Perspectives; Thoughts; Comments; Opinions; Discussions

Posts tagged ‘LGBTQ agenda’

Why so much outrage over the burning of an LGBT Pride flag?


By Tony Perkins, CP Op-Ed Contributor | Wednesday, March 01, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/why-so-much-outrage-over-burning-of-an-lgbt-pride-flag.html/

Wikimedia Commons/Ludovic Bertron

They called it a “night of rage.” But outside the charred walls of Buffalo’s CompassCare, pro-lifers could barely get the national media to call it anything. Like the string of domestic firebombings across Wisconsin, Oregon, Colorado, Tennessee, and Washington, the blown-out windows, graffiti, and trashed offices were barely a blip on network news. It’s been quite a contrast to the extensive coverage a single burned flag in New York is getting. But then, that’s the power of the Pride.

The incident that’s grabbing headlines happened in the wee hours of Monday morning. According to security footage, a woman parked her SUV, walked over to a rainbow flag hanging outside SoHo’s Little Prince restaurant, pulled out a lighter, and set the flag on fire. An employee working late inside saw the flames and called 911. Although the residents on higher floors had to be evacuated, no one was injured. There were, however, cracked windows and “external damage,” especially to the outside landscaping.

“It’s disgusting,” restaurant owner Cobi Levy said. His staff, he told the press, is shaken and scared. “These kinds of acts are desperate acts committed by people who are consumed with hate and filled with hate,” thundered Eric Bottcher, a local councilmember. The New York Times and other major newspapers descended on the scene, interviewing sympathetic neighbors and calling for the suspect to face the harshest penalties.

Within 24 hours, an investigation had been launched by NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force and a replacement flag — larger than the one that proclaimed “Make America Gay Again” — had already been hung.

The all-hands-on-deck response was quite a contradiction to what more than 100 churches and pro-life groups have experienced over the last seven months from the FBI, which waited six of those months just to list the attackers on its Most Wanted website. Not a single arrest has been made in CompassCare’s case. In fact, the federal government has been so indifferent to the crimes that several pro-life groups have resorted to launching their own private investigation.

Meanwhile, in the Big Apple, Bottcher celebrated the LGBT movement’s resilience. “Our resolve is only strengthened when acts like this happen,” Bottcher told the community at a special ceremony to replace the colors on Tuesday. “We are standing up in the face of this hate and reasserting our pride in ourselves and our community. That’s why we hung the flag again.” Little Prince posted a photo of the new flag with one word: “Defiant.”

I want to be clear right off the bat: While there’s an obvious discrepancy in how the two sides have been treated by the media and law enforcement, no one is defending this woman’s actions. Respect for other people’s property — whether it’s a ministry or a drag bar — ought to be a reasonable expectation of every American. There’s no excuse for lawlessness in any form or against any person. That said, the hysteria over what happened in SoHo is a powerful illustration of where we are as a nation, and ignoring it only primes the pump for more hypocrisy.

There are plenty of double standards at play here, not the least of which is the excessive significance the legacy media assigns to victims of their pet political causes, while more than 100 pro-life ministries, churches, and pregnancy care centers sit smoldering in the ashes of a similar hatred, virtually ignored. Imagine if this woman had set fire to an America flag. Would the press race to the scene and mourn the lack of national pride across their platforms? Of course not, because in this age of identity politics, we’ve gotten to the point where setting fire to a rainbow flag is a “hate crime” and burning Old Glory is self-expression.

Frankly, the fact that a single act of arson can make national news is astonishing in an age when mobs can burn down entire cities with the ruling class’s blessing. During the George Floyd riots of 2020, torching federal buildings, courts, city property, and private businesses wasn’t violence, the Left said. It was “justice” — the kind that major Democratic figures publicly embraced.

It wasn’t even two years ago that Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., told the masses that if there wasn’t a guilty verdict in the Floyd murder case, then “… we got to not only stay in the street, but we have got to fight for justice.” Party leaders, like then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, defended Waters’ call to arms, saying she should not have to apologize for inciting violence. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., flat-out called for “unrest,” while liberal city leaders from Portland to Chicago linked arms with anarchists, even going so far as to sue federal officials who tried to restore law and order.

At the time, the soon-to-be vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, also endorsed the mobs, telling Stephen Colbert, “They’re not going to stop … This is a movement … And everyone, beware … They’re not going to let up. And they should not, and we should not.”

Protestors, emboldened by Democrats, went on an anti-American rampage, toppling statues, defacing monuments, spraypainted historic buildings, and destroying private property, racking up more than $1 billion in damage across the country — the most expensive riot spree in U.S. history. And yet this, the burning of a single LGBT flag, is “war in America.”

