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Christians Have Done the Most to Promote Liberty and Equality in America


BY: PAUL KRAUSE | MAY 30, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/30/christians-have-done-the-most-to-promote-liberty-and-equality-in-america/

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The most uneducated but wildly popular critique of Christianity in America — especially on social media —  is that Christianity has been a bastion of oppression and intolerance. So much so that the advancements made in liberty and equality over the centuries have come only when America and American leaders have rejected Christianity. In his new book Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land, historian Mark David Hall offers a concise corrective to this inaccurate and often ignorant hot-take and popular narrative.

Hatred of Christianity is one of the pillars of the current anti-American ideology that permeates universities and the governing spirit of our ruling elite. Mockery of Christians, especially evangelicals, is also one of the core tenets of progressive culture. This hostility and mockery are unwarranted. Far from being agents of oppression and anti-intellectualism, Hall highlights how Christians have been the bedrock of social activism advancing liberty and equality, as well as promoting education reform, increasing literacy, and publishing newspapers and magazines.

We are all familiar with the asinine proclamations of America as a secular country, that progress, liberty, and equality are atheist ideals, and that committed Christians are the greatest threat to America’s future. Yet, as Hall forcefully rebuts, “it is simply false to claim that liberty and equality have been advanced primarily when America’s leaders embrace progressive manifestations of religion or reject faith altogether.”

Looking at the Puritans, the American Revolution, evangelical social reform prior to the Civil War, and contemporary debates over religious liberty, Hall reveals what used to be well-known: Christianity has been the heart of true social progress and explosive advancements in human liberty, equality, and democratic government.

Puritans and Foundations of Liberty

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims, Daniel Webster, one of the most important senators the United States ever had, lauded the Pilgrims and Puritans as champions of the liberty that our “civil and religious liberty” grew from. Today, however, it is common to imagine Puritans as petty tyrants, intolerant theocrats, and bah humbug killjoys.

When I was a student at Yale taking classes on American Puritanism, our professor went to great lengths to de-indoctrinate us of the popular stereotypes of the Puritans. The Puritans were among the most educated people at the time, established our most venerable institutions of higher education, promoted the advancement and discoveries of Enlightenment science, vigorously advocated for public literacy, and enjoyed a good laugh, beer, and sex.

The real history of the Puritans that I learned at Yale is covered again by Hall in his opening chapter deconstructing the lies of secularists and anti-Christian writers and hacktivists portraying the Puritans in a dark and inaccurate light. The Puritans, our author reminds us, “valued natural rights, government by the consent of the governed, and limited government; they were convinced that citizens have a right, and perhaps even a duty, to resist tyrannical government.” When traveling through the lands the Puritans helped to build in the 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville remarked, “Puritanism was not merely a religious doctrine, but corresponded in many points with the most absolute democratic and republican theories.”

As historians and scholars of Puritanism have long asserted, the democratic ethos of congregationalist church politics helped develop the local customs of self-government in New England that would form the basis for “Democracy in America,” as Tocqueville famously put it. But what about the banishment of certain Baptist dissenters and the Salem witch trials, the critic asks? These events did happen, but they are drastically overblown by contemporary critics.

The banishment of a handful of religious dissenters in Massachusetts was only after these rabble-rousing individuals repeatedly, and deliberately, returned to cause trouble and disturb the peace. Also, Hall reminds us, when compared to Europe, where more than 100,000 men and women were prosecuted as witches and half sentenced to death, only 272 individuals in America were ever charged with witchcraft. The Salem witch trials, which happened in 1692, marked the last execution of a witch in North America. In Europe, witches were still executed as late as 1782.

Completing his overview of the Puritans, Hall writes that the Puritans “created political institutions that were more democratic than any the world had ever seen, and they strictly limited civil leaders by law.”

Rebellion to Tyrants Is Obedience to God

Another one of the popular putdowns of Christianity by its critics (and even some Christians) is that Christianity doesn’t permit rebellion to tyrannical government but supports tyrannical government. In a gross and deeply literalist reading of the Apostle Paul in Romans (somewhat ironic all things considered), these critics assert that because a single passage in the New Testament supposedly teaches obedience to government, which is ordained by God, the American revolutionary patriots rejected Christian teachings and had to utilize secular and Enlightenment arguments to advance the cause of liberty during the American Revolution.

Again, this is patently false, as any decently educated person knows. Kody Cooper and Justin Dyer recently published a superb book, The Classical and Christian Origins of American Politics, addressing this myth in detail. Hall, too, quickly covers the problems of this critique. Highlighting Calvinist theological history (something that these critics have no knowledge of, despite their claims of educated intelligence), covering important names known to students of theology, such as John Ponet, John Knox, George Buchanan, Samuel Rutherford, and even John Cotton (grandfather of Cotton Mather), Hall shows that Christian theological history had come to see rebellion to tyrants as obedience to God and Scripture.

Moreover, most of the popular and patriotic arguments for revolution were not conversant with theorists such as John Locke but with Scripture. The Old Testament, especially, was appealed to by the patriotic clergy in favor of revolution. Christians, far from submitting to tyranny, offered complex theological arguments against tyranny and, therefore, helped formulate a political theology of liberty and equality in the process.

Evangelicals Against Oppression

Perhaps the most common trope that our contemporary anti-Christian elite culture pushes is the tyrannical and ignorant evangelical Christian. This, too, is a stereotype with little basis in history. In fact, many of our best institutions of higher learning were founded by evangelical Christians even if they have since departed from that faith that gave birth to them (Harvard, Yale, and Oberlin, to name a few). The first opponents of slavery and proponents of abolition were the heirs of the Puritans, such as the Rev. Samuel Sewall, who published the first anti-slavery writing in 1700.

Motivated by a vigorous religious faith, the Second Great Awakening was the fire that fueled anti-slavery and abolitionist politics in antebellum America. Men and women of Methodist, Baptist, and congregationalist (Puritan) backgrounds were oftentimes the leading champions of liberty and equality for African-Americans and indigenous Americans. As Hall writes, it was American evangelicals, and especially evangelical women, who most actively “oppos[ed] the evils of slavery and Indian removal.”

During the antebellum years, American evangelicals sought to “work together to help end social evils” and established “thousands of organizations aimed at alleviating suffering and reforming society.” Evangelicals were on the front lines of creating new educational institutions, promoting education reforms to advance public literacy, and establishing newspapers as a means of confronting social evils. Furthermore, Evangelicalism, originally a religious minority grouping, was deeply indebted to religious liberty as the means for its social growth and prominence.

This spirit of religious social reform for liberty led to the contemporary defense of religious liberty as the bedrock on which all liberty and equality before the law stands: “Christian legal organizations have been among the best advocates for religious liberty for all, including citizens who embrace non-Christian faiths,” Hall writes.

Why Christianity Matters to America

In Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land, Hall gives us yet another triumphant and important book to correct the polemical, inaccurate, and deeply misleading public presentation of the relationship between Christianity and American politics. Far from the evil bogeyman and religion of oppression that ungrateful critics claim, Christianity has been a positive force for good and the growth of liberty and equality. In fact, America has been best when it has reached into the heart of Christianity for its social reforms and advancement of liberty and equality rather than rejecting Christianity.

Paul Krause is the editor-in-chief of VoegelinView. He is the author of “Finding Arcadia: Wisdom, Truth, and Love in the Classics” (Academica Press, 2023), “The Odyssey of Love: A Christian Guide to the Great Books” (Wipf and Stock, 2021), and contributed to “The College Lecture Today” (Lexington, 2019) and “Making Sense of Diseases and Disasters” (Routledge, 2022).

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Corporate America Has Launched a Religious War. It’s Time to Choose Your Side


BY: JOHN DANIEL DAVIDSON | MAY 26, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/26/corporate-america-has-launched-a-religious-war-its-time-to-choose-your-side/

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Bud Light enlists a trans ladyface minstrel to sell beer. Target hires a trans Satanist to design LGBT clothes for kids and starts selling “binding” and “tucking” swimwear. North Face launches a marketing campaign featuring a creepy drag performer hocking LGBT gear to children ages 2 to 7. The Los Angeles Dodgers gives an award to a demonic hate group whose sole purpose is to blaspheme and profane the Catholic faith.

All this, and June “pride month” hasn’t even begun.

What’s happening? Why did so many major corporate brands decide to go all-in on promoting an aggressive, radical LGBT agenda that just a few years ago would have been considered totally unacceptable in civil society? Is this a psy-op? Is it real? What happens next?

The short answer to these questions is that we’ve entered a new phase of the culture war, and in some ways have transcended “the culture war” completely. What we’re in now is better described as a religious war — one that’s been launched by corporate America against all of us, and therefore demands we all choose sides.

Choosing sides in a religious war means you have to choose your religion. And in this particular religious war, there are only two sides. On one side is what C.S. Lewis called the Tao, which was his ecumenical shorthand for objective moral truth. “The Tao, which others may call Natural Law or Traditional Morality or the First Principles of Practical Reason or the First Platitudes, is not one among a series of possible systems of value,” Lewis wrote in The Abolition of Man. “It is the sole source of all value judgments. If it is rejected, all value is rejected. If any value is retained, it is retained.”

In America and in the West generally, the side of the Tao is the side of faithful Christians and Jews, as well as those atheists who, for practical reasons, cling to Judeo-Christian morality as the survivors of a shipwreck might cling to a lifeboat. It is the side that sees Target’s transing of kids as an intolerable moral evil, affirms the givenness of our nature and the created order, and recognizes not only that man isn’t God, but that man’s destiny is communion with God in a redeemed creation.

On the other side is what the writer Paul Kingsnorth, among others, has called the Machine, which at its root is a Nietzschean rebellion against God that turns out also to be “a rebellion against everything: roots, culture, community, families, biology itself.” Like the Tao, the religion of the Machine, of progress and technology and will to power, has a very long pedigree. It goes back to the Garden of Eden, where the serpent assured Eve, “You will not surely die,” that if she ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she would become like God.

That was the first rebellion; we have been reenacting it ever since. It is perhaps easier to see in our own time how every rebellion against God, from the Garden to now, is also an attempt to overthrow Him, to become like God. Indeed, the desire to play God is the dark heart of both transgenderism and its close cousin, transhumanism. Like other evils of our age — abortion and euthanasia, to name the obvious ones — these are, at their roots, extremely candid manifestations of pride, the source of all sin.

The Machine is a religion that makes a claim over and against reality and the created order, which are denied and disfigured in man’s attempt to arrogate the power to recreate himself according to his own desires. In our day, he seeks to do so using new technologies, but that he would desire to do so is merely the latest iteration of the rebellion that began in the Garden. This is what J.R.R. Tolkien meant when he said, “all stories are ultimately about the fall.” Tolkien also referred to the Machine at times when discussing his legendarium, often describing it as the urge to amass power and dominate, “bulldozing the real world, or coercing other wills” — a tyranny exercised over creation with the object of overcoming mortality. 

This is just what we see in the twin trans movements: a desire to overcome sex and a desire to overcome death. The transhumanists are as explicit about their desire to cheat death and attain godlike immortality as transgenders are about their desire to become the opposite sex. The latter appear to believe, like rebellious pagans of past ages, that children have an important role to play in the achievement of this desire. The Machine devoured children by fire on the altars of Moloch and Baal; it devours them now in the black mirrors of the internet and social media.

The temptation here is to dismiss this reading of our situation as hyperbole. Surely it isn’t as bad as all that, we want to say. But it really is. What’s happening now isn’t about corporate brands embracing “pride month,” as The New York Times recently framed it, or even about promoting tolerance in a diverse society. If Target were just selling T-shirts that said “fabulous” in rainbow letters no one would care. This is about transing kids. Everyone knows it, but no one wants to say so out loud. Corporations are the tip of the spear, pushing this stuff out and then letting the media turn around and accuse the right of being violent bigots for objecting.

We err, too, in thinking of all this as just a really bad case of “the culture war” that breaks along the familiar lines of left and right, blue and red. It’s partly that, but at its deepest level it’s a religious war, a spiritual struggle between light and darkness, good and evil, the Tao and the Machine.

All of which is to say that as this war develops, we should try not to get too caught up in how much Target stocks plummet or how low the price of Bud Light gets ($0, as of this writing). “Go woke, go broke” is — pardon the rhyme — a cope. That’s not to say we shouldn’t boycott these companies, even if it means financial hardship or inconvenience. Boycotting them is part of what we have to do in this religious war, but it’s not sufficient.

Corporate America is not going to stop, even if some corporations do go broke. What will be required of those who resist them is a deep religious commitment, a radical new way of living in the modern, digital age. If you’re a Jew, be deeply serious about your Judaism. If you’re a Christian, make the practice of your faith the central organizing fact of your life, not just something you do on Sundays. If you’re an atheist, pray that God gives you faith.

For adherents of the Tao, fighting this religious war is going to mean not just boycotting corporate brands but reorganizing your personal and professional life. It might mean quitting your job, or moving, or giving up certain things. It will require sacrifice. Perhaps great sacrifice.

And rest assured that every person in America is going to have to pick a side. If you don’t pick a side then your side will by default be that of the Machine, which dominates the heights of our post-Christian culture and economy. Whatever your opinion of transgenderism or identity politics, the Machine will suck you in and ensnare you unless you make a conscious choice to stand against it. So choose, and choose wisely. Your country — and, more importantly, your soul — depends on it.

John Daniel Davidson is a senior editor at The Federalist. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Claremont Review of Books, The New York Post, and elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter, @johnddavidson.

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America under threat from syncretism, George Barna says in study; churches urged to respond


By Leonardo Blair, Senior Features Reporter | FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/america-under-threat-from-syncretism-george-barna-says.html?clickType=link-topbar-news

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While the World Health Organization has declared that COVID-19 is no longer a “public health emergency,” America’s embrace of syncretism — the fusion of different religions — and the growing rejection of a biblical worldview remains a threat to general quality of life in a post-pandemic world, especially for children, new research from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University suggests.

“During times of crisis, every generation turns to their worldview to navigate the challenges. Sadly, because syncretism is the prevailing worldview of each generation in America today, the response of Americans to the pandemic and the political turbulence it facilitated have been every bit as muddled and chaotic as the worldview on which they are based,” wrote George Barna, director of research at the Cultural Research Center on the findings from his research.

“The ideological and philosophical confusion that characterizes America is perhaps the biggest reflection of the nation’s rejection of biblical principles and its decision to replace God’s truth with ‘personal truth.’”

Using recent data from the American Worldview Inventory, which is the first-ever national survey conducted in the United States measuring the incidence of both biblical and competing worldviews, Barna shows how the four adult generations in the U.S. — millennials, Gen X (baby busters), baby boomers and elders — had very different spiritual responses to the pandemic.

The research, which involved the tracking of a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults undertaken in January, showed the lowest incidence of adults with a biblical worldview among the youngest cohorts, millennials, adults born between 1984 and 2002, and Gen X, adults born from 1965 through 1983.

The data show that of the four generations, millennials had the lowest incidence of biblical worldview at 2%. Their connection to Christianity was also shown as quite weak before the pandemic and “was even weaker by the end of the COVID-19” pandemic. 

“Millennials were hit hard by the pandemic in dimensions such as their emotions, finances, vocation, relationships, and ideology,” Barna wrote.

Only 5% of Gen X adults held a biblical worldview, according to the data. The study shows that Gen X endured the greatest degree of “spiritual turbulence,” with 10 statistically significant changes and two notable directional changes.

“In all but one instance, those changes showed Gen Xers moving away from biblical perspectives or behaviors. In general, the nature of the spiritual transitions among Gen Xers during the pandemic era was a shift away from trust in God. Among the biggest changes in their religious perspective were declines in believing God created humans, that He is the basis of truth, and that He is the omniscient and omnipotent ruler of the universe,” Barna noted.

“Those doubts have precipitated important transitions in religious behavior, including less frequent Bible reading, church attendance, confession of personal sin, seeking to do God’s will, and worshiping God. Another noteworthy shift is the decline in how many Gen Xers believe that human life is sacred.”

Baby boomers, adults born between 1946 and 1964, and elders, adults 77 and older, were shown to be the most likely among adults to hold a biblical worldview. However, they were still in the minority among their respective cohorts and showed declines over the course of the pandemic.

The biblical worldview incidence among boomers dropped from 9% to 7% over the past three years, while it dropped among elders from 9% to 8%.

Barna suggested that the decision by Christian churches to shutter during the pandemic wasn’t helpful for the American public because it left people unprepared for the challenges of a post-pandemic society.

“The last three years have been a time of high anxiety for tens of millions of adults. It was an ideal time for the Christian Church to provide wise guidance and emotional calm. Unfortunately, most churches agreed to the government’s dictate that they close their doors and remain mostly silent. That left an unprepared populace to follow the primary form of leadership available to them: government perspectives and policies,” Barna argued.

“Obviously, that has not worked well, given how dissatisfied a large majority of the country is with the direction of the nation and the quality of post-COVID life. With only one out of every 50 millennials embracing a biblical worldview, America’s children are especially vulnerable to the inward-looking approach to life that their parents and most other adults practice,” he added.

“As a nation, we may be past the danger of COVID-19, but we are in the thick of the danger brought about by people relying upon syncretism as their dominant worldview. Biblical churches must see this as a time for an urgent response to the direction society is taking. While the Left pursues the Great Reset, it is time for the Church to pursue the Great Renewal — leading people’s hearts, minds, and souls back to God and His life principles.”

Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com Follow Leonardo Blair on Twitter: @leoblair Follow Leonardo Blair on Facebook: LeoBlairChristianPost

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Jordan Boyd Op-ed: Leftists Explain Tragedy with Fake Narratives Because Their Idols Offer No Explanation Or Remedy for Evil


JORDAN BOYD | MAY 09, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/09/leftists-explain-tragedy-with-fake-narratives-because-their-idols-offer-no-explanation-or-remedy-for-evil/

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Why do bad things happen to good people?

It’s an age-old question that philosophers, theologians, and average Americans like you and me have tried to answer for centuries. Ponderance about theodicy, the vindication of God’s goodness despite the existence of evil, manifests even more prominently in the wake of tragedies like the recent shooting at an Allen, Texas outlet mall that left eight dead and at least seven others wounded.

For Christians, the deaths of eight legally innocent people are a grave reminder that, as Ephesians 6:12 states, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Deranged and demonic people doing deranged and demonic acts are something Christians are warned to expect in a world controlled by evil. Moments of apparent hopelessness like this one are soothed by the promise of an eternal end to death, suffering, and mourning. The fact that God himself plans to wipe away our tears brings a certain kind of peace to worried and weary souls.

For the ruling class, however, shootings like this one are terrifying because they are an enigma. In a desperate plea to satiate their endless hopelessness, leftists try to blame life’s trials and tribulations on what they claim to be the biggest problems society has to offer.

Despite the fact that these “threats” are temporary and fall short during any level of scrutiny, leftists continually invoke sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and other labels to interpret adversity.

False Gods

If you do not understand the inherent presence of sin in the world, someone being possessed by an evil so grim that he will maliciously end lives boggles minds and souls. Followers of Christ certainly don’t know all the specifics on why a 33-year-old man decided to gun down unsuspecting families over the weekend. We do, however, have a moral framework that rationalizes seemingly irrational behavior and grants us unwavering hope all at the same time.

The same cannot be said for the political left and their allies in the corporate media who put blind faith in the things of the world to decipher disaster. That’s why, mere hours after the Allen shooting, unnamed sources and eager corporate media outlets rushed to link the Hispanic gunman to “white supremacy.” That point made zero sense from the beginning but media mouthpieces latched onto it like a drug.

While there’s no doubt that the “white supremacy” narrative certainly creates political benefits for the left, it doesn’t elucidate the matter at hand. If racism is what causes shooters to snap and half of the country or more is inherently “racist,” why aren’t there more shootings?

Idolizing false religions like race as the lens through which everything must be looked at will never explain why a Hispanic man opened fire in a predominantly white suburb. Understanding that evil has long crept its way into the crevices and cracks of human souls does. Bad things happen to good people because Adam and Eve ushered in an era of turmoil. Every man, woman, and child who is born and lives in a broken world is afflicted by a spiritual war. If they aren’t fighting against evil forces, they are overcome by them. Unfortunately, as evidenced by the revolting reactions offered by the left following the Nashville shooting at the Covenant School, the left’s scrambling to manipulate tragedies to blame their favorite political targets invites further evil to replace compassion.

Thoughts and Prayers

Leftism is a false religion that hampers not only a person’s ability to understand human suffering but also the remedy for our sorrows. Their visceral reaction to “thoughts and prayers” evidences this. Every time tragedy strikes, social media pages are flooded with comments from the faithful promising to pray for the bodies, minds, and souls of those affected. Unfortunately, this sincere gesture is frequently met with angry squawking that “thoughts and prayers” are excuses for inaction that mean nothing. For people who understand that evil exists and calamity is inevitable, however, “thoughts and prayers” mean everything. To reject the divine power of prayer is to sentence one’s soul and mind to the fear and anxieties about death that plague the sinful human condition.

We live in a broken world populated by broken people in need of a savior. No one can even begin to wrestle with the concept of the death of innocents until they understand that basic principle. There is but one remedy for evil and its name isn’t anti-racism or gun control. It’s Jesus.

The burden of saving the world was lifted from our shoulders more than 2,000 years ago. That doesn’t mean we should opt for complacency in times of crisis but it also doesn’t mean we must rush to disarm ourselves of our best spiritual and physical defenses, as so many try to do after tragedy.

There is redemption and there is hope for those who want it. Let us pray that those weary, searching souls discover there is no fear in death if you live a life with Christ.

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.

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Dan Delzell Op-ed: Will you be allowed to enter Heaven?


By Dan Delzell, Christian Post Contributor| Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/will-you-be-allowed-to-enter-heaven.html/

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Imagine arriving at the gates of Heaven and being asked to choose between one of three chairs. Everyone who chooses the correct chair is welcomed into Heaven.

The chair on the right represents a person who is relying 100% upon his noble deeds to get into Heaven.

The chair on the left represents a person who has done just as many noble deeds but is relying 50% on his deeds to gain entrance into Heaven, and 50% on the cross where Jesus died for our sins.

The middle chair represents a person who has done just as many noble deeds as the other two, but who nevertheless places “all of his eggs in the basket” of the Savior’s atoning death. He is relying 100% upon the sacrifice Jesus provided on the cross, and 0% upon his noble deeds. He is trusting in Christ alone to get into Paradise.

The middle chair represents saving faith in Jesus Christ, whereas the other two chairs represent works righteousness.

Scripture declares: “Whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). This is why God cannot and will not allow people in the outer two chairs into Heaven. 

Why? Because like each one of us, they are lawbreakers. They hope in vain that their noble deeds will wash away some of their sins. Nothing but the blood of Jesus has that kind of power, and Christ’s blood only gets applied to your sins when you trust in Christ alone for salvation.

“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Your good works only please God after you have been converted. Spiritual conversion occurs when you repent of your sins and place your full confidence in the cross rather than in your noble efforts and religious acts (Mark 1:15; Luke 24:47; Galatians 2:16).

The good works done by those in the outer two chairs are not able to wash away even one sin. And this of course is why the faith represented by the outer two chairs is incapable of giving a person the assurance of salvation. After all, how could a person ever know for sure that he has done enough to earn eternal life in Heaven? If some or all of your confidence for going to Heaven is in your own efforts and deeds, your confidence is terribly misplaced.

“All who rely on observing the Law are under a curse” (Galatians 3:10). In other words, the people who are sitting in the outer two chairs are under a curse because they assume their righteous deeds make them worthy to enter Heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Do you honestly think God would have sent his only Son to suffer crucifixion if you and I could gain entrance into Heaven by obeying the Law? After all, how good is good enough? God’s Law demands perfection, and you and I fall far short of perfection. Therefore, our only hope is Christ, who provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 10:1-18).

Remember, we are talking about what you are relying upon to enter Heaven. The three chairs represent three people who have done the same amount of noble deeds, but whose faith is very different from one another. 

Faulty thinking leads a person to ask, “Have I done enough to enter Heaven?” The real issue is this: “What am I relying upon to enter Heaven?” Your answer to this most important question can help you to see whether or not you currently believe the Gospel, and are therefore saved, redeemed, forgiven, born again and justified (Romans 3:21-28; Galatians 2:15-16).

Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). This is the good news of the Gospel, and it is represented by the faith of the middle chair. The One who suffered and died on the middle cross provides the only path to Paradise (Acts 4:12).

The Scottish evangelist and teacher Oswald Chambers wrote, “The center of salvation is the cross of Jesus, and the reason it is so easy to obtain salvation is because it cost God so much.” 

While it is not easy to live the Christian life, it is relatively easy to be born again. This new birth (1 Peter 1:3,23) occurs supernaturally on the front end of your relationship with God (John 3:6). The challenging part comes into play when you discover from firsthand experience that following Christ involves denying yourself and “saying ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions” (Titus 2:12).

Just because “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26) does not mean that our works wash away any of our sins. Good works are simply the fruit of saving faith, (John 15:5) just like apples are the fruit of a healthy apple tree. A person with the faith of the middle chair does good works that God finds acceptable and pleasing in his sight. 

You must first enter God’s family through faith in Jesus. After all, apart from Christ, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) in God’s sight. These rags of self-righteousness are what God sees when he looks at the ethical deeds done by those in the outer two chairs. Millions of people seek to justify themselves before God as they sincerely attempt to earn their way into Heaven. 

Picture yourself standing at the gates of Heaven and the Lord inviting you to sit down in one of the three chairs. The middle chair is for believers who will be welcomed into Paradise, whereas the two outer chairs are for those who are trying to earn eternal life in Heaven. Sadly, they will be sent to Hell to pay the eternal penalty for breaking God’s commands (Matthew 25:41,46).

So, which chair would you choose?

Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska. 

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34th annual US Capitol Bible Reading Marathon kicks off this weekend: ‘Draw attention back to the Bible’


By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter | THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/us-capitol-bible-reading-marathon-kicks-off-this-weekend.html/

Thelma Dephas of Shiloh Baptist Church in Landover, Maryland, seen taking part in the 20th annual U.S. Capitol Bible Reading Marathon, a 90-hour front to back oral reading of the bible on May 6, 2009, on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. | TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images

The 34th annual National Capitol Bible Reading Marathon will kick off on Saturday, marking the first time the event has taken place at the U.S. Capitol complex since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spearheaded by the Indiana-based ministry group Seedline International, the National Capitol Bible Reading Marathon will take place on the West Terrace of the Capitol starting at 2 p.m. Eastern time Saturday (April 22) through 10 a.m. April 26. A rotating group of volunteers will take turns reading every word of the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, in 15-minute slots. 

Those hoping to participate can sign up for a time slot online. The National Capitol Bible Reading Marathon’s website outlines the requirements for those hoping to read from Scripture as part of the event, specifically that a volunteer reader “must be a born again Christian, must provide personal transportation” and “must arrive 5 minutes before [their] scheduled reading time.”

While most of the readings will be done by “scheduled volunteer readers,” those “walking by who want to read” will have the opportunity to participate as well. About 98% of the reading slots will be filled in advance. 

In an interview with The Christian Post, Keith Davidson, founder and director of Seedline International, said he hopes the event will “draw attention back to the Bible” and remind Americans that “our founding fathers and founding principles of our country were for expressing our First Amendment rights and the freedom of speech.” He expressed gratitude that the event was taking place at the Capitol this year, as the restrictions imposed by the pandemic lockdowns had forced the event to move the National Capitol Bible Reading Marathon to the nearby Faith and Liberty Headquarters for the past three years. 

“For us, it’s a privilege to be back outside facing west, viewing the Washington Monument in the background, and just being out on the Capitol steps and on Capitol grounds is just … a good thing; we’re excited about that,” he added.

Davidson told CP that the event “doesn’t stop” in inclement weather unless there is “danger” posed by severe weather. In such cases, participants “move inside the building and continue to read.”

While the Bible Reading Marathon will be streamed on Seedline International’s YouTube channel, there will not be an option for people to read from Scripture virtually as there was last year.

Members of Congress who want to participate in the event might have the opportunity to read from the Capitol, as lawmakers will be in session during part of this year’s event, he told CP.  

Davidson said several members of Congress had made an “interested commitment” to reading Scripture as part of the annual event that will also be attended by Christian schools and church groups.  

Although Davidson is leading the event, he is depending on a team of “about 35” volunteers to help pull it off. He remarked that “there will be someone there from Seedline around the clock,” meaning that the volunteers will take turns so as not to force one person to remain there for nearly four straight days.

Davidson estimated that “there will be approximately 50” people on Capitol grounds at the opening event, adding, “I would anticipate around 300 or so that would attend at some point but not all at the same time.” 

In addition to the National Capitol Bible Reading Marathon, Davidson also helps to organize Bible Reading Marathons at state Capitols nationwide. When asked about his progress in setting up Bible Reading Marathons at state Capitols, Davidson said, “It’s going well.”

“We’ve been in Tennessee, Indiana [and] Pennsylvania. We’re also going to West Virginia, then Louisiana, North Carolina [and] South Carolina is coming on board, and we’ve got some interest in Colorado and possibly Texas,” he noted. “Because of previous riots and so forth, it’s become a little bit difficult to get on Capitol grounds, but we seem to be making good progress on that.” 

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com

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Op-ed: The Post Office fired me for honoring the Lord’s Day. Supreme Court must make this right


 By Gerald Groff | Fox News | Published April 13, 2023 2:00am EDT

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/post-office-fired-me-honoring-lord-day-supreme-court-must-make-this-right

My roots in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania run deep.  Growing up here it was rare to see businesses open on Sundays.  It was the Lord’s Day.  We spent the morning in church, the afternoon with family, and honored God by resting from our regular labor—something God commanded we do in the fourth of the Ten Commandments.

I never thought I would lose my job for honoring the Lord’s Day. 

