At the age of six, like many other children growing up in the idyllic county of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a school shooting and its aftermath became one of my earliest childhood memories. Though I remember very little of what occurred on October 2, 2006, the details I do recall are etched irrevocably into my mind.
In the wake of national security concerns over Chinese-owned companies purchasing U.S. land near military bases and other critical infrastructure, Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) has introduced a bill that would restrict adversarial countries like China from being able to acquire the strategic land.
On Tuesday, April 4, Wisconsin will hold one of the most important state Supreme Court elections in several years. This election has been all over the news, not only in Wisconsin, but nationwide. Why? Because of one central issue - abortion. Abortion has been illegal in Wisconsin (with only a life-of-the-mother exception) since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade last June. In fact, as a result of Dobbs, in the first two months alone, it is estimated that more than 10,000 babies' lives were saved from abortion.
"I don't want to live," mass murderer Audrey Hale messaged a former basketball teammate minutes before killing six Christians inside Nashville's Covenant School on March 27. "I just want to die." A series of heartbreaking studies show how far she was from alone. Americans who identify as LGBTQ suffer from mental illness, depression, and suicidal thoughts at far higher rates than their peers, multiple reports have confirmed.
Wednesday morning, The Washington Stand visited Cleveland Park Library in Washington, D.C., where Christian actor and speaker Kirk Cameron partnered with Brave Books to host a children's story hour to promote books that encourage loving God, family, and our country. The event featured Brave Books authors, including Libs of TikTok account owner Chaya Raichik, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, and Human Events Senior Editor Jack Posobiec reading their books out loud to a group of attentive children.
The recent uptick in attacks on American military outposts in Syria, the most recent of which killed an American citizen, was likely sparked by the renewal of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia in an agreement brokered by China, said Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William Boykin.
On Wednesday, Spotsylvania County Public Schools (SCPS) in Fredericksburg, Va. announced that it would be removing 14 books that "contain sexually explicit content and themes that are inappropriate for young persons" from the school district's libraries. With the move, SCPS joins a growing list of school districts around the country that have opted to remove school library books that contain graphic sexual content amid a growing movement of parents decrying the availability of "pornographic" books to minors.
We kid ourselves if we think that grounding in Judeo-Christian conviction is unimportant to the freedoms we enjoy. The American founding was animated by the belief that no one should be governed without his or her consent. Why? Because the Founders recognized that our dignity and value have been bestowed by God, not any earthly monarch or authority. They are woven into our very nature and, therefore, "unalienable."
The four-part bill upholds parents' right to know how their child identifies at school, restricts sex education curriculum with parental consent, grade, and content limits, protects student privacy from members of the opposite sex in bathrooms and locker rooms, and forbids gender transition procedures on minors.
The Washington Stand's (TWS) new podcast is now available. The podcast, called "Outstanding," will feature TWS writers and others exploring the news from a biblical worldview. With the aim of having critical conversations on the news of the day and the issues that shape us, the podcast is hosted by Joseph Backholm, Family Research Council's senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement.
Monday's tragic shooting at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian private school in Nashville, Tennessee, is exposing the sobering reality that what is being marketed to the public as "gender-affirming care" is not doing what we were told it would do - alleviate mental health issues and gender confusion.
If someone had asked what the biggest storyline of hockey would be heading into 2023, an uprising over the NHL's Pride jerseys wouldn't have been it. But what started as a one-man stand with the Flyers' Ivan Provorov has turned into a full-blown rebellion against one of the most powerful agendas in the world. Two months into the no-pride tide that's rolled through New York (twice), Minnesota, California, Illinois, and Florida, the league may have arrived at a point no one thought possible: surrender.
The inclination in the wake of the Nashville shooting will be to move away from biblical truth, the very source of hope and freedom that confused and troubled souls like Audrey Hale need. But that's not the way forward in a nation broken and bleeding. As much as the other side would like to manage the chaos by indulging these delusions and passing meaningless legislation, the problem isn't the state of our laws; it's the condition of the heart.
A new poll from The Wall Street Journal in conjunction with the National Opinion Research Center, a nonpartisan research group, uncovered shocking new statistics regarding American attitudes toward values like patriotism, religion, and having children.