The irony is hard to miss. At a time when liberal ideologues argue against prosecuting anyone for anything, a woman destroying a rainbow flag faces double the punishment under New York’s hate crimes statute, which not only penalizes crimes but motives too. But what about the motives of the arsons in Buffalo? Where was the demand for “hate crimes” in cities where “ABORT THE CHURCH” and “DEATH TO CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM” were spraypainted across houses of worship?

If you’re starting to believe double standards are America’s only standards, you’re not alone. When burning our flag is “protected speech,” and a banner of sexual fanaticism is untouchable, we’ve passed the point of absurdity as a nation. And yet, these are the lessons our children have been taught: you can kneel for the national anthem but not refuse to wear a rainbow.

Now the bitter fruits of that indoctrination are everywhere. Today, more of Generation Z identifies as LGBT (20%) than feels proud to call America home (16%). Is it any wonder that society treats the Pride flag with a reverence it used to reserve for the country that gave activists the right to fly it in the first place?

In 1989, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the criminal penalties for burning a U.S. flag, Justice John Paul Stevens lamented in his dissent, “[The American flag] is more than a proud symbol of the courage, the determination, and the gifts of nature that transformed 13 fledgling Colonies into a world power. It is a symbol of freedom, of equal opportunity, of religious tolerance, and of goodwill for other peoples who share our aspirations.”

It does not “represent the views of any particular party, and it does not represent any political philosophy,” Chief Justice William Rehnquist insisted. “The flag is not simply another idea or point of view competing for recognition in the marketplace of ideas.” The value of its unifying power, the four dissenting justices argued, cannot be measured.

Thirty-four years later, that unity is being tested as never before. We’ve become a people determined to wave our own flags, so comfortable in our factions that we’re trampling our country’s ideals — the same ideals that laid the foundations of self-expression the Left worships today. But if America has any hope of healing these deep divides, of ending these uncivil wars, the solution is returning — not to what divides us, but to what connects us. A national identity found, not in a spectrum of colors, but in three: red, white, and blue. PLEASE SEE BELOW)

Originally published at The Washington Stand. 

Tony Perkins is president of the Family Research Council.

Matthew 24:3-14 (NIV) 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Romans 1:18-32 (NIV) 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Category:

Political

Tagged with:


UN to push religious communities to ‘fully comply’ with human rights law to ’empower’ LGBT+ people

CANDACE HATHAWAY | February 06, 2023

Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/un-to-push-religious-communities-to-fully-comply-with-human-rights-law-to-empower-lgbt-people/

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The United Nations announced plans to release a report in June regarding “perceived contradictions” between “the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB)” and “sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).” The report aims to push governments to “fully comply” with international human rights law to “protect and empower” the participation of LGBT+ people in religious communities, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.

Sounds like more “One World Government” push.

The U.N. requested calls for input from all interested governments, religious leaders, academics, activists, and human rights organizations regarding “perceived points of tension” between FoRB and SOGI. Respondents were requested to indicate any policies or laws protecting discriminatory religious practices.

One question asked, “What are the key trends or significant instances of discriminatory or abusive practices by individual providers of goods or services in the public sphere against LGBT+ and gender-diverse persons that rely on religious narratives?”

The report’s findings will be shared during the 53rd session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in June. It will also include “recommendations to States and other relevant stakeholders to fully comply with their obligations under international human rights law to protect and empower LGBT+ persons to pursue happiness, exercise and enjoy all their human rights, and choose how to contribute to society on an equal footing with everyone, including through effective participation in religious, cultural, social, and public life.” In charge of the report is Victor Madrigal-Borloz, an independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, who has been a longtime LGBT+ advocate.

The U.N.’s announcement argued that religion has “historically been used to promote, enable, and condone institutional and personal violence and discrimination against individuals based on sexual orientation or gender identity (real or presumed); repress sexual and gender diversity; and promote cis-gendered and heteronormative norms of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

According to the U.N., such practices cannot be “justified” under human rights law. The upcoming report aims to “introduce voices from LGBT-inclusive belief systems” to “better recognize and protect LGBT+ persons’ access to faith and spirituality.”

Grace Melton, senior associate in the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at Heritage, told the DCNF that the report could result in the “politicization” of religious freedom.

“My biggest concern is the premise of the report which seems to suggest that freedom of religion and rights based on sexual orientation are the same,” stated Melton. “But certainly as a function of international law, they are not the same. Freedom of religion or belief, or freedom of conscience, is an internationally protected human right. It’s codified in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is a legally binding treaty.”

Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, a fellow for the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America, told the DCNF that the U.N.’s report is a “bold attack” against religious freedom.

“Despite saying that we shouldn’t have these rights pitted against one another, but when you keep reading on you see that the author of the report really does see [rights and religion] as being in conflict,” Picciotti-Bayer said.

