Category: Bible Scripture

Student Sues High School Principal for Violating His First Amendment Rights to Free Speech and Religion

BY BOB ADELMANN

SEE: https://thenewamerican.com/student-sues-high-school-principal-for-violating-his-first-amendment-rights-to-free-speech-and-religion/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

David Stout, a junior at Plainwell High School in Michigan, was suspended for three days last fall as punishment for expressing his religious beliefs in a private conversation with a friend. When his parents learned about his suspension, and the details behind the school’s action, they enlisted the assistance of the Great Lakes Justice Center.

After reviewing the background, which extends back to April 2021, the attorneys took on the case and filed suit last Thursday, claiming that the school’s principal, assistant principal, and band director all violated Stout’s First Amendment right to express his beliefs:

A foundational core of our Constitutional Republic is that the State cannot punish its citizens for engaging in speech that is protected by the First Amendment.

The 29-page complaint provided the court with all the details. Last April, Stout, a self-proclaimed Christian who is active as a football player and bandleader at the school, responded to a question texted to him by a Christian friend about the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality.

From the complaint:

On or about April 28, 2021, Plaintiff [Stout], using his own smartphone, participated in a series of private group chat/text sessions with these friends from school.

At one point during this group session, one of these children asked to speak with Plaintiff in a private text.

Once Plaintiff began texting with this other child, Plaintiff was surprised that this friend, who was not homosexual, asked Plaintiff’s opinions and beliefs about this other child’s friends “being gay.”

Plaintiff stated that the Bible teaches that homosexual conduct is a sin and in the Christian context that God created only two biological genders — man and woman.

Plaintiff stated that while homosexual conduct is a sin, however, everyone is a sinner due to freewill choices, and he would pray for them “to repent and follow Jesus.” He also shared that he would extend love toward them because “God commands” it, as “Jesus died on the cross for them and extends His love toward them, and all they have to do is accept it.”

Plaintiff continued that “the Bible says at the end of days all will know the truth, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.”

Stout’s response offended his friend, and the text conversation ended.

However, the next day Stout reached out to his friend in an attempt at reconciliation:

Although Plaintiff felt his friend was “discriminatory, selfish, and unkind,” Plaintiff did not want to lose his friendship. Thus, on April 29, 2021, Plaintiff contacted this child for another private chat/text session.

Plaintiff began by expressing that he still held his Christian opinions, but he respected his friend’s opinions as well.

Further, Plaintiff did not want to end his friendship with this other student because of a disagreement, and he wanted to respect everyone’s opinions even if they disagreed so they could remain friends.

At no time was this conversation made public. It was private, occurred off-campus, and was well within Stout’s First Amendment rights. Said the complaint: “Plaintiff never posted or otherwise distributed any of the content of this private chat/text to any public social media site, to the school, to other band members, to the student body, or to any other person.”

When school officials learned about the conversation (probably from Stout’s “friend”), they called Stout in for several “conversations,” which ultimately led to his being suspended for three days in October.

Following the filing of the complaint on Thursday, Stout’s lawyer, David Kallman, issued a statement to the media:

My client’s religious speech and beliefs should be treated with tolerance and respect. Public schools may not violate the Constitution and enforce a heckler’s veto of student speech.

Nothing David did caused any disruption or problem at the school. He has the right to express his opinion in accordance with his sincerely held religious beliefs, without vilification or punishment from the government for holding to those beliefs.

Kallman expanded on the case:

David was suspended for three days last fall for stating his Christian beliefs in a private text conversation and in a hallway at school. He is also being punished for not policing and reporting the inappropriate jokes of fellow students.

He was instructed to stop posting his religious comments on all his social media platforms, and was disciplined for the offensive behavior of some other students; something he was unaware of and did not participate in.

David is a good student with a clean record. Nothing he did caused a disruption or any problem at the school. He has the right to express his opinion in accordance with his religious beliefs without vilification or punishment from the government.

Kallman’s lawsuit is asking the court to declare the school’s principal, assistant principal, and band director’s “actions … unconstitutional and that [they] violated [Stout’s] fundamental constitutional rights,” and to find “that [they] acted outside the scope of their authority.”

The suit also demands that the school expunge Stout’s school records of any mention of the incident, pay all of his attorney’s fees and court costs, and “grant such other and further relief as is just and appropriate.”

That would include exacting promises from the school’s officials not to punish Stout as retribution during his remaining year for bringing them to task for their unconscionable, illegal, and unconstitutional acts.

Leftist Indifference to Christian Genocide

Whether for Obama, Clinton, or Biden, Nigeria is not a “country of particular concern.”

BY RAYMOND IBRAHIM

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/01/leftist-indifference-christian-genocide-raymond-ibrahim/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.  This article is reprinted from the Gatestone Institute. 

A recent and ostensibly insignificant “label change” by the U.S. Department of State sheds light on both President Joe Biden and former president Barack Obama, as well as on a potential presidential candidate for 2024, Hillary Clinton.

On November 17, 2021, the State Department removed Nigeria from its list of Countries of Particular Concern, that is, nations that engage in, or tolerate violations of, religious freedom. It did this despite several human rights organizations characterizing the persecution meted out to Nigeria’s Christians as a “genocide.”

According to an August 2021 report, since the Islamic insurgency began in earnest in July 2009 — first at the hands of Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist organization, and later by the Fulani, Muslim herdsmen also motivated by jihadist ideology — more than 60,000 Christians have either been murdered or abducted during raids. The kidnapped Christians have never returned to their homes, and their loved ones believe them to be dead. During the same time, approximately 20,000 churches and Christian schools have been torched and destroyed. Nigeria was also the nation with the most Christians murdered (3,530) for their faith in 2020. According to another tally, at least 17 Christians were murdered every day in the first half of 2021 alone. As for those Christians who survive the jihadist raids, millions of them are currently internally displaced people.

Irrespective of these abysmal statistics, the U.S. State Department does not believe that Nigeria should be categorized as a Country of Particular Concern; and that nations such as Russia, which was included on the list, are worse violators of religious freedom than Nigeria. In removing Nigeria from the list, the Biden administration has demonstrated a sheepish continuity with a previous administration. Despite jihadists having slaughtered and terrorized Nigeria’s Christians all during President Barack Obama’s eight-year tenure (2009-2017), and despite the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom having repeatedly urged that Nigeria be designated as a Country of Particular Concern, the Obama administration obstinately refused to acquiesce. It was only in 2020, under the Trump administration, that Nigeria was placed on that list — only to be removed again just recently.

To his credit, President Donald Trump had also forthrightly asked the current Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari (whom many Nigerian officials insist Obama helped bring to power), “Why are you killing Christians?”

Needless to say, many observers have slammed the State Department for its recent decision again to let Nigeria literally get away with mass murder.

As Sean Nelson, Legal Counsel for Global Religious Freedom for ADF International noted:

Outcry over the State Department’s removal of Country of Particular Concern status for Nigeria’s religious freedom violations is entirely warranted. No explanations have been given that could justify this decision. If anything, the situation in Nigeria has grown worse over the last year. Thousands of Christians, as well as Muslims who oppose the goals of terrorist and militia groups, are targeted, killed, and kidnapped, and the government is simply unwilling to stop these atrocities. Blasphemy cases are regularly brought against religious minorities, including humanists, in the North. Removing Country of Particular Concern status for Nigeria will only embolden the increasingly authoritarian government there. We call on the U.S. government to rectify this inexplicable decision and instead continue America’s long tradition of standing up for those who are persecuted worldwide.

Similarly, the Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Nadine Maenza, said:

USCIRF is especially displeased with the removal of Nigeria from its CPC designation, where it was rightfully placed last year…. We urge the State Department to reconsider its designations based on facts presented in its own reporting.

John Eibner, president of Christian Solidarity International, frankly said:

The State Department’s decision to de-list a country where thousands of Christians are killed every year reveals Washington’s true priorities…. Removing this largely symbolic sign of concern is a brazen denial of reality and indicates that the U.S. intends to pursue its interests in western Africa through an alliance with Nigeria’s security elite, at the expense of Christians and other victims of widespread sectarian violence…. If the U.S. CPC list means anything at all—an open question at this point—Nigeria belongs on it.

Worse, not only did the Obama State Department for eight years refuse to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern; during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State (2009-2013), she, too, refused to designate Boko Haram in Nigeria as a “terrorist” organization — despite Boko Haram (which roughly translates to “Westernization is forbidden”) being a jihadist group whose adherents have slaughtered more Christians and bombed more churches than the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria combined. Clinton’s refusal persisted despite the urging of the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, and more than a dozen senators and congressmen for her to designate Boko Haram. Instead, Clinton took the position that “inequality” and “poverty” are “what’s fueling all this stuff” — a reference to ideologically charged Muslims of Boko Haram terrorizing and murdering Christian “infidels” — to use the words of her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, from 2012.

Her callousness — as with her response to the murders of Americans at Benghazi, Libya: “What difference at this point does it make?” — was particularly visible in 2014, when Boko Haram, a group she had long shielded, abducted nearly 300 schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria. It was an incident that made headlines and therefore required a response.

Publicly, Clinton bemoaned the lot of the kidnapped girls: “The seizure of these young women by this radical extremist group, Boko Haram, is abominable, it’s criminal, it’s an act of terrorism and it really merits the fullest response possible.” Meanwhile, as a 2014 report pointed out,

The State Department under Hillary Clinton fought hard against placing the al Qaeda-linked militant group Boko Haram on its official list of foreign terrorist organizations for two years. And now, lawmakers and former U.S. officials are saying that the decision may have hampered the American government’s ability to confront the Nigerian group that shocked the world by abducting hundreds of innocent girls.

Indeed, two years earlier, in 2012, when Clinton was actively shielding Boko Haram from the terrorist label, a spokesman for the group announced that they were planning on doing something just like they did at Chibok — to “strike fear into the Christians of the power of Islam by kidnapping their women” — though that too had fallen on Clinton’s deaf ears. Notably, although news media initially presented the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls as Muslim, it later came out that they were Christian, at which point the media quickly lost interest.

Being placed on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations is important: it helps to ostracize and stigmatize malign groups and makes it illegal for any U.S. entities to do business with them. Most importantly, it allows U.S. intelligence and law enforcement to use certain tools and take certain measures that otherwise might not be legal, such as those offered by the Patriot Act: more surveillance, more efficient interagency communication, and so on.

Discussing Clinton’s failure to apply the terrorist designation onto Boko Haram — while simultaneously condemning them for engaging in “an act of terrorism” in regards to Chibok, 2014 — a former senior U.S. official said soon after:

The one thing she could have done, the one tool she had at her disposal, she didn’t use. And nobody can say she wasn’t urged to do it. It’s gross hypocrisy… The FBI, the CIA, and the Justice Department really wanted Boko Haram designated, they wanted the authorities that would provide to go after them, and they voiced that repeatedly to elected officials.

Apparently such is the official, unwavering, and consistent response, whether under Obama/Clinton or now under Biden: Nigeria is not a “country of particular concern” — even as genocide continues to unfold against its Christians.

 

Catholic Charities eager to ‘serve’ Afghan Muslim refugees while abandoning the most needy Christians

BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2022/01/catholic-charities-eager-to-serve-afghan-muslim-refugees-while-abandoning-the-most-needy-christians;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

There is big money in the business of settling refugees. Never mind the fact that jihadists and a range of criminals are coming to America unvetted. Robert Spencer wrote about the astronomical size of it HERE.

It is easy for refugee resettlement advocates to find the right, tender words while laughing all the way to the bank, but it isn’t a pretty picture: hardworking Americans donate their money in trust, while their children’s future security diminishes year after year.

We are privileged to be part of Operation Allies Welcome, the federal effort to resettle 83,000 Afghans.

Unvetted Afghans, that is, and generally not Christians. In Afghanistan, the most needy are Christians who are in hiding with no way to escape. According to Open Doors USA, Afghanistan is the number one worst place in the world for Christians to live.

Across the globe, Open Doors found that there has been a 24% increase in Christians killed because of their faith. The West is regarded as a haven for Christians, but it hasn’t proven to be such in the last few years. Unvetted Muslim migration has proven to be a disastrous project for the EU, bringing with it escalating violent crimes, threats of jihad, Muslim rape gang activity, no-go zones, Sharia patrols, and the like.

Jihad Watch reported recently about a record-breaking 360 million Christians persecuted in 2021, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban often called racist for guarding his borders, is among the very few who speak out.

So how are the “big-hearted” Catholic Charities and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops helping the world’s most needy: Christians? They aren’t.

“Catholic Charities: Our commitment to serving Afghan refugees is strong,” by Gerry Carter, Charlotte Observer, January 23, 2022:

Over 47 years, Catholic Charities has resettled more than 14,000 refugees from 60 countries into western North Carolina. It is our deep commitment to comfort and serve those we resettle.

In their first 90 days, we provide services to welcome and acclimate refugees to American culture and navigate our complex systems of healthcare, employment, housing, even grocery shopping.

We are privileged to be part of Operation Allies Welcome, the federal effort to resettle 83,000 Afghans. Although the sudden U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan meant our evacuees arrived in less than three months, not six as anticipated, we responded quickly by adding staff, working overtime, and collaborating with volunteers and partners.