The Nashville shooter carried out a horrific act of evil. Sudden, devastating loss is hard to process at any time. But, under such circumstances, it can cause us to doubt the goodness of God or provoke us to respond in sinful anger. Thinking through three questions can help us to shape a more biblical perspective on tragedies like the Nashville shooting.
This week, Google featured imagery in the "Google Doodle" that conveyed overtly pro-life themes: a fully formed, distinctly human unborn child in utero, an image of 17th century midwife Justine Siegemund, and a mother sweetly smiling down at a newborn baby in her arms. It was an interesting choice for a publicly pro-abortion corporation to willingly promote imagery of unborn children in the womb, especially in the context of celebrating a woman who helped them be born.
On Monday, Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) reiterated his intention to continue to block the promotions of military personnel that are sent to the Senate Armed Services Committee for approval, despite intense pushback from Senate Democrats and some Republicans. So far, the senator has blocked 160 promotions in response to a controversial policy directive put in place by the Pentagon in February that allows servicemembers to receive paid time off and travel expenses for having an abortion, funded by taxpayer dollars.
Although it's only Tuesday, Americans have lived through several sobering breaking news stories already this week, ranging from the aftermath of the tornado that ripped through Mississippi to the Nashville school shooting that left three adults and three children dead. And based on the Left's latest call to action, leaders worry the violence may very well continue.
The socialist fight against tradition, conventions, reason, and reality - even when it claims to be the revolutionary champion of consensus, science, or a superior morality - is essentially a continuous spiral: the endless process of the "Revolution."
The Biden administration owes Americans an apology for its "unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious" decision to roll back a Trump-era regulation protecting religious liberty on campus - a move First Amendment advocates described as a "petty, mean-spirited attack on religious believers."
If ESPN is indeed headed for layoffs, then the women of America know a good place to start: anyone involved in the decision to feature male swimmer Lia Thomas in its series on Women's History Month. "Oh H--- NO!" CNN's Megyn Kelly tweeted when the network included Thomas at the expense of real female athletes. "If I was a woman working at ESPN," 12-time NCAA champion Riley Gaines said, "I would walk out. You're spineless, ESPN."
In a Wednesday letter to the Stanford Law School community, Dean Jenny Martinez presented a case for reconciling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) with free speech and announced the school's next steps after heckling students and a school administrator derailed federal judge Kyle Duncan's March 9 presentation. We "cannot function as a lawschool from the premise ... that speakers, texts, or ideas believed by some to be harmful ... justify a heckler's veto," she said.
A woman who identifies as a transgender man murdered six people inside a Christian school in Nashville Monday morning before police killed her - an assault that a U.S. congressman attributed to potentially "some sort of demonic possession." The United States "needs revival," he said, before such targeted shootings become a heartbreaking new normal.
This week, Americans have watched with devastated empathy as a horrific tornado ripped through Mississippi, taking the lives of at least 26 individuals and leaving a path of destruction in its wake. In times of such loss and hardship, it is natural for many people, even those who don't consider themselves to have a personal relationship with God, to turn to Him for comfort or guidance. However, when Matt Laubhan, a Christian and chief meteorologist at WTVA Weather Authority, began to pray on air for those who would be victimized by the tornado, he had no idea of the tangible impact that his prayer would have.
Upon learning of an upcoming Kirk Cameron book tour stop at a Washington, D.C. public library on March 29, LGBT activists launched a campaign to try to have the event shut down. So far, however, the event is still scheduled to proceed as planned, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Washington Stand.
House Democrats unanimously opposed a bill requiring schools to tell parents if their children are transitioning to another gender, as well as inform them of the materials their children read in class and allow parents to comment at school board meetings without being labeled domestic terrorists.
By the time the congressional hearing on the social media platform TikTok was over, you almost felt sorry for the company's CEO, Shou Zi Chew. He was grilled, hectored, continuously interrupted, and even called a liar. But please note the word "almost." Mr. Chew's "non-denial denials" - his continuous and artful misdirection and carefully nuanced responses to yes-and-no questions - gave the lie to his faux sincerity.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified at a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee regarding the State Department's 2024 budget. In one particularly revealing interaction, Blinken was asked about a State Department grant that was approved for an LGBT project in Ecuador and a grant offer in Botswana.