As I matured, I looked for jobs that would respect the Lord’s Day.  The United States Postal Service seemed a perfect fit.  Not only could I drive the rural routes of my boyhood, it famously did not deliver on Sundays.  I could have a good career and respect the Lord’s Day.

It was an ideal job until the Postal Service contracted with Amazon to provide Sunday delivery.  At first, we managed to find a workable solution: I would work every holiday that did not fall on the Lord’s Day and take extra route work on weekdays and Saturdays to make up for not working Sundays. 

SUPREME COURT TAKES UP RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CASE INVOLVING POSTAL WORKER WHO REFUSED TO WORK ON SUNDAY

As much as I was able to accommodate the Post Office, stepping in to help other employees when they needed it most, the Postal Service would not accommodate me.  If I were a full-time rural carrier, it would be no problem.  Full-time carriers have enough seniority to be contractually exempt from work on Sundays.  If I had been willing to compromise what I believed and worked just a few Sundays, I would have reached seniority to get a full-time route and gone on to have a long career with the U.S. Postal Service.

Authorities say a mail dropbox outside of a Pennsylvania post office has been struck dozens of times by thieves searching for money and checks. 
Authorities say a mail dropbox outside of a Pennsylvania post office has been struck dozens of times by thieves searching for money and checks.  (FOX 29 Philadelphia)

It was either I violate God’s command to me and honor the Lord’s Day by keeping it holy or honor Him and trust Him with the outcome.  On the verge of my ideal career, I surrendered all my seniority, unwilling to sacrifice my hope of becoming a full-time carrier at the prospect of refusing God’s decree—even if it meant working just one Lord’s Day.

The response by the Postal Service was brutal.  I felt targeted for almost two years.  Rather than respect my religious beliefs, the Postal Service chose to make an example out of me.  Postal management sent me for eight different “pre-disciplinary interviews” at the main post office.  Each one took about two hours out of my work day, and I still had to finish all of my routes—and without overtime pay.

My employer purposefully assigned me more work than the same carriers I had been supporting every Saturday and holiday by working so they could have time off with family.  Without explanation or justification, USPS docked my pay.  If I had just compromised what I believed about the Lord’s Day—even just a handful of times—all of it would have gone away.  Compromising what we believe is never the right choice.

Surely an employer the size of the Postal Service could have found a way to accommodate a single employee’s religious beliefs.  Instead, it disciplined me so severely, it was quit or be fired.

Gerald Groff lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and is a former postal employee.  The U.S. Supreme Court will hear his case on April 18, 2023. 
Gerald Groff lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and is a former postal employee.  The U.S. Supreme Court will hear his case on April 18, 2023.  (First Liberty Institute)

Now, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether religious employees like me who work extra shifts, holidays, and cover for his colleagues deserve a religious accommodation in the workplace.  Only God knows the final outcome; I still trust Him even if my decision to honor the Lord’s Day cost me my career. 

Our nation has a long history of protecting employees from being treated differently just because of their faith.  That is something woven into the fabric of our nation, including Lancaster County.  The heritage of respect and tolerance our nation has shown to the Old Order Amish and Mennonites who are my neighbors in Lancaster County is a lovely thing.  Yet the U.S. Postal Service refused to extend that religious tolerance to me.

I hope the Supreme Court reaffirms our nation’s commitment to providing equal opportunity and fair treatment in the workplace.  No employee should be forced to make the same decision the Postal Service forced upon me: faith or job.

Gerald Groff lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and is a former postal employee.

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Movie Review: New Movie ‘Nefarious’ Tackles The Horrors Of Modern Secularism


BY: SAMUEL MANGOLD-LENETT | APRIL 14, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/04/14/new-movie-nefarious-tackles-the-horrors-of-modern-secularism/

Nefarious, 2023
‘Nefarious’ is a rare horror film worthy of being called art because of its ability to adeptly address truly existential cultural woes.

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Spoilers. 

Nowadays, it seems like in order to create a successful horror movie that isn’t a sequel in a legacy franchise, filmmakers have to incorporate at least two of the following: gore, vulgarity, and demonic possession. The horror genre drastically over-utilizes guts, gorgons, and naked gals, typically leaving something to be desired from the writing. The genre seems to rely more on eliciting physical responses than contributing to broader cultural discourse. And in this way, horror films are more akin to amusement park rides than they are art.

This is partly why “Nefarious,” a new movie executive produced by conservative commentator Steve Deace and directed by Christian filmmakers Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon, is a breath of fresh air — the film actually has substance.

Based on Deace’s best-selling novel “A Nefarious Plot,” the film is set on the scheduled day of execution for convicted serial killer Edward Wayne Brady, who is required by the state of Oklahoma to receive a final psychiatric evaluation before taking a seat on the electric chair. Brady, having “incontrovertible evidence, a confession, a jury of peers, and 11 years of legal wrangling” paving the road for him on death row, may be suffering from a severe mental ailment and, therefore, ineligible for execution. 

Dr. James Martin, the highly accredited psychiatrist tasked with providing Brady with an “impartial review,” approaches the evaluation with the requisite hubris of a highly credentialed millennial. But his preconceived understanding of the situation and his secular worldview prevent him from engaging with the true nature of the reality presented before him. And seeing as how Brady is very explicitly possessed by a demon named “Nefarious,” this makes a dominant theme of the film readily apparent: Evil is all around us, in both the often unnoticed ignorance of modern banality and in glaringly obvious manifestations. 

In explaining the process of demonic possession, Nefarious makes clear it relies on a series of “yeses” in which an individual gradually acclimates himself to the normalization of evil. He says, “We offer up a series of temptations, gradually increasing in terms of duration and intensity, degree of moral inequity.”

The implication is that seemingly small moral infractions like petty theft and religious ambivalence pave the way for greater misdeeds by numbing our hearts and senses to the damaging effects of evil. This concept is further explored in the “three murders” Nefarious tells Martin he will have committed by the time Brady is scheduled for execution.

The twist is that these murders are products of the casual cruelty contemporary society extols as virtues. Thus, Martin wasn’t aware he had already committed two of the three; he was under the impression he was simply living life in the 21st century. Nevertheless, Martin signing off on the euthanasia of his sickly mother — granting her “death with dignity” — and pressuring his girlfriend to abort their child because he isn’t “ready to be a father” are both tacit acts of killing.

When forced to confront his immorality and the evil nature of his actions, Martin recites what may as well be the Nicene Creed of liberalism, protesting, “This is my life. I can live it the way I want.”

Throughout the psychiatric evaluation, Nefarious reveals to Martin that his goal is to spite God by using man’s free will to usher in an era of darkness so his master can become the metaphysical hegemon. Subsequently, “Nefarious” serves as a sort of inversion of the Passion story in which the eponymous demon acts as the “dark messiah.” Nefarious, a dark spiritual being, forcibly inhabits a body that is not his own and uses it to wreak havoc and cause misery. Nefarious also makes clear to Martin that he needs him to commit Brady to death so the demon’s spiritual form may be unleashed to usher in an era of demonic rule; an innocent man must die for the damnation of us all, so the story goes.

It just so happens that after being thoroughly creeped out and violently strangled by Nefarious, Martin is convinced Brady is the one behind everything, is a dangerous madman, and the world would be safer without him in it. Signing off on Brady’s psychiatric evaluation, subsequently indicating he is mentally fit to stand execution, Martin commits his third murder and may or may not have ushered in the end times; we are left to wonder.

What makes “Nefarious” such a fascinating movie is that it uses outlandish means to make heartfelt and relatable pleas about our culture’s spiritual woes. It is undeniable our civilization is currently enduring a crisis of faith, causing people to become rudderless and dependent upon self-actualization and charlatans for deeper meaning.

Too often, we lack the vocabulary to engage in meaningful conversations about this very topic. So, despite it being crucially important, we simply don’t discuss it. But just as often, where words fail, art succeeds, and “Nefarious” is the rare horror film worthy of being called art partly because of its ability to adeptly address truly existential cultural woes.

“Nefarious” hits theaters across the country on April 14.

Samuel Mangold-Lenett is a staff editor at The Federalist. His writing has been featured in the Daily Wire, Townhall, The American Spectator, and other outlets. He is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. Follow him on Twitter @Mangold_Lenett.

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How Rejecting Biblical Masculinity Turns Men From Protectors To Predators


BY: NANCY PEARCEY | APRIL 12, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/04/12/how-rejecting-biblical-masculinity-turns-men-from-protectors-to-predators/

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Men everywhere seem to experience tension between what they themselves define as good men and the way the surrounding culture pressures them to be real men.

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The following is an excerpt from Nancy Pearcey’s upcoming book, “The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes.” 

The report of a mass shooting in a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, in 2018 was more than a news account of a crime. It was also a story about two young men. 

The killer was 28-year-old Ian David Long, a college dropout, divorced former Marine who was unemployed and living with his mother. 

He knew the Borderline Bar and Grill held a weekly college night when it would be crowded with young people. He entered the bar dressed in black, a hood pulled over his head. Tossing smoke grenades into the crowd to create confusion, he drew out a pistol with a laser sight and started shooting. A sergeant from the sheriff’s office rushed over to help, but the shooter was waiting for him. After killing the sergeant and 12 other people, Long shot himself. 

In the crowd that night was another young man, 20-year-old Matt Wennerstrom, who emerged as the hero of the hour. Sporting a backward baseball cap and a scruffy beard, Matt looked like a typical college student. But what he did was not at all typical. 

As soon as shots began booming through the bar, he and about seven other young men grabbed as many people as they could and pushed them under a pool table for cover. Then they piled their own bodies over them to protect them from the hail of gunfire. 

One woman, who was celebrating her 21st birthday at the bar that night, told reporters afterward, “There were multiple men who got on their knees and pretty much blocked all of us with their back toward the shooter, ready to take a bullet for any single one of us.” 

When the shooter paused to reload, Matt and his friends threw bar stools through a back window and began shepherding people outside. Repeatedly, the young men rushed back into the bar to steer more people to safety. 

How did Matt have the presence of mind to respond so quickly to danger?  

When a reporter at the scene of the crime asked that question, the young man replied, “My life is taken care of. I know where I’m going if I die, so I was not worried to sacrifice.” 

Two young men. One used his masculine strength to take lives. The other used his masculine strength to save lives. 

‘Toxic Masculinity’

When the American Psychological Association (APA) issued its first-ever guidelines for counseling men and boys in 2018, it denounced “traditional masculinity ideology” as “psychologically harmful.” Groups like the APA have injected the phrase “toxic masculinity” into the bloodstream of America’s public discourse. The phrase has become a catchall explanation for male sexism, dominance, aggression, and violence. 

Few people are claiming all masculinity is toxic. Yet the message men often hear is that there is something inherently defective in the male character. Many men today feel discouraged, devalued, and demoralized.  

When I told my class at Houston Baptist University that I was writing a book on masculinity, a male student shot back, “What masculinity? It’s been beaten out of us.” When masculinity itself is portrayed as a problem, the implication is that the solution is emasculation. 

“Are men being held hostage by culture war labels and stereotypes that blame them rather than help them?” asks the Christian Science Monitor. In a culture that increasingly blames men, it’s time to find ways to help them instead. 

Because of testosterone, men are typically larger, stronger, and faster than women. In general, they are also more physical, more competitive, and more risk-taking. We need to affirm these God-given traits as good when used to honor and serve others. 

The APA guidelines make a point of noting that most mass shooters are male, but they overlook the controlled power and aggression used by the heroic men who have stopped mass shooters.  

Masculine traits are not intrinsically toxic; they are good when directed to virtuous ends. In a fallen world, the lawful application of coercive force is sometimes necessary to defend the innocent. 

Yet we all know that the male strength that makes a man a protector can be distorted and turn him into a predator. The drive to achieve can become egoism and self-seeking. The leadership impulse can be twisted into an impulse for domination and control. 

In “Play the Man,” Washington, D.C., pastor Mark Batterson says, “The image of God is our original software, sin is the virus.” The challenge is to sort out which definitions of manhood are part of the original software and which are the virus. Which belong to God’s original design and which are products of sin? 

Masculinity: God’s Software or a Sinful Virus? 

We might say there are two competing scripts for what it means to be a man. Sociologist Michael Kimmel highlighted the contrast with an ingenious experiment. He started by asking cadets at West Point what it means to be a good man. If someone delivers a eulogy and says, “He was a good man,” what does that mean?  

The cadets had no trouble answering: “Honor, duty, integrity, sacrifice, do the right thing, stand up for the little guy, be a provider, be a protector.” Be responsible, be generous, and give to others. 

“Where did you learn that?” Kimmel asked. The cadets answered, “It’s everywhere. It’s our culture … it’s the Judeo-Christian heritage. It’s the air we breathe.” Men seem to be innately aware of the software God has coded into the male character. 

Kimmel then asked a follow-up question: “What does it mean if I tell you, ‘Man the f-ck up! Be a real man.’” 

The cadets shouted, “Oh no, that’s completely different.” To be a real man means to be “tough, strong, never show weakness, win at all costs, suck it up, play through pain, be competitive, get rich, get laid.” 

Kimmel has posed the same two questions to thousands of boys and young men in countries across the globe — from single-sex schools in Australia to a police academy in Sweden to former soccer stars at FIFA — and he virtually always gets the same answer.  

Men everywhere seem to experience tension between what they themselves define as the good man and the way the surrounding culture pressures them to be real men. They sense the contradiction between the software and the virus. 

The Good Man vs. the ‘Real’ Man

Borrowing from Kimmel’s experiment, let’s give them labels: the Good Man versus the “Real” Man. 

It’s not that every trait listed as the “Real” Man is necessarily bad. In a crisis, for example, we need men (and women) who can stand tough and not collapse in tears. But that is meant to be a short-term strategy, not a way of life.  

The problem with the stereotype of the “Real” Man is that it is one-sided. When separated from a moral vision of the Good Man, it can easily degenerate into sexism, dominance, entitlement, and contempt for those perceived as weak — traits we can all agree are toxic. 

Of course, men do not respond well to being accused of being toxic — who would? A better course is to ask, “How can we support men in aspiring to live out the ideal of the Good Man?” 

Because men are made in God’s image, even those who are not Christian seem to understand that their unique masculine strengths are not intended to enable them to get whatever they want but to protect those they love — to provide, sacrifice, and, if necessary, fight for them. 

As a result, when Christians promote a biblical moral vision — the Good Man — they are not imposing an alien standard on men. They are encouraging them to follow their own conscience, to be uncompromising in doing what they instinctively know is right.  

As Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, people everywhere “show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them” (Romans 2:15). 

Our goal should be to support men in living out their innate sense of the biblical software — God’s original design for manhood.  

In “The War Against Boys,” feminist philosopher Christina Hoff Sommers writes, “History teaches us that masculinity without morality is lethal. But masculinity constrained by morality is powerful and constructive, and a gift to women.” 

But how did there come to be two competing scripts in the first place? Over the course of Western history, society has grown more secular, and so has its concept of masculinity. As a result, men increasingly feel pressure to live by the secular script of the “Real” Man. The most important conversation is not the one between men and women but the one carried out within men’s own heads between these two competing versions of manhood. Ideally, the Good Man should also be the “Real” Man. But in today’s secular culture, the two have become decoupled.  

My goal is to ask how the two scripts were split apart. We will be effective in countering the secular script for men only if we understand where it came from and how it developed. By recognizing that there are two competing scripts, we can cut through many of today’s contentious debates over masculinity. The word “masculinity” has become a trigger word that sets people off in all directions, making it difficult even to discuss the topic objectively.  

But a Christian worldview gives us the means to think critically about cultural trends. It provides a perspective that is “in the world but not of it” (John 17:14–19). 

A transcendent perspective empowers us to rise above the polarization — to push back against both extremes and consider a dispassionate account of the issues facing men today. 

Nancy Pearcey is a professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University. She has written several bestselling books, which have been translated into 19 languages. The story of Brandon is adapted from her book “Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Live and Sexuality.”

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Transgender movement is nothing more than ‘ideology masquerading as science,’ Christian physician says


By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter | TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/transgenderism-is-ideology-masquerading-as-science-doctor.html/

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When it comes to transgender ideology, Dr. André Van Mol says simply being a board-certified family physician in today’s political climate could be considered controversial.

Speaking at The Christian Post’s Generation Indoctrination conference last month, Van Mol, who is also the co-chair of the American College of Pediatrician’s Committee on Adolescent Sexuality, said if he was to give testimony in a court of law, attorneys for the other side would work to get his testimony thrown out, claiming he is not an expert. But if he worked for a gender clinic, he would be considered an “expert.”

“If I were a family physician working for the gender clinic, now I’m an expert,” he noted, pointing to what he described as the “ideological capture of medical organizations, legislators, media as a whole, [and] the academic world” by gender politics.

Van Mol called the trans movement “ideology masquerading as science, reinforced with emotional blackmail — ‘You have to support them or they’re going to kill themselves’ — which is also not true.”

That dynamic, he added, is perhaps best encapsulated by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which Van Mol calls an advocacy group.

“All roads lead back to WPATH,” he explained, using the acronym for the organization formerly known as the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association. 

Under WPATH Standards of Care (SOC)  for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People, said Van Mol, all age restrictions for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery have been removed. The latest version of WPATH’s SOC now includes “eunuch” as a gender identity, which it describes as “individuals [who are] assigned male at birth and wish to eliminate masculine physical features, masculine genitals or genital functioning.”

Van Mol’s response to the change was brief but to the point.

“This cannot be science,” he said.

“There’s always a more honest answer to gender dysphoria or confusion in a minor than chemical sterilization and surgical mutilation in what is otherwise a very healthy young body,” he said. “What they need is to address those underlying issues.”

Oftentimes, said Van Mol, much of the controversy stems from a toxic mix of mainstream media headlines and low-quality scientific research. He pointed to the familiar trend of media outlets chasing headlines rather than following the science.

“You’ll notice that whenever there’s a new study singing the praises of transition, magically, immediately, it’s covered in the media from coast to coast, with pretty much the same talking points, and that can’t be coincidental,” he said.

Van Mol also said studies that support sex-change procedures “uniformly show that those studies are of low to very low quality.” 

“By definition that means they fail to show what they claim they are showing,” he added.

He also pointed to the closure of the Tavistock Clinic, Britain’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), the world’s largest pediatric gender clinic, set for later this year following six comprehensive literature reviews out of the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland and Florida.

“What we see now is … four nations that were leading the world in ‘gender-affirming transition medical interventions’ have done a complete turnaround, a complete 180, again, they were leading in it, and now they’re like, ‘No, this is not supported by good data,’” he said.

According to recent data, the number of minors in America receiving a diagnosis of gender dysphoria tripled from 2017 to 2021, with more than 42,000 receiving the diagnosis in 2021. On the social media platform TikTok, which is especially popular among younger people, the hashtag “trans” has logged 50.2 billion views, nearly doubling within the space of a year.

More European nations, he added, are turning away from this “junk science” and instead telling minors who are experiencing gender dysphoria to undergo comprehensive psychological evaluation and therapy — both for the patient and the family.

“There’s decades of literature showing overwhelming probability in a gender dysphoric minor of underlying health problems of adverse childhood experiences, bad family dynamics and a way over-representation of autism spectrum dysphoria, and that these all predate the gender dysphoria,” Van Mol explained.

This approach, said Van Mol, is a more holistic method of addressing what tends to be a deeply complex condition.

“And there’s absolutely no way that happens in a 40-minute visit to Planned Parenthood that gives you hormones,” he added. 

Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com. 

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The Rapidly Expanding Transgender Cult is the Product of Cultural Marxism


BY: JEFF GOLDSTEIN | APRIL 06, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/04/06/the-rapidly-expanding-transgender-cult-is-the-product-of-cultural-marxism/

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Cultural Marxism is dystopia peddling utopia through grievance narratives and rank emotionalism, the hallmarks of transgenderism.

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In a surreal moment at the Country Music Awards last week, co-host Kelsea Ballerini joined with several drag performers to belt out a campy version of her single, “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too),” an anthem taking aim at Tennessee laws denying wrongly named “gender-affirming care” for children. 

The performance was steeped in queerness, both in the pretend “oppression” of performers literally center stage at a nationally-broadcast awards show and in the academic sense, where drag serves as a kind of postmodern harlequin dance. Choreographed to confront its audience, the unspoken subtext of the number was that it’s time for you to pick a side, and you had better be careful which side you pick.

This was a brazen show of strength. Think “shock and awe,” only with lots of bedazzling.

A Vicious Activist Cult

The left picked their side. And the side they picked was the side of a school shooter who became for them an emblem of their cultural movement: Cast as a victim of “hateful” traditional religious values, a tragic figure broken by her desire to “be seen,” the shooter was sainted, her death a kind of religious redemption play. The narrative coalesced around her supposed suffering because the left was never going to surrender its stranglehold on politicized victimhood. That’s where all the power is.

At the tip of the cultural Marxist spear today is the trans cult. Just a year ago, it was the racialist cult of Black Lives Matter. Their presence is smothering in cultural spaces by design. In fact, their defiance of norms is predictable. After all, over the last seven years or so we’ve seen veneers of civil comradery peeled back, or else worn so thin as to become transparent.

A public pause to mouth the platitudes of togetherness is no longer required in a society so clearly divided along ideological lines. Indeed, such niceties are ridiculed as a sign of weakness or inauthenticity. “Where was your Christian god that day?” the left sneered. “Guess your church can’t protect you, after all.”

In glib taunts that displayed their misunderstanding of God’s earthly role in traditional religions, they laid their ideology raw before the bodies of three 9-year-olds were even cold. And that ideology, like the martyr it created when it embraced the killing of Christians as a blasé bump on the road to their utopia, now wants to be seen. The devil wants his due. There can be no other explanation for the leftist urge to celebrate the “visibility” of a vicious activist cult, or to claim “transgender Americans shape our Nation’s soul,” especially in the immediate wake of the slaughter of Christians by a trans person. Their ostentatious obeisance to these damaged people was a liturgy performed with rapturous audacity on the American stage. It, too, was meant to “be seen.”

Whether it’s a country music drag act, a trans-identified light beer, a trans-allied wizard, or a march by college students demanding the surrender of natural rights to the state, the memetics of cultural Marxism is performative, phony Maoist struggle sessions delivered in swarms to project strength and to dispirit opponents by displaying the inevitability of the mob and its power. It’s a cultural troll. It’s their way of telling you that they are in charge and that you are helpless. You will conform. You must. What else is there?

It was in response to this attempted coup against Western liberal culture and the Enlightenment itself that I’ve written what I believe to be a clarion call for the individualist; but it, too, was something of a performance: It proclaimed, but it didn’t explain.

Cultural Marxism Demands Cultural Hegemony

Briefly, we must reject the premises of the cultural Marxist because cultural Marxism itself cannot live peaceably with federal republicanism or individual autonomy. In fact, it demands the opposite: All things are constrained by the state and its desires. Rule must be universal. Governing individuals is like herding cats, whereas ruling over a collective molded by both state pressures (law, force) and social forces (shame, shunning) is a more gratifying task, especially because the molding, if done well, creates a populace that reflects back the will of the state to itself. The state is now God, and its citizens, made in the state’s image, are its supplicants.

The whole of the cultural Marxist project is to create and maintain cultural hegemony. It’s that sameness we saw in the uniformed Maoists with identical haircuts, and the sameness we see in our own social justice Red Guard with their ubiquitous cotton-candy hair and tribal piercings. There can be no deviation from the new standards, built atop the rubble of old traditions the Marxists seek to destroy. To create the New Man, you must kill off the Olds. To arrive at Year Zero, you must erase all those years that came before it. To save the culture, you must first destroy it completely.

Cultural Marxism is dystopia peddling utopia through grievance narratives and rank emotionalism. It grants the self-styled dispossessed enormous power over those it casts as oppressors, which is itself determined by an intersectional calculus among victim groups.

Yet this power is temporary. Because what its authors seek, ultimately, is authoritarian. The useful idiots will soon be replaced by a ministerial elite, who will guide the filthies during The Great Reset. With policed conformity. Asceticism. Sameness. Every thought you think, every word you utter, and every move you make, must be approved by the state. And you’ll beg them for that privilege.

Blinded By ‘Being Seen’

The useful idiots enjoy wielding power, but they never seem to recognize that once they’ve ground down all opposition and extirpated all difference, once they’ve rooted out every intolerance they can conjure, there are no more battles to fight, no more ideas to be born, no more purpose left to live. To speak in a language they understand, their project reduces us to the means of production, slaves to the most successful oligarchs, earthly deities who delight in our serfdom, providing us safety and sustenance in exchange for conformity, and a surrender of self to a greater good they determine. Enlightened feudalism, in short. And we’re tilling their fields.

But that’s the endgame, and those who’ve embraced the cultural Marxist paradigm can’t see it coming. Their identity politics and the power their “oppression” yields appeal to their egos. They are blinded by the narcissism of “being seen,” and by the thrill of cultural control, however temporary. They revel in bullying.

All of our major institutions have taken up the trans cause for the same reasons they took up the cause of BLM: to gather power, destroy norms, attack traditions, and create the conditions of tribalism that must exist before the collective comes together out of the ruins of universal cancellation. The last man standing is the New Man, the perfect servant to a benevolent master.

Where we once were conceived of statist authoritarianism as an iron boot forever pressing on our necks, today it’s a Christian Louboutin red-bottomed pump, worn by a dude in a lace dress and zebra thong, stomping on our faces forever. Only we’re compelled to dig the kink.

The revolution will be accessorized, and you’ll learn to like it, or else.

Jeff Goldstein is a lapsed academic and writer living in Colorado. He likes tacos, ’79 Cabernets, and his favorite color is magenta.

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As Moral Relativism Replaces Christian Values, Americans Will Suffer More Mass Shootings


BY: KATHLEEN BUSTAMANTE | APRIL 03, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/04/03/as-moral-relativism-replaces-christian-values-americans-will-suffer-more-mass-shootings/

angry protesters march with signs
The devolution of American society began when moral relativism supplanted biblical truth in education, government, and eventually the family.

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The devolution of American society began when moral relativism supplanted biblical truth in education, government, and the family. Beginning in the late 1940s with the Supreme Court’s Everson v. Board of Education ruling and onward, our government and educational system have turned their backs on absolute truth to embrace Marxism, which aims to remove Christianity from all spheres of society.

The moral erosion proves obvious in a recent Barna poll that found, “Millennials are significantly less likely to believe in the existence of absolute moral truth or that God is the basis of all truth.”

The study also noted that “Millennials have less respect for life, in general,” and that “they are less than half as likely as other adults to say that life is sacred. They are twice as likely to diminish the value of human life by describing human beings as either ‘material substance only’ or their very existence as ‘an illusion.’”

Millennials’ disregard for life or morality should not come as a surprise. The decreasing number of young Americans who attend church regularly hear from pastors who may not preach biblical truth. A study by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University found that only 51 percent of America’s evangelical church pastors hold a biblical worldview. 

Armed with this data, I am thankful that recent shootings like those at The Covenant School in Nashville and the school shooting in Uvalde do not occur more frequently.

Gun-control advocates, the media, politicians, and my friends on social media urge increased gun restrictions as the solution to the problem, pointing to Europe and Australia as the golden standard for gun control. Yet, a 2018 New Zealand Herald article showed that despite tighter gun restrictions in these countries, shootings have occurred more frequently than Americans realize.

In 2022, for example, a gunman killed two and wounded seven people in Denmark, a country with some of the strictest gun laws in Europe, before authorities apprehended him and held him for psychological testing. The article, along with anti-firearm advocates, suggests increased psychological testing as the next solution now that radical gun-control policies have failed.

Not many in Western society honestly address the origin behind increased psychological problems. Western countries increasingly lean on modern mental health mantras rather than dealing with the heart of the matter.

For centuries, firearms have been a standard tool for hunting and home defense in America and Europe. So why the escalation of gun-related massacres throughout the United States and the West over recent decades? Again, I pose the heart of the issue: Moral relativism has replaced the truth of God’s Word.

As a college writing professor, I read and hear the anti-American and anti-Christian propaganda to which my students have been exposed their entire lives. Basic biblical truths such as “treat others how you wish to be treated” and “love your neighbor” have been replaced with mantras like “treat others with kindness unless they offend you” and “love yourself.”

How can a society that raises children devoid of the Christ-centered teachings of Christianity expect anything besides massacres at the hands of miserable, self-centered, and horribly confused individuals like the Uvalde and Highland Park shooters?

Gun Control to Mask Moral Decline

Seven years ago, I attended an active-shooter training hosted by the campus safety department at the community college where I taught in Portland, Oregon. I will never forget the cautionary advice shared by one of the presenters.

“In the event of an active shooter situation, don’t bother calling campus police. Instead, call 911,” he advised. “Campus police at this college are unarmed, so we won’t be able to ensure your safety. Although it will take the local police department much longer to respond to a campus shooting, they will eventually be able to take down a shooter if the need arises.”

Baffled, I asked why campus police are expected to perform their duties unarmed. He explained that several years prior, a college board member felt distressed about campus police carrying firearms. After a swift vote by the board, my safety as well as the safety of my students and colleagues would be jeopardized henceforth.

After the training, I stayed behind to ask the officer his opinion regarding faculty arming themselves on campus. He encouraged me — off the record, of course — to carry concealed for my own safety and for the safety of my students. That college, like most academic institutions across the country, proclaims itself to be a gun-free zone.

A 2019 CNN article documented 10 years of school shootings, and the majority occurred in gun-free zones. A 2019 study conducted by the Crime Prevention Research Center found that in schools across the U.S. that reportedly allow teachers to carry guns on campus, no deaths occurred as a result of shootings between 2000 and 2018.

Neither the problem nor the solution to school shootings has any correlation with guns or mental health problems that can be treated with medication and therapy, as many scholars and pundits contend. Rather, the problem stems from our nation’s replacement of biblical truth with moral relativism.

