A year ago next Monday, Former Vice President and presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden declared the LGBT agenda to be his number one campaign priority. Although he is currently centering his campaign around this issue, the former vice president’s shift to embrace this radical agenda has been gradual. His critics on the left have described him as slow to outline policy proposals advancing the LGBT movement and Senator Bernie Sanders has criticized Biden’s record as not being pro-LGBT enough.One liberalcommentator pointed out that this shift is typical of Biden’s stance—he begins moderate and then moves to a more extreme position. While Biden may have a history of being less extreme than other left-wing politicians, the policies outlined by his current campaign are anything but moderate. In fact, he has centered his campaign around some truly radical viewpoints, which has earned him an endorsement from the largest LGBT organization in the U.S.
In the time since he publicly declared the LGBT agenda to be his top campaign priority, Biden has, among other things, publicly committed to making Equality Act legislation a priority within the first 100 days of taking office if he is elected. The so-called Equality Act would make gender identity and sexual orientation a protected status under the Civil Rights Act. This would mean that if a biological male claiming to be female demanded entry to female locker rooms or restrooms, it would be a civil rights violation to deny him entry. His “gender identity”would override the privacy rights of women and girls. Similarly, schools would be required to allow male athletes who identify as female to compete on girls’ sports teams. Biden’s proposed policies would also allow male inmates to be housed in women’s prisons on the basis of genderidentity, with Biden explaining, "In prison, the determination should be that your sexual identity is defined by what you say it is [and] not what the prison says it is."
Beginning today,churches in Minnesota will be allowed to once again gather for worship, according to a revised order from Governor Walz on Saturday and updated guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Health.
On May 18, Governor Walz’s shelter in placeorder was replaced with the Stay Safe Minnesota order, which outlined the first phase of the gradual reopening of the state. To the disappointment of many people of faith, the new order left places of worship in limbowhile allowing secular businesses to open up.Many churches had been preparing safe opening plans, only to be told that church services are “unpredictable” and therefore less safe than going shopping. As Minnesota Family Council’s Renee Carlson pointed out, “If any predictable ordered gathering exists it is worship services,” a fact that Walz has since acknowledged.
The early days of the COVID-19 outbreakcoincided with ongoing efforts in multiple states to keep radical, agenda driven comprehensive sex education (CSE) out of children’s classrooms. Parents in Washington state have been working to repeal a recent mandatory comprehensive sex ed law, finding ways to creatively connect with other parents and get the word outduring a pandemic, while in Texas, parents have been fighting Austin Independent School District’sexplicit sex ed program that was expected to be taught in May. After the stateprevented schools from using Planned Parenthood’s curriculum, the school district opted for an even more radical curriculum from a Canadian abortion provider.
Concerned parents had planned an organized sit out, which then moved to an online event. As schooling shifted online, the school district suddenly chose to cancel sex education for the year. While they did not cite parental concernsas their reason for the sudden decision, the number of parents speaking up probably did not make the school eager to bring this controversial curriculum into students’ homes. If Austin ISD had not cancelled their sex ed program for the year, what might those parents have discovered being taught in their children’s online classrooms?
After lending her name to the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion,Norma McCorvey, better known as Jane Roe, became a pro-life ally,appearing at marches, rallies, and outside of abortion facilities to tell herstoryand defend life.Then yesterdayheadlines crowing that “Woman behind U.S. abortion ruling was paid to recant” and “The woman Behind Roe v. Wade didn’t change her mind. She was paid” began sweeping across the internet. According to a documentary set to air on Hulu this Friday,McCorvey eitherrecanted her pro-life stance near the end of her life, or perhaps never was pro-life at all.
The documentary called “AKA, Jane Roe,” tells the story of Roe v. Wade from the viewpoint of an aging Norma McCorvey, using footage from shortly before her death. In the film she refers to her statements as her “deathbed confession.” McCorvey says, “If a young woman wants to have an abortion—fine… You know, that’s why they call it ‘choice.’ It’s your choice,” and suggests that her public pro-life stance was financially motivated, although it is worth noting that, contrary to the headlines, there is no evidence that she was actually paid to becomepro-life.