Over the last few years, I've noticed a phenomenon happening within the conservative movement that continually vexes me. It is this: Staunchly conservative commentators - who otherwise would be the first to condemn sexual immorality and abuse as well as murderous violence that happens in real life - are continually taken in by fictional movies and TV shows that prominently feature said content, so much so that they produce articles and videos that publicly sing the praises of these movies and shows.
This week, at Family Policy Alliance's SoConCon Social Conservative Policy Conference, TWS's Joy Stockbauer sat down with Lori Kuykendall, president of Beacon Health Education Resources. In this conversation, we explore how her organization is fighting back against exploitative progressive sexual education curricula - and teaching kids about the beauty of God's creation.
On a recent panel at Family Policy Alliance's SoConCon Social Conservative Policy Conference, Family Research Council hosted a discussion between detransitioners Chloe Cole and Walt Heyer as well as FRC's director of the Center for Biblical Worldview, David Closson. The panel, titled "From Woodstock to Bostock: Is the Sexual Revolution Derailing?" centered on the roots of gender ideology - both in the culture due to the influence of the sexual revolution and in the personal lives of those taken in by gender ideology.
Sterilization, electric shock torture, and brainwashing are hallmarks of the Chinese Communist Party's treatment of the Uyghur people, according to prison camp survivors. "Genocide is occurring. This time at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party," Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., said at the start of the Select Committee on the CCP hearing Thursday night.
On Thursday mornings, DirecTV subscribers turned on their screens and saw something they hadn't seen in a while: Newsmax. After 81 days, and the delivery of more than 17,000 signed petitions from Family Research Council, cable provider DirecTV has restored Newsmax, which vanished from its channel lineup at the stroke of midnight on January 25.
There may be a "Glam-boni" at the Chicago Blackhawks' game this Sunday, but there won't be a parade of Pride jerseys. Incredibly, management in a fourth NHL city has called off the special warm-ups, proving to everyone in pro sports that this isn't just a one-off. This is a movement - and it's changing everything.
This week, at Family Policy Alliance's SoConCon Social Conservative Policy Conference, TWS's Joy Stockbauer sat down with Erin Brewer, co-founder and president of Advocates Protecting Children. This nonprofit organization is "dedicated to fighting the gender industry, and especially its predation on children in the form of unethical social and medical transition for the sake of political and financial profit."
Chinese President Xi Jinping ended a three-day visit to Russia Wednesday pledging to "safeguard the international system." Experts, however, point out that no meaningful progress was made between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin to broker an end to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, lawmakers on Capitol Hill point to China's ongoing internal human rights abuses as a sign that the communist country cannot be trusted in negotiating peace in Ukraine.
If it's hard to pass laws, fewer bad ones will be passed. That's a basic idea underlying the elaborate legislative system framed in the U.S. Constitution. But this principle is increasingly ignored and undermined by a thriving shadow-legislature in the executive branch.
President Biden made his first ever veto of a bill (H.J. Res. 30) on Monday upholding a retirement investment rule that allows asset managers of retirement funds to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations when picking investments. Despite the bipartisan bill passing both the House and the Senate, Biden remained steadfastly behind the rule when its reversal landed on his desk.
Tuesday, the State Department released its 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The extensive annual reports cover the human rights record of every country in the world. If that was all it did, this would be an immensely helpful tool for human rights advocates around the world. But over the years, progressive social agenda items - including LGBT policies - have been added to these reports, sending a not-so-subtle message to world leaders: if you do not embrace woke policies, your country will be deemed a human rights violator.
The Department of Justice "extensively colluded" with a special interest group to "manufacture" a supposedly sweeping threat against school personnel posed by parents, a House Subcommittee interim staff report has found. Experts say the findings further confirm what DOJ officials have denied - that the government worked behind the scenes to undermine a grassroots movement of outspoken parents concerned about their children being exposed to controversial racial and gender theories and mask mandates at school.