A Symptom, Not the Cause

As a writing instructor for 16 years, I examined thousands of essays, gaining an unusual window into the lives and experiences of my Millennial and Gen Z students. Like an airline passenger who shares intimate details with a stranger, knowing he will never see that passenger again, many of my students confide personal musings and revelations in their writing.

A surprising number of essays I read unwrap students’ deep suffering related to childhood sexual, physical, or emotional abuse. Some of my students suffer the scars of drug- or alcohol-addicted, neglectful parents. Some students are only a few months clean and sober themselves. Several are homeless. And over the past decade, they write increasingly about gender confusion.

I have detected a common theme throughout their stories. Each of these unique souls is in search of something specific, a need inherent in every human. The agonizing part is that an ancient moral and religious tradition understands their needs, but they do not.

Instead of the moral relativism they have been fed from kindergarten through college, they need to hear truth. Not the “find your own truth” nonsense propagated by educators, Hollywood, and hosts on “The View,” but rather the age-old truth found solely in the Word of God.

The solution is clear: Churches must put away social justice-centered and seeker-friendly sermons and return to expository teaching. Parents must roll up their sleeves and remove the responsibility of parenting from educators and the media by doing the hard work themselves. And voters must stop expecting the government to fix a problem created by sinful humanity.

Instead, we must repent and ask God to point our nation to truth.

Kathleen Bustamante is a freelance writer and former college writing instructor. Her writing has appeared in the American Spectator, the American Conservative, the American Thinker, Real Clear Religion, and James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal.

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Today’s FOUR Politically INCORRECT Cartoons by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Spring Forward

A.F. BRANCO | on April 1, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-spring-forward/

April fool DA Bragg and his politically motivated indictment is propelling Trump toward the White House.

Trump Indictment
Political cartoon A.F. Branco ©2023.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Overreach

A.F. BRANCO | on April 2, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-overreach/

Gov Walz and the Democrats target law-abiding gun owners while ignoring violent gun Crime.

Minnesota Gun Bill
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – AI the Beast?

A.F. BRANCO | on April 2, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-ai-the-beast/

Human beings are not ready for a powerful AI under present conditions or even in the “foreseeable future,” stated a foremost expert in the field, adding that the recent open letter calling for a six-month moratorium on developing advanced artificial intelligence is “understating the seriousness of the situation.”
 Read more…

A I the Beast
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Day of Vengeance

A.F. BRANCO | on April 3, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-day-of-vengeance/

There should be a special place in hell for people who Sexualize, mutilate, or deliberately kill children.

01 SpeHell SM 1080
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and Presiden

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Texas Tech Suspends Head Basketball Coach for Quoting the Bible


BY: JORDAN BOYD | MARCH 06, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/03/06/texas-tech-suspends-head-basketball-coach-for-quoting-the-bible/

Texas Tech men's basketball coach Mark Adams

Less than one month after Texas Tech University was busted for using race-based ideology as a litmus test for hiring candidates in the school’s biology department, the four-year university suspended head men’s basketball coach Mark Adams for quoting the Bible to a student-athlete.

TTU Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt suspended Adams on Sunday after learning that the coach encouraged one of his basketball players “to be more receptive to coaching and referenced Bible verses about workers, teachers, parents, and slaves serving their masters.”

The comment, according to the university, was “inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive” and deserved a formal written reprimand from Hocutt, suspension, and an investigation into Adams’ previous “interactions with his players and staff.”

TTU claimed that when confronted with offense over the comments, Adams “immediately addressed this with the team and apologized.” Adams, however, said that was not the case.

“One of my coaches said it bothered the player,” Adams told Stadium. “I explained to them. I didn’t apologize.” 

The controversial exchange, Adams said, was supposed to be “a private conversation about coaching and when you have a job, and being coachable.”

“I said that in the Bible that Jesus talks about how we all have bosses, and we all are servants,” Adams added. “I was quoting the Bible about that.”

TTU first hired Adams as head coach in April of 2021 to replace Chris Beard. In Adams’ first year leading the team, he secured the most wins, 27, of any first-year head coach in TTU basketball history. He also led the Red Raiders to the Big 12 finals and the Sweet 16.

Adams’ impressive debut record, however, quickly dwindled earlier this year. One week before the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, TTU’s men’s team is only 5-13 in the Big 12 and 16-15 overall.

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.

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Tucker Carlson Calls Out ‘Professional Christians’ Who Don’t Speak Up For Religious Freedom


By: HAROLD HUTCHISON, REPORTER | March 02, 20239:45 PM ET

Read more at https://www.conservativereview.com/tucker-carlson-calls-out-professional-christians-who-dont-speak-up-for-religious-freedom-2659494812.html/

DCNF - Tucker Canada Christianity DOJ - Featured
Screenshot/Rumble/Fox News

Fox News host Tucker Carlson called out “professional Christians” Thursday, saying they did not speak up for religious freedom when “Christians are arrested for being Christians.”

“You have to wonder when you see a tape like that where are so-called Christian leaders?” Carlson, a co-founder of the Daily Caller and honorary board member of the Daily Caller News Foundation, said after discussing the legal ordeal of Mark Houck, who was charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act in 2022 before being acquitted in January. “Where is Russell Moore and all the other breastfeeding Christians as that happens, as the U.S. government cracks down on Christianity and prayer? Silent.” 

WATCH:

Carlson noted that the Biden administration dropped charges against some rioters in Portland, while others were sentenced to community service in contrast to the prosecutions of Houck and Paul Vaughn, who was one of 11 pro-life activists arrested over a March 2021 protest at an abortion clinic. Video showed heavily armed FBI agents taking Vaughn into custody in October.

Carlson also mocked Attorney General Merrick Garland over his explanation during a Wednesday hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee about why more pro-life protesters were arrested than alleged perpetrators of attacks on crisis pregnancy centers.

Carlson then discussed the ordeal of Canadian pastor Derek Reimer, who was arrested by Calgary police Thursday on charges of “mischief” and “causing a disturbance,” after he was forcibly removed while protesting an “all ages” drag show, the Post-Millennial reported.

“Where all the professional Christians? You have to wonder that again,” Carlson said. “Where’s David French and Beth Moore and Tim Keller and all these people who were defending Christianity when actual Christians are being arrested for being Christians? Not a word.”

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Can we really trust the Bible?


By Michael Brown, CP Op-Ed Contributor| Thursday, March 02, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/can-we-really-trust-the-bible.html/

(Photo: Unsplash/James Coleman)

On June 30, 2022, someone named Robert posted this comment on our ministry’s YouTube channel: “Why would anyone in the 21st century give a [expletive] what illiterate desert dwellers from 2,000 years ago thought about anything?”

In writing this, he reflected the views of many people today, especially the younger generation. Why on Earth should I care about what this old, outmoded, outdated book has to say? What does it have to do with me?

Of course, the authors of the Bible were anything but “illiterate desert dwellers.” To this day, scholars are still trying to understand all the nuances of the brilliant Hebrew of Job (let alone plumb the philosophical depths of the book), while theologians have written thousands of books and articles debating the meaning of single verses in the writings of Paul. But who cares about facts? It’s convenient to bash the Bible and dismiss it out of hand. “I’ve got better things to do than read the Bible!”

I want to give you a fresh perspective on God’s Word. I want to invite you to get reacquainted with the most wonderful book that has ever been written. Are you ready to come along?

In recent years, I’ve heard lots of people say, “You can’t trust the Bibles you read. They are translations of translations of translations.” Is there any truth to this? Absolutely not. Whether you’re reading an older English Bible (like the King James Version) or a modern English Bible (like the NIV or ESV or NASB), you’re reading a translation into English straight from biblical Hebrew, biblical Aramaic, or biblical Greek. That’s it.

You are not reading a translation from Hebrew into Greek into Latin into German into English (or something like that). You are reading a translation straight from the biblical languages (namely, Hebrew and a little Aramaic for the Old Testament and Greek for the New Testament) into English. Everyone who knows anything about Bible translations knows this to be true, and the translators have spent decades studying the original languages and then many years producing their translations. So, let’s bury that myth about “translations from translations” once and for all.

“But,” you say, “I’ve heard of ancient translations of the Bible like the Septuagint, translating the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, or the Vulgate, translating the whole Bible into Latin. And then scholars today use those versions, meaning, they use translations of translations. What about that?”

Well, you’re right and you’re wrong. It is true that such translations exist, dating as far back as 250 years before the time of Jesus. And it is true that scholars use them to see how ancient readers understood the original text. In other words, when a scholar is translating the Hebrew Scriptures into English today, he will see how the Septuagint translated those same verses more than 2,000 years ago, seeking to understand the Hebrew as best as possible. Why not use all the tools you have? But then — and this is the key point — that scholar will go directly from the original language into the target language, in this case, English.

“But hang on,” you protest. “I understand what you’re saying about these scholars going straight from the biblical languages into the modern language they’re working with. But you keep talking about ‘the original Hebrew’ or the ‘original Greek,’ yet we don’t have any original copies of the Bible. We only have copies of copies of copies. So that undermines your whole argument.”

Actually, it’s true that we only have copies of copies of copies. It’s the same with virtually all the major books from the ancient world. But we must remember that the people copying books and verses of the Bible did so with the utmost seriousness, believing these to be sacred texts, even the very Word of God. It’s true, of course, that with so much interest in these texts, not every scribe was professionally trained or thoroughly meticulous. But there’s good news here, too, since we have so many thousands of manuscripts to compare, sorting out the least accurate from the most accurate.

The more you dig into this, the more amazing it becomes. That’s why, when the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the late 1940s, scholars were amazed to see that among the Hebrew manuscripts found there, some of them dating back to as early as 150-100 years BC, some were identical to the text found in our Hebrew Bibles today virtually letter for letter.

But this should not surprise us. After all, if you look at a Hebrew Bible today, which is based on manuscripts that are roughly 1,000 years old, you’ll see a note like this at the end of the Torah (also known as the Pentateuch, referring to the first five books of the Bible). It lists the total number of verses in the Torah, then the middle verse. Then the total number of words in the Torah, then the middle word, then the total number of letters in the Torah — yes, letters.

This means that, upon finishing his work of copying out the Torah, the scribe would have to go back and count every verse, every word, and every letter. (How many times do you have to count something like that before you’re sure you counted correctly?) And what happens if your total deviates by one single letter? You cannot use the manuscript. It is considered defective. Talk about a painstaking job!

It is true that there are some verses in the Bible that we find troubling today, such as the command to drive out (or kill) the Canaanites, a subject I have addressed at length in other books. For the moment, let me just say that there are explanations that make good sense — and I mean good moral sense. But here, I want to focus on another subject. What kind of morality does the Bible put forth? How does God call us to live?

Let’s start with the Ten Commandments. If you’ve forgotten them or are not familiar with them, I’ll print them here in full:

And God spoke all these words:

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in Heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:1–17).

Now, ask yourself this question. If the whole world lived by these words, would the world be a better place? A safer place? A healthier place? A more moral place? Would it be easier for you to raise your kids in an environment like this? Would there be less crime? Would marriages be stronger? Would people be more at peace with themselves and one another? The answer is obviously yes — unless you think that more murder and more adultery and more theft and more lying and more dishonoring of parents and more covetousness and more workaholism and more worship of false gods would make the world a better place. Yet it is these Ten Commandments which lay the moral foundation of the rest of the Old Testament. Perhaps the Bible has some divine wisdom after all.

(This is a small section of the chapter “Why Should We Care About What the Bible Says?” from my new book Why So Many Christians Have Left the Faith: Responding to the Deconstructionist Movement With Unshakable, Timeless Truth, used here with permission from the publisher.)

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Georgia police officer who wrote ‘God designed marriage’ was forced out over Christian beliefs, attorneys say


By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter | February 17, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/georgia-officer-forced-out-over-christian-beliefs-attorneys-say.html/

Former Port Wentworth Police Officer Jacob Kersey seen in this undated photo. | Courtesy photo

Attorneys representing a former Georgia police officer who expressed his Christian beliefs on social media say he was forced out of his job because of religious discrimination.

Port Wentworth Police Officer Jacob Kersey resigned in January after being told by his supervisors he could be terminated for sharing his religious views on marriage.

Kersey, 19, was placed on paid administrative leave following his refusal to take down a Facebook post from two days earlier in which he paraphrased the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus.

“God designed marriage. Marriage refers to Christ and the church. That’s why there is no such thing as homosexual marriage,” he wrote.

According to attorneys with First Liberty Institute in Plano, Texas, Kersey was given a letter of notification that warned him he could be fired if he posted any more “offensive” content on social media.  

After further meetings with leadership, attorneys say he realized that he faced a choice between compromising his deeply held religious beliefs or continuing as a police officer with the department. He resigned on Jan. 17.

Prior to his resignation, Kersey had been a police officer with Port Wentworth PD since May 2022.

In a letter sent Monday to Port Wentworth Mayor Gary Norton and Assistant Police Chief Major Bradwick Lee Sherrod, attorneys accused Port Wentworth of “unconstitutionally forcing Mr. Kersey out of his job because of his deeply held religious beliefs.”

“The Department’s actions send a message to Christians who hold traditional biblical beliefs about marriage that they are unwelcome as police officers or city employees,” the letter stated.

According to attorneys, in a meeting on Jan. 4 with Norton and Sherrod, Kersey was told that his post about his religious beliefs was the “same thing as saying the N-word and F— all those homosexuals.” 

He was also told, according to the letter, that his free speech was “limited due to his position as … a police officer” and that Kersey “could not post things like that.”

After being placed on leave, attorneys say Kersey received a letter of notification from Sherrod explaining that while there was not “sufficient evidence” to terminate him, Kersey could be terminated “for any post on any of his private social media accounts or any other statement or action that could be perceived as offensive.”

Sherrod noted that Kersey’s posts and podcasts are “likely offensive” to certain communities and urged him to “take this situation as a learning lesson.”

Forced to choose between his private religious speech and the job he loved, attorneys say Kersey had no choice but to resign.

Stephanie Taub, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, said not only does the city owe Kersey an apology, but they also need to create policies that protect the First Amendment rights of city employees.

“It is a blatant violation of state and federal civil rights laws to discriminate against someone for expressing their religious beliefs,” Taub said in a statement. “The city owes Jacob a public apology.  And it needs to adopt policies that recognize the free speech and free exercise rights of its employees.  

“Forcing Jacob to choose to either censor his private religious speech or remain employed as a police officer is simply unconstitutional.”

In early February, just days after Kersey resigned, Port Wentworth Police Chief Matt Libby announced his retirement in a brief letter.

Speaking with The Christian Post earlier this month, Kersey said he believes Libby was forced to resign.

“The police chief was forced to resign after my story made national headlines,” he inferred, “America wants to know why.” 

In addition to demanding a public apology from the other members of the Port Wentworth police command staff, Kersey also wants to know when the city is going to address the story.

“What happened to me should never happen again — not in America and certainly not in Georgia,” he said.

Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.

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Cedarville University experiencing ‘outpouring of the Lord’ in campus Revival


By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor | February 16, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/ohio-school-having-outpouring-of-the-lord-in-revival-event.html/

Chapel worship at Cedarville University of Cedarville, Ohio, February 2023. | Facebook/Cedarville University

A Christian university in Ohio is seeing spontaneous prayer and worship among its student body days after a revival began at Asbury University in Kentucky.

Cedarville University President Thomas White described what was happening as “a special outpouring and sensing of the presence of the Lord,” adding that it “will be left to the historians” to determine if it was truly a revival.

According to White, the outpouring began during Cedarville’s Monday morning chapel service on campus, as students were going through the Old Testament passage of Psalm 86.

“So, we took a moment to pray and to sing a song,” recounted White. “And during the song, without an altar call or invitation of any kind, we had some students who began to come forward and pray.”

“And so, when I went back up to the stage — the sermon was over at that point — we just began to pray and began to sing. And, before the chapel was over, there was an altar full of students just praying and some were weeping, others were hugging one another.”

Chapel worship at Cedarville University of Cedarville, Ohio, February 2023. | Facebook/Cedarville University

White explained that “chapel just continued” after its regular time to end at around 10:45 a.m., with most students staying into the next class period for prayer and worship, with some students returning to the chapel after class.

The typical chapel service at Cedarville University has around 3,000 students, with approximately 1,000 opting to stay for additional prayer and singing, according to White.

“When I left work that day to go home to get dinner at 5:30, we still had a small group of students,” said White. “We came back to the chapel that night to do an eight o’clock prayer meeting.”

“I would guess we had about 1,000 students who showed back up that evening, and we prayed, we sang praise songs to Jesus, we read Scripture, and we were still there after 10 o’clock.”

On Tuesday, during chapel service, White made an altar call with many students coming forward. The campus again held an unplanned evening worship gathering on Tuesday at 8 p.m. that lasted until after 10 p.m., with some students still praying around 11 p.m.

For Wednesday, White said Cedarville students who felt called to do so went out to other schools in the area to evangelize, praying that “the Lord will have a unique outpouring on those campuses.”  

The spontaneous worship at Cedarville University started days after a similar revival took place at Asbury University during its chapel service, in which students stayed after the official end of worship to continue in praise and prayer.

Alexandra Presta, a senior at Asbury who is also the executive editor for the campus newspaper, The Collegian, told The Christian Post in an earlier interview she estimated that at one point, as many as 1,000 people were worshiping after the service had officially concluded.

“This is a pure act of the Holy Spirit pouring out love, peace and healing — hearts are being transformed and that should be praised,” Presta said.

“[Chapel speaker] Zach Meerkreebs has acted as a leader throughout the revival and has reminded us periodically that this comes out of radical humility, humbling ourselves before the Lord.”

Regarding any parallels between the two spiritual gatherings, White told CP that he did not “think it has been continuous” like at Asbury, adding that he felt God was “not working here the same way that He is working at Asbury.”

“He works in different places in different ways and that’s great,” he said. “We’re just happy He’s working all across the country.”

Follow Michael Gryboski on Twitter or Facebook

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Asbury University revival: What to expect in a spillover effect


By Greg Stier, Op-ed Contributor | Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/asbury-university-revival-what-to-expect-in-a-spillover-effect.html/

Students gather at Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University during a revival event that began on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. | Sadie Gayheart

Reports from Asbury University are so very encouraging! Since last Wednesday, there’s been 24/7 prayer, worship, testimony, confession of sin, Scripture reading, silence, and more in the chapel at this Kentucky school. People from across the United States are flocking to the campus to experience what God is doing.

One of those who attended is evangelist Jon Burdette, my good friend and co-conspirator in the advancement of the Gospel.

He told me this:

“Attending the revival at Asbury was an unforgettable experience. We could literally feel the ‘weighty’ presence of God as soon as we walked into the building. Sensing God’s presence in that way and knowing that this was an unplanned service that had continued since Wednesday morning, I got emotional within the first few minutes of being there.

There was passionate, authentic worship, brokenness, people praying at the altar, people praying at their seats, and people praying with each other in groups around the room. For this particular segment of the service, there was just one person leading worship on a piano. No microphone, no words on a screen, no service rundown. Just Spirit-led worship that ranged from calm, quiet harmonies to eruptions of loud singing, clapping, and testifying.

My daughter Shailynn was there with me, and she said she couldn’t describe it in words. She wanted to stay all day!

The best way I can describe it is that you felt a sense of tranquility all throughout your being that made it difficult to leave the room. No programs, but complete peace. There were no ‘rules,’ but it was totally in order. There was lots of emotion, but no emotionalism. I can’t wait to see how God uses this to advance the Gospel near and far.”

What now?

Social media is abuzz with stories from those who’ve experienced what’s now tagged #asburyrevival. And the reports give me hope that we could once again see a sweeping awakening across this nation.

But throughout church history, there’s always been a spillover effect of true revival. What is it? Evangelism!

We see this spillover effect in the Welsh Revival of 1904; in the spiritual movement that happened in and through the Moravians; in the First Great Awakening, led by George Whitefield and John Wesley; and in the Jesus Movement, just 50 years ago in the United States. Every significant spiritual movement results in evangelism.

A biblical precedent

In Acts 4:31, we get a clear glimpse of the spillover effect in the midst of a powerful move of God:

“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

1. The power of prayer shook the building

“… the place where they were meeting was shaken …”

As exciting as being in the chapel at Asbury University is right now, imagine what it would be like to be in the room when the hand of God literally shook the building in response to the early believers’ prayers. Talk about an amen! Talk about a literal move of God. He moved the building!

2. The power of the Spirit shook the believers

“… they were all filled with the Holy Spirit …”

The early believers in this passage prayed in unity and got filled with the Holy Spirit simultaneously. God was doing something special in that room 2,000 years ago.

From every report I’m getting about the Asbury Revival, the exact same type of thing is happening. Believers are praying and praising in unity. It’s not an out-of-control show. It’s not hype. It’s a Spirit-orchestrated meeting with Spirit-filled believers, with the focus on Jesus — and Jesus alone.

3. The power of the Gospel shook the city

“… and spoke the word of God boldly.”

But the revival didn’t stay in the room. It spilled over into the streets. The power of the Gospel shook the city! These believers “spoke the word of God boldly,” despite the recent religious declaration that outlawed Christian evangelism.

These believers would not be stopped. They’d just experienced the power and presence of God, and now they were taking it to the streets!

A defining characteristic of true revivals is that they never stay in the room. They always eventually spill out onto the streets!

A historical precedent

According to a Ministry Watch report by Kim Roberts, when a similar revival broke out at Asbury University in 1970, “2,000 witnessing teams were sent out from Asbury to churches and colleges across the country.”

The original revival that started at Asbury University spilled out onto the streets.

I’m very hopeful that what’s happening now at Asbury University will end up with evangelism teams, once again, being mobilized around Kentucky and across the nation.

Pray with me that this happens.

We need revival now in this country more than ever. We need what’s happening right now at Asbury University to experience the spillover effect of true revival: the Gospel being proclaimed beyond the chapel walls.

Greg Stier is the Founder and President of Dare 2 Share Ministries International. He has impacted the lives of tens of thousands of Christian teenagers through Dare 2 Share events, motivating and mobilizing them to reach their generation for Christ. He is the author of eleven books and numerous resources, including Dare 2 Share: A Field Guide for Sharing Your Faith. For more information on Dare 2 Share and their upcoming conference tour and training resources, please visit www.dare2share.org.

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Greg Gordon Op-ed: Asbury University revival: Will we miss the next revival?


By Greg Gordon, Op-Ed Contributor | Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/asbury-university-revival-will-we-miss-the-next-revival.html/

Students crowd the altar at Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University during a revival event that began on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. | Josh Sadlon

In the Asbury University newspaper we read: “Very few seats remain empty, but people crowd the walls, the floor and the balcony. It’s been almost 60 hours since a pure Holy Spirit revival broke out.” Others declare they have never seen the student chapel with so many people. It started in a normal chapel service where there was a confession of sin by a student and 30 people stayed behind to seek God.

As we browse social media and look up hashtags such as #asburyrevival, one cannot miss all the criticisms, judgments and doubts about what is happening. The critical voices seem to be very loud shouting over some of the rejoicings by others.

The services have been not four or five hours but virtually non-stop for the last 100+ hours. Some are decrying this as “emotionalism.” This sort of thing is not just breaking the mold but making a lot of people feel uncomfortable or convicted!

If we consider revival history, there have always been the unusual, with God working in ways that broke the molds of those days.

Often, the generation after a revival seeks to sanitize it and the radical things God did through it. It is best to let God be God and not try and explain away everything or discard what was seemingly extreme.

Here are a few reasons why we often doubt when revival takes place:

1. When it goes beyond our ability or experience

When God called Moses or any other person by faith, it went against the natural reason and ability of the individual. If God’s call can be accomplished in our own strength, it’s not a call from God. Revival always empowers believers to do what they cannot do on their own.

God’s work always requires God’s strength to accomplish it. The Bible goes so far as to say that whatever is not done in “faith” is actually sin. If we are not acting in ways beyond our strength and ability, we are not acting in faith.

When God is doing a work by His Spirit, we need to tread slowly, carefully examining the fruit by His Word. God will not act contrary to His written Word, but neither will He act in-line with our preferences in order to please our carnal minds or appetites. We pray like this: “God, send revival but just do it when we want and how we want it!” Of course, words like that don’t really fall from our lips, but if we’re honest, that is really what is in our hearts.

2. When it goes against our rational mind

We can fall into the danger of ignoring what the Spirit of God desires in a revival.

One way we can position ourselves is by humbly praying: “God please send revival; do it how you want; when you want; in whatever way you want; with whomever you want.” Or, at the very least, we can come to God asking Him to bend our wills to His own so we think and pray according to His will.

Revival is considered too loud or emotional by some. Sometimes revival breaks a traditional mold that has been in place for many years. The fact is that from time to time, God starts to run the Church in the way He desires, not in ways that we find acceptable or comfortable.

3. When it is something new

John Wesley, early in his ministry, started doubting the work of God in his midst. He was later part of the great Methodist Revival in England.

In his journal we read, “Sat. 16. We met at Fetter-lane, to humble ourselves before God, and own he had justly withdrawn his Spirit from us, for our manifold unfaithfulness. We acknowledged our having grieved him by our divisions and above all, by blaspheming his work among us, imputing it either to nature, to the force of imagination and animal spirits, or even to the delusion of the devil.”

The work of God was so powerful and “new” that he doubted God’s work.

We read again in his journal, “In that hour, we found God with us as at the first. Some fell prostrate upon the ground. Others burst out, as with one consent, into loud praise and thanksgiving. And many openly testified, there had been no such day as this since January the first preceding.”

God had mercy on Wesley and the move of God continued.

If the presence of God is not with us, are we grieving Him? May we humble ourselves and pursue Him as our first love.

God can have mercy and help you in carrying forth His purposes through the revivals He initiates.  

Is God sending revival in Asbury College? At the very least we know something strange is going on. May we be careful not to doubt, grieve or criticize God’s work. 

Greg Gordon is the founder of SermonIndex.net, which was established in 2002. Millions of audio sermons have been distributed through this world-wide ministry. He has also been involved in organizing over 12 international historic revival conference events where thousands of lives were impacted. Website: https://www.sermonindex.net/. email: greg@sermonindex.net

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Micharl Brown Op-ed: Satan is beginning to show his hand more clearly


By Michael Brown, CP Op-Ed Contributor | Thursday, February 09, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/satan-is-beginning-to-show-his-hand-more-clearly.html/

Sam Smith performs onstage during the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. | Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

This past Monday morning, I was teaching hundreds of ministry school students at Christ for the Nations in Dallas on the topic of demons and deliverance. During the class, I stated that in the days ahead, I believed that satanic manifestations would become much more open and overt in our society. Rather than hiding himself in the culture, the devil will reveal himself more clearly.

After teaching, I got back to my room and began to read headlines and receive emails that confirmed the very thing I was saying. (More on that in a moment.)

Of course, we’ve been seeing this trend for years now.

One prominent example would be the rise of Drag Queens in our culture, some of them in overtly satanic attire, reading to toddlers in libraries, and performing at churches.

Another prominent example would be the “Shout Your Abortion” movement and the celebration of radical, pro-abortion legislation. This is in stark contrast to the old Bill Clinton adage that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.”

Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a radical feminist group with the acronym WITCH, standing for the Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell. (I kid you not.) They certainly got their message across!

But most groups are not that overt (even if tongue in cheek), and gay activists learned decades ago that the in-your-face, “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it” approach was not working. Instead, gay strategists adopted a policy of presenting themselves to be exactly the same as the couple next door, just like you in every way, except gay. (This was laid out in the watershed 1989 book After the Ball: How America Will Conquer It’s Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90’s.)

So, from a strategic viewpoint, most groups wanting to bring about radical change to society do so in more covert, incremental ways rather than announcing, “We’re a terrorist conspiracy from Hell!”

In the same way, Satan doesn’t march around as a huge, horned dragon carrying a pitchfork.

As a senior demon counseled a younger demon in C. S. Lewis’s classic book The Screwtape Letters, “The fact that ‘devils’ are predominately comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you.” 

These days, however, it’s as if Satan is coming out in full force, red tights and all — if not literally, then metaphorically. What else can be said of the performance of “Unholy” at the Grammy Awards this past Sunday night? As the Breitbart headline announced, “Non-Binary Pop Star Sam Smith Performs BDSM, Devil-Themed ‘Unholy’ at the Grammys.” How lovely!

But even that only told part of the story.

As explained in more detail by the American Family Association, “During the annual Grammy Awards ceremony on Feb. 5, originally designed to recognize outstanding artists in the music industry, Pfizer pharmaceutical company felt it fitting to sponsor performers Sam Smith, who claims to be non-binary, and Kim Petras, who claims to be transgender. These two gave the nation a Satan-themed performance of their song ‘Unholy,’ in which Petras performed inside a cage with drag queens dressed in devil costumes, while Smith gyrated in a costume with devil horns sticking out from a top hat.

“The entire ‘performance’ depicted a hellish scene with lots of darkness, blood red colors and flames.”

So, you have: 1. the name of the song, “Unholy”; 2. both lead performers denying their biological realities, one of them wearing devil’s horns; 3. drag queens in devil costumes; 4. BDSM-related themes; 5. and the fires of Hell. I would say that is pretty clear!

No wonder podcaster Liz Wheeler tweeted, “Don’t fight the culture wars, they say. Meanwhile demons are teaching your kids to worship Satan. I could throw up.”

Compared to some other past hits (whose lyrics are virtually unrepeatable in moral circles), the lyrics to “Unholy” are relatively tame. It is the overall message of the Grammy performance that shouts out its depravity loudly and clearly.

Similar to this is the announcement from The Satanic Temple that it is raising funds to provide “free religious [meaning Satanic] telehealth medication abortion care in New Mexico.”

But this could be good news for us as followers of Jesus. The greater the darkness, the clearer our light is seen. May it shine brightly in front of the whole world! And may we shine as lights without shame, without compromise, and without hypocrisy.

And don’t be surprised if, in the days ahead, in front of your very eyes, you witness scenes as if taken straight out of the Bible where, in broad daylight, visibly demonized people get set free in Jesus’ name — dramatically, gloriously, and in full public view.