“This narrative is not only harmful because it could make people doubt the importance of religion in their own lives and their communities, but it’s also harmful because it will undermine really important social protection,” Picciotti-Bayer added. “Religion and religious freedom is a stabilizing presence, and for the cases where religion is being misused to oppress, the answer isn’t to shut down religion entirely.”

Neither the U.N. nor Madrigal-Borloz responded to a request for comment, the DCNF reported.

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

Michael Brown Op-Ed: You must bow at the LGBT altar or else


Michael Brown, CP Op-Ed Contributor | Monday, January 23, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/you-must-bow-at-the-lgbt-altar-or-else.html/

Update: Since writing this article, it was reported that, “Jerseys for Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov have sold out online days after the 26-year-old refused to wear a gay pride-themed jersey for religious reasons.”

Getty Images

Do you remember when the main goal of LGBT activism was creating an atmosphere of “tolerance and acceptance”? Those days are long gone, and the goal posts have been moved dramatically. Today, if you do not partake in the public, mandatory celebration of LGBT pride, you will be marked and you will be ostracized. If you don’t believe me, just ask NHL hockey player Ivan Provorov.

Provorov, who is from Russia and plays on the Philadelphia Flyers, declined to participate in pregame warmups for the Flyer’s LGBT pride night, since he would have been required to wear a pride-themed jersey.

He explained to reporters, “I respect everybody and I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion [which is Russian Orthodox]. That’s all I’m going to say.”

In other words, if someone identifies as LGBT, that’s their business, and he respects that. He has his own religious beliefs which dictate how he lives, and he would ask others to respect that. Live and let live.

Flyers coach John Tortorella was supportive of Provorov’s choice, explaining that the team made clear where it stood on LGBT pride. As for Provorov himself, Tortorella said that “he is being true to himself and to his religion. This has to do with his beliefs and his religion. That is one thing I respect about Provy, he is always true to himself, so that’s where we’re at with that.”

But not everyone was as tolerant (remember that word?).

According to hockey journalist Pierre LeBrun, if Provorov really respected the LGBT community, he would have participated in the event and worn the jersey. To paraphrase, “Who gives a hoot about his religious convictions? To respect someone means to celebrate who they are and what they do, even if it is in fundamental contradiction to one’s own beliefs and convictions.”

Hockey commentator Gord Miller seconded LeBrun’s sentiments, adding that Provorov should have been banned from playing in the game. After all, he tweeted, “Freedom of expression doesn’t give you freedom from the consequences of your words or actions.”

To paraphrase again, “Failure to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride has serious professional consequences!”

Sports and comedy writer Rachael Millanta was even more blunt, calling Provorov “ignorant, obnoxious, and homophobic,” also referring to people like him as “bigots” who “hide behind their cherry-picked religion.”

Oh, the beauty of open-minded, liberal tolerance!

So, by Provorov following the consistent Christian teachings of the last 2,000 years (or, more broadly, the consistent biblical teachings of the last 3,000+ years), he is an ignorant, obnoxious and homophobic bigot who is cherry-picking his beliefs. The same can be said for the tens of millions of Russian Orthodox Christians who share these beliefs, along with many hundreds of millions of other Christians of like heart and like mind.

In short, you cannot graciously disagree. You cannot respectfully opt out. Instead, you must deny your convictions, rewrite the Bible, run roughshod over your faith and publicly celebrate something you believe to be wrong. Otherwise, you are a crass human being and a small-minded bigot. Those are your only choices!

Already in 2011 in my book A Queer Thing Happened to America, I could point to the Riddle Homophobia Scale, used in schools to evaluate whether the students were “homophobic.” According to the scale, both tolerance and acceptance were considered homophobic, since homosexuality was not something to “tolerate” or “accept.” Instead, the only way not to be homophobic was to embrace a “positive” attitude which called for “support, admiration, appreciation, and nurturance.”

Yes, if you don’t want to be a homophobe, you must admire your lesbian friend. You must nurture your transgender colleague’s new identity. Otherwise, you will be marked.

Are you surprised?

Well, consider this: “The Riddle homophobia scale was developed by Dorothy Riddle in 1973–74 while she was overseeing research for the American Psychological Association Task Force on Gays and Lesbians.” That’s how far back it goes, although it wasn’t widely released until 1994. That’s why I started my article with this question: “Do you remember when the main goal of LGBT activism was creating an atmosphere of ‘tolerance and acceptance?’”

Most young people, including young adults, do not remember this time because they never experienced it. Instead, they have grown up with the choice to celebrate LGBT pride or be branded, to comply publicly or be ousted.

That’s why one of the chapters in my forthcoming book Why Have So Many Christians Left the Faith is titled, “If Gay Is Good, Christianity Is Bad.” That’s how much the tables have turned, even though the testimony of Scripture remains as clear today as it has ever been.

