and women had become less dimorphic in terms of intelligence and stature but more dimorphic in terms of secondary sexual characteristics. The illustrations for those posts are now being sent around in fax form (so that people can’t read the accompanying text) to make me look like a pornographer.

I stand by all the posts in this blog and would not change a word (except to improve the writing) if only myself were under attack, but I have taken down these posts until I figure out the risk they pose to my organization, a human service organization that many people depend on.

So far, there has been no other statement from Bennett.

The Felton Institute has been around since 1889, making it the "oldest nonsectarian, nonprofit social service provider" in the city. The organization dedicates itself to providing family services, preschool programs, and mental health serivces to low-income families, children, and people with disabilities. Last year, the agency received $8.8 million in funding from the city.

Some officials are now demanding that Bennett step down from the prominent organization, with Mayor Ed Lee's office stating “We take this seriously, and our departments that provide funding to this organization are working with the city attorney to address the next steps.”

This report has been updated since publication, with additional details from the SF Chronicle.

SFGate reports:

"It has been a really tough weekend," said Harold Camping, the 89-year-old fundamentalist radio preacher who convinced hundreds of his followers that the rapture would occur on Saturday at 6 p.m.

A mere 18 hours after the deadline passed, Camping (sporting "tan slacks, a tucked-in polo shirt and a light jacket") explained to a group of followers and journalists outside his door the following:

"I'm looking for answers," Camping said, adding that meant frequent prayer and consultations with friends.

"But now I have nothing else to say," he said, closing the door to his home. "I'll be back to work Monday and will say more then."

No word yet if Family Radio plans on returning any of the millions of dollars his church accrued over the last few years from too-eager followers. Retired transit worker and New York City resident Robert Fitzpatrick had spent $140,000 of his savings to help spread Camping's false message of apocalyptic doom.

"I don’t understand why nothing has happened," he told Reuters after the 6 o'clock hour passed.

Whether Camping flat-out lied or made a grave mistake (or, more likely, both) is still up in the air. However, some say the Alameda minister knew exactly what he was doing. Huffington Post explains:

Euro-American Evangelical pastor John S. Torell said Camping already had an "Oops, I'm wrong" speech ready, claiming, "he has already prepared a defense to explain to the radio listeners that he was not wrong, but that God has heard all the prayers and seen the repentance of people, and in His mercy has postponed the judgment."

Claiming Camping knew he was "wrong" -- a.k.a. lying -- is a big deal because Harold Camping made some fairly serious claims when he started talking about Judgment Day, suggesting that "True Believers" donate or prepare for the End of Days. Some dipped into their retirement funds, like Robert Fitzpatrick, who spent $140,000 to post billboards advertising for the Day across the nation. Some, like Keith Bauer, drove their families across country in pursuit of devout faith. And now, as a result of Camping's claim, suicide hotlines have been set up to help those True Believers who've had their faith pummeled by Camping's faulty predictions.

What the fake rapture did succeed in doing was give bragging rights to those who question Christianity. (Pointing out the obvious, like every other full-of-feces religious organization with the word "family" in it, Family Radio represented only a minuscule segment of Christianity.) Numerous rapture fetes and atheist parties were held around the world, the biggest of which was at the Oakland Masonic Center. It drew participants who came to hear keynote speeches from scholars, bloggers, student activists, former Christians, atheist feminists, and other crusaders. (Which, zzzz.)

Other festive types had tongue-in-cheek rapture parties at various parks or bars throughout the Bay Area. Some revealers featured assorted wines and cheeses. Other partygoers listened to live music. And most of them ate loads of good food. All of them, though, knew perfectly well that it was just another day in the Bay Area where another wacky piece of local color declared an apocalyptic vision that never came true. And the beat goes on.

While we let you figure out why anyone would visit the McDonald's at the Wharf -- especially since the city's only In-N-Out is a block away -- customer (or a marketing team) Jake Smith and Toby Crenshaw found the face of the Burger King or Jesus (most likely the latter, obviously) on the bun of a Big Mac.

They tell us, "We were at McDonald's on Fisherman's Warf last weekend, my buddy opens his burger to take off his pickles and bam. It's The Burger King. Well, we think it looks like the King, toasted right into the Big Mac, see for yourself, we made a video!"

And a video they made. And, yes, it does look somewhat like the King.

Update: It's a fake! And, alas, we fell for it. Bah.

Well, this looked like festive fun. A Queer Nativity, a 15 minute play that happened at Dolores Park on Saturday night, was a holiday success. Put on by Matt Cornell, who plays Jesus, he describes Nativity as "an act of irreverent defiance against religious and political institutions that would seek to marginalize entire groups and classes of people, effectively leaving them out in the cold."

Also, he sucks a woman's tit in the show. Enjoy.