Things are heating up.

(For a great “holy” version of “Unholy” by a contemporary Gospel artist, go here. It’s titled, “If Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ ‘Unholy’ were a Christian song by Beckah Shae.”)

Dr. Michael Brown(www.askdrbrown.org) is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is Revival Or We Die: A Great Awakening Is Our Only Hope. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.

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Mister Rogers Tried to Warn Us About the Dangers of Transgenderism


BY: SPENCER DALKE | FEBRUARY 01, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/02/01/mister-rogers-tried-to-warn-us-about-the-dangers-of-transgenderism/

Mister Rogers Neighborhood clip

“Boys are boys from the beginning. Girls are girls right from the start.” No, those aren’t the words from a tweet banned for “hate speech” — though they could be. They’re prophetic lines from none other than Mister Rogers, who put the immutable truths to a tune decades before the trans craze.

Resurfaced in a recent TikTok, the clip shows Fred Rogers, host of the classic children’s show “Mister Rogers Neighborhood,” singing his ditty “Everybody’s Fancy,” which goes:

Boys are boys from the beginning
Girls are girls right from the start
Everybody’s fancy
Everybody’s fine
Your body’s fancy and so is mine

Girls grow up to be the mommies
Boys grow up to be the daddies
Everybody’s fancy
Everybody’s fine
Your body’s fancy and so is mine

In his first appearance on “The Tonight Show” starring Johnny Carson in 1980, Rogers delved into the song’s importance. When Carson asked Rogers a series of lighthearted questions about his show and asked how Rogers communicates important themes to his audience of children, it didn’t take long for the host to pivot to the topic of sex. “Are they too young for that?” Carson asked.

That’s how they learn the difference between boys and girls, Rogers replied. “Sometimes children think that they might change, they might have to change after a while,” he continued, to which the audience laughed.

But Rogers wasn’t laughing. “You know, we laugh about that now,” he said, “but it’s because we had that concern when we were little.”

Some have argued that Rogers was simply the product of his generation or speculated that he was a homosexual to explain his gentle demeanor. In a 1969 Senate Commerce Committee hearing, however, Rogers made his case clear: “I’m very much concerned about what’s being delivered to our children in this country.”

And he was right to be. Gone are the days of Andy Griffith and “Hogan’s Heroes.” Now taxpayer-funded libraries stock their children’s shelves with books teaching kids about masturbation and affirming gender dysphoria. Drag queen story hour chapters bent on exposing children to sexual atypicality have sprouted up from coast to coast. Now even young children, like this 8-year-old boy, are encouraged to parade around in drag.

And of course, some of Disney’s most recent productions have forged ahead with an increasingly explicit LGBT agenda for children. The latest “Toy Story” installment, “Lightyear,” boasted a lesbian kiss. “Baymax!” taught kids that men can have periods.

“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” was not a political program, but it tackled issues, both big and small, that troubled children. This included not only instilling truths about the immutability of the sexes, but reassuring kids that they wouldn’t get sucked down the bathtub drain or lose an ear during a haircut.

“Children are concerned when they get their first haircut that the barber’s going to cut more than hair,” Rogers said on “The Tonight Show.” So to assuage kids’ fears, he visited a barber to ask whether the trimmer cuts more than hair.

It isn’t that Rogers hated children who wanted to be unique—far from it. As he stated in the Senate hearing, he merely wanted to address the “inner drama of childhood.” Long before libraries began hosting drag queen story hour, Rogers tried to warn us about the dangers of gender-bending. But in true Mister Rogers’ fashion, he did so while celebrating each person for being “fancy” and unique, no transgender interventions required.

In his words, “I like you just the way you are.”

Author Spencer Dalke profile

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Two-thirds of Americans say calls to prayer duringedyg times of national tragedy are ‘helpful’: poll


By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter | January 31, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/americans-favor-public-prayer-calls-amid-national-tragedies-poll.html/

Fans hold a candlelight vigil for Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Jan. 3, 2023, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and is in critical condition following the Bills’ Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. | Jeff Dean/Getty Images

A new poll reveals that the overwhelming majority of Americans see public calls for prayer in a time of tragedy as a force for good, with such a belief extending across all demographic subgroups. 

Summit Ministries, in conjunction with McLaughlin & Associates, conducted an online poll released to the public Tuesday of 1,000 likely voters from Jan. 19-23, asking them to weigh in on the power of prayer. 

The poll came a few weeks after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s collapse after suffering cardiac arrest during a Jan. 2 game against the Cincinnati Bengals and his subsequent recovery. Hamlin’s recovery followed an outpouring of support from the American public, which included the offering of prayers on his behalf.

With a sampling error margin of 3.1 percentage points, the poll found that two-thirds of respondents (67%) told pollsters that they saw public calls for prayer after a national tragedy as “helpful.”

On the other hand, nearly 20% of those surveyed characterized public calls for prayer amid a national tragedy as “pointless.” The remaining 13% either had no opinion or refused to answer the question.

Belief in the power of prayer cut across all demographic subgroups, with most respondents of all races, age groups, genders, marital statuses, political ideologies and regions classifying it as “helpful.”

The share of respondents with favorable opinions of public calls to prayer in times of tragedy descended with each generation, with 77% of Americans over the age of 65 believing in the power of prayer, followed by 70% of those aged 56-65, 68% of those between the ages of 41 and 55 and 62% of respondents aged 30-40.

Americans between the ages of 18-29 were the group least likely to view public calls for prayer as effective. Fifty-five percent of respondents under 30 identified calls for prayer as “helpful,” while 27% dismissed them as “pointless.” 

Liberals had a higher share of respondents who viewed public calls to prayer as “pointless” (30%).

“Some people say there’s not really a generational difference, but there is,” Summit Ministries President Jeff Myers, whose ministry seeks to provide resources to ground Christians in a biblical worldview, said in a statement. “Young adults are more likely to say that they have no religious preference and this poll seems to reflect that.”

Myers expressed gratitude that “still, more than half of young Americans, the most skeptical generation, believe that public calls to prayer are effective.”

“In times of crisis, Americans are still likely to come together even in spite of their partisan differences,” he added. “The fact that people want to pray together, I think, is one of those … increasingly rare moments of unity. If it happens around prayer, all the better.”

The poll illustrated a degree of consensus, with majorities of conservatives (80%), Republicans (73%), Democrats (65%), independents (62%) and liberals (59%) seeing calls to prayer as helpful.

Majorities of African Americans (73%), southerners (72%), women (71%), residents of the Midwest (70%), married respondents (69%), whites (67%), Hispanics (66%), Americans living in the eastern U.S. (64%), men (63%), single respondents (62%) and residents of the west coast (60%) said the same. 

Summit Ministries partners with McLaughlin & Associates for a monthly poll to ask questions related to several topics, such as prayer, biblical values and the rejection of cancel culture. 

The nonprofit seeks to “find out where there really is consensus in spite of the key divide that we often see in America.” 

“We’re finding that probably 70% of Americans are people with solid values who just want to live their lives,” Myers added. “Thirty percent of Americans want to tell everybody else what to do and they can be nasty about it. Sometimes, the fear of the 30% causes the 70% to be silent, and I’m hoping that our polls show that they don’t need to be, that most people are with them.”

Myers expressed gratitude that the nation rallied around Hamlin and that “a lot of people, especially high-profile NFL athletes, felt comfortable with sharing their faith.” 

In his first on-camera comments since his collapse on the field, the 24-year-old Hamlin said Saturday that his collapse “was a direct example of God using me as a vessel to share my passion and my love directly from my heart with the entire world.”

Since his collapse, Hamlin’s charity has raised over $9 million to help provide toys for kids in need. 

“Now, I’m able to give it back to kids and communities all across the world who need it the most, and that’s always been my dream, that’s always been what I stood for and what I will continue to stand for,” Hamlin said. 

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com

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British Army veteran arrested for silently praying for his dead son near an abortion clinic


By: JOSEPH MACKINNON | January 23, 2023

Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/british-army-veteran-arrested-for-silently-praying-for-his-dead-son-near-an-abortion-clinic/

Image source: YouTube video, ADF UK – Screenshot

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A British Army veteran was confronted by police for standing silently near an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, England. The man’s apparent crime: He was silently praying for his murdered son.

Adam Smith-Connor of Southampton is the second Briton in recent months to have been arrested, not for speech or actions, but for silent prayer — for the thoughts in his head.

Censoring silence

Smith-Connor told the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK, a faith-based freedom advocacy group, that “22 years ago, I drove an ex-girlfriend to a facility where I paid for her to have an abortion. Many years later, I came to realize what I had done and it has been a source of great grief to me in my life.”

“I now pray for my son and to God for forgiveness,” said Smith-Connor, adding, “I would never have imagined being in a position to risk a criminal record for praying silently.”

Don’t miss out on content from Dave Rubin free of big tech censorship. Listen to The Rubin Report now.

Smith-Connor approached a British Pregnancy Advisor Service abattoir in the English county of Dorset on Nov. 24 to pray “for my son Jacob, for other babies who have lost their lives to abortion, for their grieving families, and for abortion clinic staff.” The BPAS is the leading provider of abortions in the United Kingdom and boasts on its website that one in three U.K. women will “have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old.”

The National Catholic Register reported that Smith-Connor was standing silently with his back to the facility to respect the privacy of staff and visitors, when a pair of officers confronted him, pressing him on what he was doing and why. Footage of the incident shows one of the officers ask, “What is the nature of your prayer today?”

Smith-Connor responds, “What is the nature of my prayer? I’m praying for my son.”

The female officer notes that that there is “a clause within the Public Space Protection Order around prayer and around disapproval around the activities at the clinic here.”

The Scotsman reported that in October, the abattoir in Bournemouth became the fifth in the country to get a PSPO. Accordingly, in the area around the facility, various activities such as protests are verboten. Those found in violation could incur a fine of £100 ($123.65 USD) or face a conviction at a magistrates court. Among the things that are forbidden in such a buffer zone are protests via “graphic, verbal or written means” and “holding vigils where members audible pray, recite Scripture, genuflect, sprinkle holy water on the ground or cross themselves if they perceive a service-user is passing by.”

Concerning the establishment of the no-free speech zone in Bournemouth, Councilor Bobbie Dove stated, “Whilst we acknowledge the right of anyone to conduct a peaceful protest, we had to balance this against the distress caused or likely to be caused, and the detrimental impact of behaviours experienced by those accessing medical services or doing their jobs.”

Having clarified that Smith-Connor was in the buffer zone, the female officer can be heard in the video attempting to establish whether Smith-Connor’s silent prayer may have had something to do with the abattoir.

In response to Smith-Connor’s admission that he is silently praying for his dead son, the officer says, “I’m sorry for your loss. But ultimately, I have to go along with the guidelines of the Public Space Protection Order, to say that we are in the belief that therefore you are in breach of clause 4a, which says about prayer, and also acts of disapproval around the activities at the clinic.”

“What is the nature of your prayer?” authorities interrogate army veteran youtu.be

The ADF UK reported that Smith-Connor was ultimately fined on the basis of the PSPO. He is now challenging the resultant council fine, stating, “This cannot be right in a country that values freedom.”

“Freedom of thought has to be one of the most fundamental freedoms that any human being can have,” he said. “I spent 20 years in the military including spending time in Afghanistan defending the very principle of freedom.”

“I’m not a criminal,” Smith-Connor emphasized. “I am a husband. I am a father. I’m a military veteran and I’m a Christian. But I have been censored.”

TheBlaze previously reported that a woman was similarly arrested by police over her silent prayer on Dec. 6 in Birmingham, England. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was charged with breaching a PSPO.

“Nobody should be arrested for the thoughts they have in their own mind. The arrest and charge appears to be premised entirely on her admission that she was praying internally,” Jeremiah Igunnubole, Spruce’s legal representative, said in a statement. “The clinic was closed and she was standing, in a public space, without once engaging anyone. As a public space, she was not banned from being present there.”

Igunnubole noted that in Adam’s case, he “could now face prosecution for holding thoughts, and lifting those thoughts to God in prayer, within a censorship zone..”

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Wokeness Is Coming for Classical Christian Education


BY: DAVID GOODWIN | JANUARY 20, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/01/20/wokeness-is-coming-for-classical-christian-education/

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Classical Christian education is not ‘racist’ or ‘misogynist.’ Its texts address the universal truths about the human condition.

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It’s been a good year for classical Christian education. New school starts are up threefold, a book on classical education became No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list, and on Jan. 26, Fox Nation will release season two of a popular series on classical Christian education, “The Miseducation of America.” Of course, with growth comes attention. What is unusual this time is that someone with ties to our movement — one of our own — draws focus to a growing divide.

On Jan. 12, in the online journal Current, Jessica Hooten Wilson asked, “Is White Supremacy a Bug or a Feature of Classical Christian Education?” It should come as no surprise that, within her mainstream academic ecosphere as a scholar at Pepperdine University, she gets pressure. “I experience regular pushback from those who perceive [classical Christian education] as white, Western-only, and male-dominated.” She proceeds to cast aspersions on a few people and organizations — including, indirectly, mine. Her accusations become a pretext for her thesis: “If the classical Christian school movement is to survive — let alone flourish — we must oppose all forms of racism and misogyny and stand with the beauty, goodness, and truth that we hold up for our students.” I’ll take her up on that charge.

Hooten Wilson is a staccato note at the end of a new tune within our circles. Her article praises those groups she believes are taking the right steps. So far, I’ve heard no one publicly state the thesis so clearly as she does: “We should peruse the authors of the works and, if applicable, the editors or introductory writers to ensure an assortment of voices … as well as an equality of both sexes. If we look at the table of contents of a textbook or a reading list for a semester and find not a single woman or person of color in that list, then that curriculum is misrepresenting the classical Christian tradition.”

Choosing the Classical Canon

For the better part of three millennia, philosophical, theological, and literary authors labored to create the classical canon, representing countless cultural influences. Over much of this same time period, learned scholars have made lists of those that deserve “canon” status. It is unclear if there are minorities or women in Cassiodorus’ list of authors (400 A.D.), or Leonardo Bruni or Battista Guarino’s lists (humanists from the 1400s) — they don’t use those categories. Mortimer Adler and his team of about 40 renowned scholars chose the most widely recognized list of books in our time based upon their contribution to “the great conversation.” Adler’s merit-based criteria required a work to have changed the course of history and to have developed the collective Western mind. What Adler’s team did not do is look to race or sex as criteria.

The Western classical tradition has long included people of every race and sex in a particular way: The tradition deals with a body of texts that address the universal truths about the human condition, rising above our culture’s current quest to silo everyone into an intersection of identity.

Whatever your identity may be, the long journey toward Aeneus’ destiny amplifies the tension between duty and desire. The hilarity of twins unknown to each other, living in the same city, begets “A Comedy of Errors,” no matter your race or sex. Would Hooten Wilson tell the young women and minorities in our schools that they cannot fully converse with these texts because their voices are not represented in them? Shall our schools sacrifice universal human dignity on the altar of token inclusion? Hooten Wilson limits her criteria to women and minorities. Some, like Kimberle Crenshaw, will not be satisfied with this attempt to diversify our reading lists — there will always be one more disaffected group.

Duped into Old-Fashioned Racism and Sexism

By Hooten Wilson’s standard, we must scrape and scrape until we find a “fair” representation of “diverse” contributors. “I am especially excited about the number of women that we added to the Middle Ages list. … Classical schools should look through their reading lists to make sure women and persons of color are not excluded from their curriculum.” Classical Christian education should not be duped by the spirit of our age into old-fashioned racism or sexism. This spirit was cultivated not by our tradition, as Hooten Wilson claims, but rather by the Frankfurt School.

During the 1930s, a group of cultural Marxist scholars set up shop at Columbia University. The Frankfurt School set out on a mission to end the influence of Christianity in our culture. Their thickly veiled product called critical theory deliberately divides us by whispering one small lie, presented in two axioms: For a person to relate to anything, or gain from anything — in this case an intellectual tradition — it must have elements that “look like them” and match their “identity.” And, a second axiom follows: Thus, if something does not contain “diverse and inclusive” elements, it is racist or misogynist. These fruits of critical theory travel down a circuitous path from the Frankfurt School, to Hooten Wilson’s proposal, to a few classical educators who take incremental steps toward critical theory — all of this under the trendy label of “inclusiveness.”

True Liberation Through Classical Christian Education

Classical education was created to, and has, liberated the minds of countless people groups in history, and it is capable of doing the same in America today — and beyond. It has been at the forefront of the march for freedom and education; for individual rights apart from race or class or sex. If we let the very toxin that infects progressive education get into our classrooms, we’re doomed. This toxin was created and propagated by those who hate our tradition. Should we voluntarily drink it?

My daughter recently graduated from New Saint Andrews College. This is one of the institutions that those in Hooten Wilson’s camp label “misogynist.” The college seeks to uphold and respect traditional Christian femininity, which displeases feminists who seem to hate femininity. Misogyny? When my daughter brought her friends to our home over Thanksgiving, I remember listening to the conversation and thinking, “Where do these women come from? They’re strong, bright, extremely well-read, fluent in ancient languages, and honoring of Christian truth — including their God-given womanhood.” None were weak women. All seemed faithful, happy, and confident. I don’t think any of them would want Hooten Wilson’s prescription for their reading list.

Is Racism a Bug or a Feature in Classical Christian Education?

The Frankfurt School’s purpose was to deconstruct. To do so, they inserted a “bug” in our educational system: critical theory, and all of its descendent forms. Some in our movement now offer a batch of code that has this bug embedded deeply within it — in the form of reading lists. By Hooten Wilson’s reckoning, these groups are heading in the right direction. The rest of us are not. Will our institutions continue to follow her lead by adopting coded terms like “Kingdom Diversity”? Or will we recognize the code as a virus and say, “No thank you. The classical Christian tradition is above all that nonsense — and the nonsense of white nationalists, by the way. May a plague be on all your racist houses.”

If classical Christian education is to survive, it has to reject the foolishness of our age and embrace Christ’s way alone. Christ’s church favors neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free.

The humanities are great because they unite. They are universal. Women and non-Europeans are now, in our present time, contributing to classical Christian education in spades. I work so that all children can rise up and join the great conversation without barriers.

“Identity,” however, won’t fit here. Check it at the door. We are Christ’s. We are classical. Those who want to be loved by the spirit of our age will become intoxicated by it, and slowly die of its poison.

David Goodwin is the editor of The Classical Difference magazine, the president of the Association of Classical Christian Schools, and the co-author of The New York Times no. 1 best seller “Battle for the American Mind.” You can find him at Substack.

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‘Amazing Grace’ and the abolition of slavery


By Jerry Newcombe, CP Op-Ed Contributor| Thursday, January 19, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/amazing-grace-and-the-abolition-of-slavery.html

Ioan Gruffudd plays William Wilberforce, the 18th-century English abolitionist. | (Photo: Samuel Goldwyn Films)

This month, January 2023, marks the 250th anniversary of the classic hymn, “Amazing Grace.”

The Museum of the Bible writes: “It was January 1, 1773. John Newton led his congregation down the road from the parish church in Olney, England, to Lord Dartmouth’s Great Hall to sing … and the hymn he wrote for this day was special. It spoke of his conversion, of his self-proclaimed wretchedness, and of the saving power of God’s grace. Since then, the words of ‘Amazing Grace’ have struck a chord with millions across cultures and generations, and its popularity has never wavered.”

The museum based in D.C. now has a section dedicated to the anniversary of this amazing hymn.

In the hymn, John Newton, a former slave-trader now converted, indeed describes himself as a “wretch,” who was amazed that God would extend His grace to one such as he.

He became a minister after his conversion, and one day, a politician came to visit him for personal guidance. That man was William Wilberforce, who had recently been converted to faith in Jesus.

Everybody should know who William Wilberforce was — one of the greatest Christian statesman of all time.

He was a longtime Member of Parliament, who worked tirelessly (with a group of like-minded associates that became known as “The Clapham Sect”) to end the slave trade of the British Empire and then to free all the slaves therein. By the time of his death in 1833, Wilberforce was successful. But it took him about half a century.

Author Dr. Os Guinness once said, “When Wilberforce died, he was described as ‘the George Washington of humanity.’”

William Wilberforce was born in 1759 and inherited considerable wealth which placed him among the landed nobility of England. He was indeed a polished gentleman, and he first ran for Parliament and won at the age of 21.

But not until his conversion a few years later did he begin to take life seriously.

After committing his life to Christ, he briefly dallied with the idea of leaving politics to serve God. But John Newton counseled Wilberforce to stay and let God use him in politics. Newton declared, “The Lord has raised you up to the good of His Church and for the good of the nation.”

I shudder to think about someone like Wilberforce seeking guidance today among some modern ministers, who might easily convince him that Christians and politics shouldn’t mix. But John Calvin Coolidge, an often-overlooked president, once said, “If good men don’t hold office, bad men will.”

Soon after meeting with Rev. Newton, God put it on Wilberforce’s heart to fight against slavery. Working to uproot it was a daunting task because the slave trade brought enormous wealth to those involved.

After much prayer, Wilberforce felt that this indeed was the very voice of God speaking to him, calling him to this important mission. He was also concerned by the godless immorality of the age. In 1787, he wrote in his diary: “Almighty God has set before me two great objectives, the abolition of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.” (“Manners” would be comparable to “morals” in modern parlance.)

In an interview I once did with the late Chuck Colson, prison reformer and Wilberforce admirer, he told me: “[Wilberforce] stood up on the floor of the Parliament influenced by his new Christian conviction, took a stand that was enormously unpopular because all of the vested interest opposed him, including the government, and for 20 years he waged that battle.”

Kevin Belmonte, author of William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity, observes, “Wilberforce had to travel with an armed bodyguard.” But Wilberforce persevered — despite whatever personal cost he must pay.

Colson said, “One day in 1807 in a February snowstorm, the votes were cast to abolish the slave trade. While members of Parliament were jumping up and down for joy, they looked over and there was Wilberforce, head bowed at his desk, praying, thanking God for what He had done.”

But Wilberforce wasn’t finished. He then set out to emancipate the slaves, who, even after this vote, were still in chains throughout the British Empire. This was a battle to last for another 25 years.

Because of health problems, he had to resign in Parliament in 1825, but the movement he began to free all of the slaves in the British Empire continued without his direct involvement — and when he was already on his death bed, in 1833, he received word that the Parliament decided to free all of the 800,000 slaves throughout the British Empire.

Wilberforce is a great example of what Jesus can do through those fully committed to Him in whatever position in which He has placed them — when God’s “amazing grace” gets ahold of a life wholly committed to Him.

Jerry Newcombe, D.Min., is the executive director of the Providence Forum, an outreach of D. James Kennedy Ministries, where Jerry also serves as senior producer and an on-air host. He has written/co-written 33 books, including George Washington’s Sacred Fire (with Providence Forum founder Peter Lillback, Ph.D.) and What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (with D. James Kennedy, Ph.D.). http://www.djkm.org?    @newcombejerry      www.jerrynewcombe.com

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The dangers of theological liberalism


By William Wolfe, Op-ed contributor | Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/the-dangers-of-theological-liberalism.html/

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We live in an age of great compromise and confusion, especially regarding the Christian faith. In some ways, that means we live in the same sort of day and age that every Christian has lived in since Christ ascended to Heaven approximately 2,000 years ago.

The New Testament authors, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the immediate decades following the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, were acutely aware of the need to defend the pure teaching of the faith against those who would undermine its doctrine and application.

In 1 Timothy 4:1, Paul writes that “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”

God knew what He was doing when He gave the Church such strong warnings.

But while there is no doubt that false teaching and heresies have always plagued the Christian Church, each era has its own battles to fight. In the early Church period, they had to deal with Gnosticism, Christological errors, and confusion about the Holy Spirit.

Thankfully, in our day and age, we have creeds and confessions, like the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed, which set forward the clear, uncompromised principles of historical, orthodox Christianity. Or, if you are a Baptist, we have the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

Still, even though we have these statements, false teaching abounds. One particularly pernicious strain of corrupted Christianity is what’s known as “theological liberalism.” The late R.C. Sproul warned that “We are living in a day when liberal theology has made deep inroads in the church.”

Even if you don’t know its name, I’m confident you’ve encountered some of its teachings — like those who deny the reality of the resurrection of Christ. So, to better equip you to spot and counter theological liberalism, let me explain what it is and why it’s dangerous.

What is theological liberalism?

In his book The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Religion, 1805 – 1900, Gary Dorrien explains,

“The idea of liberal theology is nearly three centuries old. In essence, it is the idea that Christian theology can be genuinely Christian without being based upon external authority. Since the 18th century, liberal Christian thinkers have argued that religion should be modern and progressive and that the meaning of Christianity should be interpreted from the standpoint of modern knowledge and experience.”

In other words, the starting point of theological liberalism is that it trades the external, objective, God-given standard of the Bible in matters of faith for an individual’s personal, subjective opinion and experience.

This is an exact inversion of the Christian faith. We know who God is and what He wants from mankind because God speaks — and speaks first. Theological liberalism trades “Thus saith the Lord” for “So saith man.”

Summarizing Dorrien’s book, pastor and theologian Kevin DeYoung provides six other characteristics of theological liberalism along with the rejection of external authority (in addition to the one above). He says it argues that:

  1. “Christianity is a movement of social reconstruction.”
  2. “Christianity must be credible and relevant.”
  3. “Truth can be known only through changing symbols and forms.”
  4. “Theological controversy is about language, not about truth.”
  5. “The historical accuracies of biblical facts and events are not crucial, so long as we meet Jesus in the pages of Scripture.”
  6. “The true religion is the way of Christ, not any particular doctrines about Christ.”

DeYoung concludes that “Liberals believe they are making Christianity relevant, credible, beneficial, and humane. Evangelicals in the line of J. Gresham Machen believe they are making something other than Christianity. That was the dividing line a century ago, and the division persists.”

What does this look like in practice? Theological liberalism denies key doctrines like the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture. They deny that the Bible is, in the words of Chicago Statement on Inerrancy, “to be received as the authoritative Word of God” and that “Scripture in its entirety is inerrant, being free from all falsehood, fraud, or deceit” and serves as the final rule of faith and practice.

Because it denies the truthfulness and reliability of Scripture, it denies the historical creation account, events like the flood, the virgin birth, the miracles of Jesus, and often the resurrection of Jesus itself.

In other words, theological liberalism largely rejects the supernatural and miraculous events recorded in the Bible as fact, calling them fiction instead. Furthermore, it denies essential doctrines like original sin and the indwelling sin in all mankind, which makes the sacrifice of Christ on the cross unnecessary.

Finally, in our present moment, theological liberalism is often seen in the rejection of the creation order and biblical sexual morality.  Denominations that deny the truthfulness of God’s Word almost always end up rejecting what it teaches about sex and marriage when the world pressures it to compromise. This is why many of the major “mainline denominations,” like the Presbyterian Church of the United States (PCUSA), most United Methodist churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, American Baptists, and the Episcopal Church, are all LGBT-affirming.

Make no mistake about it: Once a denomination, church, pastor, or Christian leader adopts the core teachings of liberal theology, progressive (Bible-denying) political positions will be adopted as well.

Why theological liberalism is dangerous

The main reason theological liberalism is so dangerous is that it destroys the Gospel. What is the Gospel? It is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16), the message that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24), and that this salvation is found only in Jesus Christ, the “lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29).

Liberal theology denies that man is so sinful he needs a savior. It tells us that we can’t trust the Bible as God’s Word and that Jesus might not have been anything more than a good teacher who set an example for moral living. Theological liberalism is a “religious system” that has been constructed to help sinful man feel better about himself, not show him that he is a rebel on the way to Hell and then reveal a gracious, God-sent, God-incarnate savior.

Thus, the danger of theological liberalism is that it sends people to Hell. That’s not an exaggeration, that’s a biblical fact. This is why Paul warns that false teaching is, in fact, the teaching of demons — because it comes from Hell and damns man to Hell in the final judgment.

J. Gresham Machen was a faithful theologian in the 20th century. He wrote a best-selling theology book called Christianity and Liberalism that is still well-known and well-read today. In this book, Machen warned that liberal Christianity isn’t just a compromised form of Christianity, but really another religion altogether — and a false one at that. He argues that “despite the liberal use of traditional phraseology modern liberalism not only is a different religion from Christianity but belongs in a totally different class of religions.”

In other words, it’s not Christianity — and it’s not even close to being Christian.

Sproul agreed with Machen, warning that “Liberalism stands in every generation as a flat rejection of the faith. It must not be viewed as a simple subset or denominational impulse of Christianity; it must be seen for what it is — the antithesis of Christianity based on a complete rejection of the biblical Christ and His Gospel.”

Jesus warned His followers to “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13).

Theological liberalism represents the “broad gate” that ultimately leads to destruction. Why? Because it follows in the footsteps of the serpent, who, in the garden planted the deathly seed of doubt in the form of “Did God really say?”

As faithful Christians, we reject this question and confidently claim, “Yes, God really did say” — He said we are fallen, Jesus Christ is the savior, the Bible is trustworthy, men are men and women are women, marriage is between a man and woman, Heaven and Hell are real, and the only way to eternal life is to repent of our sins and trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

That’s the narrow gate. It might sound fantastic — and it is. But it is the way that leads to life. So, reject theological liberalism, which is no Christianity at all, and, as the Apostle Paul admonishes us, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16).

Originally published at the Standing for Freedom Center. 

William Wolfe served as a senior official in the Trump administration, both as a deputy assistant secretary of defense at the Pentagon and a director of legislative affairs at the State Department. Prior to his service in the administration, Wolfe worked for Heritage Action for America, and as a congressional staffer for three different members of Congress, including the former Rep. Dave Brat. He has a B.A. in history from Covenant College, and is finishing his Masters of Divinity at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Follow William on Twitter at @William_E_Wolfe

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A sanctity of human life month like no other


By Art Ally, Op-ed Contributor | Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/a-sanctity-of-human-life-month-like-no-other.html/

Demonstrators lead the way at the 2022 March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2022. | The Christian Post/Nicole Alcindor

For those of us who have been working for years on the pro-life cause, this is a very special and joyous Sanctity of Human Life Month.