One of my colleagues, who is now a pastor, worked for years as a computer programmer with Bank of America. He told me that little by little, he was getting pushed out of his job through LGBT activism. By the time he quit, every employee, let alone higher-level manager or executive, could see on your bio whether you identified as an LGBT ally. If not, you could virtually kiss your career advancements goodbye.

Provorov is just the latest example of this reverse bigoted, small-minded, judgmentalism which leaves us with only one ethical choice: We will continue to love our LGBT neighbor as ourselves and we will refuse to back down on our convictions regardless of cost or consequence. That’s what Jesus would have us do.

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.

Category:

Political, Sports

Tagged with:

Colorado approves adding LGBT language into history curriculum after yearlong debate


By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter | November 15, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/colorado-approves-adding-lgbt-language-into-history-curriculum.html/

Students sitting at their desks in a classroom raise their hands. | Getty Images

States are taking different approaches to how their schools teach sensitive subjects in history classes, with Colorado and Virginia taking the spotlight last week.

Colorado’s State Board of Education voted last Thursday in a 4-3 party-line vote to update the state’s social studies curriculum for all grade levels, restoring references to the LGBT community and marginalized racial minorities that had been cut earlier this year after some parents expressed concerns over a lack of diversity. 

CPR News reported that the state board of education would require schools’ social studies curriculum to reference minority groups throughout all grade levels in compliance with Colorado law. Board member Lisa Escárcega said that she included references to certain races and LGBT individuals at the top of the recommendations due to the importance of such groups.

The changes come as the state conducts its annual revision of academic standards, something Colorado does every six years. The Colorado State Board of Education did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment. 

The board made recommendations for the curriculum standards last November that caused controversy.

The recommendations updated social studies standards to include references to minority groups highlighted in a law passed by the legislature in 2019 calling for the inclusion of more diverse views in children’s history lessons. The law requires schools to include perspectives of LGBT people, African Americans, Latinos, American Indians and Asian Americans.   

After concerns were raised about “age-appropriateness,” the committee eliminated references to LGBT people for students below fourth grade in April. 

Republican Board member Steve Durham objected to exposing preschoolers to LGBT topics, arguing that the “impact and discussion of sexual issues is the same for kindergartens as it is for high school students.” 

Democratic board members and Escárcega argued that LGBT issues are not sexual topics, claiming the topic may come up during discussions about families, even in lower grades, according to CPR. 

In a Monday statement to The Christian Post, a spokesperson for the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition, which supported references to LGBT people, said the standards were based “on research and best practice.”

“The cuts that were made to eliminate certain references to the LGBTQ community and the realities of racism in our history perpetuate xenophobia, homophobia and false understandings of our collective histories,” the spokesperson wrote.

Before the vote, the board allowed for public comments. Except for two speakers, all who spoke called for restoring references to LGBT individuals. One parent who opposed restoring references to the LGBT community, Mary Goodley, stated that parents reserve the right to teach their children about complex social issues. 

“Teaching children about particular sexual or gender notions is a clear violation of parental rights and not only serves to further discredit, but also decreases trust in the public education model,” she said, as quoted by CPR.

The standards will go into effect next year.

Last month, the Colorado school board voted 4 to 3 to reject American Birthright social studies standards, a model promoted by the conservative National Association of Scholars. Those standards aim to teach children where their freedoms come from and “why their country deserves to be loved.”

Thursday’s vote in Colorado came the day before the Virginia Department of Education under Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin proposed new revisions that would alter former Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed history and social science guidelines in the state’s schools. 

“The standards will recognize the world impact of America’s quest for a ‘more perfect Union’ and the optimism, ideals and imagery captured by Ronald Reagan’s ‘shining city upon a hill’ speech,” the proposal reads. “Students will know our nation’s exceptional strengths, including individual innovation, moral character, ingenuity and adventure, while learning from terrible periods and actions in direct conflict with these ideals.”

The 53-page proposal includes teaching kindergarteners about patriotism and how certain symbols are used to honor the country. Fourth-grade students would learn about the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, and 11th-grade students would study Christopher Columbus and the enslavement of African-Americans. 

If the Virginia Board of Education adopts the draft proposal, the new standards will go into effect for seven years, according to a factsheet sent to Virginia legislators on Friday. The new standards would be taught during the 2024-2025 school year, and professional development will start in the summer of 2023. The administration claims these changes are necessary to provide clarity for educators and expand parental involvement. 

“The August 2022 draft standards were unnecessarily difficult for educators to understand and implement; they were also inaccessible for parents and families,” the factsheet reads. “The November 2022 revised standards are easily understood and implemented through a logical progression with a recommended grade level sequence.” 

The proposed history curriculum under Northam would have included lessons on LGBT issues and social justice, in addition to halting requirements to teach lessons on Christopher Columbus and Benjamin Franklin. The Northam standards also would not have included lessons on why James Madison is called the “Father of the Constitution” and George Washington is called the “Father of our Country.” Under the new draft, fourth-grade students would once again learn why Madison and Washington have these titles. 