The abortion industry is partnering with the ACLU to encourage minors to work around laws requiring parental consent for abortion. According to the pro-abortion website Rewire, a North Carolina abortion group has partnered with the state’s ACLU to set up a text line where minors can receive help outmaneuvering the state’s abortion laws. The text line called Text Abby targetsteens in North and South Carolina and is modeled after a similar text line based out of Texas, Jane’s Due Process. Currently 21 states require consent of one or both parents before a teenager may undergo an abortion, and 11 states, including Minnesota, require parental notification. All of these states have a judicial bypass provision that allows a judge to excuse minors from meeting this requirement. Text lines like Text Abby and Jane’s Due Process go behind parents’ backs to obtain permission from a judge for teens to get abortions without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
The abortion industry thrives on building distrust between teens and their parents. Parental consent laws, on the other hand, provide an opportunity for teens to communicate with their parents and receive help and support. Circumventing these laws erodes teens’ relationships with their parents, and also places young women in harm’s way by taking away an important safeguard in the fight against abuse and human trafficking.
In the most recent Executive Order 20-56 addressing Minnesota’s COVID-19 rules, Governor Walz made significant changes for some and not others. The basis for these orders continues to be "predictability." Ironically, the governor is still prohibiting some of the most predictable and controlled events and gatherings - the order expressly prohibits “gatherings of 10 or more” including “faith-based gatherings.” But other industries, businesses, and big box stores are opening soon pursuant to suggested state and federal guidelines. Even the Mall of America is predicted to reopen in some capacity on June 1st, along with some bars and restaurants.
In his announcement Wednesday evening, Governor Walz commented that it is easier to predict interaction in the aisles of a store than it is to predict or control interactions in other settings, including “faith-based gatherings”. For a moment I thought I misheard him, which was not the case. Two emotions were most prevalent following this statement and throughout the rest of the announcement. First, I’ll admit, I was quite baffled. Ask any Pastor, even under these fluid circumstances, and he or she can tell you their exact location at any given moment throughout a worship service. The location and interactions of most any church staffer and member of the congregation is equally predictable. Even more, any church pastor, staffer or congregant can also tell you a number of other specifics that no retail or business can "predict", including but not limited to: 1) a specific time in which the service commences and concludes; 2) traffic flow of persons entering and exiting the building; 3) the exact number of people allowed to enter and exit the building, while also closing and limiting capacity; 4) deliberate space and cessation of movement between individuals; and 5) specific hygiene and sanitary regimens before, during and after each service. If any predictable ordered gathering exists it is worship services. Arguably, this applies to all types of worship services - Mosques, Synagogues, and all Catholic and Protestant denominations.
The California legislatureis considering a bill that, if passed, would establish a taxpayer fund that would pay for “gender affirming healthcare services” such as hormone therapy and “gender reassignment” surgery. Assembly Bill 2218, which is expected to be brought to a voteon May 18, would put $15 million toward “treatments” that have never been approvedby the Food and Drug Administration. In a letter to California lawmakers, Family Research Council’s Peter Sprigg points out that this bill also funds “programming that essentially amounts to ideological indoctrination” by funding educational materials from organizations that affirm transgender ideology while denyingfunding to groups that do not encourage people to “transition.”
Earlier this year, The Public Discourse pointed out that the best studies on the effects of transgender “treatment” have shown the worst results.Despite the evidence of the harm caused by ideology-driven practices, California’s bill would require healthcare providers receiving grant money to partner and consult with trans-led organizations in order to implement a “trans-inclusive healthcare program.”
Attorneys helping three high school girls fight to protect girls’ sports in Connecticut are asking a district judge to recuse himself after he forbid them from referring to two biological males as males. In February, three high school girls filed a lawsuit against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, challenging the decision to allow male athletes who identify as female to compete in female sporting events. During the 2018-19 competition season, two male athletes had dominated high school girls track, costing Selina Soule, Alana Smith, and Chelsea Mitchell competitive opportunities and chances at scholarships. Attorneys are asking district judge Robert Chatigny to recuse himself after he informed them that they must refer to the two male athletes as transgender females. According to Chatigny, referring to them as males is inaccurate, inconsistent with science, and “needlessly provocative.” He went on to say, “This isn’t a case involving males who have decided that they want to run in girls’ events. This is a case about girls who say that transgender girls should not be allowed to run in girls’ events.”