Unfortunately, with so little affordable housing available, we were forced for the first time to place our clients in hotels as we search for permanent housing. We use suite-style hotels to help them feel at home, but the temporary nature understandably prolongs an unsettling transitory phase…

Finland Parlament Member on Trial for Using Biblical Description of Homosexuality

A criminal conviction for posting a Bible tweet is now a very real possibility in Finland. On 24 January, former Minister of the Interior Päivi Räsänen will face a criminal trial after being accused of engaging in “hate speech” for publicly voicing her deeply held beliefs on marriage and human sexuality. In April 2021, the Prosecutor General brought three criminal charges against Räsänen over the contents of a church pamphlet Räsänen wrote over 17 years ago, for engaging in a debate on a 2019 radio show and, most recently, for a tweet containing a picture of Bible verses she directed at her church leadership. ADF International has been supporting Päivi for the past two years. We sat down for an interview to hear her story. To support Päivi, please visit https://adfinternational.org/freespee... .

Paul Coleman Discusses Trial of Päivi Räsänen for Expressing Biblical Beliefs about Human Sexuality

The minister of Finland: I will not renounce my faith! Päivi Räsänen in Against the Tide TV

Jeff King interviews Päivi Räsänen, a member of the Finnish Parliament for over 25 years, about her experience facing religious persecution. A Bible verse posted to her personal Facebook page has led to a legal battle that has lasted more than two years. She is facing up to six years in prison for three different “crimes."

 

BY Savannah Hulsey Pointer

SEE: https://americanfaith.com/finland-parlament-member-on-trial-for-using-biblical-description-of-homosexuality/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

Finnish Christian Democrat MP on trial for hate speech after saying homosexuality is a developmental disorder and a sin.

QUICK FACTS:
  • A government official and former Interior Minister is now on trial for her Christian-based comments on homosexuality.
  • Paivi Rasanen, who has been the nation’s Parliament since 1995, is being taken to task over comments made on three occasions, stretching back as far as 2004, according to The Independent.
  • Charges against the government official were announced in April of 2021 when a state prosecutor said Rasanen’s remarks could fuel intolerance toward homosexuals.
  • Rasanen is facing legal action for the instances, including one where she posted a photo of excerpts from the Bible.
RASANEN RESPONSE TO THE CHARGES:
  • “In all the charges, I deny any wrongdoing. My writings and statements under investigation are linked to the Bible’s teachings on marriage, living as a man and a woman, as well as the Apostle Paul’s teaching on homosexual acts,” she explained according to CBN News. “The teachings concerning marriage and sexuality in the Bible arise from love to one’s neighbor, not from hate towards a group of people.”
  • “According to my knowledge, the court has to for the first time take a stand on whether it is legal or not to cite the Bible,” Räsänen continued.
  • According to The Independent, Rasanen appeared in court on Monday with a Bible in hand saying she was “honored to be defending the freedom of speech and religion.”
BACKGROUND:
  • In addition to a 2004 article where she is accused of making derogatory comments about the LGBT community, she is also being scrutinized for a 2019 radio interview and tweets sent in the same year.
  • She described homosexuality as a “genetic degeneration” in the program broadcast by Finnish public radio station Yle, according to the prosecutor’s case against the lawmaker.

Imitating Islam: The Left’s Hate for the Christian Cross

BY RAYMOND IBRAHIM

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/columns/raymond-ibrahim/2022/01/26/imitating-islam-the-lefts-hate-for-the-christian-cross-n1553208;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

In many ways, the “secular Left” and Islam appear to be diametrically opposed: the Left is sexually promiscuous, Islam isn’t; the Left believes in countless genders, Islam doesn’t; the Left believes in all sorts of freedoms, Islam believes only in draconian sharia — and so on and so forth.

When it comes to Islam’s views on Christianity, however — that it is an inferior faith to be subjugated and discriminated against (Koran 9:29) — the Left appears to be in agreement.

For example, a 61-year-old Christian woman who escaped to Britain from her Nigerian homeland — where genocide against Christians is currently underway — experienced something similar in her adopted nation. Mary Onuoha, formerly a nurse at England’s Croydon University Hospital since 2002, was over the years repeatedly harassed by management and finally “bullied” out of her job for refusing to remove her small cross necklace, which she has worn for 40 years. As Mary explained in an interview:

This has always been an attack on my faith. My cross has been with me for 40 years. It is part of me, and my faith, and it has never caused anyone any harm… At this hospital there are members of staff who go to a mosque four times a day and no one says anything to them. Hindus wear red bracelets on their wrists and female Muslims wear hijabs in theatre. Yet my small cross around my neck was deemed so dangerous that I was no longer allowed to do my job.

Her bosses eventually claimed that her cross necklace “harbored bacteria… even though many colleagues were allowed to sport other items expressing their religious beliefs, be they turbans, hijabs or bracelets.” The question she often responded with, and which her superiors never answered, was “why I should hide my faith while others were allowed to show their own.”

The worst incident occurred in Nov. 2016, when a manager actually called her away during surgery to berate her about her cross: “I said ‘I cannot leave the patient,’ but the manager insisted. I was so embarrassed. Theatre [operation room] is a pressured environment, and I was astonished that senior staff was prepared to potentially endanger a patient’s life in order to intimidate me to remove it [her cross].”

In the end, because “she refused to take it off, Mary was moved to clerical duties and became subject to what she describes as a sustained campaign of bullying that left her unable to work.” She took her case to court and only recently, according to a January 8 report, won. Ruling in her favor, the judge found that management had forced Mary to work in a “humiliating, hostile and threatening environment” and that when Mary complained, their response had only been “offensive and intimidating.”

Related: Christians in the UK Can Celebrate These Religious Liberty Victories

And all because she wore a small cross necklace. As Andrea Williams, who represented Mary in her lawsuit, explained:

From the beginning this case has been about one or two members of staff being offended by the cross — the worldwide, recognised and cherished symbol of the Christian faith. It is upsetting that an experienced nurse, during a pandemic, has been forced to choose between her faith and the profession she loves. Why do some NHS [National Health Service] employers feel that the cross is less worthy of protection or display than other religious attire?

Mary’s “victory has, however,” continues the report, “been achieved at a high price. Many Christians in the NHS and other workplaces have had to hide their crosses and Mary had to persevere through two years of incessant harassment by her managers.” Nor is this phenomenon limited to Britain’s NHS.  According to a 2013 report,

In both of the above cases, the cross-wearing women came from nations — Nigeria and Egypt — where Muslims persecute and discriminate against Christians. There, they were willing to face the abuse for wearing their crosses, these tiny emblems of hope. Accordingly, and as I know from talking to such people, they are often shocked beyond belief to discover that the Western nations they fled to — and which they mistakenly assumed were Christian nations — share in Islam’s well-documented aversion for the Christian cross.

Nor are Christian immigrants the only ones to face such discrimination in Britain.  So do natives — and they, perhaps unsurprisingly, rarely get vindicated. For example, the same report discussing Coptic woman Nadia Eweida’s victory adds:

But three other Christian applicants – Lilian Ladele, a local authority registrar who also lives in London, Shirley Chaplin, 57, a nurse from Exeter, and Gary McFarlane, 51, a Bristol marriage counselor – who also claimed they had suffered religious discrimination lost their appeals.

Secular groups welcomed the four decisions…

The three aforementioned other cases also concerned Christians who were disciplined or fired from their jobs for religious reasons. Shirley Chaplin’s case was near identical to Mary Onuoha’s case: she too was a nurse at an NHS hospital who was disciplined and demoted for refusing to remove her cross necklace: “In her case, however,” continues the report, “the Strasbourg judges considered the fact that hospital authorities had asked her to remove it for the protection of health and safety and to prevent infections spreading on a ward ‘was inherently more important.’ Hospital managers, the judges agreed, ‘were well placed to make decisions about clinical safety.’”

“It seems ridiculous to me,” was Shirley’s response:

I wore it [the crucifix] on my confirmation when I was 16, I’ve been a nurse since 1978. I’ve worn it without incident, I’ve nursed a very wide range of patients, I’ve been bitten, I’ve been scratched, I’ve had computers thrown at me, but no-one has ever, ever grabbed my crucifix. To say it’s a health and safety risk, I really don’t agree with that at all.

The same sort of thing is happening right here in the United States of America — and at the highest levels.  Most recently, according to a Dec. 23, 2021 report,

A Texas-based religious business that makes specialty dog tags [identifier necklaces for soldiers] with Bible verses and Christian imagery has filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Defense over its decision to prohibit the company from selling religious tags with U.S. armed forces trademarks…

For over 20 years, Shields of Strength had been allowed to include the military trademarks alongside Bible verse quotes and Christian imagery, such as a cross. The business boasts of having sold or donated around 4 million dog tags.

First Liberty Institute, which represents Shields of Strength, said the military’s policy is unconstitutional, “arbitrary and capricious,” adding, “It’s a cruel insult to our service members to deny them a source of inspiration, hope, and encouragement simply because it contains a religious message. DOD officials caved to the empty threats of those who make their living by being offended. There’s no legal reason for the military to discriminate against Shields of Strength.”

In conclusion, if Islam and the Left are dissimilar in many ways, they certainly share the same hostility for one particular thing — to the point that some might argue that is the whole impetus behind their being, contradistinction, opposition to that one thing: Christianity, especially visible and proud reminders of it, such as the cross.

Islam, beginning with its prophet, who “had such a repugnance to the form of the cross that he broke everything brought into his house with its figure upon it,” has been responsible for destroying countless crosses, past and present. Islam, however, is at least honest and open about its hatred.

As for the so-called “Left,” perhaps it is high time to take the sage advice first uttered by the one behind the cross: “You will know them by their fruits.”

‘Pope Francis’: A Wolf in Shepherd’s Clothing? Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano sheds a disturbing light on the “Deep Church.”

BY WILLIAM KILPATRICK

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/01/pope-francis-wolf-shepherds-clothing-frontpagemagcom/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

William Kilpatrick is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.  His books include Christianity, Islam, and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West (Ignatius Press), What Catholics Need to Know About Islam (Sophia Press), and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Jihad.

“A non-Catholic Pope”?  It sounds like a contradiction in terms.  But those are the words used to describe Pope Francis by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.  In fact, he rarely uses the term “Pope Francis.”  He refers to him instead as “Bergoglio” and to his pontificate as the “Bergoglian papacy.”

Vigano has a following in some Catholic circles but it’s likely that the vast majority of Catholics have never heard of him.  Yet the questions he raises about Pope Francis are of great consequence, not just for Catholics but for non-Catholics as well.

Since there are about 1.3 billion Catholics in the world, whoever leads them can have a significant effect on a large segment of the global population.  It’s widely thought, for instance, that Pope John Paul II did more to put an end to communism in Eastern Europe than any other individual with the exception of Ronald Reagan.  For evidence of the close collaboration between the two men, read historian Paul Kengor’s revealing book, A Pope and a President.

Now we have a new pope and a new president and neither of them seems terribly concerned about the revival of communist power throughout the world.  In fact, both men have surrounded themselves with left-leaning advisors and appointees.

In addition, both Francis and Biden have effectively rolled back the agendas of their immediate predecessors.  This is obvious in the case of Biden because the reversal has been swift and abrupt.  The reversal that Francis has engineered is less noticeable since it has been more gradual, but the resulting change in the Catholic Church has been every bit as radical as the one now taking place in American government and society.

Archbishop Vigano links the two together.  He talks of a coup in America and other Western nations led by secular leftist ideologues, and a coup in the Catholic Church led by Bergoglio and the progressive Catholics who surround him.

However, the coup in the Church has been a more silent one.  Catholic writers who have studied Francis’s career describe him as a skillful--even Machiavellian--manipulator.  According to them, all his actions are shrouded in a deliberate fog.  Consequently, most Catholics remain unaware of the magnitude of the changes.  It is only when a priest or prelate resists Francis that “the dictator pope” (the title of Henry Sire’s book about Francis) reveals himself. Just as the Biden administration is seeking to purge conservatives from government and the military, Francis seeks to purge traditional Catholics from the Church.  And since some of the strongest resistance to Francis comes from adherents of the Latin Mass, he has acted to suppress the Latin Mass.  Meanwhile, some conservative prelates find themselves demoted to obscure outposts, and others live in fear that false charges of sex abuse could land them in jail (as happened to Australian Cardinal George Pell).

Moreover, since Francis has been promoting progressive prelates to high posts for nine years, it looks likely that his “anti-Catholic” (Vigano’s term) brand of Catholicism will continue to dominate.  Because Francis has carefully packed the College of Cardinals (who elect the next pope) with men made in his own image, we shouldn’t be surprised if the next Pope takes the name, Pope Francis II.

You’ve heard of the “deep state;” Vigano maintains that there is also a “deep church”—a network of progressive prelates who, together with Francis, plan to change the face of the Church beyond recognition.  Moreover, the deep state and the deep church reinforce each other:

The deep church and deep state are nothing other than two parallel tracks which run in the same direction and have as their final destination the New World Order, with its religion and its prophet.