Critics, such as the Virginia Education Association, a union representing more than 40,000 education workers, contend the proposed standards will impede academic instruction. VEA President James J. Fedderman said in a Saturday statement to The Washington Post that he believes the new standards contain “political bias” and refer to enslaved people with “outdated language.”

Former Trump administration official and founder of the education advocacy group Fight For Schools, Ian Prior, supports the changes. Prior told The Post that if applied “correctly,” the changes could unlock key critical thinking skills that students can use to make their own analysis and decision as they mature into young leaders.”

The Virginia Education Association did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment. 

Education appeared to be a relevant issue last November when Youngkin defeated Democratic challenger Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia gubernatorial race. Amid national attention surrounding parental involvement in education, McAuliffe argued in a debate against parents being able to tell schools what to teach. Youngkin responded to these concerns by promoting himself as an advocate for parental involvement in education. 

In September, the state’s Department of Education reversed another one of Northam’s directives involving trans-identifying students. The new directive prohibits students from identifying as the opposite gender without documentation and requires schools to keep parents informed about their child’s “psychological development.”

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

Category:

Education, Political

Tagged with:

Secular intolerance of Christians’ views is leading to self-censorship, report warns


Posted By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor | June 13, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/secular-intolerance-of-christians-is-leading-to-self-censorship-report.html/

Getty Images

Secular intolerance has a “chilling effect” on Christians who are having to practice “various forms of self-censorship” as they’re finding it difficult to express their faith freely in society, according to a new report detailing accounts from four countries.

“Secular intolerance has a chilling effect on Christians, which directly affects their capacity to express their faith freely in society and is leading to various forms of self-censorship,” says the report, titled “Perceptions on Self-Censorship: Confirming and Understanding the ‘Chilling Effect,’” which includes case studies from France, Germany, Colombia and Mexico.

“Some people do indeed fear being subjected to legal proceedings or being criminally sanctioned on charges of discrimination, while others fear being subjected to disciplinary proceedings in their work or places,” notes the study, compiled by the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe, the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Latin America and the International Institute for Religious Freedom.

“With some exceptions, the majority chose to keep its expressions of faith or its opinions on issues related to life, marriage and the family from a Christian doctrine perspective private because they had witnessed sanctions or prosecutions to which colleagues or peers had been subjected,” it adds.

Many incidents cited in the report might seem insignificant, the authors say, but “these many small things together cause ‘death by a thousand cuts.’”

“A few cuts do not kill you and barely hurt. But continuous small strikes eventually have an impact. We posit that the accumulation of seemingly insignificant incidents creates an environment in which Christians do not feel comfortable — to some degree — to live their faith freely. Indeed, Western Christians experience a ‘chilling effect’ resulting from perceived pressures in their cultural environment, related to widely mediatized court cases.”

Further, the study observes, “Because of the subtle and generally non-physically violent nature of the chilling effect, it is often misunderstood or even ignored and therefore largely remains invisible.”

“This is the main reason why the phenomenon is not recognized in religious freedom datasets such as the Pew Research Center indexes,” the authors add. 

The report also warns this form of censorship is not only limiting people’s exercise of religion or their right to manifest their convictions, “but also that these violations to the right to religious freedom can cause the disappearance of religion in a given context.”

Madeleine Enzelberger, executive director of OIDAC Europe, said the study “raises the legitimate question of: how is it possible in a mature, liberal democratic society that stands for tolerance, diversity, and inclusive and open discourse, that people are frightened to freely speak their minds?” according to Christian Today.

Many Christians interviewed as part of the study did not realize they were self-censoring. In some cases, they had self-censored to the extent that they now “stop seeing the characteristics related to self-censorship as a problem.”

As one of its conclusions, the study laments that “the Church has allowed itself to be self-censored … Christian religious leaders have more freedom to express themselves freely (but they do not always take advantage of it).”

To remedy this form of censorship, the authors suggest there’s “an urgent need to educate policymakers, public servants (including the police) and judges about religion to increase their religious literacy.”

“We have seen that a high degree of religious illiteracy leads to misunderstanding of how religion informs behavior in different spheres of society and what the legitimate role of religion in the public domain is. Illiteracy therefore can consequently be the cause of ‘practical intolerance’ against Christians.”