It’s the first one since the Supreme Court in June 2022 struck down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. Instead of the latest protest against Roe’s cruelty and unconstitutionality, this month-long observance and the annual March for Life on January 20 will be celebrations.

We still have much to do to protect innocent human life from the abortion industry. The battle is underway state by state and even city by city.

But Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is a game changer. The highest law of the land as interpreted by the highest court in the land is no longer hostile to the pro-life viewpoint. It’s no longer defensible to pretend that a baby in the womb is not human and is therefore disposable. Those who continue to advocate for abortion must make the immoral case that some human lives are not worth protecting. That should be a steep hill to climb in a nation with a Christian heritage.

Like slavery, abortion violates the moral law given us by our Creator. God’s law states that all human life is sacred because we are made in His image. Many of America’s founders, including Declaration of Independence author Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner, predicted that slavery’s inherent conflict with God-given liberties would one day end it. It took a terrible civil war, but slavery was finally abolished.

The arguments for abortion are also unsustainable. That’s why the pro-life movement has never given up. Pro-life doctors, nurses and scientists have been reminding everyone that at the moment of conception, a new human life springs into being with his or her unique genetic code.

So what if academia, Hollywood, the media and corporate America use their enormous clout to push the fiction that human life is not in fact human? Proverbs 31:8 admonishes those of us who have voices to “speak out for those who cannot speak.”

We must tell the truth, promote adoption, provide more help to mothers who keep their babies, and shore up marriage, the surest family structure in which a child can thrive.

We need to make sure that the legal system, as the enforcement arm of the representative democratic republic in which we live, is no longer abused to justify the taking of innocent human life.

This means persuading millions of our fellow Americans that abortion is not the answer to an unwanted pregnancy.  It means letting women who have had abortions know that Jesus offers forgiveness, peace, and new life.

I recall vividly the day that my wife, Bonnie, and I saw the film “Silent Scream” at a theater in Orlando around 1990. This powerful movie depicts a fetus — a tiny human being — desperately trying to avoid the abortionist. Few people can watch it and walk away unaffected.

Our growing faith and clarity about abortion were driving forces in the creation of an investment fund, in 1994, for Bible-believing Christians, Timothy Plan, which pioneered Biblically Responsible Investing.

Other powerful films have also carried the pro-life message. In 2018, Timothy Partners, Timothy Plan’s advisor, bought out a theater in Orlando to show the movie “Gosnell” to our local community. Starring Dean Cain, the film exposes the evils committed by Kermit Gosnell. He was a West Philadelphia-based doctor convicted of murdering infants who were born alive and of manslaughter for the death of a woman patient.

In March 2019, our firm bought out seven theaters in Orlando to show the movie “Unplanned.” It’s about the story of former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson, who became a pro-life champion. We gifted 500 tickets that were snapped up within 24 hours. At the movie’s conclusion, we asked the audience to remain for a couple of minutes while we introduced the directors of 11 pro-life, crisis pregnancy centers that we support.

I am sharing this to encourage others to use whatever tools and influence they have to steer us toward a truly pro-life culture in which all lives are deemed sacred.

The end of Roe is a huge victory we should celebrate. It is also a clarion call to “speak out for those who cannot speak.”

Art Ally is the founder of the Timothy Plan family of Biblically Responsible Investing funds.

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‘God is real’: Bills QB describes ‘spiritual awakening’ since teammate’s on-field Collapse

CORTNEY WEIL | January 16, 2023

Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/god-is-real-bills-qb-describes-spiritual-awakening-since-teammate-s-on-field-collapse/

Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images

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After Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during the Bills’ Jan. 2 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, people all over the world bowed their heads in solemn prayer for his life and health. While the offer of “thoughts and prayers” for a frightening situation is commonplace, those thoughts and prayers seem to have taken root in this instance. Hamlin’s teammate, quarterback Josh Allen, opened up about a “spiritual awakening” that has occurred in his team’s locker room and in his own heart since the incident.

Allen, 26, makes a regular appearance with NFL Network co-host Kyle Brandt on the podcast “Kyle Brandt’s Basement,” and on the Jan. 10 episode, the two discussed Hamlin’s continued recovery and God’s role in it.

Josh Allen talks emotional week, Damar Hamlin & Wild Card matchup | Kyle Brandt’s Basement youtu.be

“I said this in my press conference the other day,” Allen told Brandt, “[There was] just kind of a spiritual awakening really for me and … for a lot of other people that maybe didn’t have the strongest belief or wasn’t one of the biggest, strongest Christian followers.”

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The “spiritual awakening” is not surprising considering the severity of Hamlin’s medical crisis. Not only did first responders and training staff perform CPR on Hamlin right there on the field, but his uncle Dorrian Glenn later reported that Hamlin had to be resuscitated twice in the minutes and hours that followed his collapse. But despite the precariousness of his health that night, Hamlin has since made a remarkable recovery. He was discharged from the hospital within a week and is now recuperating in Buffalo.

“I’ll be the first to admit, like, I haven’t been the most devoted Christ follower in my life,” Allen admitted to Brandt. “I’ve had my different beliefs and thoughts and ideas and stuff like that, but something got ahold of me there, and it was extremely powerful that, you know, I couldn’t deny it.”

The two men then discussed an event that occurred at the Bills’ next game, an event that Brandt described as “some sort of miracle.” The Sunday after Hamlin’s collapse, the Bills took the field to play against the New England Patriots for their final regular-season game. On the opening kickoff, Bills kick returner Nyheim Hines ran the ball back 96 yards for a touchdown. While the play itself was worth celebrating, fans were quick to note that it occurred exactly three years and three months after Hamlin, who wears No. 3, made the team’s last kickoff return for a touchdown.

In discussing Hines’ touchdown, Allen later told reporters: “I was just going around to my teammates saying, ‘God’s real.’ You can’t draw that one up, write that one up any better.”

Allen told Brandt that he grew up Methodist in Firebaugh, California, and attended church regularly with his family, but as he grew older, he hadn’t made practicing his faith a priority.

“It’s been so long since I’ve actually been to church. I went this last offseason one or two times, but not as much as maybe I should,” Allen added.

However, he also indicated that Hamlin’s collapse and subsequent recovery may have stirred many hearts to return to church and make Christian faith a higher priority. “I think this conversation that we’re having right now, we’ve had all these conversations in our locker room,” he said. “It’s been really cool to see how guys have been moved and touched by this whole instance and situation and to see the country come together in support for Damar and maybe having those talks.”

And Allen isn’t the only member of the Bills organization to discuss the religious component of the Bills’ and Hamlin’s recent events. Head coach Sean McDermott has openly shared his belief that God deserves the glory for Hamlin’s improvement. “Glory to God for His keeping Damar and his family in the palm of His hand over the last couple of days and His healing powers,” McDermott said on Jan. 5.

Two days earlier, football analyst Dan Orlovsky — a self-described “follower of Jesus” — prayed spontaneously for Hamlin during a live broadcast on ESPN. His fellow panelists likewise closed their eyes, folded their hands, and joined him in that prayer.

Though these examples of religiosity may be anecdotal, Allen indicated that there is hope that they could lead to a revival of faith among athletes and nonathletes alike.

“To hear some of these stories and just feelings from our guys, to be going through this situation, it’s been really cool to see that unfold in front of us,” Allen stated. “Again, I can’t chalk it down to anything else but a higher power. Yeah, I’m extremely moved. I don’t really have the words to explain it.”

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Richard D. Land Op-ed: Free speech and the state of American culture


Richard D. Land, Christian Post Executive Editor | Friday, January 13, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/free-speech-and-the-state-of-american-culture.html/

In just the past few days I have been bombarded, as I am sure many of you have, by negative reports and studies about the state of American society.  There are clearly causes for great concern for our nation’s future.

We have legions of college students who have evidently drunk the woke Kool-Aid and believe that any opinion that does not coincide with their liberal, “woke” agenda is hate speech and is a legitimate target for being censored, silenced, or shut down by woke mobs exercising a “heckler’s veto.”

There is nothing “liberal” about such philosophies or the behaviors they generate. In fact, they are far more similar to, and reminiscent of, fascist mobs and McCarthyite red-scare tactics.

As I have read these reports and watched them online, I have become increasingly resolved that we must exercise our freedom of speech despite the possible consequences, or we will lose the right to that very freedom of speech.

For example, two publications I have been reading since the age of 12 (Decision, a publication of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) and the age of 18 (The New York Times) presented me with information that both thoroughly alarmed me and helped to explain our current cultural malaise at the same time. 

First, the New York Times informs us that “Most Teenagers Have Seen Online Porn, Report Says.” The report explained how social media transformed adolescents’ access to hard-core pornography.

Seventy-five percent of America’s teenagers had now viewed pornography online “by the age of 17 with the average of first exposure at age 12, according to the report by Common Cause Media.” Many of the young people surveyed did not seek out pornography, it sought them out on the internet. Many of them reported that they were at first disturbed by the images they viewed although less than 50% had discussed the issue with a parent or trusted adult. One measure of the growth of this cancer on society is the fact that in 2012 the porn business was earning $5 billion a year and today it is estimated to be a $15 billion a year blight on society.

Why such a rapid increase? The moral laxity of the culture brought on by the decline in moral clarity and intestinal fortitude of the American pulpit is one leading contributor. 

This became more clear to me as I read my copy of Decision magazine, which I first remember reading as a boy of 12 when it came to our home on a regular basis (my father had been saved at a Billy Graham Crusade in Houston in 1952 when I was 6 years old). 

The issue which arrived in my mailbox earlier this week (the January 2023 issue) contained an article, “What’s Wrong with America’s Pulpits?” by Lee Weeks. 

The article was based on “The American Worldview Inventory, 2022,” researched and published by George Barna, the director of research with the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University. Barna and his team surveyed and analyzed bedrock doctrines of the Christian faith to measure the doctrinal orthodoxy of America’s Protestant Clergy, as well as the general population. 

The result of Barna’s research makes for devastating reading for Americans who are traditionally orthodox Christians. For example, Barna’s seven bedrock biblical beliefs constituting a biblical worldview were:

  • God is the eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, and just Creator.
  • Humans are sinful by nature.
  • Jesus Christ grants forgiveness of sin and eternal life when sinners repent and profess their faith in Him alone.
  • The Bible is true, reliable, and always relevant.
  • Absolute moral truth exists.
  • Success is defined as consistent obedience to God.
  • Life’s purpose is to know, love, and serve God with all one’s heart, mind, strength, and soul.

When Barna had sifted through the results, the portrait that emerged was chilling, and this was nowhere more true than among the clergy — the shepherds of the flock.

According to Barna’s results, only 37% of pastors of churches of all Protestant denominations have a biblical worldview. If the pastors, the shepherds of the flock, have sub-biblical doctrinal beliefs, who is going to lead the people and “teach them all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:16-180.)

Barna’s research reveals that among Evangelical pastors 30% reject salvation by faith alone and 39% reject belief in absolute truth (some things are always right and some things are always wrong). If people are not hearing a sure, certain, and uncompromising word from the pulpits, where will they find truth in this increasingly secular milieu in which Americans live and breath.  When the pulpits are sounding forth an uncertain sound, the people are increasingly at the mercy of the roving packs of spiritual wolves on the prowl for new sheep to apostatize.

I have experienced this doctrinal confusion and spiritual apostasy in my own denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).  I have had perhaps a half dozen former seminary classmates and ministry brethren who have said to me in one form or another, “I’ve decided that God permits monogamous, same-sex relationships” or “I believe a loving God won’t send anyone to hell.”

My response has been, and will continue to be, “You’ve decided!  When did you become God?” 

In His Holy Word. God has answered these questions!  In the Gospel of John Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” (John 14::6).  In the original Greek the article the is implied or assumed. When it appears it is for emphasis as it is here in the Greek New Testament text.   

Similarly, in Romans (11:24-28) and 1 Corinthians (6:9-11) God made it clear that a same-sex sexual lifestyle was rejected utterly.

As Evangelical Christians, we must face the unpleasant fact that while there has been an Evangelical revival in the last half of the 20th and the first fifth of the 21st centuries, the secularizing society has influenced Evangelicals more than the other way around.  Instead of being salt and light (Mtt. 5:13-16),  we have been salted and lit by society at large.

For America to experience the great spiritual awakening we must have, we will need a deep and lasting spiritual recommitment to the eternal truths of the Gospel.

As George Barna himself puts it,

“to see American culture transformed will require a time of Christians and
pastors devoted to repentance and the Scriptures unlike anything we have
seen in more than a century.”

May God give us the strength, devotion, and wisdom to commence that journey and to never flag or surrender until we have let God make us the salt and light Jesus commanded each of us to be.

Dr. Richard Land, BA (Princeton, magna cum laude); D.Phil. (Oxford); Th.M (New Orleans Seminary). Dr. Land served as President of Southern Evangelical Seminary from July 2013 until July 2021. Upon his retirement, he was honored as President Emeritus and he continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Theology & Ethics. Dr. Land previously served as President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (1988-2013) where he was also honored as President Emeritus upon his retirement. Dr. Land has also served as an Executive Editor and columnist for The Christian Post since 2011.

Dr. Land explores many timely and critical topics in his daily radio feature, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” and in his weekly column for CP.

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Howard Green Op-ed: When preachers fail to warn


Howard Green | Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/when-preachers-fail-to-warn.html/

Unsplash/Alejandro Tocornal

A high school in my area sent an email out a few days ago about a student who was involved in a single-car accident on the way to school. He passed away today. Our lives are fleeting vapors.

This life is fraught with constant uncertainty. Even in the midst of good times, heartache and tragedy may be a phone call or door knock away. Bad things happen and we all understand that they are just part of living. We take precautions and try as best we know how to insulate ourselves and loved ones from harm. The reality is that traffic accidents, natural disasters, crime, sickness, and other life-altering events are an eventuality if we live long enough.

Some things happen because of the evil intent of others while many events are accidental or natural. Regardless of the source, most of these tragedies are out of our control. Occasionally, someone does come along with a warning to prepare us for the inevitable. A skilled physician sees an anomaly during an exam. Through treatment, they are able to prevent the further spread of disease. But can you imagine the outrage if the physician failed to adequately warn the people they’re supposed to protect because they didn’t want to scare or offend patients? That is exactly what is happening as many preachers fail to warn people and the consequences are eternally tragic.

Dear Christian friend, I’m writing this article with a sense of humility and love for the Church and fellow preachers. The issue at hand is so critical, if my admonishment makes you uncomfortable, that’s a start because what I’m aiming for is a holy sense of urgency. Roughly 175,000 people die and go into eternity every day. People’s souls are literally hanging in the balance between Heaven and Hell. We don’t have a moment to waste.

As ministers, we have one primary job and that is to preach the Gospel. Unfortunately, in many churches and ministries, that isn’t happening. Instead, we have a growing number of preachers who distort the grace of God. Numerous pastors, teachers, and evangelists are consumed with selfish ambition and envy( Philippians 1:15-16). Counting members, upward mobility, and getting the surrounding community to like us causes many preachers to compromise the truth of the Gospel. The message becomes so distorted that many people who hear it will assume they are saved when they’re not. A number of years ago during a Sunday morning service, I heard a young preacher tell a large gathering essentially that they were okay and God was basically pleased with them.

No repentance, no brokenness, and no warning (Galatians 1:9-10).  

This type of preaching has no place in a Christian church. Are we so consumed with people-pleasing that we would neglect to tell people that God is a holy all-consuming fire and that apart from repentance and faith in Jesus, they will die in their sins? God forbid! You might say, “Howard, isn’t that a bit harsh?” No friend, what’s harsh is not telling people the truth about the danger they are in. Imagine knowing about the Titanic, September 11th, or the Indian Ocean Tsunami a few days before it happened. Wouldn’t you do everything in your power to warn people? You wouldn’t spend months trying to get them to know and trust you first so they see how loving you are. You would risk your dignity, reputation, and possibly even your life to warn people. It is the most Christ-like thing we can do.

The Bible is replete with examples of shepherds who fail to warn people. In fact, God is so concerned with preachers and prophets who don’t warn people to repent and turn to Him that He rebukes them (Ezekiel 3:18-21). Moreover, He says, “My anger is kindled against the shepherds.” This is because they mislead people, telling them everything is okay, God is pleased with them, and judgment won’t come (Jeremiah 14:14-15, Micah 3:11). All of these examples point to the fact that God holds ministers accountable for failure to warn people.

Don’t believe the lie that you must first earn the right to share the Gospel. This is simply a worldly method to ingratiate ourselves to the community via a spiritual bait and switch with no biblical precedent. One preacher gives the following example:

“On my plane flight tomorrow, how am I supposed to earn the right to witness to that person? Am I supposed to pour his drinks for him? I have the right commanded to me by Almighty God to witness to him or her and you can be assured I will pray for that opportunity, and I will take advantage of that opportunity.” — Mark Cahill

Amid the tepid, seeker-sensitive approach to reaching the lost, Leonard Ravenhill asked preachers timely questions:

“Is soul-hot preaching a lost art? Have we conceded to impatient snack-bar sermons, spiced with humor to edge jaded spiritual appetites?”

Dear ministry friends, Let’s put aside all human craftiness, cunning, and marketing campaigns in our misguided effort to win public opinion. Instead, let’s rely on the power of the Holy Spirit through faithful Gospel preaching to save souls (Ephesians 4:14).

Look at the current state of our world and the cesspool of sin people are drowning in. Evil is called good, truth is supposedly relative, and society is imploding. Wars rage, lawlessness increases, and love is waxing cold. Please discern the times we live in and know that our redemption draws near. As we wait for redemption, lost people blindly race toward the judgment and wrath of a holy God. 

As His disciples, we have no excuse for failing to warn people. We must preach the whole truth of the Gospel and warn people about the coming judgment, repentance, and faith in Jesus. It is a loving thing to warn people. Jesus loves everyone and desires that all people come to Him (Matthew 9:36).

May God bless you as you make Him known.

Howard Green leads Concerning The Times, a Bible teaching and evangelistic ministry whose primary focus is proclaiming the Gospel to the lost and exhorting believers through End Time Bible prophecy.

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Elle Purnell Op-ed: Pray For Damar Hamlin


BY: ELLE PURNELL | JANUARY 03, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/01/03/pray-for-damar-hamlin/

Bills players kneeling in prayer around Damar Hamlin
When faced with our mortality as Hamlin was last night, we quickly remember our constant need for mercy, and it compels us to pray.

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After a routine tackle during Monday night’s Bills-Bengals game, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on his back in cardiac arrest. Medical personnel administered CPR for roughly 10 minutes before an ambulance carted Hamlin off the field and to a Cincinnati hospital.

While it drove off, onlookers reported seeing Bills head coach Sean McDermott gather his players on the field for communal prayer. As both teams and staff knelt around Hamlin during those 10 minutes of CPR, individual players certainly were praying too. One Bengals fan at the game scribbled “Pray for Buffalo #3 Hamlin” on a paper sign. Minutes later, fans of both teams showed up at Hamlin’s hospital to pray. Players from around the league, fans, and others across social media offered prayers. We join them all in their prayers for his body and soul.

To watch the heart of the man beside you on the field stop beating, as Hamlin’s teammates and competitors did, is to be reminded of the Maker-meeting moment every one of us will encounter. Those reminders compel us to pray for mercy. Only the players and God know the content of the prayers offered from the field in Paycor Stadium last night, but I’d guess they prayed for the mercies of healing, comfort, and more time on this Earth, either to serve God or to encounter his grace.

For followers of Christ, prayer is a familiar weapon. It is a means by which we may approach the holy God and make our requests known to him. It is an act of intimacy and communion with our Maker and Judge, and a channel by which we offer humble repentance and receive unmerited grace. When faced with the threat of tragedy — a symptom of living in a world tainted by our own sin — we quickly remember our constant need for mercy, and it compels us to pray.

In moments like last night, however, it seems it’s not only the adopted children of God who cry out to him. Something prompts even those who, in another moment, might doubt the existence of God, to suddenly seek his mercy. Skeptics love to mock the offering of “thoughts and prayers” as useless or silly, but their quickness to turn to prayer in times of need suggests that deep down, they know its power.

Why? Our souls are created for eternity. Whether we admit it or not, moments that force us to wrestle with our own mortality are less about facing death and more about facing the reality that we are part of a judgment and redemption narrative far beyond the scope of our brief earthly pilgrimage, and which extends far beyond that pilgrimage’s end.

To repentantly welcome that redemption, recognizing our utter need for it and Christ’s exclusive worthiness to procure it, inspires worshipful gratitude. To reject it, or to indifferently ignore it, is to choose a life in which the existence of death rightly inspires fear. As we pray for Damar Hamlin’s recovery, we also pray that his brush with eternity would stir onlookers to grasp their own need for the loving mercy of God.

A few weeks ago, Hamlin spoke on “One Bills Live” about a sobering injury his teammate Dane Jackson had received.

“I can’t even describe it, but I cherish it every second that I can. Every second of every day,” Hamlin said. “We just had our prayer, our DB prayer we do every Wednesday. He was next to me and I just grabbed his hand a little bit harder just because you know, you never know when your last day could be that you get to experience something like this.”

That’s a realization that, for untold observers, Hamlin’s own scare just prompted. In addition to recalling our need for salvation, such reminders of eternity should spur us to pray more diligently and to live more gratefully. Alongside our petitions for Hamlin’s comfort and healing, we pray God would use the events of last night to compel more gratitude, prayerful vigilance, humble repentance, and joyful reception of grace, in Hamlin’s heart and in our own.

Elle Purnell is an assistant editor at The Federalist, and received her B.A. in government from Patrick Henry College with a minor in journalism. Follow her work on Twitter @_etreynolds.

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Mark Warren Op-ed: Only Spiritual Brotherhood Can Save Men in the Job Crisis


BY: MARK WARREN | DECEMBER 29, 2022

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/12/29/only-spiritual-brotherhood-can-save-men-in-the-job-crisis/

An article on the job crisis has a picture of a young man playing video games on a computer.
America’s young men are in crisis, and the answer to this problem is spiritual, not economic or political.

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There’s a strange thing happening in the American economy right now — what we read in the newspaper or see on TV doesn’t match what we’re witnessing with our own eyes. Job numbers reported in the media seem wonderful. Amazingly low unemployment that hasn’t been witnessed in 50 years! Hundreds of thousands of new jobs created monthly. Yet for all these rosy numbers, when we look at the real world, we see critically understaffed businesses, long waits for repairs, and customer service in the gutter.

America’s young men are in crisis, and the answer to this problem is spiritual, not economic or political. While the media continues to trumpet good news about the economy, the reason your real-life experiences don’t match such optimism is because these reports typically only give you part of the picture. What corporate media doesn’t tell you is that about 11 million jobs remain unfilled right now.

That’s why service is lousy everywhere and you can’t get a plumber. Those jobs go unfilled because millions of young American men between the ages of 25 and 54 aren’t working. At all. As Bloomberg reports, they’ve been left behind, with a lower percentage of men between those ages working than in 1970 — a statistic that emerged before the economic disaster brought by coronavirus lockdowns.

Millions of Young Men Doing Nothing All Day

So, how can millions of men be out of work when unemployment is extremely low? Easy, if you don’t count them.

Yes, the unemployment rate hovers at a record low figure, but this number doesn’t count all unemployed people. It only includes those who don’t have a job and are actively seeking one. This cheery (and erroneous) unemployment rate doesn’t count the millions of young men who aren’t looking for a job. Young males fitting this description are often referred to as “NEETs,” an acronym originating in the U.K. that stands for “Not in Employment, Education or Training.” These fellows aren’t working and, worse, aren’t interested in work.

Of course, this was already a growing problem in the last decade. But unemployment went full supernova during the coronavirus lockdown — and finally smart people are paying attention to it. Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs” fame recently hosted a podcast discussion on the crisis of young men not working.

To further understand the problem’s depth, Rowe interviewed economist Nicholas Eberstadt, who wrote “Men Without Work.” It explains the seriousness of this issue, documenting how the unemployment crisis goes far beyond simply not having a job. Too many men in their prime have fallen into a hollow existence. And their parents — and our tax dollars — subsidize such incredible waste.

What do such men do with their copious amounts of leisure? According to Eberstadt, they aren’t only not working. They aren’t going to church. They typically aren’t dating. They aren’t engaging in charity work or civic activities either, or even helping with housework.

Instead, they play video games, binge watch TV and movies, and, perhaps most concerningly, abuse drugs. So many young men are not only lost to our economy but lost to their families as well. They are at risk of becoming another gloomy statistic in the opioid epidemic.

Social and Spiritual Solutions

So, what is the answer? Unsurprisingly, it depends on who you ask. Eberstadt, the expert on young men dropping out of the economy, believes in secular and market-driven solutions to this crisis. He explains to Rowe on the podcast that we could use shame as a powerful motivator, much like our nation has shamed smokers to give up the habit.

But a campaign to shame men is already widespread in America — and not particularly helpful. In recent years, so many expressions of traditional male values have been labeled “toxic masculinity.” Combine this message with readily available drugs ranging from prescription opioids and fentanyl to legal marijuana in many states, and it almost feels like society is encouraging young men to disconnect from the real world and play “Call of Duty” all day.

We therefore believe the real solution to this crisis is spiritual. And we don’t mean just dragging young men away from the TV and into church. When Eberstadt’s book was first published in 2016, The New York Times highlighted it with an op-ed that made an eye-opening point about the root cause of the problem.

In the article, the journalist explored the issue via an interview with a young man who lost his job in the oil industry. He told the interviewer he feels as if America doesn’t care about him. He says he feels as if he’s “considered nothing.” This is a tragedy that likely resonates with millions of other young men not working. No shaming campaign will solve this. It will only worsen things.

Instead, these men would do well to unite. We suggest they form small groups with other men to help each other and provide non-judgmental spaces to work through life’s problems.

Form a Small Band of Brothers

I did this with several brothers a couple of decades ago — and continue to do to this day. Recently, I recounted what drove me to create such fellowship and how it’s transformed my life and so many others in the new book “Power of 4: How Christian Men Create Purposeful Lives By Not Going It Alone.”

If young men feel isolated and valueless, the answer is to bring them together in brotherhood to help them understand their worth. “Power of 4” emphasizes how much more powerful men can be when they don’t try to go it alone. When a man has three brothers to meet with regularly to work through life’s challenges, he is much better off than trying to handle his problems on his own.

Consider a hypothetical Power of 4 group comprised of men not in the workforce. They could work together to build each other up, for instance, by engaging in charity work while also collaborating on resumes and professional networking. (Simply having regular face-to-face contact with other men who are not keen on blaming themselves for their station in life will do worlds of good for young men in crisis).

An even more powerful approach to a Power of 4 group might be to mix together men with established careers with those not in the workforce. Young men who feel lost and without purpose could get unimaginable benefits from spending time with men who are on solid footing in their profession. Such successful men might even assist their Power of 4 brother by arranging an internship or introductory position.

What’s more, men currently working know just how nearly every employer is screaming out for quality employees now. That means a resume with some gaps in it won’t necessarily hold back a man who wants to better his situation. Undoubtedly, our young men in crisis can transform their lives once they realize they do have value — and even the potential for greatness. All it takes is a determination to relinquish those behaviors holding them back — whether it be drugs and alcohol or Netflix and PlayStation (or all of the above!).

Ultimately, we are deeply concerned by the crisis of young men dropping out of society. Despite so much bad news, we see many positives in the future. If men come together to support each other, this problem can and will correct itself.

With the right support system, young men can achieve tremendous personal growth. Every human has value, a fact lost on so many men for far too long. With the help of three brothers, our blueprint for the Power of 4, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, American men will return to a society that so desperately needs them.

Mark Warren is the coauthor of “Power of 4: How Christian Men Create Purposeful Lives By Not Going It Alone.”

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If Your Kids Are Unhappy, Take Them to Church


BY: MARY ROSE KULCZAK | DECEMBER 28, 2022

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/12/28/if-your-kids-are-unhappy-take-them-to-church/

Altar boy praying in church with his rosary
A huge burden could be lifted from our children if they had a place to go each week that offered them grace and refuge from anxiety.

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It seems like every time I turn around, an editor assigns me a story related to the mental health crises of our children. Most of the health experts I speak to correlate Covid lockdowns and our children’s fragile state. Closing schools played a major role in this phenomenon, but what if other crucial factors are being overlooked?

Another story, seemingly unrelated to the mental health crisis, is making the rounds in the corporate press. Church attendance is on a rapid decline. The “nones,” survey respondents who say they have no religious affiliation, are the fastest-growing group in the United States every year. We now have a generation of adults that grew up not attending worship services weekly, and they are raising their children in a similar fashion. 

The “nones” seem to prefer a parenting style that says: “We’re fine without church and worship and religious instruction and institutions, thank you very much.” But they are not fine. Their children are not coping and managing the day-to-day stresses and inconveniences thrown at them. They are fragile and increasingly so. 

The “nones” will tell you it is because we need to better embrace children’s differences and preferences (like their pronouns) while empowering them with positive affirmations and encouraging personal acceptance through self-esteem workshops. We clutter their calendars with sports, theater, STEM clubs, and dance classes. If none of that pans out, we allow our kids to self-medicate with hours spent on social media.

Parents will do all of this, but won’t take their families to church. Yet research shows that children who attend weekly worship services have higher GPAs, score higher on standardized tests, and are less likely to be held back a grade. They also are more likely to achieve a bachelor’s degree in college.

So why aren’t parents taking their children to weekly worship?

When surveyed, parents often respond that their children and teens do not want to attend worship. This democratic approach to family decision-making only seems to apply to church attendance, however. For other important decisions like wearing a seatbelt or vaccinations, parents balk at giving their children voting privileges. A child’s vote carries more weight when it aligns with a parent’s desire to stay home in pajamas on a Sunday morning.