Vigano points out that although Francis is “universally considered as the head of the Church,” he is at the same time a “liquidator” of the Church:

His dual role as pope and liquidator of the Catholic Church allows him on the one hand to demolish it with decrees and acts of governance, and on the other hand to use the prestige that his office entails to establish and spread the new religion over the rubble of the old one.

The “new religion” which Francis hopes to usher in is, according to Vigano, a humanist and progressive one— “the religion of Mankind, an ecumenical and ecological one.”  This new religion will also result in “the legitimization of Evil,” and the persecution of good people.”

If all of this—this notion of a non-Catholic pope who seeks to liquidate the Church—seems outlandish and inconceivable, consider that only a short time ago, the notion of a communist-ruled USA also seemed inconceivable.  It seemed inconceivable that Americans would elect as president a man who would immediately set about to demolish American history, values, and institutions.  But that is what seems to be happening.

As far as I know, Vigano has never actually said that Francis is not the pope, but he has implied as much.  The evidence that he and others present can be divided into four categories:

  1. Evidence that Pope Benedict’s resignation was invalid
  2. Evidence that the election of Francis was rigged
  3. Evidence of widespread corruption in the Francis papacy.
  4. Evidence that Francis embraces heresy.

Whether or not Vigano makes the case is a subject for another time.  The point I want to make here is that, despite the gravity of the charges against Francis, the response has been muted.  Neither Francis nor the Vatican has ever responded to Vigano’s explosive “testimony” in 2018 accusing Francis and other prelates of covering up Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s long history of sex abuse.  Francis said that he would trust the media to come to the proper conclusion, and the media obliged by ignoring Vigano’s charges altogether.

Likewise, the Francis-friendly media has had little to say about Vigano’s claim that Francis is not a legitimate pope.  As a result, the average Catholic is unaware that there is a problem.  Most Catholics would be surprised to learn that although Francis has frequently promised to put an end to clerical sex abuse, he surrounds himself with abusers and enablers and promotes them to high office.  Likewise, most Catholics would be surprised to discover that although Francis verbally condemns abortion, he sees to it that prominent advocates of abortion are invited to Vatican conferences, and he sometimes showers them with praise.

Moreover, although he states that abortion is murder, he intervened to prevent the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) from voting to deny communion to President Biden because of Biden’s flagrant pro-abortion policy. According to Vigano, Francis is a master of duplicity whose modus operandi is to say one thing to please the pew-sitters and to do the opposite in order to please the worldly elites.

It should be noted that Vigano has recently been a bit more in the public eye because of two letters he wrote to Donald Trump, and because of Trump’s positive response to them. As a result, some in the liberal Catholic press have mounted a vigorous campaign to discredit him.  For example, the Jesuit-run magazine America dismisses him as just another right-wing conspiracy theorist who ought to be wearing a MAGA hat instead of a bishop’s cap.

The foundation for the conspiracy-theorist charge is that Vigano says what a growing number of Americans believe about a deep state increasingly controlled by global elites intent on reducing average people to the status of worker bees.  He speaks disparagingly of the New World Order, and the machinations of the Rockefeller Foundation, The World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, and Bill Gates.  Furthermore, in contrast to Francis, he sees the Covid pandemic as an invented crisis that is intended to create a more docile population.  Finally, Vigano often talks in apocalyptic terms.  He speaks of death and judgment, heaven and hell, Satan’s war against heaven, the Second Coming of Christ, and the “Mark of the Beast.” To the modern ear and to many modern Christians such talk is embarrassing, but through the ages, most Christians have regarded such signs and prophesy not as the ravings of extremists, but as the revealed word of God.

Vigano has a good grip on science, finance, and politics, yet he does sometimes sound more like a 19th-century pope than a 21st-century prelate. This is actually quite refreshing because many modern clergymen have learned to talk in a corporate-therapeutic lingo that is devoid of any depth.  Take this tweet sent out by the USCCB to prepare Catholics for the upcoming “Synod on Synodality:”

Here are seven attitudes we can all adopt as we continue our synodal journey together.  Which one inspires you the most?

  • Innovative Outlook
  • Inclusivity
  • Open-mindedness
  • Listening
  • Accompaniment
  • Co-responsibility
  • Dialogue

“Which one inspires you the most?”  But these psychobabble buzzwords aren’t meant to inspire, they’re meant to put to sleep—to distract people from the crucial issues that face the Church today such as the issue of “a pope who does not behave like a pope and does not speak like a pope.”

Vigano wants to wake up the sheep and so it seems quite fitting that he uses the strong language of the Bible to arouse people from their slumber.  While other bishops babble on about “inclusivity,” “dialogue,” and “open-mindedness,” it’s somehow reassuring that at least one bishop points to the very disturbing signs of the time.

It's easy enough to dismiss Vigano as a paranoid conspiracy theorist, but let’s not forget that the Bible contains many admonitions to be alert to the signs of the time, and many warnings about “spiritual” leaders who are not what they seem. One of the warnings goes like this:

Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Mt. 7: 15.

Of course, it’s not easy to discern a false prophet when he is dressed in sheep’s clothing.  It would be more difficult still if he were dressed as a shepherd.

______________________________________________________________

SEE ALSO: https://americanfaith.com/covid-psycho-pandemic-a-global-plan-to-bring-reduction-of-the-world-population-archbishop-vigano/

AND: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/02/archbishop-vigano-time-will-make-masks-fall-disguised-saviors-humanity-sought-subjugate-exterminate-citizens-make-chronica/

Wyoming Library Board votes to KEEP pornographic LGBT book for kids, despite presentation by parents of the sickening content.

SEE: https://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen4/22a/WY-Board-votes-to-KEEP-graphic-kids-books/index.html;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

Library director strongly defends book. Says it serves a “perspective of human experience.”

An example of the monstrous people running schools and libraries across the country.

Library Board chairman asks parents about MassResistance!

January 24, 2022
VIDEO: Library Board rejects appeal by parents. (26 min)

Over the last several months, our growing MassResistance chapter of local parents in Gillette, Wyoming has been working to stop their public library’s promotion of pornographic homosexual and transgender books to children. It has been a shockingly difficult battle!

Many of us remember when public libraries (and schools) were safe, educational, and nurturing places for children. But over the last few decades, monstrous arrogant people with no moral compass have been attracted to these institutions. This disturbing report provides a window into how their minds work.

Parents have recently filed 57 formal “challenges” for the removal of 19 particularly horrible books in the children’s and teens’ areas. Every challenge has been rejected by the Library Director and her staff. Two of the books were simply moved to a different shelf within the library.

Citizens can appeal the library’s rejection of a book challenge before the five-member Campbell County Library Board (which meets every month). As with other library boards across the country, they are supposed to represent the community in overseeing the library operations – but instead, they work to protect the library staff’s radicalism from the community.

The Library Board meets to hear (and subvert) appeals by the parents

At the December 20, 2021, Campbell County Library Board meeting, citizens’ appeals of books were on the agenda. Wyoming MassResistance parents came prepared.

ALT TEXT 
Left to right: Library Board members Mandy Steward, Miranda Finn, Dr. Hollie Stewart, Nancy Stovall, and acting Chairman Charlie Anderson.

But the Library Board had also prepared for this meeting. They purposefully made it as intimidating as possible for the parents. We describe below what is in the above video.

Here’s what happened:

Library Director describes their “professional” book acquisition process

[Beginning of video.] Before the parents were called up to make their appeal presentation, the Board Chairman called on the Library Director to describe the process for acquiring library books. This is known as the “collection policy.” 

ALT TEXT 
The Library Director, Terri Lesley, reads her statement describing the "collection policy."

Reading from a prepared text, she described how the library’s “highly trained professionals” followed the library’s formal policy to add books to the collection. This includes consulting reputable book lists and sources, such as “professional journals, awards lists, analytic software, and local community demand.” On the surface, it sounds appropriate and professional.

But looking closer, one can see that these “reputable” sources are actually far-left and radical pro-LGBT groups. The ALA recommends the Stonewall Book Awards, the Rainbow Book List, and Over the Rainbow Book List. In addition, the ALA produces its own LGBT book lists. (See here, here, and here.) The library’s claim of “local community demand” usually means LGBT and other fringe groups. (The ALA actually sees the “Leather Archives and Museum” – BDSM radicals – as a legitimate source for developing collections. Surely, there are some BDSM practitioners in the Gillette area. Should their books be included?)

Thus, using these sources the library can “legitimately” cherry-pick from among the worst possible books for children.

The purpose of describing the “collection policy” was obviously to intimidate the parents and cast them as contradicting the “professionals.” But to the parents, this had the opposite effect. It reinforced to them what a sham the library’s so-called “official process” really is.

Parents present their appeal – of a vile children’s book

[2:12 in video.] Two of the mothers were then called up to present their appeal of a book whose challenge had been rejected. The book is Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard - a gruesome book about a girl “transitioning” her body to “become” a male.

ALT TEXT 
The front and back cover of "Trans Mission - My Quest to a Beard"

They started out by addressing the Library Director’s “collection policy.”

Terri, thank you for the presentation. But if you were using different policies this book wouldn't be allowed here. And I think that's the root of the problem of everything we've challenged ... and many others that promote radical perversion. We want to be proud of you guys. But we're ashamed. You've been very stubborn in refusing to remove the vilest, perverted books.

They went on to describe the book. It's an autobiography of a girl who hates everything about herself. She hates her breasts, hates her face, hates her skin.

She decides she’s “really” a boy: It’s as if someone had put her head onto an alien body. The book gives full instructions on how a girl can “bind” her chest to disguise her breasts. She talks about taking male hormones. She finally finds a doctor to do breast-removal surgery for her.

There is great detail on genital surgery (“bottom surgery”). There’s even a page on how a girl can buy a device so she can stand up to urinate as if she were a boy.

ALT TEXT 
One of the mothers holds up the book while addressing the Board. The other mother holds up a list of some of the horrible subjects discussed in the book.

“I know that some of you think this is all normal. But it isn't,” the mothers told the Board. They also read a fairly long list of terrible medical problems that follow these procedures.

Also in the book, the girl describes her sexual behavior. She engages in all sorts of sex: with lesbians, homosexuals, bisexuals, transgenders, etc. (known as “pansexuality”). She describes how to buy sex toys online while underage. She describes her great experience having sex with an older man. She speaks of the YouTube sex videos she has made since she was 14. (Clearly, the author has a lot of mental health issues.)

The book also goes on for pages promoting a radical LGBT agenda and displays hatred of anyone who questions it.

Profanity is infused throughout the book. The "F-word" is used numerous times.

 “Why would we want our children to read about this?” the mothers asked. Not only is this book clearly promoting deviant sex practices, but it would seem that the people who promote such a book likely have sexual dysfunction issues themselves.

The mothers added that it's also concerning that the schools drop children off at the library, and there are many children there without parental supervision who could easily pick up this book.

Board members interrogate the parents

[12:43 in video.] A few of the Board members then asked the mothers some questions. These questions reflected how disconnected from the reality of normal community concerns their thought processes are. But this mother wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

ALT TEXT 
Board Chairman Charlie Anderson (center) fires off questions while Nancy Stovall (left) and Terri Lesley look on.
ALT TEXT 
The mother responds - as other parents in the room look on.

Here is a summary of some of the questions:

Q: Was it your feeling that it glamorized the lifestyle?

A: Not so much glamorizing it, but promoting it through peer pressure. If children already have issues, these books are very dangerous for them.

Q: Are you saying that we move this book into the adult section from the children’s section?

A: Traditionally, people go to adult bookstores to get their sexual perversion. I would prefer that our library is not a porn library.

Q: When I read the book, I felt that it didn’t glorify it at all or promote it. When I read it, I thought it was just a book that explained what this particular person was going through. I didn’t see anything that would be particularly attractive to making that choice.

A: It’s being put in front of children whose brains are not fully developed. And traditionally in our country, we like to educate our children with higher morals and higher intellect than we're seeing right now. There are plenty of good books that they could be reading instead of this which I don't see in the library here. 

Q: I’ve looked, and this book is in several other Wyoming public libraries.

A: All across our nation the public is waking up about this. It's just a matter of time. It's going to be happening across the country. Our library should be at the forefront.

Q: Are you familiar with MassResistance?

A: Yes.

Q: Did you first hear about this book through MassResistance? Do you know that they list books?

A: I haven’t seen a list. I do my own research I've been to the library many times. I've spent hours in the various sections. I found these books myself. I care about children.

Q: Do you think a person is born in the wrong body, or do you think that's made up?

A: My opinion doesn't matter in areas like that. I'm just against sexual content like this being exposed to children. If someone's 18 years old and they want to be a dog, it's a free country. But like most responsible adults, we believe children should have their innocence. Let the parents be in charge. And they don't know.

Library Director delivers statement defending the book

[19:52 in video.] Before taking a vote, the Chairman, Charlie Anderson, leaned over and asked the Library Director to make a statement for the record defending the book. She already had it written, and she read it.

Its banal, bureaucratic tone was so arrogant and insulting that we transcribed the entire statement here.

Here are the major points in her defense of the book:

She completely ignores concepts of morality or any appropriateness for children. She simply says that the library has a “singular obligation” to reflect “differing points of view on controversial or debatable subjects” and “all perspectives of human experience.”

She says that people have the right “not to read or check out any individual book” and “there are 1,200 other books that somebody could check out.” But this book “serves the educational research needs of secondary students.” And even moving the book to an adult section would be “censoring it.”