Category:

Political, Spiritual

Tagged with:

Jason Whitlock Op-ed: ‘BrokeBlacks Mountain’ — Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart Grooms’ Black People for the LGBTQ Agenda


Commentary by JASON WHITLOCK | June 08, 2022

Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/fearless/oped/whitlock-brokeblacks-mountain-washington-posts-jonathan-capehart-grooms-black-people-for-the-lgbtq-agenda/

Jonathan Capehart, a black editor at the Washington Post and an MSNBC contributor, wrote in a column Tuesday that he and his white husband might flee the United States over a growing fear of “crazy white people.” He never stated where he and Nick Schmit might relocate, or which nation would be more welcoming of love-the-fruit-hate-the-tree negroes. He omitted their dream destination because he knows black people experience a higher standard of living, life expectancy, and safety in America than anyplace on earth. Nowhere else on the planet could a dark-skinned man as intellectually compromised and limited as Capehart find high-profile work as a public intellectual and white liberal puppet. Capehart and his boo-thang would not abandon America at gunpoint.

So, what is the real point of Capehart’s Tuesday column, “Why black people are afraid of ‘crazy’ white people”?

In it, he argues that the Buffalo mass shooting illustrates that white people’s fear of demographic changes as a result of illegal immigration is causing white people to turn crazy and potentially violent toward black people. He cites polling from the Southern Poverty Law Center that states that 70% of Republicans believe in the “great replacement conspiracy.” He connects the SPLC poll to a Washington Post poll that states 75% of black people worry that they or a loved one will be physically attacked because they’re black and believe white supremacists are a major threat to black people. These polls justify Capehart’s writing one of the most morally bankrupt and racist opening paragraphs in the last 50 years of mainstream newspapers:

“I’m going to let you in on a little secret: Black people are not afraid of white people. We’re afraid of ‘crazy’ white people.”

That sentence is the equivalent of a white columnist writing: “I’m going to let you in on a little secret: White people are not afraid of black people. We’re afraid of n*****s.”

Jonathan Capehart is not a racist. He loves white fruit (Nick Schmit). He pretends to hate the tree (America). Capehart is a soldier in the BLM-LGBTQ+ Alphabet Mafia. His purpose and point are no different from the Black Lives Matter movement. His job is to wrap the agenda of the LGBTQ movement in black advancement packaging. He’s tying the freedom and treatment of black people to homosexuals and transgenders. That’s why he made this ridiculous and illogical reference to Philando Castile when arguing against the Second Amendment and self-defense.

“Think about it. Imagine I get a gun for self-protection (not that I ever would but stay with me). A situation arises in which I use it to protect myself. But then the cops arrive, see a gun, ‘fear for their lives,’ and, well, the rest writes itself. Remember Philando Castile? We can’t win.”

A Minnesota police officer shot and killed Castile during a routine traffic stop. Castile legally carried a firearm. A jury acquitted the officer of manslaughter. The tragedy that befell Castile is an extremely rare occurrence. Capehart knows this. But he’s an operative in the real replacement theory sweeping Democratic politics. Black is the new gay and trans. He’s an executive producer of a new movie, “BrokeBlacks Mountain.” Capehart ties his plot twist together toward the end of his column, writing:

“It’s not just race, either. The SPLC report notes a correlation between the obsession with ethnic ‘replacement’ and a fixation on gender identity. And look: More than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills have been filed this year alone, many of them targeting trans children and their families. This is not to mention the threat to abortion access or to other rights (such as my marriage) that could fall like dominoes.”

There it is. Capehart’s real passion is protecting his marriage to Nick Schmit.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: Capehart would not piss on a heterosexual black man set ablaze at the White House. He loves fruit and hates the way God made him.

For stating this obvious truth, I’ll be accused of homophobia and transphobia. It’s not true. I despise dishonesty and lies. I’m tired of black elites disconnected from the reality of working-class people standing on the caskets of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown to advance the plight of the Alphabet Mafia.

Capehart is using black people to promote an agenda that directly contradicts the gospel spelled out in the Bible.

I’m afraid of Jonathan Capehart.

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

Disney launches LGBT clothing line for kids; critics blast company for promoting ‘sexual confusion’


Reported By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter | Thursday, May 19, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/disney-launches-new-lgbt-clothing-line-for-children.html/

People from the Walt Disney Company participate in the annual LA Pride Parade in West Hollywood, California, on June 9, 2019. | DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images

Disney has released a new “Pride Collection” clothing line for children amid controversy surrounding the corporation’s reaction to Florida’s new parental rights in education bill and reported efforts to include LGBT advocacy in its children’s programming. The family entertainment company launched the new fashion line on Monday, featuring merchandise such as sweaters, T-shirts, baby clothes and other items, all bearing the rainbow pride flag that symbolizes the LGBT movement. The collection’s launch comes two weeks before the start of so-called pride month, which LGBT activists recognize each June. 

Many of the products also include LGBT-themed images of iconic Disney character Mickey Mouse and the company’s Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar franchises. The company is selling the items through its “shopDisney” online store, Disney retail shops and theme parks. 

“The Disney Pride Collection was created by LGBTQIA+ employees and allies at The Walt Disney Company and is a reflection of their incredible contributions and place at the heart of the company,” the corporation wrote in a statement announcing the clothing line. “We stand in solidarity with our LGBTQIA+ community everywhere.”