Why should church attendance be considered a powerful tool for parents to boost their children’s mental health? We can look to the research for the answer.

In a 2018 study, Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found some surprising benefits to children and adolescents who attend weekly worship. It turns out that children and teens who attend church grow up to be young adults with higher rates of reported happiness and life satisfaction. They were less likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, less likely to use illicit drugs, and less likely to engage in early sex and contract sexually transmitted infections.

In addition, these same young adults were more likely to embrace volunteering and reported feeling a sense of mission and purpose than their non-church-attending counterparts.

With all of these positive outcomes for children who attend weekly worship, should we be surprised that children who do not have a similar structure in their lives experience an inverse phenomenon? Is it any wonder that anxiety and depression among children and teens are on the rise when every day, their still-forming brains are bombarded with information about doom and destruction while they drown in a sea of gender confusion and racial animus?

We think we can combat all the negativity by telling children: “You are perfect! You are awesome! You keep being you!” We put these pithy platitudes on T-shirts and backpacks and stickers with unicorns and rainbows. At the end of a bad day, our kids know that this is no substitute for the real deal.

Each of us knows these sentiments are superficial. We are poor, miserable sinners in need of forgiveness. Where do we go with all our baggage when the church is not an option? We go to therapists and pharmacists, but trends show that the last place parents want to go is the place actually offering a solution.

What could families find at church that they won’t find anywhere else? Hopefully, something that is woefully lacking in the world around them: the truth.

Newsflash, kids! You are not perfect! You know that mean thing you did to your classmate in the cafeteria? That was a sin. And that nasty thought you had about that person? That was a sin. And the snide comment you made to your mom when you were hangry? Yep. Are you starting to see a pattern here?

Good news: you’ve come to the right place! Jesus came for sinners. As a matter of fact, the church is filled with them. Each week, they come to hear the message that even though we are sinful human beings, Jesus died for those sins. When we confess those nasty thoughts and horrible things we did, we can receive forgiveness — a clean slate! 

Will we mess up again on Monday? Of course. But that’s why we can look forward to church. Can we try harder to be better people? Kinder people? Yes, we can. Does our forgiveness depend upon what we do and how we perform each week? Nope. You are forgiven because God loves you that much, so much that he sent his son to take the punishment that should have been yours and mine.

Imagine what a burden could be lifted from our children if they had a place to go each week that offered them that grace. How much better could they cope with a bad day, knowing that each moment offers a fresh start? How much more resilient could our children become?

Parents, we put our children at a disadvantage when we do not give them the very thing they need for their mental and spiritual health. It is time to put a new priority on the family calendar every Sunday. If we won’t do it for ourselves (and we should), let’s do it for our children. The next generation depends on it.

Mary Rose Kulczak is a writer for various parent and child publications. She is a wife and mother of three sons, and currently resides in Saline, Michigan.

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Kirk Cameron will hold story hours at 2 libraries after threat of legal action


By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter | December 12, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/kirk-cameron-to-host-story-hour-at-libraries-that-rejected-him.html

Kirk Cameron speaks during an interview with The Christian Post in Nashville, Tennessee. | The Christian Post/Leah Klett

Christian actor Kirk Cameron said that two public libraries are working with him to host a reading of his new faith-based children’s book once Cameron indicated he was prepared to seek legal help after multiple libraries across the United States refused to host him. 

The actor is scheduled to speak at the Indianapolis Public Library in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Dec. 29 and at the Scarsdale Public Library in Scarsdale, New York, the following day. The two libraries, which have previously hosted drag queen story hours and other programs celebrating the diversity of opinions, initially refused to host Cameron. The libraries changed their minds after the actor and his publishing house, Brave Books, threatened to challenge the denials in court. 

“I’m happy that the two libraries changed their decision and will allow my voice to be heard and my book to be read,” the actor said in a statement published Monday by Fox News. 

“I hope they realized that their position of denying me a story hour reading was not only unfair and illegal but that we would all be better off if we listened to each other’s perspectives.”

The 52-year-old actor hopes that “children from Indianapolis and Scarsdale can learn something about biblical wisdom and the fruits of the Spirit from ‘As You Grow.'”

Cameron is best known for his work on the television sitcom “Growing Pains.” Earlier this month, the actor published a book titled, As You Grow, which teaches children about biblical values, such as love, joy, peace, kindness and faithfulness. 

In a Friday interview with CBN’s Faithwire, the actor and children’s book author revealed that he and his publishing house wrote a letter to libraries across the U.S. that refused to host him. They also sent a free copy of Cameron’s book for the libraries to share with their patrons.

“If they double down on their discrimination and excluding certain viewpoints just because they think that they don’t like them, well, then, I told them that I’m prepared to assert my constitutional rights in court,” Cameron said. 

“It’s not OK to say ‘yes’ to drag queen story hours and teach children one kind of value and say ‘no’ to other community members who would like to have their children taught other values in the same library, in the same room, for the same amount of time as other people are allowed.”

The “Growing Pains” star expressed surprise that libraries would hesitate to teach the values found in his book to children, emphasizing a need for the country to “get back to the Word of God.” 

In an interview with The Christian Post earlier this month promoting his film “Lifemark,” a pro-life movie about adoption, Cameron encouraged Christian parents to involve themselves in the culture after over 50 libraries refused or ignored his request to host a reading of his book. 

“We need all hands on deck. The family of faith needs to get off the defense, get on the offense, and when we do, we will join that great cloud of witnesses from the past,” Cameron assured. “We will be part of God’s loving army of compassion that cannot be stopped and the gates of Hell cannot prevail against it.”

One of the libraries that declined to host Cameron, the Rochambeau Public Library in Providence, Rhode Island, told the actor’s publisher, “No, we will pass on having you run a program in our space. We are a very queer-friendly library. Our messaging does not align.”

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follower her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman

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Most Americans favor religious liberty protections for medical professionals: survey


By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter | December 7, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/americans-favor-religious-liberty-for-medical-professionals-poll.html

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WASHINGTON — A new survey reveals that most Americans support religious liberty protections for medical professionals and institutions opposed to participating in procedures that violate their beliefs and commitment to “do no harm,” even as younger Americans express more skepticism about religious liberty protections.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty unveiled the top findings of its 2022 Religious Freedom Index at its headquarters Tuesday. The fourth annual survey, conducted in conjunction with Heart and Minds Strategies, is based on responses collected from 1,004 adults in the United States from Sept. 28 to Oct. 5.  The full report is slated for release Wednesday.

As Becket Fund for Religious Liberty President and CEO Mark Rienzi explained, the Religious Freedom Index asks “the same questions year after year [to] a big number people to get a sense of how the American people are feeling about religious liberty for themselves, for other people, for people of minority faiths, [and] people of faiths that they don’t necessarily share.”

One question on the survey asked respondents to react to statements related to religious objections to assisted suicide, abortion and sex change procedures within the medical community. Seventy-three percent of those surveyed agreed that “individual physicians should be allowed to opt out of assisted suicide, elective abortion, or sex change procedures” if performing such procedures goes against their religious beliefs or their commitment to “do no harm.”

When asked if they believed that “hospitals and healthcare systems which have ethical objections or are run by religious organizations should be allowed to refuse to perform elective abortions,” 62% answered in the affirmative. Additionally, a majority (59%) of those surveyed believed that “medical students should be able to opt out of instruction regarding physician-assisted suicide, elective abortions, and sex change procedures during training.”

Only half of respondents expressed support for allowing “hospitals and healthcare systems with religious objections to assisted suicide, elective abortions, and sex change procedures” to “only employ medical professionals who agree with that position.” 

Achieving 74% support, the most popular idea introduced in the Religious Freedom Index states that “Patients and families should have access to healthcare facilities that share their beliefs about controversial procedures such as assisted suicide, elective abortion, or sex change procedures.”

The release of the 2022 Religious Freedom Index comes after the Biden administration has found itself in court over a mandate it issued forcing medical organizations to perform gender transition surgeries. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down the mandate and the Biden administration did not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, leaving the decision in place.

Last year’s survey included a question measuring support for “freedom for healthcare workers with religious objections to abortion to not participate in abortion procedures.” Seventy-five percent of respondents either completely or mostly accepted allowing healthcare workers to opt out of performing abortions if they could not do so in good conscience.

At the same time, 44% of those surveyed believed that hospitals and healthcare systems run by religious organizations should have the ability to “set policies and standards that reflect the organization’s religious beliefs.”

The questions about the conscience rights of hospitals and healthcare workers constitute a small fraction of the inquiries posed to Americans in this year’s Religious Freedom Index. As in previous years, the survey asked Americans for their views on religion and policy, religion in action, religion in society, religious pluralism, church and state and religion sharing.

Based on responses to a series of questions, Becket calculated a dimension score on a scale of 0 to 100 for each of the subcategories examined, with 0 indicating “complete opposition for the principle of religious freedom at issue” and a score of 100 demonstrating “robust support for the same principle.” The Religious Freedom Index is a composite score calculated after combining the dimension scores.

Heart and Mind Strategies CEO Dee Allsop elaborated on the dimensions examined in the Religious Freedom Index at the event Tuesday. According to Allsop, questions about religious pluralism examine respondents’ views about “freedoms to choose your religion, and to be able to pray and pursue your beliefs.” The religious sharing dimension measures Americans’ beliefs pertaining to the ability to “talk about and preach about your faith.”

Questions about church and state survey public opinion about “government being involved in religion and religion in government.” The religion in society dimension seeks to determine “whether or not religion is part of the problem or part of the solution” to societal problems.

The religion and policy dimension queries respondents for their views about marriage and whether or not religious beliefs “should be guiding the way that we vote.” The religion in action dimension is based on responses to questions about whether or not there should be “freedom for people of faith to follow their own religious beliefs when they’re at work and in their profession.”

As panelists explained at the press conference, the overall Religious Freedom Index stood at 68 this year, showing no change from 2021. However, the changes in the index dimension scores from 2021 varied widely.  

As in previous surveys, respondents demonstrated the highest level of support for religious pluralism. The dimension score for religious pluralism came in at 84 in 2022, an increase from 80 in 2021. The dimension scores for religious sharing and religion in action barely budged from 71 to 72 and 67 to 68, respectively.

On the other hand, support for religion in society, religion and policy, church and state and religion in action declined compared to last year. The dimension score for religion and policy dropped by three points from 68 to 65 between 2021 and 2022. The religion in society dimension score also decreased by three points, from 65 to 62.

Mirroring the results of previous surveys, the dimension dealing with church and state received the lowest score in 2022, dropping from 58 to 56 over the past year. 

A group of panelists, moderated by Becket Law Executive Director Montse Alvarado, discussed the findings from the Religious Freedom Index and their implications for American society as a whole at the event Tuesday. With the U.S. Supreme Court case 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis case in the news, Americans indicated that they “overwhelmingly support” the right of a photographer not to participate in a same-sex wedding if doing so conflicts with their religious beliefs, regardless of what those beliefs are.

The 303 Creative case centers on Colorado-based website designer Lorie Smith, who is challenging Colorado anti-discrimination law out of concern that it would force her to create websites for same-sex marriages in violation of her religious convictions about marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Oral arguments in the 303 Creative case took place Monday.

One panelist, Nick Tomaino of The Wall Street Journal, expressed gratitude for “the durable support for people like Lorie,” noting that the Religious Freedom Index found “about seven in 10 people thinking that Lorie Smith and others like her should be able to practice their faith.” At the same time, he highlighted a trend from the survey revealing that “Gen Z women aren’t registering their support.”

Other panelists also cited Gen Zers’ beliefs about religious freedom issues as a cause for concern going forward. Stephanie Slade of Reason Magazine pointed to statistics illustrating “abstract” support for religious liberty among the youngest Americans that fades when respondents are presented with a specific example: “Among Gen Z, you have a very high number (86%) who say … they support freedom of people or groups to choose not to participate in actions or work that violate their sincere religious beliefs and conscience.”

“When you put a specific example to them and you ask ‘should an individual physician, for example, be able to opt out of providing, say, being involved in abortion or physician-assisted suicide’ or something like that, support drops 50% among the Gen Z cohort,” she said.

Another panelist, Josh Good, director of the Faith Angle Forum at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, attributed the hostility toward religious liberty among younger Americans to a “blind spot when it comes to religion” in American newsrooms. Tomaino suggested that having “religious practitioners in newsrooms” could help address this “blind spot.”

Tomaino contended that “there might be a caricature that newsrooms treat religion as something of a strange species.” Alvarado lamented the Religious Freedom Index’s finding that “37% of Americans had never heard of pregnancy centers being in any way being affected by post-Roe reality,” such as vandalism and bombings, as a consequence of media bias.

Alvarado and Slade suggested that had these people known about the targeting of pro-life pregnancy centers following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which determined that the U.S. Constitution did not contain a right to abortion, they would have become more sympathetic to arguments in favor of religious liberty.

“Story selection is a form of bias,” Slade asserted. “These stories are not getting the coverage that they deserve and they are not getting the coverage they would get if … when there are, in some cases, violence or any kind of harassment or attacks on an abortion provider, for example, these same journalists would know that this is a story and it deserves coverage and it’s a big deal.”

According to Slade, “In a healthy media ecosystem, we need people who are going out and just reporting the facts that are true.” She portrayed the current state of American media as focused on “the pure outrage-inducing opinion cable news-style journalism as opposed to reporting the facts,” where journalists see themselves on an “existential mission to represent the good against the evil.”

Slade also acknowledged that the irreligiosity of Gen Z compared to other generations might also play a role in their apparent hostility toward religious liberty: “Gen Z is much less religious themselves, they’re much less likely to think that religion’s part of the solution rather than part of the problem.”

“They’re much less supportive of freedom for people to run their businesses the way they want, for religious nonprofits to make employment decisions based on the tenets of their faith, which is a really important part of being a faith-based nonprofit, they’re much less likely to … support freedom to believe that certain behaviors are sinful.”  

After Slade reiterated that Gen Z has “less sympathy and understanding of the value of religion in society,” Tomaino pointed to academic influence as a reason why. “The water they swim in universities tends to be overtly hostile to the faith,” he concluded. He circled back to the role the media plays in shaping public opinion: “Having news coverage of the positive contributions that faith organizations make is especially important.”

When Tomaino clarified that “males registered slightly more sympathy to religious causes” than females, Alvarado responded, “they’re more religious themselves.” Alvarado and the other panelists repeatedly stressed the importance of religious liberty in a pluralistic society, with the Becket Fund Executive Director sharing a quote from noted theologian Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: “The Tree of Liberty has religious roots and don’t think that you can sever those roots and have the Tree of Liberty survive.”

For his part, Good offered up his opinion that “People being more religious, not less religious, is the key to understanding pluralism better.”

Discussing other takeaways of the 2022 Religious Freedom Index, Allsop noted that when asked if “religion is part of the solution to the problems we face in our society or part of the problem,” respondents were split down the middle. This constituted a dramatic drop from the 61% who saw religion as a solution to societal problems in 2021.

“Catholics in particular and non-Catholic Christians overwhelmingly say that they feel completely or a good amount accepted in our society,” he said. Stressing that feelings of acceptance were “not quite the same for those that are religious, non-Christians,” he reported that “less than half of them are feeling that high level of acceptance in our society.” Additionally, 89% of Americans agree that “sacred sites and religious practices of Native American Indians ought to be protected.”

When asked about the First Amendment, “Less than half of Americans recognize that freedom of religion is one of the protected rights in the First Amendment,” Allsop added. “Most Americans, even though they can’t find it in the First Amendment, they nevertheless feel that religious freedom plays a really important role and provides an important good in our society.”

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com

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If Marriage Can Mean Anything, It Will Soon Mean Nothing


BY: STELLA MORABITO | NOVEMBER 29, 2022

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/11/29/if-marriage-can-mean-anything-it-will-soon-mean-nothing/

Sen. Cynthia Lummis speaking on the Senatea floor prior to voting on the Respect for Marriage Act
The Respect for Marriage Act lets the government establish a permanent presence in your personal life while redefining your relationships.

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No matter how you define “marriage,” there is zero respect for it in the so-called Respect for Marriage Act. You may believe it serves to federally codify the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision that rejected marriage as a male-female union. Maybe it would do so temporarily. But that’s not the endgame.

If you’re paying attention, you can see that the Senate’s recent 62-37 vote for cloture on HR 8404 puts us one step closer to abolishing state recognition of marriage entirely. That’s where this train is headed.

This will happen the same way such things always happen — through a demonization campaign that frames skeptics as bigots who are guilty of discrimination. That’s how you get Democrat-pliable Republicans such as Mitt Romney and craven Supreme Court justices like Anthony Kennedy to sign on. That’s how you manufacture a public opinion cascade, warning average Americans that they’ll be pummeled with lawsuits and ostracism if they dare think out loud.

And that’s how Democrats in Congress are likely in the not-too-distant future — via HR 8404 — to make the case that marriage actually comes with privileges that discriminate against the unmarried. Disagree? You’re a bigot who deserves to be socially ostracized! Self-censorship in the face of such accusations will pave the way, as always. 

Collectivists Hope to Destroy Private Life and Regulate Relationships

Once they’ve gotten to that point via HR 8404 and Republicans who supported the measure, congressional Democrats will doubtless push us to agree that marriage is a discriminatory institution. We’ll start seeing more anti-marriage initiatives supported by singles, millennials, Julias, and gen Z, all well-groomed for the moment by teacher’s unions, academia, and media.

They’ll fall for the pitch that we can all just write up domestic partnership contracts instead. “Marriage” would then become nothing but a legal relationship (a contract) between two (or more) people for any purpose at all. Bureaucrats would broker those contracts. This proposal is all mapped out in Sunstein and Thaler’s 2008 book “Nudge.” It’s also been promoted for decades by internationally acclaimed feminist legal scholar Martha Fineman who writes that a system of contracts replacing marriage will help the state “regulate all social interactions.”

Under a system that abolishes state recognition of marriage, the family could no longer exist autonomously or unmolested by the state. How could it if the state no longer recognizes marriage as the foundation of the family unit? The government would have no requirement to recognize religious rites of marriage as valid. Thus, it would meddle more deeply in religion and religious communities that recognize bonds of kinship through blood ties.

We Become Atomized Individuals in the State’s Eyes

The atomization resulting from this will have repercussions that go beyond the bill’s guarantee to treat any difference of opinion as a federal crime. If we continue on this path, the government will no longer have to recognize any biological relationships. It need not recognize any legal right you might have as the parent of your biological child. Why should it? It would have already abolished its recognition of the union that produced the child. 

Some of this process has already been completed through gender-neutral language in documents like passports, birth certificates, or the rules of the 117th Congress that do not recognize the words “mother,” “father,” “son,” or “daughter.”

Much groundwork has also been laid by surrogacy and abortion laws that treat children as chattel to buy, sell, and dispose of at will. And why would the state have to recognize any other relationships resulting from marriage if it no longer recognizes marriage? It could ignore your blood relationships to brother, sister, aunt, uncle, or any familial bond. In this scenario, you’d likely need a license to raise your own child, an old communist goal that the so-called Respect for Marriage Act conjures up.

When all there is are bureaucratized domestic partnership arrangements, the government would no longer need to recognize spousal privilege and thereby could legally coerce spouses to testify against one another in court. It could also abolish the default path of survivorship through which your inheritance goes to your spouse or next of kin. Instead, the state would be free to redistribute your nest egg at will in its great bureaucratic wisdom.

Indeed, there is no reason to doubt that the Respect for Marriage Act serves as a midwife to the radical left’s long-held goal of abolishing state recognition of marriage. It will allow the government to regulate our relationships, rendering each of us naked before its power. 

We are each being set up for a pre-arranged marriage with Big Government operating as our abusive spouse. 

Such Atomization Is a Totalitarian Necessity

The path to human atomization is the natural arc of all totalitarian systems in the making. They must always first isolate people in order to control them through terror, as Hannah Arendt noted in her work “The Origins of Totalitarianism.” Tyrants always mask their intentions by borrowing from tradition, using words like “respect for marriage,” “love,” or “equality” as they march us all into virtual solitary confinement. 

There’s nothing new about this trajectory. It’s a long-standing vision of all totalitarian systems, which first came into the open with the Communist Manifesto’s proclamation, “Abolish the family!” Communists referred to traditional religion as “the opiate of the people” while setting up communism as a pseudo-religion that demanded unquestioning loyalty. The resulting dependency then truly becomes the fentanyl of the people.

Such deceptions are why Schumer and company talk about marriage as though the government has some sort of litmus test for “love.” But anyone with half a brain knows that love’s got nothing to do with a functioning state’s interest in marriage. Marriage is an institution that exists to allow for a structured society and for the protection of children. 

Of course, we easily forget such facts while living in a nation that increasingly promotes infanticide, assisted suicide, recreational drug use, child pornography, and other ways to torture and kill our children. In fact, virtually all of their policy positions are tailor-made for family breakdown, community breakdown, and for hostility toward religious communities.

But maybe you like feeling lonely and alienated, like the idea of a childless and hopeless future, and are all for the state regulating your personal relationships and conversations. Well, then, you’ll like the “Respect” for Marriage Act.

But the destruction of bonds of affection and loyalty in the private spheres of life makes sense from the point of view of statists. Those loyalties get in the way of their ambitions for power and social engineering. They are invested in isolating us so that we become dependent upon them.

Stella Morabito is a senior contributor at The Federalist. She is author of “The Weaponization of Loneliness: How Tyrants Stoke Our Fear of Isolation to Silence, Divide, and Conquer.” Her essays have appeared in various publications, including the Washington Examiner, American Greatness, Townhall, Public Discourse, and The Human Life Review. In her previous work as an intelligence analyst, Morabito focused on various aspects of Russian and Soviet politics, including communist media and propaganda. Follow Stella on Twitter.

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Scripture engaged Americans gave more than $100B to charity in 2021: report


By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter | November 30, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/scripture-engaged-americans-gave-145-billion-to-charity-in-2021-report.html/

A man reading the Bible. | Getty images

Scripture engaged Americans donated more than $100 billion to charity last year, giving more on average to churches and other charitable organizations than the other subgroups surveyed, according to a new report. 

The American Bible Society released the eighth chapter of its annual “State of the Bible” report earlier this month, which focused on the charitable giving habits of Christians and the American people as a whole. The survey found that Scripture engaged Americans, those who score the highest on a scale measuring Scripture engagement based on responses to a series of questions examining the “frequency of Bible use and the impact and centrality of [its] message” on their lives, gave a total of $145 billion to charitable causes in 2021. 

According to the report, compiled based on responses from 2,598 U.S. adults collected from Jan. 20-28, charitable giving among Scripture engaged Americans accounted for 44% of all donations given to charity last year. Additionally, Scripture engaged Americans gave an average of $2,941 to charity in 2021. Their counterparts in the “movable middle” and the Scripture disengaged, as determined by their scores on the Scripture engagement scale, gave an average of $649 and $924 to charity last year, respectively. 

On average, a majority of the donations from Scripture engaged Americans went to their church, parish or temple. With Scripture engaged Americans’ average contributions to their place of worship measured at $2,124, other top recipients of charitable giving among this subgroup included national religious charities ($344), other religious organizations ($277) and local non-religious charities ($162). 

Respondents in the “movable middle” gave an average of $335 to their place of worship, followed by $168 to other religious organizations, $85 to local non-religious charities and $43 to national religious charities. On the other hand, the Bible disengaged directed most of their charitable donations ($406) at religious organizations besides their place of worship, more than double the average amount given to places of worship ($163). 

The Bible disengaged donated an average of $285 to local non-religious charities and an average of $28 to national religious charities.

Scripture engaged Americans also had the highest proportion of givers among the three categories of respondents as determined by their scores on the Scripture engagement scale. Eighty percent of Scripture engaged Americans gave to charity in 2021, compared to 68% of those in the “movable middle” and 53% of Scripture disengaged Americans.

Among Scripture engaged Americans, a majority (58%) donated at least $210 to charity while an additional 24% gave less than $210, and the remaining 18% did not give to charity. A plurality of those in the “movable middle” (37%) gave less than $210 to charity, followed by 36% who did not donate at all and 27% who contributed more than $210. An outright majority of the Scripture disengaged (52%) did not give to charity, while the remaining 48% consisted of an even split of those who gave less than $210 and those who donated more than $210. 

Practicing Christians also donated money to charity at a higher rate than their non-practicing and non-Christian counterparts. Eighty-one percent of practicing Christians donated to charity in 2021, compared to 61% of non-practicing Christians and 52% of non-Christians. 

The latest chapter of the State of the Bible report also illustrated a correlation between the amount of money an individual gave to charity and their score on the Human Flourishing Index, developed by Harvard University to measure a person’s “happiness and life satisfaction,” “mental and physical health,” “meaning and purpose,” “character and virtue,” “close social relationships” and “financial and material stability.” Those who gave more than $210 to charity last year had an average score of 7.6 on the Human Flourishing Index’s 10-point scale. 

Individuals who gave less than $210 to charity achieved an average score of 6.9 on the Human Flourishing Index and those who gave nothing at all to charity had an average score of 6.7. On the 10-point scale specifically measuring an individual’s level of meaning and purpose, those who gave at least $210 to charity registered an average score of 7.7 in contrast to those who gave less than $210 (6.9) or those who did not donate to charity (6.7). 

John Farquhar Plake, the director of ministry intelligence for the American Bible Society, reacted to the findings of the report in a statement. “Year after year our research shows there is a strong correlation between charitable giving and human flourishing, suggesting that people find a sense of meaning when they give to a cause they believe in,” he said. “Engaging with the Bible and actively living out our faith doesn’t simply mean reading the words in the pages of Scripture–rather, it is a transformation of the heart that inspires us to love and live well.”

The State of the Bible report also illustrated a noticeable gap in levels of charitable giving based on age. Eighty-four percent of the elderly gave to charity in 2021, along with 73% of baby boomers, 61% of those in Generation X, 53% of millennials and exactly one-half of the youngest group of American adults that comprise Generation Z. 

The report concluded with a look at the role that Bible users, defined as those who interact with the Bible at least three to four times a year, believe that their use of the Bible plays in their amount of charitable giving. Fifty-five percent of Bible users who agreed that “as a result of using the Bible, I am more generous with my time, energy, or financial resources” gave at least $210 to charity, while 19% donated less than $210 and the remaining 26% did not give to charity.

A majority of those who agreed that “as a result of using the Bible, I show more loving behavior toward others” (54%) reported giving at least $210 to charity. An additional 26% who credited the Bible with making them more loving toward others did not give any money to charity while the remaining 20% donated less than $210. 

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com

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‘Deceptive’: Franklin Graham warns Christians about ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ ahead of Senate vote


By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor | November 28, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/franklin-graham-warns-christians-about-respect-for-marriage-act.html/

Courtesy Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Evangelist Franklin Graham is warning Christians that the so-called Respect for Marriage Act, which is set to be voted on by the Senate Monday, is a deceptive smoke-screen that would change the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman while not protecting those who hold a traditional view of marriage.

The Respect for Marriage Act “could impact you, your family, your church, and our nation,” Graham wrote on Facebook during the weekend. “The name is a smoke-screen. Very deceptive.”

He compared it to the Democrats’ so-called Inflation Reduction Act that “did nothing but increase inflation and further hurt our economy.”

“The current version of the Respect for Marriage Act being pushed by Senator Chuck Schumer is designed to provide strong protections for same-sex marriage — but it fails to protect those of us who believe marriage is between a man and a woman,” explained Graham, who heads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse.

“It is dangerous legislation that would be used against individuals, churches and organizations who honor traditional marriage.”

The bill to enshrine the right to same-sex marriage into federal law cleared a major procedural hurdle in the Senate earlier this month, with critics saying that a religious freedom amendment added to the legislation doesn’t adequately protect those with deeply held beliefs that marriage is between one man and one woman. Graham said Republican Sen. Mike Lee’s proposed amendment “can improve” the legislation and “bring critically-needed protection for religious liberty and rights of conscience.”

He continued, “Many say this is a long shot, but we desperately need senators to demand the Lee Amendment be added to the current version of the Respect for Marriage Act before it is finalized.”

The measure would codify the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which established a right to same-sex marriage, into federal law and formally repeal the unenforced Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman at the federal level.

Graham urged Christians to call their senators “as soon as possible and ask them to vote YES for the Lee Amendment — or to vote NO to the Respect for Marriage Act if it doesn’t have this amendment.”

He warned, “Time is short — freedom-loving people have to take action before it’s too late.”

The Respect for Marriage Act previously passed the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives in July with the support of all Democrats and 47 House Republicans.

The legislation would require all states to give “full faith and credit to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State pertaining to a marriage between 2 individuals, on the basis of the sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin of those individuals.”

Passage of the bill has become a top priority for congressional Democrats following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, determining that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t contain a right to abortion. In a concurring opinion in Dobbs, Justice Clarence Thomas described the substantive due process as “legal fiction,” suggesting that the justices should “reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents,” including Obergefell. 

In a recent op-ed for The Christian Post, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, also warned that the bill “opens the door to American persecution.”

“As the mainstream culture moves further and further away from a Christian worldview, I’ve witnessed the hostility to moral truth creep closer to our shores,” he wrote. “The West, once the safe haven of free speech and religion, is turning cold to the foundations that made our countries thrive.”

He cited an FRC report released in July, which tracked 99 incidents of government attacks on religious freedom against Christians or Christian institutions across 14 Western countries in the last two years alone.

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Trans Ideologues Who Cheer Cutting Off Healthy Genitals Shouldn’t Set Federal Medical Standards


BY: DOUGLAS WILSON | NOVEMBER 23, 2022

Read more at https://www.conservativereview.com/trans-ideologues-who-cheer-cutting-off-healthy-genitals-shouldnt-set-federal-medical-standards-2658771366.html/

Health and Human Services
Along the new frontier of ‘transgender health,’ destructive ‘standards of care’ are being set by ideologues — with the government’s blessing.