Parents have a responsibility to monitor what their children are reading, she says, and there’s a process where they can see what their kids check out. [MR comment: Though not what they pick up and read while in the library].

She points out that the book is definitely appropriate for children. She says that “several professional library journals” have recommended this book for children ages 13 and up.

The intent is “to inform and educate about the Transgender experience.” The book is meant to support individuals who may be “considering gender transition.”

She believes that this book is credible because “this author has a significant YouTube following” and because it is written, “as an informational resource about gender dysphoria and the author’s experience in transitioning from female to male.” Thus, this would also be a good guide for parents who have children who have these feelings, she said.

Regarding the profanity, she says “the tone is factual, though slightly informal to appeal better to a teen audience.” She says the book “does not necessarily include sexual encounters.”

This was like something out of a bad futuristic movie – except that it’s happening now.

The Board votes to reject the appeal

[25:18 in video.] Library Board Chairman Charlie Anderson asked if there was any discussion by the Board. But there was none, so they voted. It was a stiff 4-1 vote to reject the appeal. The “yes” vote came from Mandy Steward, the “moderate” (or secret conservative?) on the Board.

Unfortunately, Steward said nothing during the discussion. This is not a borderline kind of issue. This book is not legitimate “information” by any normal standard. It is a catalog of perversion. But we’ll gladly take her vote.

Final thoughts

The late Judith Reisman, who did decades of research on this subject, often observed that the people who work in schools and libraries make this material available to young people because deep down they hate children. From our experience over the years, we would add that it is not an exaggeration or hyperbole to say that parents are dealing with people who have no conscience, no morals, and no souls.

Sadly, too many parents – and conservatives – do not appreciate the scope of what they are up against. Hopefully, this report will help.

Coming next: This was not the only book on the agenda for an appeal at that Library Board meeting. You won’t believe what happened with the second book! We will report on that soon.

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Latter-Day Saints issue official pamphlet to help Mormons understand and treat Muslims better

Elder David A. Bednar and Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shared similarities between Muslims and Latter-day Saints at a Brigham Young University conference in Provo, Utah, last October. They also introduced a new brochure outlining similarities and differences between the two faiths.

8 FACTS that the MORMON CHURCH Doesn't Want You to Know !!!

The EASIEST Proof That Mormonism is NOT Christianity

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2022/01/latter-day-saints-issue;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

This is nice, although I do wonder where and how Mormons are mistreating Muslims in the first place. Also: where is the pamphlet published by an Islamic group helping them understand and treat Mormons better? Right: such a pamphlet does not exist, and will not exist. The outreach and dialogue always and in every case only goes in one direction, and yet no one ever seems to notice or care. Muslim Brotherhood theorist Sayyid Qutb explained: “The chasm between Islam and Jahiliyyah [the society of unbelievers] is great, and a bridge is not to be built across it so that the people on the two sides may mix with each other, but only so that the people of Jahiliyyah may come over to Islam.” Dialogue, in other words, is a means of dawah, Islamic proselytizing, not a genuine discussion or exchange.

“Official new pamphlet aims to help Latter-day Saints understand, treat Muslims better,” by Tad Walch, Deseret News, January 20, 2022:

A new 35-page pamphlet called “Muslims and Latter-day Saints: Beliefs, Values, and Lifestyles” appeared online Wednesday on websites and apps of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Why it matters: Muslim and Latter-day Saint leaders work together across the world because of their shared values. Latter-day Saint leaders have said they want church members to better understand Muslims, work and live together with them and help root out bias against Islam.

  • The pamphlet’s publication was first announced in October at a BYU conference on Islam. Learning more about Muslim neighbors “will help us be more kind and more accurate in what we say and feel about each other,” Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said at the time.
  • Elder David A. Bednar of the Twelve used the conference to repudiate all disparaging statements made by Latter-day Saints about Muslims, including those that repeated stereotypes. He called stereotypes wrong and offensive: “Such biases cause those who feel that way to overlook the kindness and goodness of the overwhelming majority of all Muslims,” he said.
  • Elder Bednar said the booklet was produced over several years with the help of Muslim imams.

Shared values: The pamphlet outlines common values held by the two faiths. “Both Latter-day Saints and Muslims have sincerely held beliefs like faith in God, prophets, scriptures and holy places,” Elder Bednar said. Common ground includes:

  • Foundational belief in an omniscient and omnipotent God, and adherents express their faith in him through thought, word and action.
  • Prophets provide vital guidance from God.
  • Jesus Christ plays an important, though different, role for both groups.
  • Revelation from God given through messengers as scripture is the foundation for learning God’s will, keeping commitments and participating in faithful worship.
  • Human beings must communicate with God through daily prayer.
  • Fasting promotes spiritual growth and temporal well-being and brings faithful members closer to God.
  • God delights in purity and chastity.
  • Women are valued and are essential in society and in the home.
  • Family is the fundamental unit of society and an essential source of joy….

Record-breaking 360 million Christians persecuted in 2021, Hungarian prime minister one of few to speak out

BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2022/01/record-breaking-360-million-christians-persecuted-in-2021-hungarian-prime-minister-one-of-few-to-speak-out;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

This shocking news, that 360 million Christians were reportedly persecuted in 2021, would not be tolerated if the victims were any other group, especially Muslims; nor should it be. But when the genocide and persecution of Christians are pointed out, there is virtual silence; then the ever-present accusations of “Islamophobia” enable the abuse to continue unchallenged.

Of all the countries where Christians face the most persecution, Afghanistan is the worst, according to the organization….

Yet globalists are opening the doors of the West to multitudes of unvetted Afghan migrants, while Christians are virtually ignored.

Orbán has been sensible in desiring to protect his country’s Christian heritage in the face of profuse accusations of “Islamophobia.”

There is no other religion that attacks critics and is as hostile to disbelievers as Islam, in keeping with Islamic blasphemy laws and 1,400 years of violent Islamic conquest.

“Record-breaking 360 million Christians persecuted in 2021,” by John Cody, Remix News, January 20, 2022:

In 2021, almost 6,000 Christians were killed due to their religion. The number increased by 24 percent compared to the previous year, when less than 5,000 cases were recorded. Eight out of ten Christians killed were from Nigeria.

The number of closed, attacked, or destroyed churches has also increased by more than 600 cases. According to the organization, the number of detained Christians for religious reasons increased by 44%.

Although Nigeria featured the most Christians killed, outright persecution is the worst in Afghanistan, where the main cause is the growth in persecution is due to the Taliban following their takeover after President Joe Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from the country. In addition, radical Islamists have access to documents revealing those who converted to Christianity. It is believed that many murders go unreported. The Taliban kill identified men on the spot, rape Christian women or force them to marry. North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Eritrea, and Nigeria follow Afghanistan on a sliding scale.

Often overlooked by the news media, Christians are the most persecuted of any group in the world. In recent years, a record number of attacks on Christians has also been recorded in Europe.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has become one of the few European leaders that have become vocal about the topic, with his government hosting an annual summit on the topic of Christian persecution.

“Hungarians make up 0.2 percent of the world’s population. Does it make sense for such a small nation to stand up and act? Our answer is yes. And your presence, attention, encouragement and the fact that you are here today convinces us of this, not to mention the history of Christianity. The twelve apostles certainly represented a smaller proportion of humanity at their time than Hungarians today, yet we are all here,” Orbán said in 2019……

BETH MOORE: FROM SOUTHERN BAPTIST TO ANGLICAN

AFTER LEAVING THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH, FALSE TEACHER BETH MOORE MAKES HER WAY BACK TO ‘MOTHER ROME’ IN ANGLICAN CHURCH SERVICE

SEE: https://www.nowtheendbegins.com/beth-moore-anglican-church-performs-eucharist-ceremony-roman-catholic-transubstantiation/;

EXCERPTS republished below for informational, educational & research purposes:

Beth Moore is now a member of St. Timothy’s Anglican Church in Spring, TX, a church that believes and practices the Roman Catholic false doctrine of transubstantiation, complete with wearing the 'priestly garb' and helping to 'deliver the eucharist'. How much farther does Beth Moore have to fall before she is all the way out? Not much at all, actually, she is nearly there now. One of the hallmarks of the lukewarm Laodicean Church Age is their ceaseless drift to return to 'Mother Rome', the Jezebel whore of Revelation 17, and that seems to be a long-held goal of Moore. Even before she left the SBC, itself a denomination that has lapsed in Laodiceanism with their promotion of the ESV 'rubber sword' bible, Moore was intent on including Roman Catholicism as a Christian denomination, which it is not.

Not fully Protestant and not fully Roman Catholic, the Anglican church is a hybrid where doctrine is not the main thing, but form and ceremony are given the top spot.

Back in 2002, Beth Moore performed in a series entitled ‘Believing God’, which included the Roman Catholic Church in a skit that portrayed the body of Christ, bragging about how ‘interdenominational and inclusive’ she was. In 2021, she’s now Anglican performing transubstantiation. Welcome home, Mother Rome.

Ladies, if you get your Bible teaching from Beth Moore, you need to throw it in the trash can right now, she is not a Bible teacher, she is a false teacher who will deceive you with her unbiblical and false teaching. She knows nothing about Bible doctrine, and she will lead you so far astray that you won’t even be a Christian by the time the ride is over. Sorry if this hurts your feelings or bursts your Beth Moore bubble, but she stinks and you better keep your distance or you’ll stink too. But don’t believe me, watch these two videos showing you everything I just told you in this article. Don’t believe me, believe Beth Moore. She’s showing you who she is, believe her.

PROOF SHE LOVES DIVERSITY & INCLUSION, ECUMENISM, INTERFAITH, UNIVERSALISM, JUST LIKE THE POPE:

 

The Anglican Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast The Woodlands, Texas 77381

Beth Moore Seen Performing At Anglican Church Service

Having thrown off the denominational shackles of the Baptist Church, Beth Moore is thrilled to be where her Laodicean heart has always longed to be, with Mother Rome.

More on Beth Moore's conversion to "Catholic Lite" (Big Eva defends Anglican Church & Popery)

SEE: https://protestia.com/2021/12/21/ex-sbc-beth-moore-joins-anglican-church/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

Beth Moore was in the news yesterday in a big way after it was revealed she became a member of St. Timothy’s Anglican Church, a liturgical church within the Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast, which is part of the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA.)

The ACNA was formed in 2009 after members of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada became disillusioned by the liberalization of their denominations on abortion and LGBTQ issues. On account of the nature of their breakaway, they are not in communion with the greater Anglican Communion, which is led by the effete and emasculated Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

Despite their more conservative creds, there are some glaring red flags, including the fact that the Bishops of the Diocese are given the freedom to determine amongst themselves if they allow for women priests. As stated by Hannah King

  • Some bishops ordain women as priests and commission them as church planters.
  • Some bishops only ordain women as deacons.
  • Some bishops do not ordain women but will license a woman to serve in a particular church that requests it.
  • Some bishops do not receive women in Holy Orders at all

This is especially dangerous because apart from existing no such thing biblically as a woman priest or pastrix, it creates a ready-made rift that is rife to exploit, particularly because the same scripture twisting used to allow for the ordination of women is employed to push a liberalizing position on sodomy. You’ll never find a church that is pro-LGBTQ but also doesn’t ordain women.

Furthermore, the ACNA has already forgotten the lessons from their split, as they affirm a biblical theology of marriage all the while allowing cracks to form, questions to be asked, and nuance to be developed. If they don’t go scorched earth on the issue immediately, in 20 years the conservatives will find themselves jumping ship yet again.

Several years ago Beth Moore was told by John MacArthur to ‘go home’, which she ultimately has, though not in the way it was attended. Instead, she found herself a church has holds to the same beliefs she does on women preaching- enthusiastically affirming it- so she doesn’t have to hide anymore and can feel right at home.

During a recent Twitter thread, Moore, in a stunning display of naivete that we find unfathomable, shared that her whole life she believed that only her Southern Baptist denomination loved scripture, and therefore was stunned when she found another denomination that did likewise.
On top of that, despite her having a good relationship with her church and pastor who even let her preach, she quickly threw them all under the bus.
She shared that she’d found a church that ‘highly exalts Jesus & sees the Scriptures as the Church’s final authority in all matters of faith & practice’ and that her first time there, she and her husband ‘shot to that altar like starving people begging for bread.’ ‘I’ve never needed it so badly in my life,” she said, ‘my lip quivered and the tears pooled in my eyes ‘ on account of God using the liturgy and teaching there to ‘sew up’ her ‘torn up soul.’

Becoming a member in September, Moore has quickly acclimated to the church. She’s served as an Acolyte and Verger, served during the service as a Lector, is teaching a class on “The Biblical Narrative and How to Teach a Bible Study” and has been asked to emcee their church’s Women’s Advent luncheon, which she did with gusto. She concludes:

“I’m learning to say the Nicene Creed. I’m learning how to drop down the kneeling bench. For this moment in time, we’re right where God wants us to be.”

 

19 Federal Agencies Spying on Americans With Religious Exemptions

BY WORLD NET DAILY

SEE: https://americanfaith.com/19-federal-agencies-spying-on-americans-with-religious-exemptions/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

There now are at least 19 federal departments or agencies that have – or are trying to get – procedures so they can keep lists of people who seek or are granted “religious” exemptions to various COVID-19 mandates.