In an opinion piece published by The Daily Citizen, Zachary Mettler, staff writer and communications liaison for the Christian organization Focus on the Family, contended that Disney is “targeting” children with an LGBT agenda. 

“The new clothing line is just a part of Disney’s continued push to promote sexual confusion in children,” Mettler told The Christian Post. “Children weren’t designed to carry the weight of adult sexuality.” 

He further suggested that Disney is trying to plant the idea into children’s heads that same-sex couples marrying is morally the same as a marriage between a man and a woman. He said the family entertainment company is attempting to teach children that gender is malleable, something he envisions will “confuse” and negatively impact them when they become young adults.

In its announcement of the clothing line, Disney pledged to donate the entirety of the collection’s proceed’s now through June 30 to various LGBT activist organizations, including: Ali Forney Center, GLSEN, LGBTQ Center OC, Los Angeles LGBT Center, PFLAG National, SF LGBT Center, The Trevor Project and the Zebra Coalition. 

Mettler views this as a sign that the corporation has become more vocal about its stance on LGBT issues than in previous years.

According to Fox Business, the corporation has produced pride-themed clothing for children every year since 2018 but previously donated only a small percentage of the profits. This year, the company also renamed the fashion line from Rainbow Disney Collection to the Disney Pride Collection.

“I think parents especially need to be aware of the content that their children are consuming and, ideally, will proactively discuss these issues with them. Particularly topics on sexuality and gender identity, so that their children know how to navigate the content that these organizations promote,” Mettler said. 

On March 11, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek apologized to employees via a letter for not taking a firmer stance against Florida bill HB 1557. The law prohibits sexual orientation and gender identity instruction for students in kindergarten through third grade and requires schools to notify parents about their child’s healthcare services on campus. Disney initially remained neutral about the legislation that critics derided as a “Don’t Say Gay” bill, changing its stance after criticism from LGBT employees and supporters. The company condemned the bill in a March 28 statement, declaring that it “should never have passed and should never have been signed into law.” 

A few weeks after the company first criticized the bill publicly, leaked video footage obtained by the Manhattan Institute’s Christopher Rufo showed Disney employees discussing their efforts to promote an LGBT message in the company’s children’s programming. During the meeting, Latoya Raveneau, an executive producer at Disney, praised the showrunners of the company’s “Proud Family” reboot for adhering to her “not-at-all secret gay agenda.” The spinoff of the children’s animated series features new characters, including a same-sex couple. 

Franklin Graham, CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said Disney has

“gone too far” in a Facebook post last month. 

“What has happened at Disney is moral failure,” Graham insisted. “Walt Disney had a vision for wholesome family entertainment. He was committed to the family. The morals of the corporate leadership of Disney today are in the gutter, and they want to redefine family counter to God’s original design and flaunt sin.”

Category:

Business, Political, Spiritual

Tagged with:

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


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Sex, Lies, and Censorship

A.F. BRANCO | on April 22, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-sex-lies-and-censorship/

The Mainstream media continue trying to ignore the Hunter Biden laptop Joe Biden Corruption connection.

Hunter laptop Scandal
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2022.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Common Sense Not Included

A.F. BRANCO | on April 23, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-common-sense-not-included/

Democrats are talking about ankle bracelets and phones for illegal immigrants as opposed to turning them away at the border.

Illegal Immigrant Phones
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2022.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Critical Race Tyranny

A.F. BRANCO | on April 24, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-critical-race-tyranny/

Gov. Walz, Democrats, and the teacher’s union are pushing Critical Race Theory against the will of parents.

Critical Race Theory Minnesota
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2022.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – The Tragic Kingdom

A.F. BRANCO | on April 25, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-the-tragic-kingdom/

Disney Corp is against the Desantis bill that protects parents’ rights from radical leftist teachers.

Disney Gone Woke
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2022.

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 “Fox News”, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Donald Trump.

Category:

Political

Tagged with:

70% of Americans less likely to do business with Disney due to its LGBT activism: poll


Reported By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter | Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/americans-want-to-cut-ties-with-disney-over-lgbt-activism-poll.html/

An overwhelming majority of Americans say they are less likely to do business with Disney after learning that the company is “creating content to expose young children to sexual ideas.”

The Trafalgar Group released a nationwide issues survey that it conducted in conjunction with the conservative advocacy group Convention of States Action. The survey questioned 1,079 likely general election voters between April 5–8, and asked them for their opinions about the Walt Disney Company’s publicized embrace of LGBT activism following a Florida law that prohibits school officials from teaching curriculum on sexual orientation on gender identity to children in kindergarten through the third grade, including teaching them that they can identify as any gender they choose.