The problem with Chatigny’s statement is that this is a case involving males who have decided they want to run in girls’ events. By requiring the attorneys to use the term “transgender females” instead of “males,” Chatigny has already taken a side, and his claim that this is consistent with science is simply not true. Science confirms that men and women are different, and that these differences give male athletes a competitive advantage over female athletes. Men have larger heart and lungs than women, denser bones, and more muscle mass, and hormone therapy does not remove these physiological differences. Asking for these differences to be recognized in order to protect girls’ sports is not discriminatory, but refusing to protect competitive opportunities for women and girls will spell the end of women’s sports.
A senior Army chaplain stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea,is facing backlash for sharing Coronavirus and Christ, a book written by the former pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, with several other military chaplains. In late March John Piper, who currently serves as Chancellor at Bethlehem College and Seminary, wrote Coronavirus and Christ, a short book to encourage believers amidst the unknowns of COVID-19. After reading it, Senior Chaplain Col. Moon H. Kim passed a PDF of the book along to several of hisfellow chaplains. In his email he wrote, “This book has helped me refocus my sacred calling to my savior Jesus Christ to finish strong. Hopefully this small booklet would help you and your Soldiers, their Families and others who you serve.”
Although there was nothing out of line in Kim’s actions, he is now facing calls for disciplinary action to be taken against him. Michael “Mikey” Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation penned a letter on behalf of 22 clients who have chosen to remain anonymous describing Kim’s email as “shocking” and calling his choice to send Piper’s book to other military chaplains “egregious and deplorable.” Weinstein writes that MRFF “demands that Army Chaplain (Colonel) Kim be officially, swiftly, aggressively, and visibly investigated and disciplined in punishment for his deplorable actions...” He told the Christian Post that he is calling for Kim to be subject to general court-martial.
Today is the National Day of Prayer, a day for Christians across America turn to focus on turning to God in prayer and asking him to make himself known in our nation and around the world. Scripture calls us to pray for our government leadersas they exercise God-given authority.In 1 Timothy 2 Paul writes, “I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” Romans 13 tells us that governing authorities are instituted by God for our good. As we pray for our nation, let’s pray for our local and national leaders that God would use them and guide to govern in a manner that honors him.
Let’s also pray for our neighborhoods and communities, asking God to be at work in the hearts and lives of the people around us, and that because of the work he does to transform hearts and lives our communities would become places where life is cherished and God’s design for family is embraced. Prayer is powerful and God works through the prayer of his people.In James we are reminded,
The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for six years and six months it did not rain in the land. Then he prayed again and the land produced its fruit.
Elijah prayed for God’s glory to be displayed in a nation that had turned away from God, and God answered that prayer. Let’s set aside time today to pray that God would be known in our neighborhoods, our state, and our nation and that he would use his people to spread the hope of the gospel. Political involvement and community engagement matter, but we do nothing apart from God. As we seek the good of our state and nation, we must turn to God every step of the way, relying on him to meet our needs and to transform hearts.
Pastor Kevin Wilson of Lighthouse Fellowship Church in Virginia received a criminal citationafter holding a Palm Sunday service with 16 people in a sanctuary that can hold up to 293 congregants, potentially facing a year in jail and a fine of $2,500. On April 5, police entered the sanctuary and informed those gatheredthat, even with everyone amply spaced,they could not hold a service with 16 people. After the service Pastor Wilson was served a summonsand informed that if he held services on Easter, everyone in attendance would face the same charges.
In response to this incident, Lighthouse Fellowship filed a lawsuit against Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, with the help of Liberty Counsel. The complaint points out that, while religious gatherings are not allowed to have more than 10 people, even if they are able to maintain social distancing, non-religious entities, such as retail stores, businesses, and law firms, are not subject to that same 10 person limit if social distancing guidelines are being followed. It goes on to note that Lighthouse Fellowship does not have the resources or equipment to offer internet-based services, and even if they did, many in their congregation have limited internet access and would not be able to utilizeinternet-based church services. Lighthouse Fellowship also requested a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of Northam’s orders, but was denied on Friday.
Marriage rates in the United States reached an all-time low in 2018, according to a recent report from the National Center for Health Statistics. Looking at marriage rates from going back to 1867, the earliest year on record, the report found that marriage rates dropped to 6%, or 6.5 new marriages per 1,000 people in 2018. The Wall Street Journalpoints out that instead of marriage, many couples are choosing cohabitation.
This trend is expected to continue. The report noted that a record number of youth and young adults are projected to completely forgo marriage. Curtin also predicts that COVID-19 could negatively affect marriage rates, pointing out that many couples who put off marriage cite economic concerns as a driving factor for their decision.