The details come in a Daily Signal column by Sarah Parshall Parry and Giancarlo Canaparo.

Earlier, they explained when they first found an agency trying to spy on Americans, the Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia.

Its policy, that first report said, “will likely serve as a model for a whole-of-government push to assemble lists of Americans who object on religious grounds to a COVID-19 vaccine.”

Now a new report explains, “A little digging at the Federal Register revealed that there are at least 19 total federal agencies—including five cabinet-level agencies—that have created or proposed to create these tracking lists for religious-exemption requests from their employees.”

Included are the Departments of Transportation, Justice, Health, and Treasury.

“As the nation’s largest employer, with over four million civilian and military employees, the federal government has received tens of thousands of religious exemption requests. It now appears that an increasing number of federal agencies are keeping and preserving those individuals’ names, religious information, personally-identifying information, and other data stored in lists across multiple government agencies,” they reported.

The authors explained, “The earliest set of proposals appears to have been rolled out in October of last year, during the start of the holiday season in a possible effort to ensure very little attention was paid to a coordinated data collection move. Many of the announcements have clocked only a few page views. Almost none attracted any public comments. Most permitted only a 30-day window for submitting objections. All announcements were issued within a few weeks of one another.”

The column said the “disturbing trend” is that “the Biden administration is creating lists that can all communicate with one another on which individuals have sought religious exemptions from the federal employee vaccine mandate or other religious accommodations within the scope of their employment by the government.”

Among the details being assembled, they report, are “religious affiliation, the reasons and support given for religious accommodation requests, names, contact information, date of birth, aliases, home address, contact information, and other identifying information.”

It was Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt who raised objections, telling Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, “On November 18, at the direction of the Biden administration, four federal agencies simultaneously announced that those who exercise their legal right to seek a health or religious waiver from a vaccine mandate would be tracked in federal databases. Rather than give the public ample time to weigh in on the advisability or legality of collecting such personal information, the Department of Transportation’s database, in particular, became effective on the day it was published…”

He explained what’s alarming is the chilling effect on Americans’ exercise of their religion.

When the authors reported on the D.C. operation, officials there claimed listing those people would help it “in the collecting, storing, dissemination, and disposal of employee religious exemption request information collected and maintained by the agency.”

Thousands of Churches Warn Against Canada’s Ban on Conversion Therapy

BY CHRISTIANITY DAILY

SEE: https://americanfaith.com/thousands-of-churches-warn-against-canadas-ban-on-conversion-therapy/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

In Canada, a wave of Christian churches are condemning the recently enacted Bill C-4, a law that criminalizes the act of providing, promoting or advertising conversion therapy. The legislation was unanimously passed by the 44th Parliament and was the first bill to do so. It took effect on January 8.

In response, thousands of clergy in Canada have dedicated their Sunday sermons to denounce the new law, which could criminalize teachings on biblical sexual morality, Fox News reported. Over 4,000 Christian pastors who publicly admitted to wanting to protest the legislation have come together to support an initiative sparked by Liberty Coalition Canada, which was also promulgated in the U.S. by Pastor John MacArthur of Los Angeles.

The controversial legislation, which was fast-tracked through the Canadian Parliament just last month without any lengthy debates, describes the belief that heterosexuality and cisgender identity are preferable as a “myth.” Any type of conversion therapy or counseling that does not support this worldview, under Canadian law, can now be punished with a five-year jail sentence.

Critics of Canada’s ban on conversion therapy, among other new rules under the just-enacted legislation, claim that the language of the bill is too broad and can even cover personal conversations. Some pastors who were arrested by authorities in Canada for violating COVID restrictions on gatherings spoke out and said the law will enable religious persecution.

“The biblical gospel is a message of conversion, whereby Christ causes sinners to be born-again, thus converting them from sinful propensities to godliness,” Canadian pastor Jacob Reaume of Trinity Bible Chapel, whose church incurred more than $100,000 in fines in 2021 for refusing to comply with COVID restrictions, told the Daily Wire. “The bill’s language is vague enough that many think it might criminalize a biblical call to forsake sodomitic propensities to embrace righteousness.”

Another Canadian pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church, who was detained in a maximum-security facility in the summer of 2021 for refusing to close his church, argued that the new law “promotes a truly harmful type of ‘conversion’ using puberty-blocking chemicals, surgeries to remove functioning breasts and sexual organs, regular hormone treatments, and truly harmful counseling that has led to exorbitant suicide rates.”

Stephens called upon Christians not only in Canada but in the United States as well, to fight the “spiritual battle” against the “strongholds” and the “opinions and philosophies that are raised against the knowledge of God.” He lamented that the Constitution will not be able to prevent the advancement of “these godless ideologies.”

“Revival and reformation is needed,” Stephens remarked. He added that the Church must lead the way, but that in the United States like in Canada, there are “only a few voices sounding the alarm and speaking truth to culture.”

Other pastors are also warning against the impending doom these ideologies are causing in the west. Pastor Andrew Brunson, a missionary who was unjustly imprisoned in 2016 and caused a conflict between Turkey and the U.S., said during his 2018 release that religious persecution is coming soon to Western countries. He now works as a special advisor for religious freedom at Family Research Council, where he observes the developments in North America and calls Canada’s ban on conversion therapy “a dark wave of hostility” that will crash onto the church.

South Sudan: Muslims murder 28 people, burn down 57 houses, in jihad attack on Christian community

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2022/01/south-sudan-muslims-murder-28-people-burn-down-57-houses-in-jihad-attack-on-christian-community;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

Will the Islamophobia never end?

“At least 28 killed in Islamist attack on South Sudanese Christian community,” Barnabas Fund, January 11, 2022:

At least 28 people were killed and 57 houses burned down in an attack by Islamist extremists against the Christian community of Yith Pabol, Aweil East county, South Sudan, in early January.

Bishop Joseph Mamer Manot said on 6 January that “massive displacement has happened, and the humanitarian situation is alarming as food and other property have been burned down into ashes, leaving survivors with no shelters, no food and no safe drinking water”.

The incident is the latest example of attacks against South Sudanese Christians by Arab Muslims from the Republic of Sudan, along the disputed border between the two countries.

A similar attack the same week in nearby Miodol village left at least four dead, with three others missing and several houses destroyed….

Biden Administration Building Databases of Federal Employees With Religious Vaccine Exemptions

BY MICHAEL TENNANT

SEE: https://thenewamerican.com/biden-administration-building-databases-of-federal-employees-with-religious-vaccine-exemptions;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

The Biden administration is preparing to create databases of federal employees who request religious exemptions from the president’s vaccine mandate, which could easily lead to discrimination against those individuals.

The first agency to announce the plan to build such a data store is the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) for the District of Columbia, a federal independent entity that oversees both defendants awaiting trial and parolees. However, Heritage Foundation legal fellow Sarah Parshall Perry — who, along with her coworker Giancarlo Canaparo, broke the story — told the Washington Times that “at least seven other federal agencies, including five Cabinet departments, are apparently setting up similar ‘personal religious information’ databases.” Perry and Canaparo believe the administration is testing the waters with the PSA announcement, which went unnoticed prior to the publication of their article.

In its proposal, the PSA says it intends to create the “Employee Religious Exception Request Information System.” It describes the database as follows:

This system of records maintains personal religious information collected in response to religious accommodation requests for religious exception from the federally mandated vaccination requirement in the context of a public health emergency or similar health and safety incident, such as a pandemic, epidemic, natural disaster or national or regional emergency; and/or any other lawful collection of employee information or data that is necessary to ensure a safe and healthy environment for individuals who are occupying PSA facilities, attending PSA-sponsored events, or otherwise engaged in official business on behalf of the Agency.

Although the “primary purpose” of the database is to collect religious-exemption data, the proposal adds that “PSA will use the information … to determine the appropriate health and safety protocols for employees in the context of the federally mandated COVID-19 vaccination.” In other words, employees who obtain religious exemptions from the mandate may be treated differently from those who do not. Likely this means that unvaccinated employees will be segregated from their vaccinated coworkers and perhaps subjected to other restrictions.

“While employers, employment agencies, or unions with 100 employees or more are prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 from engaging in disparate treatment and from maintaining policies or practices that result in unjustified disparate impact based on religion, this administration doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo,” observed Perry and Canaparo.

The data collected in the PSA’s system will be quite extensive, notes the agency:

The employee religious exception request information and records may contain some or all of the following records: Religious accommodation requests, including Request for a Religious Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement form, notes, religious affiliation, or records made during consideration of requests, and decisions on requests. These records may contain general personal data, including but not limited to the employee’s, detailee’s, contractor’s, consultant’s, intern’s, applicant’s or volunteer’s name, date of birth, religion, alias, home address, telephone number, age, and email address, telephone number, job title, email address, work address, and program office to which the employee is assigned.

While there is “some data collection that is likely and legally permissible under Title VII, when an individual at a covered agency requests a religious accommodation,” Perry told the Times, “we have not seen it on a broad scale like this ever.”

Furthermore, although the PSA claims the data will be stored on a “secure network or cloud-based software,” the government’s less-than-stellar record of preventing data breaches does not inspire confidence that the data will remain confidential.

In addition, among the variety of ways in which the religious-exemption data may be disclosed, the PSA may use it to produce reports, the proposal explains, warning: “While published statistics and studies do not contain individual identifiers, in some instances, the selection of elements of data included in the study may be structured in such a way as to make the data individually identifiable by inference.” That is, the PSA can out someone as a vaccine dissident — and a religious one at that — without technically breaking any laws simply by how it chooses to structure its studies.

“Biden may not be winning points for transparency,” wrote Perry and Canaparo, “but he’s doing his best to win first place in subjecting Americans with sincerely held religious beliefs to differential treatment.”

Federal Court Blocks Pentagon from Punishing Navy Seals Seeking Religious Exemptions to COVID Vaccine Mandate

Judge blocks Pentagon from punishing Navy SEALs who refused COVID vaccine

BY CAROLYN HENDLER, JD

SEE: https://thevaccinereaction.org/2022/01/federal-court-blocks-pentagon-from-punishing-navy-seals-seeking-religious-exemptions-to-covid-vaccine-mandate/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

On Jan. 3, 2022, a group of Navy Seals declining to take the COVID-19 vaccine due to religious reasons, received protection in the form of a preliminary injunction from a federal court in the Northern District of Texas Fort Worth.1 2

The COVID vaccine mandate instituted by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) requires that all U.S. military personnel receive the COVID vaccine by Dec. 14, 2021.3 While religious exemptions are permitted, the Navy has failed to approve even a single one of the 3,247 requests for a religious exemption.4

Navy Seals Argue COVID Vaccine Mandate Violates Free Exercise of Religion Clause of U.S. Constitution and Religious Freedom Restoration Act

In response, 35 Navy Seals represented by the First Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden alleging that they faced disciplinary repercussions for filing a religious exemption, including being kept apart from vaccinated colleagues as well as dismissals.5 The Navy Seals Complaint argues that that the Navy violated the Free Exercise of Religion Clause of the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) when no action was taken on their religious exemption requests.6

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor sided with the Navy Seals and ruled against the Biden administration’s COVID vaccine mandate. He issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Navy from punishing the Navy Seals who had filed religious exemption. The injunction barred the Navy from declaring the unvaccinated Navy Seals non-deployable or disqualified from Special Operations.7

The Court pointed out that not only did the Navy fail to grant a single exemption for COVID vaccines, but it has not approved any religious exemption for any vaccine at all over the past seven years.8 The judge stated that even if the religious exemptions were granted, the Navy said the Seals would be considered, “medically disqualified” and would be forever prevented from deployment and from receiving bonuses and incentive pay – even though Navy personnel with medical vaccine exemptions do not face the same severe consequences.

Some Navy Seals were informed that they would lose their Seal Tridents if they were granted a religious exemption to vaccination or even if they just applied for one.9

Court Applied Strict Scrutiny Analysis to Justify Injunction

The Court came to the same conclusion on both the RFRA and the First Amendment claims. Because the Navy treated medical exemptions differently than religious exemptions, the court applied strict scrutiny analysis and found that the Navy did not have, “a compelling interest justifying the substantial burden on Plaintiff’s religious beliefs.”10

Once a substantial burden to their religious beliefs was established by Plaintiffs, the Defendants must then show that the burden furthers a compelling interest and that they are using the least restrictive means to further that interest.  The Judge explained that it is not enough for the Defendants to show their policy furthers a broad compelling interest such as “national security”, but rather they must show a compelling interest in vaccinating the 35 individual Plaintiffs in this matter.

With a 99.4 percent vaccination rate, the Court concluded that the Defendants do not have a compelling interest in vaccinating the Plaintiffs in this case. The Court further stressed that the fact that unvaccinated Navy personnel with medical exemptions are still eligible for deployment belies the compelling nature of the vaccinations policy. Since the Plaintiff’s policy was deemed not to be compelling, the Court did not need to address whether it used the least restrictive means before issuing an injunction.11

The Court concluded that the Plaintiffs suffered irreparable harm from the vaccine mandate.