After informing respondents that “News reports reveal Disney is focusing on creating content to expose young children to sexual ideas,” the survey asked, “Does this make you more or less likely to do business with Disney?” A majority of those surveyed (57.2%) indicated that Disney’s embrace of LGBT activism made them “much less likely” to do business with the company, while an additional 11% told pollsters they were “less likely” to do so.

Only 6.1% said they were “much more likely” to do business with Disney, while 3.3% reported that they were “somewhat more likely” to do so. The remainder of respondents (22.5%) maintained that Disney’s efforts to introduce LGBT ideology to young children would make “no difference” in their desire to do business with the company.

Broken down by party ideology, Republicans were more likely than Democrats to express a desire to cut ties with Disney over its LGBT activism. More than three-quarters (76%) of Republicans surveyed reported that they were “much less likely” to do business with the company and an additional 9.3% simply described themselves as “less likely.”

Less than 1% (0.9%) of Republicans identified themselves as “somewhat more likely” to conduct business with Disney, while 3.5% predicted that they were “much more likely” to conduct a business relationship with Disney going forward, and 10.3% insisted that the company’s LGBT advocacy made “no difference” in their support for the corporation.

Similarly, 63.4% of those who selected “no party/other” when asked about their partisan affiliation contended that they were “much less likely” to do business with Disney, while 9.1% maintained that they were “less likely” to do so. The share of independent voters who are much more likely to do business with Disney because of its LGBT activism was measured at 6.9%, with the percentage of independent voters “somewhat more likely” to do business with Disney measured at 2.2%.

Slightly more than one-sixth of unaffiliated voters (18.3%) stated that Disney’s creation of “content to expose young children to sexual ideas” would make “no difference” in whether or not they would conduct business with the company going forward.

While Democrats were much less likely than Republicans and Independents to express a desire to boycott Disney over its LGBT activism, a plurality of Democrats surveyed (48.2%) classified themselves as “less likely” to do business with the family entertainment company, with 34.2% “much less likely” to do so and 14% “less likely” to conduct business with Disney. Only 8% asserted that Disney’s LGBT activism made them “much more likely” to conduct business with the company, while 6.4% were “somewhat more likely” to do so.

More than one-third of Democrats (37.4%) said Disney’s LGBT activism made “no difference” in whether or not they would do business with the company. The survey also inquired about respondents’ likelihood to support “family-friendly alternatives to Disney.”

A plurality of likely voters (45.1%) said they were “very likely” to support alternatives to Disney, while 24% maintained that they were “somewhat likely” to do so. An additional 11.5% suggested that they were “somewhat unlikely” to embrace alternative family entertainment companies, while 19.3% classified themselves as “very unlikely” to do so.

An outright majority (53.9%) of Republicans were “very likely” to embrace family-friendly alternatives to Disney and an additional 23.7% saw themselves as “somewhat likely” to support alternatives to Disney. Only 7.3% of Republicans were “somewhat unlikely” to support alternatives to Disney, while 15.1% identified themselves as “very unlikely” to take their business elsewhere.

A plurality of respondents who selected “no party/other” as their partisan affiliation (49.3%) predicted that they were “very likely” to do business with alternatives to Disney, followed by 22.8% who saw themselves as “somewhat likely” to embrace alternatives to Disney, 17.4% who saw such a scenario as “very unlikely” to, and 10.6% who viewed the possibility of championing alternatives to Disney as “somewhat unlikely.”

Approximately one-third of Democrats (33.2%) told pollsters they were “very likely” to support family-friendly alternatives to Disney, followed by 25.4% of Democrats who seemed “somewhat likely” to do business with family-friendly alternatives to Disney, 25% who were “very unlikely” to do so, and 16.4% who reported the abandonment of Disney in favor of family-friendly alternatives as “somewhat unlikely.”

The release of the Trafalgar poll comes as Disney continues to face backlash over its response to a recently passed parental rights bill in Florida that prevents school officials from teaching students in kindergarten through third grade about matters related to sexual orientation and gender identity. While Disney is based in California, it operates the popular Walt Disney World theme park in Orlando, Florida.

In what Christopher Rufo of City Journal and the Manhattan Institute characterized as an “all-hands meeting” about the legislation derided by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” Disney officials lauded their efforts to incorporate LGBT ideology into programming geared toward young children. Specifically, one executive producer at Disney touted that she was “basically adding queerness” to children’s programming “wherever I could” because “no one would stop me” and “no one was trying to stop me.”

As the comments made during the video obtained by Rufo suggest, Disney had worked to incorporate LGBT characters into children’s programming even before the outcry over Florida’s parental rights bill. The entertainment company’s Pixar Animation Studios released the children’s animated film “Onward” in March 2020, which features a lesbian heroine. Three years earlier, a live-action remake of the classic “Beauty and the Beast” featured a “gay moment.”  

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

Category:

Business, Education, Political

Tagged with:

Tag Cloud