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Imagine the Environmental Protection Agency decides that, instead of setting air pollution standards, it will outsource oversight to an industry group called the “Emission Standards Coalition,” which, despite its innocuous name, is funded and staffed entirely by coal companies. Or, closer to home, imagine that city councilmembers in your quiet suburb decide that henceforth all speed limits will be set by the local auto racing club. We all would promptly object, haranguing the government for abdicating its most basic responsibility to citizens. “Foxes shouldn’t guard henhouses,” we’d say. Rules meant for public health and safety shouldn’t become tools to advance special interests and profit seekers. Lifting pollution and speed limits may benefit factory and Ferrari owners, but the public at large will have to cope with the resulting damage.

Farfetched as these examples might seem, something like this is happening in health care. Along the new frontier of “transgender health,” novel and even destructive “standards of care” are being set by ideologues and billionaire-backed foundations — all with the government’s blessing.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a proposed rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. Behind its 190-plus pages and innocent-sounding name (“Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities”) hides a radical agenda that would reshape the nation’s health care in alarming ways. HHS is proposing new national standards for what it calls “gender affirming care,” mandating that doctors provide these services and insurance plans cover them. What is “gender affirming care” exactly? HHS never really says. Its proposed rule neither defines the term nor identifies objective standards — such as age limits — that might apply. Instead, HHS incorporates guidance from medical societies and a group calling itself the “World Professional Association for Transgender Health,” or WPATH.

WPATH is not a government agency. It is a trans-activist group. Its president is Dr. Marci Bowers, a man identifying as a woman and self-described “pioneer in the field of Gender Affirmation Surgery” with her own transgender reality show, “Sex Change Hospital.” WPATH’s staff appears to be largely borrowed from Veritas, a for-profit company that does marketing and public relations for medical societies. WPATH’s funders include the Arcus Foundation (“one of the largest LGBT funders in the world”), the Soros-backed Open Society Foundations, and the Tawani Foundation, headed by transgender billionaire Jennifer Pritzker.

‘Standards’ Reflect Radical Backers

In 2018, the Tawani Foundation gave WPATH $200,000 to develop its so-called “Standards of Care,” a gift that earned Pritzker the WPATH “Philanthropy Award.” And Pritzker is heavily invested in trans causes. While the foundation has been funneling money to groups like WPATH and the National Center for Transgender Equality, its for-profit arm, Tawani Enterprises, is making financial bets on medical devices, implants, and surgical cutting tools. With the transgender surgery market expected to grow by billions of dollars over the next decade, one careful observer notes that “it is hard to avoid the impression of complementarity” here.

No surprise, then, that the WPATH standards that HHS hopes to enshrine into law reflect the radical views of its backers. On the list of WPATH “treatments” are mutilating surgeries (mastectomies, vaginectomies, penectomies), “chest binding,” “genital tucking,” “aesthetic procedures” like “body contouring” and “voice surgery,” and puberty-blocking drugs for children. There’s no minimum age requirement for these procedures. WPATH even calls for “psychotherapy” for prepubescent “gender diverse children” to “explore their gender,” with parents involved “as necessary” and excluded if their involvement is “contra-indicated.” WPATH says it’s “committed to advocacy” for “social and political climates that ensure social tolerance, equality, and the full rights of citizenship.”

This isn’t medicine. It is the destruction of healthy bodies, the indoctrination of children, and the dissolution of parental rights. It is radical sexual ideology under the guise of science.

Rest of the World Backs Away

Even to call WPATH’s guidance “standards of care” is misleading. As the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine explains, a true standard of care “is a treatment approach that all reasonable providers would use in a particular clinical situation,” but no such consensus exists for so-called “gender affirming care,” especially for kids. And the mounting damage this form of “care” is doing to both kids and adults is well-documented. It’s why countries around the world are backing away from it, even as HHS bureaucrats are strangely doubling down.

WPATH published its latest guidance in its “partner” journal, the recently renamed “International Journal of Transgender Health.” Among its authors is Susie Green, who heads the United Kingdom-based group Mermaids focused on “gender-diverse kids.” Green is not a medical professional. She spent several years as an IT consultant before famously helping her 16-year-old son undergo transgender surgery in Thailand. Another contributor to the WPATH guidance is Laura A. Jacobs, a self-described genderqueer “activist” and “heretic” whose “psychotherapy specialties” include “LGBTQIA+” adolescents, “BDSM,” “kink,” and “sexwork.”

It isn’t shocking that a bunch of well-funded activists could come together, give their glossy PDFs a veneer of academic credibility, and market their views as a new sexual orthodoxy. What is shocking is that they’ve managed to capture the federal bureaucracy. For HHS to uncritically platform WPATH, mandating shoddy science and destructive medicine as law, is an alarming development that deserves greater scrutiny.

Ultimately, this is a lawless effort. HHS has no power to override the states and the medical profession by imposing “standards of care” for the entire country. Nor can HHS force these standards on health care professionals in violation of their ethical and religious convictions. And purporting to delegate these tasks to billionaire-backed ideologues with no democratic accountability is worse yet. Just as racing enthusiasts don’t set speed limits and coal companies don’t set pollution rules, transgender activists shouldn’t be setting national medical standards.

Douglas G. Wilson Jr. is the chief executive officer of the Catholic Benefits Association and founding board member of the Catholic Health Care Leadership Alliance.

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Former Hallmark actress claims new network ‘will keep traditional marriage at the core’


By: CORTNEY WEIL | November 15, 2022

Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/former-hallmark-actress-claims-new-network-will-keep-traditional-marriage-at-the-core/

Photo by Paul Archuleta/Getty Images

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Former Hallmark star Candace Cameron Bure appears excited that the new network she has joined will offer stories with “more meaning and purpose and depth” that will still reflect her Christian values.

Back in April, Bure announced that she was leaving the Hallmark Channel after more than a dozen years and 30 movies with the network. Bure had become a fan favorite, especially in Christmas-themed movies. However, Hallmark has veered leftward in recent years, promising to include more LGBTQ content in its otherwise family-friendly movies. This year, Hallmark will even include a movie with an LGBTQ romance as its central focus. That movie, “The Holiday Sitter,” will debut on December 11.

By the time she left, Bure lamented that Hallmark had become “a completely different network” than it had been a decade earlier, and she attributed the change in network identity to a “change of leadership.”

From Hallmark, Bure, 46, moved to a new network founded by Bill Abbott, the former president and CEO of Crown Media, the parent company of Hallmark. According to Bure, this new network, Great American Family (formerly named Great American Country), will compete with Hallmark for audiences looking for more traditional, family-oriented content.

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“GAC fits my brand perfectly,” Bure stated at the time. “We share a vision of creating compelling, wholesome content for an audience who wants to watch programming for and with the whole family. Great, quality entertainment with a positive message is what my partnership with GAC is all about.”

“My heart wants to tell stories that have more meaning and purpose and depth behind them,” Bure added.

Now with the holidays fast approaching and a “Great American Christmas” series set to rival Hallmark’s annual “Countdown to Christmas” programming, Bure has hinted that, unlike Hallmark, GAF will present basic Christian teaching, including marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman.

“I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core,” Bure said, though she stopped short of promising that GAF would never feature same-sex couples.

Abbott likewise did not preclude the possibility of same-sex romance storylines in the future. “It’s certainly the year 2022, so we’re aware of the trends,” he stated. “There’s no whiteboard that says, ‘Yes, this’ or ‘No, we’ll never go here.'”

Still, Bure sounds enthusiastic about the potential at GAF, especially around the holidays.

“I think we know the core audience and what they love is exactly how Bill originally built the Hallmark Channel,” Bure said. “That was Christmas and those traditional holidays, so that’s what the focus is going to be. You’ve got to start somewhere. You can’t do everything at once.”

Because Bure has embraced a network focused on “traditional holidays” and “traditional marriage,” other celebrities have since criticized her for supposed bigotry and hypocrisy.

“I don’t remember Jesus liking hypocrites like Candy,” tweeted former “One Tree Hill” actress Hilarie Burton. “But sure. Make your money, honey.”

Burton elsewhere called Bure a “bigot” and said that Abbott and “his network are disgusting.”

“There is nothing untraditional about same-sex couples,” Burton, 40, asserted.

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Student’s Bible torn to shreds by activists protesting Matt Walsh’s ‘What is a Woman’ screening


By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/students-bible-torn-to-shreds-by-pro-transgender-activists.html

Screenshot: Twitter/YAF

Activists protesting conservative commentator Matt Walsh’s college tour at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where his documentary film “What is a Woman” was being shown, grabbed a Bible from a young man who was reading it aloud and ripped out the pages. One protester used his teeth to shred the ripped-out pages and spat them on the cement ground. 

Young America’s Foundation, which is hosting Walsh’s college tour, shared a video of the protesters desecrating the Bible, including a female with red-dyed hair who shoved pages from a torn-up Bible into her mouth. 

A young counter-protester was reading the Bible in support of the YAF event. 

In another video, protesters can be seen using megaphones to call white people “f—— racist” and saying the protest was to “collectively chase Nazis off the U-W campus,” the New York Post reported Saturday.

Speaking to the crowd, a student protestor said white people needed to realize “how hard it is every single f—— day for BIPOC people, especially at this institution,” the Daily Mail reported.

Rayna Cordon, who was part of a pro-abortion group protesting Walsh, was quoted as saying, “It’s like a double standard to allow the Nazis and the transphobes and the self-proclaimed fascists to have the mic and not give it to the actual community members that are funding your school, that are attending your classes, that are teaching your classes.”

Protesters had also vandalized Memorial Union and other locations around campus with spraypainted graffiti and messages opposing the event, according to NBC15. Despite the loud protests, about 400 people attended the screening.

“I want to thank also the leftist crybabies for the free advertising spray-painted all over campus,” Walsh told attendees.

The Daily Wire commentator also addressed the heads of the school and quoted a message the university had sent out before the event warning students that the speaker is someone whose views “we believe are harmful toward our trans community.”

“To the UW-Madison administration: you should be ashamed of yourselves,” Walsh continued. “You are disgraceful, self-debasing cowards, and you spineless, gutless clowns owe me an apology.”

“What is a Woman” is a documentary about gender and trans activist movement presented by Walsh and produced and released by The Daily Wire.

The documentary features Walsh asking, “What is a woman?” and related questions to a variety of people, including politicians, a pediatrician, a gender studies professor, a psychiatrist, a gender-affirming family and marriage therapist, a trans opponent of medical transitions for minors and a surgeon who performs body mutilating surgeries. 

In one part of the documentary, Scott (Kellie) Newgent, the trans founder of TReVoices, raises her arm to reveal her severed arm and says: “We have five children’s hospitals in the United States telling girls that they can be boys at $70,000 a pop in a surgery that has a 67 percent complication rate that will kill me from infection … that I can’t sue on. We’re butchering a generation of children because no one is willing to talk about anything. I have three kids at the age they’re doing this to kids. I’m not transphobic. I love my kids. And I love other people’s kids, and you should too. …This is wrong on so many levels. … I get infections every three to four months. … I’m probably not going to live very long.”

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Hobby Lobby founder David Green: ‘We truly believe that it’s God’s business’ (Part 2)


By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/hobby-lobbys-david-green-we-truly-believe-that-its-gods.html/

David Green | The Christian Post

It’s one thing to practice servant leadership in ministry, but for Hobby Lobby founder and CEO David Green, that calling is also very much one of his company’s best practices.

In his new book, Leadership Not by the Book: 12 Unconventional Principles to Drive Incredible Results, Green lays out what his vision looks like for a thriving work environment, which he emphasizes never involves asking employees or prospective employees about their own deeply held beliefs.

“We don’t, we shouldn’t, and we don’t even want to,” Green told The Christian Post.

Instead, Green said he strives to create a working environment that focuses on the people who have made Hobby Lobby what it is.

“Hobby Lobby does a lot for our employees because we know they’re so important,” he said, pointing to the company’s minimum wage of $18.50 and closing stores on Sunday.

“We were open [on Sundays] at one time,” Green explained. “That was the busiest day per hour.”

Hobby Lobby also has chaplains available for any employees who request such services, something Green said is aimed at a higher calling.

“We have people that are really fighting for us, and they know they’re not building my wealth,” he said. “They’re doing things that are going to change the Kingdom, something that’s more important than something that’s temporal.”

That heavenly orientation sometimes even leads to evangelism opportunities at Hobby Lobby.

Green said one employee — who he described as “really an evangelist” — will often share the Gospel with co-managers, who are brought into the Hobby Lobby corporate office from other retailers, and even give them little pieces of paper where they can say whether they have put their trust in Jesus. Over the past several years of doing that, Green said about a hundred have received Christ for the first time, while another hundred have rededicated their lives to Him.

Green said it’s something they started about 15 years ago and continued even after his attorney warned about the potential cost of doing so.

“I think we oughta risk,” Green said. “I don’t think we should be pushy. But I think we have something that … we should tell them about. We have a Master, we have a Creator that loves us, that died for us and cares for us. Why should we not tell that story?

“We want to make sure we do that and do it in the right way.”

Doing things the right way also underscores what Green sees as the difference between inheritance and heritage, at least when it comes to his own family.

“The heritage that I want to leave my children is the heritage of serving the Lord and knowing Him, and not billions or millions of dollars. I don’t care to do that at all,” he said. “Some of my worst days are, ‘What do I do with this value and how do I not put a curse on my family?’”

Acknowledging that wealthy people often “have an awful lot of problems,” Green said he wanted to do everything he could to ensure that doesn’t happen with his family. Earlier this month, Green revealed that 100% of Hobby Lobby’s voting stock has been moved to a trust composed of all seven Green family members so stewardship of the company can continue into the future.

He shared a little more with CP about the motivation for that move, saying, “We truly believe that it’s God’s business and run it in such a way that it’s His, so the profits do not belong to us.”

“Basically, we say that God owns the company. But we don’t only just say it, then we say, what does it look like? And to make it look like that, we took all of our ownership and we put it into 1 percent,” he explained.

“So 100 percent is in 1 percent, and it’s in a trust that seven of us, seven family members all serving the Lord, come together. And that’s what guides our company. “

When it comes to his children and the family business, Green said while the family has never made a dividend “nor do we plan to,” those who do the work earn a salary, just like everyone else.

“It’s real simple in our family — you get what you earn and no more,” he said, adding that a committee decides what Green and his children who are in the business earn.

“Everybody in our family gets a salary based on what they contribute, but no one earns anything in our family that has not come alongside with the family, ‘cause that’s not what God wants for all of them,” he added.

He said he has seven grandchildren that are in some type of ministry, and “that’s OK.”

“God has a plan and we want them to find what God would have for them,” he added.

Like most Christian parents, Green said his greatest hope for his children is to come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s why, Green said, he and his wife, Barbara, have been “very intentional” about providing their children and grandchildren with a Christian education, either through homeschooling or at private institutions.

“The most important thing to me is my children serve the Lord far beyond Hobby Lobby,” he said. “I would rather Hobby Lobby would never have even existed if I lost one of my children because of wealth.”

And as for Hobby Lobby’s future, Green said he hopes the retail giant will continue not just after he’s gone, but until the very end of the age.

“We have it set up to be here as long as we can, until Jesus returns,” he said. “We want to use it to tell as many people as we can about the Good News of Christ dying for us while we were yet sinners, so that’s the mission we would like to continue.”

Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com. 

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Pro-life group demands gov’t investigate covert network trafficking abortion pills into the US


By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/pro-lifers-react-to-underground-abortion-pill-network-in-mexico.html/

In this photo illustration, a person looks at an Abortion Pill (RU-486) for unintended pregnancy from Mifepristone displayed on a smartphone on May 8, 2020, in Arlington, Virginia. | OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

A pro-life group is calling on Congress and drug enforcement agencies to take action amid reports that organizations in Mexico are funneling abortion pills into states that have banned their use. 

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action, the activist division of the pro-life group Students for Life of America, has demanded in a letter to members of Congress that they address the issue following a “shocking new report” about a “drug cartel at the Mexican border” that is shipping abortion-inducing pills into the U.S. The group wants Congress to instruct the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate drug crimes involving abortion pills. The SFLA president called on Congress to require the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a new impact study on chemical abortions, given the widespread and sometimes illegal use of the pills.

As The Washington Post reported last week, several covert networks are running a pipeline through Mexico to deliver abortion pills to women in states that have banned abortion after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June. The abortion pill suppliers are funded anonymously, reportedly securing the drug for $1.50 a dose from international pharmacies or free via donations. An unnamed group in the U.S. then receives the pills through the mail and sends them to pregnant women seeking to abort their babies. 

Las Libres, one of the many Mexican groups involved in the illegal scheme, told The Washington Post that its organization alone is “on track to help terminate approximately 20,000 pregnancies this year in the United States.” 

“That amounts to about 20 percent of all legal abortions that took place in 2019 in the 13 states where abortion is now almost entirely banned,” The Washington Post reported.

Sandra Cardona Alanís, the leader and co-founder of Red Necesito Abortar, another Mexico-based group supplying abortion pills, said that once her group gets the pills to the U.S., “they can distribute them across the whole country.”

“As deadly as the two-pill regiment that the FDA allows can be, the chemical abortion pills sold at the border can carry an even greater risk as some will sell only one pill, saving them money but raising the risks,” Hawkins wrote in SFLA’s letter to lawmakers. 

“One need only look at other drug cartel efforts to understand the tremendous risk to women who may not be taking the drugs they think they ordered and may not survive the experience, not to mention the impact on the preborn.”

Hawkins stressed that the safety risks and the strain chemical abortions place on the U.S. healthcare system warrant a congressional response. She also cited the need for an investigation into possible environmental concerns due to the improper disposal of aborted human remains, linking to a column she wrote for The Washington Times in 2020. 

As Carole Novielli reported for the pro-life group Live Action in May, women who undergo chemical abortions typically take the pills at home and dispose of their babies’ remains themselves. The pro-life researcher noted that this likely saves abortion facilities money they would have spent hiring a waste disposal company to remove the remains. 

According to a 2015 study titled “Incidence of Emergency Room Department Visits and Complications After Abortion,” chemical abortions have a higher complication rate than surgical ones. 

The study analyzed data from 2009 and 2010 to assess the abortion complication rate for California women who had abortions through Medicaid and women who were treated at the emergency room instead of the clinic.

Researchers found that the complication rate was 5.2% for women who took the abortion pill compared to 1.3% for women who had a first-trimester surgical abortion. The major complication rate for the abortion pill was 0.31% in contrast to 0.16% for first-trimester surgical abortions.

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com.

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Detransitioners slam trans agenda in schools: ‘Children deserve better’


By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/detransitioners-warn-of-harm-posed-by-schools-transgender-agenda.html/

A sign outside a classroom taken in 2016. | REUTERS/Tami Chappell

A group of detransitioners spoke at a recent school board meeting in California amid concerns about public schools exposing students to gender ideology, warning that such content increases the likelihood that minors will rush to embrace “irreversible” decisions to their long-term detriment. 

Three young adults who formerly identified as trans spoke at a school board meeting for the Conejo Valley Unified School District in Ventura County, California, last week. Chloe Cole, an 18-year-old woman who has launched a support group for individuals who have come to regret undergoing gender transitions called Detrans United, was among three detransitioners who told their stories to the school board at a recent meeting. 

Detrans United shared their testimonies on its Twitter account Thursday, noting that the purpose of their remarks was to “voice our concerns about their policies that allow confused children to come to harm.” Cole indicated on her Twitter account that the distribution of a book introducing 8-year-olds to the word “transgender” was the primary reason she decided to call into the school board meeting. 

Cole shared screenshots of the book, titled Call Me Max, which declared that although “transgender is a long word,” it “means something simple.” The book laid out how “trans means going across” while “gender means being a boy or girl or a little of both.” Another page of the book adds, “When a baby is born, a grown-up says, ‘IT’S A BOY!’ or ‘IT’S A GIRL!’” 

Call Me Max embraced the idea that trans-identified children know that they were born in the wrong body from birth: “If a brand-new baby could talk, sometimes that baby might say, ‘NO I’M NOT!’ When a baby grows up to be transgender, it means that the grown-up who said they were a boy or a girl made a mistake.”

The school board meeting that Cole and the two other detransitioners called into was held on Oct. 11, which coincided with National Coming Out Day, an occasion that encourages LGBT youth to come forward about their sexual identities. One speaker addressed National Coming Out Day in her remarks.

“Growing up, I hated dresses and skirts. I hit puberty at 9 years old and I hated my developing breasts,” Cole recalled. “I hated growing into a woman. I didn’t identify at all with the women around me.”

Cole explained that her discomfort with her biological sex led her to decide that she “wanted to become a boy.” She began socially transitioning by adopting a boy’s name for herself, cutting her hair and wearing boys’ clothes.

“My parents were supportive but they weren’t sure what to do with me, so they sought the help of mental professionals who manipulated them into allowing me to do whatever I wanted to do with myself,” Cole said. She began to take puberty blockers at age 13, and had her breasts amputated at age 16. 

Cole lamented the lack of time between her initial referral to receive the double mastectomy and the surgery itself, which amounted to six months. “Very quickly, I was given what I wanted but it was far from what I needed. Two years later, I was still suffering from major complications,” she added. While Cole did not specify when exactly she began to regret taking significant steps to change her gender, she elaborated on the long-term consequences of her hasty decisions. 

“I will not be able to breastfeed any children I have in the future and my sexuality has permanently been affected because I was allowed to make adult decisions starting at 13, and then again at 15. This is what happens when children are sexualized and exposed to developmentally inappropriate and confusing content and ideas from a young age. This is what happens when we treat children like adults and expect them to have the mental faculties for proper long-term decision making.”

Cole concluded her testimony with a message to the school board: “You are placing children in direct harm. Children deserve better.”

A round of applause followed Cole’s remarks. After Cole finished speaking, another detransitioner, Cat Cattinson, began to outline her concerns about gender ideology in public schools in remarks delivered via telephone: “I was introduced to gender ideology when I was 13 years old. I began identifying as the opposite sex, a man, and believing this negatively affected me for the next 15 years.”

“For the record, coming out as gay is entirely different than coming out as another gender,” she suggested. Cattinson condemned surgeons who are performing mastectomies on underage girls, saying it’s an “irreversible procedure that will prevent this person from ever breastfeeding.” In addition to her status as a detransitioner, Cattinson used her experience as a molecular biologist to dismiss the central idea of gender ideology.

Cattinson added: “Humans cannot change sex. It’s impossible and trying to appear as the opposite sex comes with significant health risks such as infertility, osteoporosis and many more as well. Puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries are irreversible.”

As her remarks came to a close, Cattinson contended that “there is a serious lack of quality research that any of these interventions improve mental health or prevent suicide in the long term.” Like Cole, Cattinson’s remarks drew a round of applause.

Abel Garcia, a male detransitioner, also addressed the board to speak out against “the push that they are doing right now to our children with the transgender ideology.” Garcia stressed that “we cannot expect children as young as they are right now to believe that they can change their sex with cross-sex hormones and irreversible surgeries.”

Garcia detailed how he had breast implants at age 21. Implying that he did not have the maturity to make such a decision, the detransitioner told the board: “I cannot expect a child, a high school male or elementary child, to understand the full extent of damages that will be done to their bodies if an adult like myself wasn’t able to.” 

For her part, Conejo Valley Unified School District Trustee candidate Lisa Powell insisted in a Twitter post shortly after the board meeting concluded that “CA state law requires schools to support and affirm transgender students.” “As a trustee, I will support and affirm our transgender students — not only because it’s the law, but because it’s the right thing to do,” she vowed.

CA state law requires schools to support and affirm our transgender students. As a trustee, I will support and affirm our transgender students – not only because it’s the law, but because it is the right thing to do.— Lisa Powell (@Powell4CVUSD) October 12, 2022

At the previous school board meeting on Sept. 20, a parent slammed the Conejo Valley Unified School District for its response to a seventh-grade boy masturbating in class. She attributed his inappropriate behavior to the school district’s sex education curriculum.

“It does not take an expert to figure out what happens to a 13-year-old boy when he’s staring at mostly naked girls wearing underwear to school and being exposed to concepts like oral and anal sex in seventh grade,” she said. “They let children write the dress code. The Teen Talk comprehensive sex ed is not age-appropriate and neither are supported by parents and teachers have spoken out adamantly against this.”

In a statement published Monday, the Conejo Valley Unified School District has decried what it has described as “on-going social media warfare and print disinformation campaigns” as part of an effort to “create false narratives from email snippets, social media posts, half statements made at Board meetings, and printed disinformation.” 

According to district leadership, “What was once lively discourse at our Board of Education meetings during public comments and agendized topics has escalated to a concerted and organized effort to create chaos and further narratives that are unfounded and simply have nothing to do with current action items nor Board duties and business.”

Besides noting that district officials experienced death threats, the statement did not provide specific examples of actions it found troubling. It did, however, proclaim that the “sensationalizing of rumors and months-old reported incidents must stop,” in what appeared to be a veiled reference to the remarks at the Sept. 20 board meeting regarding the in-class masturbation that took place in May. District officials suggested that “these fictitious narratives are being wrongly used to politicize incidents involving our students.”

The Conejo Valley Unified School District crafted a fact sheet, which was last updated on Oct. 14, to respond to parental concerns about the sex education curriculum. It states that parents can opt out of the curriculum if they so choose.

https://player.edifi.app/embed/index.html#/channels/Generation-Indoctrination:-Inside-the-Transgender-Battle/27801

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com

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Liz Truss signals support for police investigation into trans charity Mermaids


By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter | October 17, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/liz-truss-signals-support-for-police-investigation-into-trans-charity-mermaids.html/

Mermaids UK

U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss signaled support for a police investigation into the trans charity Mermaids, saying it should be “properly looked at” during prime minister’s questions in the Commons Chamber. 

The Department for Education in England has stopped referring schools to the controversial charity, which promotes transgenderism to youth, amid increased scrutiny of the organization’s health recommendations for children and a scandal involving one of its trustees giving a speech for an organization that promotes resources for pedophiles.

As The Times reported Wednesday, the Charity Commission is assessing complaints against Mermaids following a report by The Daily Telegraph last week that the group sends “chest binders” to girls as young as 13 without their parents’ knowledge. Binders are often used by girls seeking to flatten their breasts to resemble a boy, and they can potentially cause breathing difficulties, damage healthy breast tissue and lead to cracked ribs.  

On Wednesday, Miriam Cates, the MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, asked the prime minister: “Does my right honorable friend agree that it has taken far too long for these concerns to be taken seriously and does she also agree that it is high time for a police investigation into the activities of Mermaids?”

Truss replied: “What I would say on the subject of the investigation she raises, of course those matters should be … properly looked at.”

Earlier this month, The Times also reported that Jacob Breslow, a trustee for Mermaids, resigned after it was discovered he spoke at a U.S.-based B4U-ACT event in 2011. The organization promotes resources for individuals who are sexually attracted to children. In his presentation, Breslow reportedly claimed that pedophiles are misunderstood.

Andrea Williams, the chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, credited parents Nigel and Sally Rowe for the Education Department’s decision to stop promoting Mermaids as a mental health resource in schools. The British charity affirms children’s gender confusion and is led by Susie Green, whose son identifies as female and was put on puberty blockers at age 12. 

Williams noted that the focus must now be directed toward the Church of England, which still utilizes Mermaids’ strategies in its “Valuing All God’s Children” (VAGC) guidance. In 2017, VAGC cited Mermaids as a model of care. While this citation was removed in 2019, the content reportedly still influenced the current trans-affirming approach, according to CLC. Over 4,000 of the Church of England’s primary schools utilize the VAGC guidelines, according to a November 2017 Daily Mail report. 

“The Church of England has over one million children under its care — will senior leaders finally listen and scrap this untenable advice?” Williams asked.

Christian Concern, the organization associated with CLC, launched a petition Tuesday that will be delivered to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, calling for the Church of England to scrap its trans-affirming policies. The petition currently has over 12,150 signatures.

In addition to instructing schools not to require students to wear uniforms that may “create difficulty for trans pupils,” VAGC discourages using faith or the Bible to justify refusals to accept a child identifying as the opposite gender.

You can’t be serious?!?! Valuing All God’s Children, supposedly a Christian organization, does not want scripture used to make the point that all this transgenderism is NOT of God. Do we really look that stupid? – Jerry Broussard

Last week, the Rowes penned a letter to the archbishop, urging the Church of England to discard its VAGC policies, expressing concern that the guidance allows children as young as 5 to identify as the opposite sex. 

“In U.K. law you cannot change legal gender until you are 18 years old. Scientifically, you cannot change your biological sex,” the parents wrote.

“Furthermore, basic Christian teaching is that we are all created male or female and that the differences between the sexes are beautiful, designed and complementary, and should be respected in society. We are all created male and female (Genesis 1:27).” 

Despite opting to homeschool their children, the parents wrote that they remain concerned about the effect that the school’s policies may have on other children. According to the Rowes, much of the “confusion” and “distress” their sons experienced in school from having to refer to their friends as the opposite sex has lifted since their parents pulled them out. 

The letter follows a $24,956 (£22,000) settlement the Department of Education paid the Rowes in September for “legal costs and a commitment from the government to reform transgender policies,” according to the Christian Legal Centre. 

The CLC supported the parents’ taking legal action against the department in 2021 after the Church of England’s Portsmouth Diocesan Board of Education dismissed their complaint in 2017, citing the VAGC guidelines. One of the Church of England’s primary schools had labeled their son “transphobic” for refusing to abide by the school’s trans-affirming policies. 

The parents also raised concerns about the school allowing two 6-year-old boys in their sons’ classes to identify as girls without a psychological assessment. In opposition to the school’s policies, the Rowes decided to homeschool their children instead. 