Plaintiffs have suffered the more serious injury of “infringement of their religious liberty rights under RFRA and the First Amendment . . . .” Pls.’ Br. 28, ECF No. 16. The crisis of conscience imposed by the mandate is itself an irreparable harm. See BST Holdings, 17 F.4th at 618; Sambrano v. United Airlines, 19 F.4th 839, 842 (5th Cir. 2021) (Ho, J., dissenting) (citing Sampson v. Murray, 415 U.S. 61, 92 n.68 (1974)). “The loss of First Amendment freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.” Elrod, 427 U.S. at 373 (plurality opinion).12 (emphasis added)

“There is no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment. There is no military exclusion from our Constitution.”

Finally, the Court found that that balance of hardships favors the Plaintiffs because their loss of liberty outweighs the Defendant’s interest in vaccinating the 35 Navy Seals and that it was not against the public interest to issue a preliminary injunction.

Judge O’Connor stated:

The Navy servicemembers in this case seek to vindicate the very freedoms they have sacrificed so much to protect. The COVID-19 pandemic provides the government no license to abrogate those freedoms. There is no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment. There is no military exclusion from our Constitution.13

As of Dec. 29, 2021, over a month after the vaccine mandate deadline passed, more than 8,000 Navy service members, 5,328 active duty and 3,002 Ready Reserve, have not received COVID vaccines.14

There are several other lawsuits pending against the Biden administration, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, and DoD that are attempting to block the COVID vaccine mandate.15

Click here to view References:

1 Kime P. Judge Blocks Navy’s Discipline of SEALs for Refusing the COVID-19 Vaccine. Military.com Jan. 4, 2021.
2 Gryboski M. Judge sides with Navy SEALs seeking religious exemption to Biden admin. COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The Christian Post Jan. 4, 2021.
3 Garamone J. Service Members Must Be Vaccinated or Face the Consequences, DOD Official Says. Defense.gov Dec 21, 2021.
4 Bostock B. Federal judge blocks Pentagon from punishing Navy SEALs who refused COVID-19 vaccines on religious grounds. Business Insider Jan. 4, 2021.
5 Ibid.
6 Sneed T. Judge blocks Navy vaccine policy for legal challengers citing religious objections. CNN Jan. 3, 2021.
7 Ibid.
8 Kime P. Judge Blocks Navy’s Discipline of SEALs for Refusing the COVID-19 Vaccine. Military.com Jan. 4, 2021.
9 U.S. Navy Seals v. Joseph Biden, Jr. et al. Case 4:21-cv-01236-0 Document 66 Jan. 3, 2021.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Sneed T. Judge blocks Navy vaccine policy for legal challengers citing religious objections. CNN Jan. 3, 2021.
14 Mongillo H. More Than 8,000 Navy Personnel Remain Unvaccinated Against COVID-19 as Reserve Deadline Passes. USNI News Dec. 29, 2021.
15 Kime P. Judge Blocks Navy’s Discipline of SEALs for Refusing the COVID-19 Vaccine. Military.com Jan. 4, 2021.

Josh Buice Explains the Need to Separate From the Southern baptist convention

Josh Buice explains what brought him to a conclusion to lead his church to separate from the SBC. You can read his full explanation here: https://g3min.org/why-we-are-no-longe...

Justin Peters' Interview with Dr. Josh Buice on Leaving the SBC

Prays Mill Baptist Church https://praysmill.com

G3 Ministries https://g3min.org

Founders Documentary: By What Standard https://founders.org/cinedoc/

McLean Bible Church Teaching Jesus had "Body Dysphoria" https://reformationcharlotte.org/2022...

My video on Homosexuality and Universalism in the SBC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgSw_...

My Videos on Ed Litton's Plagiarism and Sin in the SBC

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNdrU...

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hirAE...

Why We Are No Longer an SBC Church: A Statement by Josh Buice

SEE: https://g3min.org/why-we-are-no-longer-sbc-a-statement-by-josh-buice/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

One of the great joys of my life has been serving as the pastor of three different churches that have been affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. I currently serve the church where my wife and I grew up as children on the west side of Atlanta—Pray’s Mill Baptist Church. Although our church is 180 years old and predates the SBC, our congregation has maintained a longtime affiliation within the SBC. However, in recent days we came to the conclusion that there was no profitable path forward for us within the SBC and we made the decision to officially separate.

Over the last few years, there has been a great deal of transition and change within the Southern Baptist Convention. That’s a nice way of describing the devious deconstruction plan that has been at work for many years behind the scenes. Along the way, we have witnessed scandals, controversies, and divisions. It is not my desire in this article to add fuel to the fire, however, as a lifelong SBC member and pastor, I believe it’s necessary to provide a reason for our church’s decision to officially separate from the SBC effective on January 1st, 2022.

The Commendable

What I will say in this article should not be seen as a denial of the fact that there are many good and gifted professors who are serving in the SBC entities and doing a good job of training men for the pulpit and church planting. When I look back on my time at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, I am grateful for many of the professors who invested in me and helped prepare me for the work of gospel ministry.

Alongside professors are many good pastors and local churches who have been healthy and profitable in supporting Christian education and church planting for many years within this network that we know as the SBC. Therefore, we can be thankful for these gifted individuals and churches who have sacrificed much to accomplish much for the glory of God.

But, all is not well within evangelicalism and that also includes the SBC. In recent years, we’ve witnessed quite a transformation take place within the once-beloved SBC that has necessitated separation for what I believe is far more than preference matters.

The Downgrade

Over the past decade or more, things began to shift with the SBC leadership that moved the once theologically conservative denomination in a leftward direction. The biggest catalyst to this leftward movement undoubtedly was the acceptance of the social justice agenda which has resulted in the greatest downgrade in our modern era of church history. Any denial of this downgrade is simply a refusal to report the facts about where the SBC is today, where the SBC was yesterday, and where the SBC is moving tomorrow.

While this shift did not take place overnight, it began to pick up the pace drastically over the last 4-5 years. Back in 2018, I was part of a group that assembled in Dallas, Texas for a meeting regarding the problems of social justice. As we assembled, I was concerned but hopeful. Little did I know that our meeting and subsequent Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel would not only serve as a means of confirming what was already in motion beneath the radar, but it would expose many people and institutions within the SBC and their involvement in this devious movement.

Sadly, the top-tier SBC leaders continue to double down on their positions. They have sought to deflect charges of theological capitulation and rigorously work to protect their positions through cultural virtue signals and theological word salads.

During this downgrade, we have witnessed once trusted voices and institutions accept the ideologies of the social justice movement and platform notable voices within their hallways, classrooms, and conference circuits. They came together under the banner of the gospel only to embrace a social justice gospel that resulted in confusion, division, and in some cases—a complete derailing altogether. This must not be overlooked. If left unchecked, the social justice agenda will leave an indelible mark upon preachers who will be sent out into local churches to serve as pastors.

The SBC once fought a war on the inerrancy of Scripture during what has become known as the “Conservative Resurgence.” After claiming a victory over the “Battle for the Bible” the SBC has moved into a new era where this once theologically conservative denomination has adopted the controversial “Resolution 9” at the 2019 SBC in Birmingham. How could the SBC openly champions inerrancy, at the same time adopt a resolution stating that we need to employ Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality (CRT/I) as “analytical tools” for gospel ministry? This was done, in all reality, without much public debate, and through sly political schemes.

Moving beyond the 2019 SBC, after a break in 2020 due to COVID-19, the SBC reconvened in Nashville in the summer of 2021 to discuss business and make decisions as a group of churches. During the meeting, there were multiple attempts from the floor to call upon the SBC to openly renounce the teachings of CRT/I. At each juncture, all of these attempts were rejected and generic language was adopted in place of specific language that openly rejected CRT/I.

One must ask the honest question as to why there was such an open refusal from the SBC leaders at this point? In the past, the SBC openly challenged Disney and eventually boycotted Disney in 1997. One must ask why the SBC was willing to boycott the gospel according to Disney but failed to boycott the gospel according to social justice? Why are theologians, pastors, and professors unwilling to reject CRT/I when concerned unconverted soccer moms are flooding school board meetings demanding that their local schools refuse to teach such ideologies to their children? It appears that unconverted soccer moms are more concerned about their local schools than SBC leaders are about local churches.

One must ask why the SBC was willing to boycott the gospel according to Disney but failed to boycott the gospel according to social justice?

During this downgrade, we have also witnessed a progressive attack upon the pulpit within the SBC. A movement in recent years has focused on dividing the office and function of the pastor in the life of the local church. As the progressive winds continue to blow through evangelical circles, it seems that in order to continue to maintain the big tent approach to evangelicalism, the SBC must allow for women to preach so long as they are not ordained to the office of elder. We have watched the rise of popular figures like Beth Moore continue to weave this methodology into the fabric of the SBC through the years.

This downgrade has not been a sudden explosion. It’s the result of what might be considered a crock-pot approach to compromise and failure. The SBC celebrated victory on the subject of inerrancy but never entered the battlefield to address the issue of biblical sufficiency. As a result, the slow cook of pragmatism has led the SBC to embrace theological error in order to become culturally relevant which has been quite evident through the virtue signaling of major SBC leaders in the wake of tragedies like George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. Pragmatism demands that you do whatever works and provides the best results. Standing for biblical justice as opposed to social justice is the unpopular and narrow road that is not culturally acceptable.

When the SBC is willing to cancel Walt Disney but unwilling to cancel Derrick Bell or Kimberlé Crenshaw, we have serious problems.

Allow me to be crystal clear at this point. This is not merely a personal conviction or preference matter. The present downgrade that has encompassed the SBC is one of both methodological and theological errors. When the SBC is willing to cancel Walt Disney but unwilling to cancel Derrick Bell or Kimberlé Crenshaw, we have serious problems. To be clear, the social justice movement is not purely Marxist, but it has roots in a postmodern attempt at deconstruction, and such a dialectic will be catastrophic if not corrected. J. Gresham Machen described this theological compromise as “the modern hostility to doctrine.” 1

This downgrade involves compromise on theological levels such as complementarianism (roles of men and women in the church), ecclesiology (the office and function of elder), and most important of all is the gospel (the social justice movement has replaced theology with victimology—resulting in the rise of a new religion).

For that reason, our church which is 180 years old and predates the SBC by three years, has determined by a 100% congregational vote led by the elders who voted in a 100% eldership vote to lead the church away from the SBC due to such compromise. The SBC has failed. The leaders have compromised. The SBC must know that local churches do not need the SBC, but the SBC does need local churches—both large and small.

We as elders determined that it would be a violation of our conscience and a misuse of money to invest in a system that has clearly rejected all forms of correction in private and public settings. Therefore, we are no longer an SBC church, but we are Baptist and will continue to cooperate with other like-minded churches and pastors for the work of missions and theological education for the glory of God.

The Final Straw

As I attended what would be my final SBC in Nashville in 2021, the final straw was apparent through the election of Ed Litton as the president of the SBC. To watch leaders of SBC seminaries like Danny Akin take to Twitter to encourage the messengers of the SBC churches to vote for Ed Litton in the runoff was quite revealing. Danny Akin is entrusted with millions of SBC dollars to train pastors for the pulpit and he sent the signal that Ed Litton is a proper example for SBC pastors and future pastors to follow.  

Following the SBC annual meeting in June of 2021, the plagiarism scandal (which is being referenced as “Sermon Gate”) surfaced which further exposed the failures of Ed Litton’s pulpit practices. Rather than calling for his resignation, the 11th Commandment of the SBC appears to be in full force as the SBC elites not only enable his capitulation, but they celebrate him as a faithful leader. This was put on vivid display as Adam Greenway, who serves as the president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, extended an invitation to Ed Litton to address the student body.  Rather than preaching, they held a Q&A session where Greenway asked Litton to respond to allegations of plagiarism and then accepted his answer and applauded him.

As the pulpit goes, so goes the church. This was the final straw for me and for our local church. We refuse to be associated with a group of churches that elect and support leaders who will not be held accountable for sin.

As the pulpit goes, so goes the church.

As the final word on the matter, it is not my desire to cast stones at a sinking ship. I find no pleasure in separating from the SBC. In logical terms, when we reached the conclusion that we can no longer support the educational entities or the church planting agencies of the SBC (the very reason the SBC exists), it only made sense that we should invest our time and energy elsewhere.

A couple of years ago as we gathered together with our local church for a meeting to discuss the problems within the SBC after the adoption of Resolution 9, one wise elderly woman in our church stood and made a simple, yet profound statement. She said, “Pastor Josh, if it is true and we must eventually leave the SBC, it will not be that we left the SBC but that the SBC left us.” That accurately describes the current scenario that many SBC churches are experiencing.

As we came to a close in our congregational members’ meeting where we voted on December 26th to separate from the SBC, we closed by praying for the SBC churches and leaders. It would be our earnest desire to see the SBC repent and change direction, but since there is no evidence of such a change of direction from the leaders within the SBC, we must exit this aging battleship and move onward in this fight of the faith.