The letter cites an August speech at the Policy Exchange by Suella Braverman, who was then the attorney general, and said there is no “absolute legal obligation” to affirm children who might be questioning their gender identity. She noted that schools sometimes allow children to use pronouns or compete on sports teams designated for the opposite sex without their parents’ knowledge. 

“Anyone who questions such an approach is accused of transphobia. In my view, this approach is not supported by the law,” Braverman said. 

The Rowes contended in their letter that this statement from the then-attorney general proves that the Church of England’s VAGC policies in schools have no legal basis. 

“We, therefore, ask you to commit to scrapping the Valuing All God’s Children guidance as a matter of urgency so that staff and children in Church of England schools are properly safeguarded and protected from harmful transgender ideology and practice,” the parents wrote.

“We also request a meeting with you to discuss these points and what the Church of England will do about them at your earliest convenience.”

In July, the Church of England responded to a question from the General Synod, the denomination’s legislative body, about its definition of a woman. The Rev. Robert Innes, the denomination’s bishop in Europe, responded that “There is no official definition, which reflects the fact that until fairly recently definitions of this kind were thought to be self-evident, as reflected in the marriage liturgy.”

Innes cited the church’s “Living in Love and Faith” project, which the church website describes as a “discerning way forward” for the church regarding “identity, sexuality, relationships, and marriage.” 

Pointing to “the marriage complexities associated with gender identity,” Innes claimed that the project “points to the need for additional care and thought to be given in understanding our commonalities and differences as people made in the image of God.”

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com.

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‘Activist pimps’: Mom blasts school board for promoting ‘family-friendly’ Halloween drag show


By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor | October 17, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/mom-blasts-school-board-for-promoting-family-friendly-drag-show.html/

Brittany Mayer, a mom and who is from the Christian-based parental rights group Rooted Wings, speaks to the Encinitas Union School District Board in San Diego County, California. | Screenshot / Twitter

Parents are rallying behind a mother who blasted a Southern California school district for its plans to host a “family-friendly” Halloween drag show, which she said amounts to “pimping out our kids” in an already “hyper-sexualized” culture.

In a video that went viral on social media, Brittany Mayer from the Christian-based parental rights group Rooted Wings spoke at the Encinitas Union School District Board meeting in San Diego County, California, accusing them of acting as “groomers and activist pimps” for the “Boo Bash” drag queen show planned for the Saturday before Halloween, Fox News reported.

“What is it about a grown man costumed in a sparkly bra with augmented boobs busting out and wearing a miniskirt barely covering his twerking a** with duct tape on his front while spreading his fish-netted legs as he writhes on the ground, grinding his groin next to a minor, family-friendly?” she asks the board in the video.

On Twitter, Mayer revealed that the drag queen show was sponsored by a local San Francisco gender reassignment surgery center in collaboration with a popular gay nightclub. “While we have a culture that has a huge problem with child porn and with sex trafficking, Encinitas Union School District in CA, made the decision to feature an event to sexualize young children,” she wrote.

She told the board, “You all played the activist pimp for Align Surgical center and for a 21-plus gay bar. It makes you groomers and activist pimps and we won’t have those sitting on a school board that oversees the education of our children.”

Elected San Diego Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer criticized the parents, saying on Twitter that they “should be ashamed of themselves for pushing hate and intolerance on all of us.” She also said she would be taking her 3-year-old to the event.

Carrie Boller, a mother of two and a community activist, pulled her kids out of the district, ABC 10 reported. The Encinitas Union School District said it’s not hosting or sponsoring the Oct. 29 event but shared it on a community information hub called Peachjar to notify parents about opportunities for families in the district.

However, Boller said, “Our message is very clear. We don’t want strip shows, we don’t want drag shows, and definitely not sent out inviting the parents and kids in our district.”

Justin Ried, a parent of two children who is also running for school board, was quoted as saying, “We certainly want to be an inclusive community and support groups of all kinds, but the question is where do we draw the line?”

The district said the flyer had been taken down as it did not meet district approval criteria, and it has reviewed and adjusted procedures for approving fliers in the future. But parents are demanding to know who approved it for promotion and want the district to apologize.

Mayer told Fox that she and dozens of other parents showed up at the school board meeting last Tuesday to confront the leadership, which had been requested several times to stop promoting the event and issue an apology.

“We asked the board again and again to reconsider and to issue an apology and an explanation, which they didn’t, which is why we decided to show up,” she was quoted as saying.

She added that the planned show was not an isolated incident. 

“This is coming to every school across the nation,” she said, adding that “… We’re not going to play by the rules, that we’re supposed to be afraid, that we’re going to be punished if we don’t speak up now.”

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Op-ed: Vote to defend faith, family, life and freedom


By James Dobson and Gary Bauer | Monday, September 26, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/vote-to-defend-faith-family-life-and-freedom.html/

Voters cast ballots at the Fairfax County Government Center on November 02, 2021 in Fairfax, Virginia. | Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla

I’ve asked my colleague, Gary Bauer, to write the following letter to our constituents in these final days before the midterm elections. I consider this to be one of the most important votes in American history. It may be our last opportunity to restore a balance of power to the three branches of government in time to save us from tyranny and moral collapse. Does that sound alarmist to you? I think not. I believe the danger facing this country cannot be overstated. Read on to understand the peril we are facing and what God-fearing citizens can do to help save this nation, the greatest in the history of the world.

America is in deep trouble. Our country is experiencing skyrocketing crime, racial division, political and economic corruption, disrespect for life, failing schools, and a growing drug epidemic. Many of our problems are a reflection of growing moral relativism and the breakdown of reliable standards of right and wrong. Our founders believed that only virtuous people could remain free. We appear to be intent on testing that proposition.

The only hope for our country is for Christians to rise up and let our voices be heard. To save the country, America’s churches must boldly speak the truth to a hurting nation. Millions of individual Christians, like you, must fulfill their responsibilities of Christian citizenship.

We are blessed to live in a country where we have enjoyed a level of religious liberty that’s rare in human history. But now powerful forces in government, the universities, and mass media are threatening religious liberty as well as our other freedoms. No solutions to the American crisis are possible without the participation of millions of American Christians leading the way. We must participate in the halls of government, in the public square, and lead the national debate. It is essential that we are in the pews on Sunday and first in line to cast our votes on Election Day.

At the federal level, this election will determine who has the majority in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. At the state level, dozens of governorships and state legislatures are at stake. At the local level, new mayors, city councils, and school boards will be elected. At all three levels of government, the men and women we elect will pass laws that will determine the kind of country we pass on to our children and grandchildren.

The U.S. Senate is divided today 50 to 50. Tie-breaking votes are cast by Vice President Kamala Harris. Thirty-five of these U.S. Senators are up for election. The new Senate that takes office in January will confirm hundreds of new judges to all the federal courts during the next two years. They will also fill any Supreme Court vacancy that may occur. The sanctity of life, religious liberty, your Second Amendment rights, freedom of speech, and much more will all be at risk if a new Senate majority rejects the Judeo-Christian values that are the foundation of the United States. Polling indicates over a dozen of the Senate races are so close that the winner may very well be determined by only a few percentage points. Think of the impact we can have on Election Day if just a few more Christians will vote in each precinct in America.

Not all issues in an election are of equal importance. As a Christian voter, it is imperative that you zero in on those matters with a moral basis and give them the highest priority. And remember this: behind every candidate is the party platform that he or she stands on and the policies he or she will promote.

Here are three of the key issues every Christian voter must consider when supporting or opposing a candidate this November.

The right to life

After years of prayer and hard work, the Supreme Court decided this year that there is no constitutional right to abortion. This is a tremendous victory that could save countless lives. The court sent the abortion issue back to the people of each state to debate and reach a consensus.

Planned Parenthood and radical pro-abortion forces have launched an all-out multi-million-dollar campaign to defeat pro-life members of Congress, state legislators, and governors. A recent effort in Congress to make abortion on demand, without any restrictions, the law of the land actually passed the House 219 to 210. Thankfully, it failed in the Senate, as it could not clear the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.

The vote was strictly along party lines. All but two Democrats voted pro-abortion. All Republicans voted pro-life. In both cases, this reflected the position of each party’s platforms.

Religious liberty

Our fundamental right to the “free exercise of religion” in the First Amendment of the Constitution has recently come under sustained legal and political attacks. Thankfully, this year we scored another major victory in the Supreme Court when Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Neil Gorsuch, all appointed by then-President Donald Trump, voted in the majority to strengthen the guarantee of religious liberty.

The battle rages on, however. At every level of government, we must elect men and women who unambiguously support religious freedom. Because the Senate confirms nominees to the Supreme Court, it is particularly important to elect senators who strongly support this basic constitutional liberty.

Protecting children

All candidates claim they are pro-child. But the devil is in the details. There is a well-financed powerful movement dedicated to exposing America’s children in the classroom to the radical LGBT agenda, inappropriate explicit sexual education material, and transgender ideology at the earliest ages.

In some schools, so-called “critical race theory” is dividing our children by race. It teaches white children that they are genetically racist and tells minority children they are oppressed and cannot accomplish their dreams. These are unfounded and deeply damaging doctrines.

Even in more traditional, conservative areas of the country, parents have been shocked to find out their child’s school may be promoting these corrupt agendas. Make sure local school board candidates, from rural communities to Washington D.C., support parental rights in the education and upbringing of our children. Look for candidates who are also pro-school choice and support faith-based Christian schools. Elect candidates who are willing to stand with you against the transgender agenda that is deceiving and harming an increasing number of our children. Parents have the divine calling to raise their kids, not the government or some radical agency that has no regard for the welfare of our youth.

The sanctity of life, religious liberty, and protecting children are all issues that should guide the vote you cast. But there are many more policies to also consider. Our southern border is being overwhelmed with millions of people entering illegally. Among them are drug smugglers, human traffickers, and even some on the terrorist watch list. Vote for candidates who will restore the rule of law at the border. Vote for candidates who support racial unity, stand with law enforcement, and are committed to helping our veterans. Vote for candidates who support the Second Amendment and who are working against voter fraud.

Our country desperately needs Christian men and women to stand up now for faith, family, life, and freedom. Please join us in praying for a revival to sweep our land and for God to bless us with courageous leaders. And pray that millions of Christians will fulfill their civic and moral responsibility to vote on November 8th to restore our sweet land of liberty before it’s too late.

Dr. James Dobson is a celebrated psychologist, Christian leader, and founder and president of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute (JDFI), which is dedicated to preserving the biblical institutions of marriage and family by encouraging, inspiring, supporting, and leading parents and children to build their lives on God’s Word.

Gary Bauer is Senior Vice President of Public Policy at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute and President of American Values, a public policy organization promoting Judeo-Christian values.

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Trans care group removes age guidelines for puberty blockers, disfiguring sex change surgeries


By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter | Monday, September 19, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/trans-group-removes-age-limits-for-kids-seeking-puberty-blockers.html/

A hand holds up a small transgender pride flag. The blue and pink stripes represent the colors for a boy and girl, while the white stripe represents self-declared gender identities, such as transitioning, intersex, neutral and undefined gender. | Getty Images

A leading trans health association’s latest guidelines omitted minimum age requirements for gender-confused youth to obtain puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or genital mutilating surgeries, a major change from earlier editions.  

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) released its Standards of Care 8th Edition in the International Journal of Transgender Health earlier this month. The journal published a correction on Thursday, removing sections related to “suggested minimal ages” for offering so-called “gender-affirming care” or “surgical treatment,” such as experimental puberty-blocking drugs and performing operations such as breast amputations on girls and removing boys’ genitals. 

WPATH did not respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment about the changes. 

In Chapter 6, the new guidelines claim that “chest masculinization surgery,” better known as a double mastectomy, can alleviate “chest dysphoria” in girls who are led to believe that in order to be happy, they must remove their beasts. 

The guidelines further argue that boys suffering from gender dysphoria can obtain “improved psychosocial functioning” if they allow a surgeon to perform a vaginoplasty by removing penis tissue to create a fake vagina. 

“While the sample sizes are small, these studies suggest there may be a benefit for some adolescents to having these procedures performed before the age of 18,” the new guidelines claim.

Among 20 surgeons affiliated with WPATH, more than half said they have “performed vaginoplasty [on] minors,” according to a 2017 study titled “Age is Just a Number” that was published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. One surgeon said he had performed the surgery on a boy as young as 16.   

The new guidelines also suggest that obtaining parental consent should not be a requirement before minors undergo disfiguring surgeries or obtain cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers that stop their natural development. 

“We recommend when gender-affirming medical or surgical treatments are indicated for adolescents, health care professionals working with transgender and gender diverse adolescents involve parent(s)/guardian(s) in the assessment and treatment process, unless their involvement is determined to be harmful to the adolescent or not feasible,” the guidelines state.

The trans health group claims that the “primary goal” is to help youth work alongside their parents or caregivers regarding “important gender care decisions.” It adds, however, that the “critical evaluation process” must determine if there are cases where parents have rejected their “child’s gender needs.”

“In these situations, youth may require the engagement of larger systems of advocacy and support to move forward with the necessary support and care,” the new guide advises.

In an opinion piece published in The Christian Post earlier this month, Brandon Showalter noted that “minors are being surgically disfigured under the banner of a non-existent “gender identity” in clinics and hospitals around the country.

He added that the corporate press that has largely supported the movement to halt puberty and give children puberty blockers will not be able to “feign ignorance” … as more and more de-transitioners who were sterilized and disfigured as minors start to raise their voices and as others around the world begin filing lawsuits against the medical institutions that harmed them.”

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The Left’s War On History Is Really A War On The God Of The Bible


BY: JOSH HAWLEY | SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/09/15/the-lefts-war-on-history-is-really-a-war-on-the-god-of-the-bible/

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The following remarks were given at the National Conservative Conference on Sept. 12, 2022.

It is a pleasure to be with you once again.

At the first National Conservatism conference, I spoke about the left’s goal of unmaking American culture and community. Last year, I spoke about their goal of unmaking manhood.

This year, I want to talk about their efforts to unmake history. Specifically, the history of our country and our founding — and the revolution on which both were based.

I take as my point of departure the words of John F. Kennedy at his inaugural address in 1961, when he famously reminded his generation: “We dare not forget that we are the heirs of that first revolution.” He meant, of course, the Revolution of 1776, which he described as grounded in the “the belief – that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.”

Now, that is an interesting contention. And Kennedy was not alone in making it. But where did it come from? Where did the idea that the rights of man come from God, not the generosity of the state, originate?

The answer is clear, if often and deliberately overlooked in our day: that idea came from the Bible. And that brings me to my contention to you today. We are a revolutionary nation precisely because we are the heirs of the revolution of the Bible.

This was a revolution that began with the founding of the nation of Israel at Sinai; that gathered pace with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth in the days of ancient Rome. This was a revolution of ideas and culture, of society and government and faith – it was truly, to quote the Bible itself, a revolution that turned the world upside down.

Let me be more specific. To a world composed of clans and tribes, the Bible introduced the very idea of the individual. To a world that valued the wealthy and well-born before all others, the Bible taught the dignity of the common man. To a world that prized order and control, the Bible spoke of liberty.

Without the Bible, there is no modernity. Without the Bible, there is no America. And now our biblical inheritance is again at the center of our politics. It is the question of the age. 

The woke left that controls today’s Democrat Party is on a campaign to remake this nation. They want us to believe this country is irredeemably racist and oppressive. They tell us our true founding came with the advent of the slave trade on this continent.

They reject our history and our traditions. They say sex is merely a social construct. That men can get pregnant. That women can be men. That the nuclear family is a repressive institution.

And their real target in all this is the inheritance of the Bible. What they particularly dislike about America is our dependence on biblical teaching and tradition. What they particularly dislike about our culture is the Bible’s influence on it. And now they want to break that influence for good. 

My argument is simple: They’re wrong.

Whatever your own beliefs, whatever your background, the revolution of the Bible is worth defending. It is worth preserving. It is the true source of the rights of man and the liberties we cherish. It has taught us what we know of dignity and equality.

The Bible has made us who we are. And it is critical to our future.

Individual Agents of God’s Purpose

Let me start with what is perhaps our most cherished ideal as Americans, the ideal of the individual.

There is a myth long loved by certain leftists that the ancient world was a free, secular place where people believed as they wanted and lived lives of their own making. We know from historians that nothing could be further from the truth. In the ancient world, the individual as such hardly existed. There was no such thing as individualism.

The ancient world was a place of hierarchy. Every thing, every person, had a place, fixed and unchanging, bound to where it was by the order of the cosmos. Some were born to rule, most were born to follow, many were born to be slaves — that was the belief.

Every family had its ancestral gods, and the family head alone had the right to rule the household in the gods’ name. Every city had its patron deity, which every citizen was bound to worship. In fact, to be a citizen was to be a member of a particular city and a worshiper of a particular god or gods.

There was no such thing as freedom of conscience in this world, no such thing as individual decision. As the nineteenth-century historian Fustel de Coulanges put it, “The human person counted for very little against that holy and almost divine authority which was called country or state.”

As for history — well, history was made by those few the “order of nature” designated to rule. Always men of social standing. Usually wealthy. The natural elite.

The Bible challenged all of this, and right from the very beginning. In Genesis 12, God calls Abraham, a nobody from nowhere — no social standing, no claim to power or rule — God calls this man to leave his father’s house and his father’s gods, to leave the markers of meaning and identity in the ancient world, and to serve him — the one true God, Scripture claims.

God calls Abraham to stand before him as an individual. God’s gaze rests on him personally.

Or as Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik writes, Abraham “could not find solace in the silent companionship of God whose image was reflected in the boundless stretches of the cosmos. Only when he met God … as Father, Brother, and Friend … did he feel redeemed.”

God tells Abraham that as an individual he — he personally — will be God’s agent of blessing and renewal for all the world. We see the same pattern repeated in the New Testament. Jesus says salvation is available to all who will come to him, and that those who follow him will be called “sons of God.”

Meaning: shapers of history. World changers. People through whom God himself will act.

And with this, the idea of the individual is born. One need not be a member of this family or that to be significant. One need not have wealth or social standing. One need only heed the call of God.

In the words of historian Larry Siedentop, “Christ reveals a God who is potentially present in every believer…. Through an act of faith in Christ, human agency can become the medium for God’s love.” Or to say it another way, every person can become an agent of God’s purpose—as an individual.

Where does this leave the old idea of fate and controlling destiny? Done away with. Where does leave the notion that one’s place in the world is fixed and cannot be changed? Abolished.

Now the individual person becomes an agent of change. Now he or she becomes a maker of history.

The Bible invents this kind of individual. And the Bible reveals the dignity of the common man.

Read the Bible through and you will find across its pages a decided preference for the common, the ordinary, the overlooked—as opposed to the elite, the wealthy, and the socially powerful. God chooses Abraham from nowhere. He famously prioritizes Jacob, who was the second son. King David, before he was king, was the least of his brothers and the least likely to rule.

This same theme finds equally pointed expression in the New Testament. The Apostle Peter preaches in his first sermon that God’s spirit — his very presence — is now available for all people, as the ancient prophets had foretold — men and women, old and young.

Then there is the Apostle Paul, who said, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”

To a society that privileged wealth and status, a society that disdained workers and mothers and children and common folk, the Bible says: each has dignity. The common things of life have dignity. Motherhood. Home. Labor.

It has hard to overstate the disdain the world of Greece and Rome held for common laborers, people who worked with their hands. Not in the Bible. The patriarchs raised livestock. Jesus was a carpenter and his disciples fishermen. Paul made tents.

And the Bible emphasizes over and again the power of labor that is offered to God. Work unto God, Scripture says, and God will use that work to further his good purposes in the world. He will make the work matter. He will make it last, however common or mundane.

The ancient world honored the high and mighty. The Bible, to paraphrase the Canadian theorist Charles Taylor, affirmed the significance of ordinary life.

I have two small boys at home and I love to read to them. Among their favorites is Tolkien, who captures this theme beautifully in “The Lord of the Rings.” “Such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.”

There is no ideal more central to American life than the dignity of the common man. And it is an ideal given to us by the Bible. The biblical tradition also gave us a new concept of liberty.

It’s interesting: in the ancient near east, Mesopotamia, the creation stories often involved the gods founding primordial cities, and then when humans came along designating human kings to rule the cities on the gods’ behalf.

Not in the Bible. Oh God does indeed designate someone to exercise his authority and carry forward his purposes. Genesis makes much of that. But it’s not a king. It’s Adam and Eve, on behalf of all humanity. From the first, the Bible pictures individuals as capable of self-rule.

For the early Christian philosopher Tertullian, Jesus’s maxim to “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” had clear political implications: offer to Caesar your money, Tertullian said, but offer “to God your self.”

The point was, individuals, as God’s image-bearers, belonged to God and to him alone, not to the emperor or some far-away king. God and God alone had the right to claim the individual’s obedience: no one else. No government. No king.

The individual deserved liberty to respond to God’s call on his or her life. It’s right there in the Exodus, the story of God calling a people to follow him by liberating them from oppression. It’s there in the Apostle Paul, who wrote that it is for liberty that we have been set free.

This is a concept of liberty virtually unknown to the ancient world. The Greeks spoke of liberty from time to time, but for them and their philosophers, liberty meant mainly life in accordance with the order of nature. Which meant hierarchy.

Plato and Aristotle, for example, both assumed “freedom” for most individuals meant obeying their moral and social betters. The Romans famously valued self-government, at least for part of their history. But they too saw the right to self-rule as confined to the small class of individuals fit by nature to be citizens. Everybody else was a dependent.

And neither Romans nor Greek recognized significant limits on government power.

But if God’s spirit can be poured out on all people, if God has called each person to be his delegate and exercise his authority, surely that has political implications. Surely that means citizenship cannot be confined to the elite. Surely it means even the common man has the right to self-rule. Surely it says even the common man has the right to liberty.

And as I once heard the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks say, surely God’s call to the individual sets a limit on the state. It draws a boundary on the exercise of government power and says, “No further.” And there we have it: Individualism, the dignity of the common person, liberty. This is our biblical inheritance.

I could go on. The Bible gave us also the idea of a state ruled by men, not by gods. It gave us the distinction between church and state. It gave us equality between men and women. And more, much more. But you get the idea.

These were revolutionary notions that upended the ancient world. And they found their purest political expression in the United States of America.

The biblical revolution is right there in the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims that “all men are created equal,” that we are endowed by our Creator with “unalienable” rights. These confessions would take centuries to realize in this country, but we recognized them as true from the first.

The biblical revolution is there in our Constitution, which separates powers among offices and stations to ensure the common person can rule, and no clique or elite.

It is there in the Bill of Rights that guarantees freedom to worship, to speak, to assemble, and to exercise one’s faith free from government interference.

The biblical tradition echoes in the great tent revivals of the frontier, where hardscrabble folks with little to their name heard from the itinerant preachers that they too were called by God. They too could be God’s servants. You didn’t need a fancy education or a landed estate to be God’s child. And those revivals helped spawn a populist political movement that reverberates to this day.

America as we know it, America as we love it, is the product of the revolution of the Bible. But now that biblical inheritance is under siege.

A Cultural Revolution

Today’s woke left is frantically engaged in a campaign of political nihilism. This is the sum and substance of their program. They want to level the institutions of American society—the family, schools, church and synagogue, our judicial system. They say the country is structurally warped and must be remade top to bottom. But what they reject, at bottom, is our biblical inheritance.

I mentioned in my remarks last year the mid-century thinker Herbert Marcuse. Marcuse was a great advocate of the `60s-era student radicalism and of the nihilist attitude toward American society that dominates the left today. In a word, he was woke.

He was also honest. Marcuse was an atheist and a Marxist and he spent a good deal of time wondering why Marx’s long-looked-for end of history had never arrived. He decided one major reason was Christianity.

Like Marx, Marcuse believed biblical faith was an opiate, a form of false consciousness. And he worried that it saturated American society. So in a break with Marx’s economic determinism, Marcuse decided culture was king. And America’s Christian culture was preventing the Marxist revolution the world needed.

Even worse, the working class, the proletariat, embraced that culture more than anyone. 

For that reason, Marcuse concluded revolution wouldn’t come from working people. The Christian hold was too strong. Instead, he placed his faith elsewhere—and this is key. He placed his faith in the educated elite.

America needed a cultural revolution to rid itself of the Bible’s taint. And the elite were just the people to deliver it. Sound familiar? That’s today’s politics in a nutshell.

Today’s woke left is carrying out a Marcuse-style kulturkampf. They increasingly insist that individuals don’t matter. They say society isn’t composed of equal individuals standing before a sovereign God, but of warring racial and economic groups vying for power.

The woke theorists at the Smithsonian tell us that “individualism” itself is racist, nothing more than an artifact of “white culture.” In the last few years, two separate woke theorists have argued—in The Nation and The Washington Post—that Americans’ votes should be weighted on the basis of race. In the name of democracy, “one person, one vote” is out.

The woke left dislikes the notion of the common man. They reject the biblical idea that all men and women are equally valuable and equally worthy of participating in political life. They call working people “deplorables,” and they regard working culture as uncouth and backward—characterized by the sort of people who cling to “guns and religion,” as someone once said.

No, the woke think the educated elite know best. By which they mean, naturally, themselves. And they are not afraid to use power.

If the Big Tech oligarchs decide that reporting on Hunter Biden is too dangerous to their interests, they simply erase the story from the public square. If they decide questioning Anthony Fauci is too threatening to their priorities, they prevent it by their own fiat.

That’s only the beginning.

If the reigning political class decides a former president poses too much trouble to their plans, they order a raid on his house and threaten to jail him. If they conclude too many Americans are complaining online, they create a Disinformation Board to shut them down. Any disagreement is called “violence” and any dissent “insurrection.”

Marcuse pioneered the concept of “repressive tolerance”—that is, free speech for me but not for thee. He would be proud of today’s liberals.

Finally, the left rejects the biblical idea of conscience and the liberty that comes with it. Attacks on religious freedom and intellectual inquiry are commonplace now. The woke insist on targeting citizens engaged in works of mercy, like the Little Sisters of the Poor, because they have the audacity to disregard elite preferences and serve a God beyond the state.

The woke insist that nobody, and especially not parents, may ask questions about what children are being taught in schools. To do otherwise is to be a “domestic terrorist.”

To them, liberty means falling in line with the norms they prescribe. It means following the social rules they had down.

They will decide what speech is acceptable.

They will decide which religious beliefs may be acted upon, and how.

They will determine what is true and what is not, what is fact and what is “disinformation.”

They will run the country.

The left say they want to lead us to a new era. But where they would take us is no age of enlightenment. It is not someplace new at all. It is backwards, to an old age of darkness and hierarchy and repression.

And that brings us to the task before us.

The Truth Is Their Stumbling Block

The woke left now controls the commanding heights of American culture: the media, the entertainment industry, the corporations, academia, and government. They seek to marshal their combined cultural power against those who disagree.

They seek to shame us, to isolate us—to silence us, if they can. They seek to protect their power. And they can succeed—but only if we allow them.

In truth, their vision is bleak and their ideology is brittle. They do not understand the deep strength of the American people, because they do not understand the deep goodness of their character. They see only deplorables who must be re-educated.

They do not understand our history and our ideals because they do not appreciate the truths on which this nation is based. They do not realize these truths have made us good and made us strong. And truth is their problem. The woke ideology, this warmed-over cultural Marxism, is not true.

Race and class do not define all that we are. Society is not an unending struggle for power and domination. And America is not structurally defective. America is the best and freest nation in the history of the world. And it is so largely because of the biblical revolution that made us what we are.

And now we need that inheritance again. In this time of fear and despair, we need to hear again that our lives matter—that we are loved by God—that we are called by God to great purpose—and that eternity beckons. What we do now can last. What we do here can matter.

We need to hear again of the dignity of ordinary life, of work and hearth and home, of the joys of marriage and family, and the power of these things to shape the future.

I slightly misspoke earlier, in this connection, when I said God called Abraham as an individual. That much is true, but God said it was Abraham’s family he would use to change the world. Abraham became a blessing to mankind when he became a husband and father. The same is true for us and true for today. 

In the final analysis, the woke ideology has more in common with the ancient world than it does with America. And it will not prevail in the end.

Whether it prevails in our time is up to us. That will depend on our courage.

To Strike a Blow for Truth

I close with this.

In A.D. 390, a crowd of Christians gathered at a pagan temple known as the Serapeum, in the city of Alexandria. It was a shrine to the god Serapis.

A few years before, the virulently anti-Christian emperor Julian had attempted to throttle Christianity and purge Rome of Christian influence. Among other measures, he seized control of the education system and barred Christians from teaching. He demanded all students study in ways he approved. He commanded worship of the Roman gods. 

One of those gods was Serapis. And now on this day in 390, in the shadow of the state’s recent persecution, a group of Christians gathered at the temple to take a stand.

In the center of the temple was a statue of the god, clutching in his hands a three-headed serpent. The legend went that “if any impious hand should dare to violate the majesty of the god, the heavens and earth would instantly return to their original chaos.”

One soldier stepped forward, carrying an axe. His name is lost to history. All we know of him is what the historian Rufinus tells us, that he was “better protected by faith than by his weapon.”

And there, in that moment, this one man made a choice. He made a choice to live free from the powers and principalities of his age. A choice to reject the dictates of emperors. A choice to strike a blow for truth. 

The lone soldier climbed a ladder to the top of the statue and raised his battle-axe. Then, with all his might, he drove it home.

Onlookers reported that as the blow fell, the god’s jaw broke away. And as it did, thousands of rats came surging out of its rotten inside.

The woke left may seem powerful. And indeed they are.

Opposing them may cost us much. But the truth is worth any cost. And that’s what courage is, in the end. It is paying the cost, no matter how high, for the truth.

And remember the teaching of scripture, the one that runs from first to end: that though the God of the universe could have accomplished his purposes entirely on his own, he chose instead to call us. He invites us to do his work and to follow him.

And so let us count the cost, and take our stand. For when we do, we shall turn the tide.

Josh Hawley is a U.S. senator from Missouri and former Missouri attorney general.

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