As a local church pastor and president of G3 Ministries, I find myself very committed to a high view of the local church. While this decision has been a long time in the making, I have had to come to the place where I see my commitment to the local church as far superior to any organizational or denominational relationship. At whatever point the network or denomination fails to hold to biblical positions, we must make the hard decision to separate. In so doing, I walk away from the SBC without shame. I involved myself in the SBC, attended the meetings, and sought to do my little part in the work of the SBC causes. Now as I walk away, I do so without regret knowing that this decision was not merely a reactionary decision made in haste. The decision was made for the glory of God and the health of our local church for which I do not apologize.

When Charles Spurgeon was addressing the compromise among Baptists in England, he penned “The Downgrade in the Churches” where he wrote the following:

A chasm is opening between the men who believe their Bibles and those who are prepared for an advance upon the Scripture. . .The house is being robbed, its very walls are being digged down, but the good people who are in bed are too fond of the warmth. . .to go downstairs to meet the burglars. 

It appears that Spurgeon’s words could be applied to the present downgrade within the SBC. We must remember the words of Paul as he penned a letter to the church in the city of Colossae. He wrote, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8). When you’ve done all within your power to stand—sometimes the only option that remains is to separate.

When Christ and Caesar Collide (Acts 17:1-9)

Fairview Baptist Church, CALGARY, CANADA

This sermon explores the conflict in Thessalonica when the gospel is preached. The disciples were charged with disobeying the decrees of Caesar because of their faithfulness to Christ as King. This is instructive for us today as we navigate increasing government overreach into the home and church.

Resisting Tyrants (Romans 13:1-5)

 

California Pushes Kids to Worship Aztec Gods

California Pushes Kids to Worship Aztec Gods

Welcome to the enlightenment of "Ethnic Studies."

Kids Chant To Aztec Gods In New California Curriculum

MARCH 17, 2021: Government-school students in California will soon be asking the barbarous Aztec gods of human sacrifice and cannibalism for help in pursuing a counter-genocide against “white Christians,” at least if a proposed new “ethnic studies” curriculum is formally approved this week. Yes, seriously. Full Story: https://bit.ly/3cFSx4B

PARENTS FILED LAWSUIT

BY MATTHEW VADUM

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/01/california-has-kids-worshiping-aztec-gods-matthew-vadum/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

California’s long-running descent into madness continues as its bizarre Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) now encourages public school students to pray to bloodthirsty Aztec deities.

The California State Board of Education approved the almost 900-page ESMC in March 2021, saying teaching children about the systemic racism that supposedly plagues America has never been more urgent, as Fox News reported at the time.

“The curriculum’s unequivocal promotion of five Aztec gods or deities through repetitive chanting and affirmation of their symbolic principles constitutes an unlawful government preference toward a particular religious practice,” Frank Xu, president of Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, said months ago as his organization filed a lawsuit against the state.

“This public endorsement of the Aztec religion fundamentally erodes equal education rights and irresponsibly glorifies anthropomorphic, male deities whose religious rituals involved gruesome human sacrifice and human dismemberment.”

The legal action, Californians for Equal Rights Foundation v. State of California, was filed Sept. 3, 2021, in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, by attorneys from the Thomas More Society, a national public interest law firm focusing on religious freedom. The foundation is a non-profit civil rights organization headquartered in San Diego.

Golden State officials say this is the first statewide ethnic studies model curriculum in the country. Oregon is developing ethnic studies standards for its social studies curriculum, while Connecticut will require its high schools to offer courses in black and Latino studies by autumn this year.

“We are reminded daily that racism is not only a legacy of the past but a clear and present danger,” said California State Board of Education president Linda Darling-Hammond, a leftist who headed the Biden-Harris regime’s education transition team. “We must understand this history if we are finally to end it.”

The California curriculum is intended to educate high school students about the travails of “historically marginalized peoples which are often untold in U.S. history courses.” It reportedly focuses on the four groups examined in college-level ethnic studies courses: African Americans, Chicano/Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Somehow this leads to the Aztec religion, complete with its cast of characters one might expect to find in a Tobe Hooper movie.

The ESMC includes a section on “Affirmation, Chants, and Energizers,” among which is the “In Lak Ech Affirmation,” an invocation of five Aztec deities. This pagan prayer recognizes the cosmic beings as sources of power and knowledge, seeks their assistance, and gives them thanks.

The five beings are Tezkatlipoka, Quetzalkoatl, Huitzilopochtli, Xipe Totek, and Hunab Ku.

Tezcatlipoca is “an omnipresent god capable of shapeshifting into a jaguar,” according to Mythopedia. In Nahuatl, an American Indian language of the Uto-Aztecan family that is still spoken in central and western Mexico, Tezcatlipoca means “smoking mirror,” a reference to the obsidian mirrors Aztecs used in ceremonies. He was often depicted as having one of his feet replaced with an obsidian mirror. Two of his many alternative names, Titlacauan and Ipalnemoani, attest to his status among the gods, meaning “we are his slaves” and “he by whom we live,” respectively.

Tezcatlipoca was celebrated annually during Toxcatl, the fifth month of the Aztec calendar.

“Every year, a young man—typically a prisoner of war—was chosen to represent Tezcatlipoca … and [this] ixiptla, or impersonator … was treated with great respect and trained to speak in a courtly style. He was also taught to play the flute, the sound of which was thought to be the voice of Tezcatlipoca. A month prior to the festival of Toxcatl, he would be wed to four young women impersonating the four goddess wives of Tezcatlipoca: Xochiquetzal, Xilonen, Atlatonan and Huixtocihuatl.”

The high point of the festival was when the ixiptla walked up the steps of a pyramid and his heart was cut out with an obsidian knife. When the next’s year impersonator was chosen, he was given his predecessor’s skin to wear as a cloak.

Quetzalcoatl, known to the Mayans as Kukulcan, was initially depicted as a feathered snake. Portrayed as both the morning and evening star, Quetzalcoatl became a symbol of death and resurrection. Accompanied by his loyal companion, the dog-headed god Xolotl, he descended to hell to collect the bones of the ancient dead, and poured his own blood on them, thereby creating the people who live in the present universe. Quetzalcoatl sacrificed snakes, butterflies, and birds, but never humans.

Huitzilopochtli was the Aztec god of war, Mythopedia reports. His mother’s other 400 children were unhappy about his approaching birth and according to various versions of the story: a) they killed her; b) they tried to kill her, or c) they tried to kill Huitzilopochtli before he was born. In what must have been challenging childbirth, somehow Huitzilopochtli escaped the womb while fully armored and promptly defeated his siblings. Sacrifices, including human sacrifices, were made to him after every military victory and defeat.

Xipe Totec, meaning “Our Lord the Flayed One,” had a diverse set of responsibilities, according to Mythopedia. He was the Aztec god of agriculture, seasons, disease, and goldsmiths. Xipe Totec “was often depicted wearing a suit of flayed skin, and his associated ceremonies emphasized his choice of attire. Such rituals usually culminated in a fresh skin suit being made and worn by either a statue of Xipe Totec or one of his priests.”

Hunab Ku, meaning “One-God,” was a creator deity worshiped by Aztecs and some Mayans but thought to have Aztec origins.

“The Aztecs regularly performed gruesome and horrific acts for the sole purpose of pacifying and appeasing the very beings that the prayers from the curriculum invoke,” said Paul Jonna, a partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP and Thomas More Society Special Counsel.

“The human sacrifice, cutting out of human hearts, flaying of victims and wearing their skin, are a matter of historical record, along with sacrifices of war prisoners, and other repulsive acts and ceremonies the Aztecs conducted to honor their deities,” Jonna said.

“Any form of prayer and glorification of these bloodthirsty beings in whose name horrible atrocities were performed is repulsive to any reasonably informed observer.”

Yet the ESMC is now a reality.

It came about after the board of education named R. Tolteka Cuauhtin, a co-author of the 2019 book Rethinking Ethnic Studies, to head a committee tasked with developing it. In his book, Cuauhtin “demonstrates an animus towards Christianity and Catholicism—claiming that Christians committed ‘theocide’ (i.e., killing gods) against indigenous tribes,” according to court documents.

In March 2021, the board approved the ESMC, also including the “Ashe Affirmation,” which “invokes the divine forces of the Yoruba religion four times—honoring this divine force and seeking assistance for the school day.” Yoruba is “an ancient philosophical concept that is the root of many pagan religions, including Santeria and Haitian Vodou or voodoo,” according to the Thomas More Society. It reportedly has 100 million believers worldwide in West Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guyana, and various Caribbean nations.

How the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, with its invocation of witch doctors and Aztec gods like Xipe Totec, who wears suits made of flayed human skin, will enlighten California schoolchildren has never been explained.

Maybe enlightenment isn’t the goal.

Deep State Transhumanists: Becoming ‘Gods,’ or Building ‘God’? Part Five

Deep State promoters of transhumanism are totalitarians with an affinity for Communist Chinese tyranny who believe that man is evolving through technological and biological upgrades to become like a god, warns The New American magazine's Alex Newman in part 5 of his series on transhumanism for Behind The Deep State. Some believe and say publicly that they are actually building an Artificial Intelligence god that should be worshiped. Others believe they will achieve immortality by fusing their consciousness with computers. But like Hegel's outrageous view of the state as god, these horrific and heretical ideas will end in disaster, and the God of the Bible addresses these views directly from Genesis to the New Testament. 🇺🇸 The New American: http://www.thenewamerican.com/

HHS, the Tip on Biden’s Spear Against Christians

BY THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR

SEE: https://americanfaith.com/hhs-the-tip-on-bidens-spear-against-christians/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

The GOP decries Becerra’s dismantling of religious freedom protections.

Joe Biden spent much of his first year undoing the policies of his predecessor. Biden has taken special relish in wiping out Trump’s protections for the religious. Christians in particular have a target on their backs under Biden. He routinely calls them “discriminatory” for simply upholding the historic teachings of Christianity.

Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services is the tip on his spear against Christians. In December, Republican senators and congressmen sent a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra blasting him for his attempts to exclude faith-based adoption and foster care agencies from government contracts.

“According to the Administration for Children & Families’ annual Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) report, 407,493 children are in foster care, 117,470 of whom are waiting to be adopted. With these staggering numbers in mind, our primary goal should be safe, loving, and permanent placements for all children,” they wrote.

Becerra would rather see those tens of thousands of children languish without homes than turn them over to adoption and foster care agencies that do not conform to Biden’s LGBTQ agenda. This is utterly perverse. Those agencies, precisely because they operate according to moral and religious principles, are the best for children.

“The freedom to work with faith-based agencies is vital to many foster families,” note the Republicans. “Many studies have shown that faith is often a key motivator in a family’s decision to foster children. Families recruited through church or religious organizations on average foster more than two and a half years longer than other foster parents. One study found that 82 percent of families cited faith or church support as a factor that facilitated successful fostering. Another study revealed that 36 percent of families recruited by one religious organization would not have become foster or adoptive parents were it not for that organization’s efforts.”

The Republicans pointed out to Becerra that his policy runs counter to recent Supreme Court jurisprudence. “Earlier this year, a unanimous Supreme Court in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia validated the principle that religious adoption agencies have a right to be free from discriminatory exclusion from adoption and foster care programs because of their beliefs,” they wrote. “The Supreme Court found that ‘the refusal of Philadelphia to contract with Catholic Social Services for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment.’”

Becerra’s policy rests on a twisted view of the First Amendment, one that changes it from protection for the religious to protection against the religious. This warped view leads directly to what the Founding Fathers feared: a federal government that mandates an orthodoxy for all the states. Biden wants to preside over a kind of federal religion of wokeness, forcing everyone to embrace abortion and all things LGBTQ. No agency is more essential to this evil project than HHS. Through its regulations, it can make life miserable for groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor.

“Health” has become the Left’s alibi for a secularist tyranny that seeks to control both body and soul. Biden made sure to select as his HHS secretary an activist adamantly committed to that vision. In addition to hassling faith-based adoption and foster care agencies, Becerra is planning to force religious hospitals to perform abortions and transgender surgeries.

Trump set up an office at HHS to prevent it from abusing the religious. Becerra is in effect shutting that office down. He has “personally stripped the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of existing authority to receive, handle, investigate, and oversee resolution of complaints under RFRA and the religion clauses of the First Amendment,” say the Republicans who wrote to him. Becerra had promised at his confirmation hearing that “nothing” would change at that office, but with “these and other anti-religious freedom actions you have taken, you have betrayed your promise,” they say.

The depth of Biden’s secularism made this inevitable. Over the next three years, we will see innumerable collisions between the Biden administration and the religious. The suppression of religious freedom is at the center of his coercive agenda. It cannot succeed unless the religious are marginalized. The space that Trump carved out for them is rapidly closing under Biden.

EX-CATHOLIC, MIKE GENDRON: The Lord Jesus May Divide Families

The Lord Jesus May Divide Families
BY MIKE GENDRON

SEE: http://WWW.PROCLAIMINGTHEGOSPEL.ORG

 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:
Thirty-seven years ago, I went home for the holidays to tell my family I had become a born-again Christian and had left the Catholic Church. I remember being so excited to tell them the good news because I thought they would also want to receive God's gift of eternal life. Instead, they turned on me and refused to hear any more of my new life in Christ. My dear old dad, whose brother was a Catholic priest, got very angry because I had betrayed the Catholic family heritage. Our once close and harmonious relationship quickly became very distant to the point of me being ostracized. Later, when I told him I was enrolling in seminary, he told me I was throwing my life away.
Christians May Have to Forsake Their Families
Our Savior forewarned us this would happen in families. He said, “Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (Luke 12:51-53). Our Lord also said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me" (Mat. 10:37). Jesus commands us to love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind (Mat. 22:37).
Christians May Have to Count the Cost
There are some people who refuse to exchange their religion for a saving relationship with Jesus because of their passionate loyalty to parents and siblings. Family ties can be so strong that people stubbornly reject biblical truth for the sake of maintaining peace and harmony. I have a neighbor who told me that he will not leave the Catholic Church until his mother dies. In essence, they are saying they love their families more than they love God. As Christians, we must plead with them to consider the words of our Savior. He said, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life" (Mat. 19:29). There is no middle ground with the Lord Jesus. He warned us, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters" (Luke 11:23).
Christians May Have to Offend Their Parents
Six years ago, I was invited to preach a 2-day seminar at a church in Wisconsin. A woman in the church dragged her Catholic husband to the church for the first time to hear my message, Where Will You Spend Eternity? After the message, she introduced me to her husband Pete. I asked him, "Based on what you heard from God's Word tonight, what is keeping you from trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as your all-sufficient Savior?" After waiting nearly a minute for his response, his wife Megan finally blurted out, "It's your parents, you don't want to offend your parents." Pete agreed that she was right. We talked for a few more minutes and I gave Pete a couple of Gospel tracts: Which Jesus Will You Trust? and The Greatest Gift Ever Given. I asked him to read them and come back the next morning to hear my Sunday morning message.
Christians Must Acknowledge Jesus as Lord
The next morning Pete and Megan were the first ones in the church and couldn't wait to talk to us. Pete told us that after reading the Gospel tracts, he could not go to sleep. As he tossed and turned, he kept crying out to Jesus to save him. When Megan woke up, they sat on the side of the bed. Pete apologized to her for his angry outbursts whenever she invited him to church. Needless to say, we praised God with tears of joy for His amazing grace! Pete exhibited the mark of a true Christian by demonstrating loyalty to Jesus was greater than loyalty to his parents. He was willing to leave the Catholic religion for an eternal relationship with Jesus and suffer any consequences with his parents.
Christians Are Adopted Into a New Family
The Lord Jesus is the great divider who separates believers from unbelievers throughout all eternity. His followers may be cut off from their unbelieving families, but our heavenly Father adopts every born-again Christian into His eternal family (Eph. 1:5). Members of God's family not only enjoy the sweet fellowship of many more brothers and sisters, they also enjoy every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus and a peace that surpasses all understanding (Eph. 1:3; Phil. 4:7).

County Sheriff Stands Up to Threat Over Bible Verse Displayed in Sheriff Department’s Building

County Sheriff Stands Up to Threat Over Bible Verse Displayed in Sheriff Department’s Building

Sheriff Jody Greene Rebuffs Atheists, Won't Remove Bible Verse from Office Wall. Columbus County, NC

A North Carolina sheriff is rejecting calls from an atheist organization to remove a Bible verse from a sheriff's office wall, saying in a new social media post, "We need more Jesus." At issue is a Bible verse featured prominently on an office wall of the Columbus County (N.C.) Sheriff's office. The verse Philippians 4:13, which says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me," is displayed on the wall in black letters. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, in a December 6 letter to Sheriff Jody Greene, asked him to remove the verse, arguing that it violates the U.S. Constitution. Columbus County Sheriff 805 Washington Street Whiteville, NC 28472 Phone: 1-910-642-6551 Email: info@columbussheriff.com https://columbussheriff.com/

FFRF's 2021 National Convention Legal Report

BY BOB ADELMANN

SEE: https://thenewamerican.com/county-sheriff-stands-up-to-threat-over-bible-verse-displayed-in-sheriff-departments-building/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

Columbus County (North Carolina) Sheriff Jody Greene has had a Bible verse displayed on a wall in the sheriff department’s building for years. No one complained, until three weeks before Christmas that is, when he received a complaint letter.

The verse: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13,”

The complaint letter was from Chris Line, an attorney with the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an advocacy group for atheists, agnostics, and non-theists. the letter stated;

The Supreme Court has said time and again that the “First Amendment mandates government neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion.”

And:

The court has also ruled “the Establishment Clause, at the very least, prohibits government from appearing to take a position on questions of religious belief.”… [T]his Bible verse display promoting Christianity in a sheriff’s office building is correctly viewed by a reasonable observer as an endorsement of religion, and is therefore unconstitutional.”

Sheriff Greene ignored the letter and kept the Bible verse on the wall.

When the FFRF didn’t get a response from him, on December 14 FFRF’s co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor issued a public statement: “The Columbus County Sheriff’s Office must serve all citizens equally, whether Christian or non-Christian. A blatantly Christian message in a law enforcement division sends a message of exclusion.”

Still, Sheriff Greene remained silent. And then a local TV station learned about the complaint letter and ran a story about it. Only then did he decide to respond,  via his Facebook page:

Good afternoon, Columbus County citizens. I would like to address the recent news article WECT TV6 ran on me concerning a Bible verse that is posted on the wall at the Sheriff’s Office. The verse is “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13” 

First, the Bible verse was placed on the wall after I took office. It was paid for with private funds, not with county funding. The verse is one of my favorite Bible verses, and it seemed fitting for all the adversity I have had to endure. It is very motivational to me and my staff.

Here at the Sheriff’s Office we work hard in everything that we do. Before we execute a search warrant, or any service that puts our people in immediate harm’s way, we ALWAYS go to the Lord with a group prayer. ALWAYS!

The complaint was politically motivated, said Greene:

I have taken many pictures with that Bible verse in the back[ground] with not a single issue, but now that we are going into an election year, it is an issue.

He said nothing about removing the verse. Instead, he doubled down:

Currently, in Columbus County, we are at 180 [drug] overdoses. Drugs and violence are killing our youth.

We need more Jesus and less politics.

He then challenged FFRF to bring it on:

It is time, past time, to stand up. So let me be clear: I will not waiver on my stance and Christian beliefs.

Merry Christmas and God bless you ALL!

As of this writing, the FFRF remains silent in face of his challenge. But his Facebook page lit up. Within hours he had 45 responses, and all but three were supportive:

• “Stay strong, Sheriff. You and your staff are appreciated.”

• “Thank you, Sheriff Greene. Prayers for you & all your staff as they protect us.”

• “Thank you Sheriff Greene and the entire department for all you do. Merry Christmas.”

• “I am inspired by your bold courage in standing for Christian values.”

• “You have my full support to keep Christian beliefs and standards in our sheriff’s office. We must take a stand and defend our rights. Thank you for taking a stand.”

And so on.

Even Franklin Graham, of Samaritan’s Purse, went to his own Facebook page to support Greene:

I’m thankful this Sheriff knows where the true solution to life’s problems and challenges comes from, and he is standing his ground.

Will you pray for Sheriff Greene and his staff? And leave an encouraging note?

More support for the sheriff poured in:

• “God bless you Sheriff and your department!!!! We are praying for all of you.”

• “STAND FIRM!! You have our support 100%.”

• “Christianity is not a religion … it is a relationship with Christ!”

• “STAND! Sheriff, I’m glad to know the leader of our law enforcement has heart, faith & a backbone. You don’t stand alone.”

• “You’re doing a great job! Please don’t take it down. Christians must stand for their faith and for each other. You have my support!”

And so on.

If the atheist FFRF (which claims that it has 800 members in North Carolina, a state with more than 10 million residents) decides to take on Sheriff Greene in a court of law, there is no doubt that pro-bono law firms such as the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) or Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) would relish the opportunity to defend him.

EXCLUSIVE: January 6th 2021 Prisoner Says, ‘I Literally Have Nothing Left But Food and My Bible’

Jake Lang is a January 6 political prisoner who has been held in DC Jail for ten months. Jake Lang is a 26-year-old entrepreneur and is the founder of a free speech social media network, LibertyCentric.com. Jake is a man of deep faith in God and loves our Constitutional liberties. He stood up for our Country & Freedoms on January 6 At the Capitol building west terrace. The police started viciously brutalizing unarmed protestors, and Jake moved to protect innocent lives like Philip Anderson. In Philips's own words, signed in a Federal Court Declaration," I recall Jake telling the crowd, including officers, 'there are people down here!" Jake proceeded to save my life by pulling me out of the pile of people. If Jake were not present to help me, I would have died on January 6, 2021. I would have been killed because of the actions that the police took on January 6, 2021. Jake has started a live daily Podcast from DC Jail called ' Jake Lang Political Prisoner ' available on Spotify, Anchor FM, and Apple Podcasts, exposing the truth of January 6 and the patriot's perspective on the news.

Jan 6 inmate's phone call gets "terminated by facility" during Newsmax interview

BY MEGAN FOX

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/megan-fox/2021/12/31/exclusive-j6-prisoner-says-i-literally-have-nothing-left-but-food-and-my-bible-n1545694;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

Jacob Lang has been awaiting trial without bail in the D.C. jail for his involvement in the January 6 riot at the Capitol for almost a year, along with many others who have been charged with crimes connected to that day. With no trial date in sight, he and his fellow inmates languish in a jail they say is inhumane. The J6 prisoners’ complaints about filthy conditions and inhumane treatment resulted in a surprise inspection that found everything they were saying was true. As a result, over 400 prisoners were moved to different facilities—none of them J6 prisoners.

Lang has been in contact with PJ Media and several other media sources and was recently giving an interview on Newsmax TV when the jail cut off his phone access. Afterward, Lang reported to PJ Media that the jail took away all access to the internet and cut off phone privileges for all the detainees. They are now on lockdown and Lang says he’s not even able to call his lawyer.

Regardless of what crimes these people are charged with, there is a protocol for how prisoners are supposed to be treated, especially pre-trial detainees who have the presumption of innocence. None of that seems to have been followed in the cases involving the J6 arrestees.

RELATED VIP: The Fringe with Megan Fox, Episode 78: Insurrectionist or Hero? Exclusive Interview with J6 Detainee Jacob Lang

In a text sent to PJ Media by Lang’s family, Lang wrote, “I am being held in true solitary confinement, locked in my cell 22 hours a day. In response to my viral Newsmax interview yesterday, where the D.C. jail cut my interview mid-sentence, and the automated message rung [sic] out on live national TV, ‘this call is being terminated by the jail.’ I have now been completely cut off from the outside world! They have suspended my phone and tablet access. I cannot talk to my family or my attorney. I literally have nothing left but food and my Bible.”

Lang says he has “no lawyer access, no visitation, no calls, no haircuts, and no religious services.”

Lang is charged with assaulting a police officer and was seen on video wielding a baseball bat. He claims it was in self-defense and in the defense of others who were suffocating to death and being trampled. Lang also claims he did not bring the bat but found it on the ground. Lang says that police were attacking people, including Roseanne Boyland, who died after being pulled out from the bottom of a pile of people Lang says police created.

On December 27, a few days before the Newsmax interview, Lang spoke to PJ Media and said that the solitary confinement began before Christmas in response to alleged covid outbreaks. Lang says he doesn’t know anyone who is sick in his jail pod. “We are literally being mentally tortured in here,” he said. “Solitary confinement over 10 days was ruled by the Geneva convention to be cruel and unusual punishment and I’ve lived like that the first 200 days I got to this jail.” After that, the prisoners were given five hours a day out of their cells, which Lang says is a little better. But that all changed before Christmas. “Now we’re back to this 22-hour lockdown and two hours out a day.”

“They let out two or three people at a time so we get minor human interaction,” he said. “There are some people in here who have really been drained by this.”

Lang says they are treated like animals. “We are considered innocent until proven guilty and we are supposed to have all of our rights afforded to us except our freedom of movement,” he said. “Our privacy rights are supposed to be maintained. Our freedom of speech rights is supposed to be maintained. How could I have my freedom of speech rights if I’m locked in a cell away from my lawyer, away from my family, away from doing interviews?”

Lang is growing increasingly frustrated as no trial date has been set and there is no end in sight for how long he will be held without a trial. “I’ve lived [for] a year like this…they blame everything on covid. Where is it in the Constitution that during a bad flu season you can suspend everyone’s rights?”

The Washington Post reported on the massive lockdowns at the D.C. jail related to Covid in April and no one did anything about it.

“It is a very dangerous situation that you describe,” said Craig Haney, a psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz who has studied the effects of solitary confinement. Haney said a year of “23 and 1” lockdown would ordinarily be reserved for those who commit extraordinary breaches of prison rules, most likely involving acts of violence.

The psychological and physical harms that such prolonged isolation can cause are legion, he added: depression, anxiety, heart disease, erosion of a sense of self and exacerbation of any existing mental illness, diabetes or hypertension. Those problems can last well after an inmate’s release.

“I understand that prisons and jails have been confronted with an extraordinary problem,” Haney said. “But this is not the solution.”

In Lang’s last communication after the Newsmax event, he sounded despondent. “I feel utterly abandoned by my country,” he said.

PJ Media reached out to the public information officer for the Department of Corrections, Dr. Keena Blackmon, for comment on solitary confinement protocols but was unable to reach her in time for publishing. If she does respond, the article will be updated.

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