This week, at Family Policy Alliance's SoConCon Social Conservative Policy Conference, TWS's Joy Stockbauer sat down with Paul Dans, director of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project at The Heritage Foundation. In this conversation, we explore Project 2025, which seeks to "build on four pillars that will, collectively, pave the way for an effective conservative administration: a policy agenda, personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook."
In the conservative bastion of Arkansas, a new statute has been signed into law by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) in honor of the unborn. Senate Bill 307, introduced by Sen. Kim Hammer (R) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R), became law on March 16, authorizing the creation of a monument to commemorate the 236,243 unborn lives lost between the Roe v. Wade and Dobbs v. Jackson decisions.
The United States has made great progress in its war against all manner of pollution. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, since the enactment of the Clean Air Act in 1970 through 2019, "the combined emissions of the six common pollutants (PM2.5 and PM10, SO2, NOx, VOCs, CO and Pb) dropped by 77 percent." But America still needs oil. A lot of oil. We will continue to need oil for decades to come. That is, unless we want to commit economic suicide.
President Biden issued his first presidential veto on Monday, blocking a bipartisan resolution of disapproval (H.J. Res. 30) that would nullify a Labor Department rule (titled "Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights") allowing investment managers to "include the economic effects of climate change and other ESG [environmental, social, and governance] considerations" on investment decisions.
On Monday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) announced that his office would file an emergency regulation that would restrict access to controversial gender transition procedures for minors, including the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries to remove healthy organs. The move comes amid growing concerns over clinical gender transition practices in the state as well as a rise in lawsuits from former trans-identifying teenagers who cite physical and psychological harms from life-altering medical interventions.
The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated a lower court's opinion asserting that underage girls possess a constitutional right to have an abortion without notifying their parents. Only one justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented that her colleagues effectively erased the pro-abortion decision from the books, preventing lawyers from citing it as a binding legal precedent in future cases.
You won't find many fans of the Pentagon's radical new abortion policy among the 200 senior officers waiting on their promotions. Those celebrations are on hold, thanks to the GOP's outrage over the Defense Department's latest power grab. If the president wants to turn our Armed Forces into an "abortion travel agency" without consulting Congress, Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) warned, then Republicans will make it hurt.
The Kentucky legislature passed a bill (SB 150) on Thursday advancing parental rights in education and prohibiting gender transition procedures on minors, largely along party lines. The bill now heads to the desk of Governor Andy Beshear, the first Democratic governor to be presented with a bill to protect minors from gender transition procedures.
In recent years, it has become fashionable to offer "land acknowledgements" prior to everything from "soccer games and performing arts productions to city council meetings and corporate conferences." These "acknowledgments" are "formal statements recognizing Indigenous communities' rights to territories seized by colonial powers."
Since late last year, the international Christian community has been praying and fasting for three missionary aviators who were jailed for many weeks in Mozambique, East Africa. Thankfully, on March 15, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAP) announced the good news that their pilot, Ryan Koher, had been granted a "provisional" release from prison in Mozambique. Although Koher and his colleagues are still required to remain in Mozambique, they have been released from imprisonment.
Wyoming became the first state to explicitly ban abortion pills the same day it enacted a pro-life law protecting nearly all unborn children and another act barring middle- and high-school-aged boys from participating in girls' sports.
Turns out, the rainbow-colored sushi wasn't the biggest buzz at San Jose's "shark tank" Saturday night. Unfortunately for the NHL, neither was the team's Pride Night. What was supposed to be a return to the league's woke normal managed to prove that - at least for some players - there's no going back.
The New York Post reported Sunday that almost 70 individuals on the FBI's terror watch list have been caught attempting to cross the southern border illegally since last October. The number will likely easily exceed the number apprehended during the last fiscal year, which some lawmakers say is a further symptom of the increased numbers of encounters since President Biden took office.
Halfway through Nebraska's 90-day legislative session, the unicameral Senate has not passed a single bill. The glacial pace is due to Nebraska Senator Machaela Cavanaugh (D), who has pledged to filibuster every single bill - including those she agrees with - over the Let Them Grow Act, a bill (LB574) that would prohibit minors from gender transition procedures such as the amputation of healthy organs, which Cavanaugh said legislated "hate." This week, that might come to an end.
Seventy-two percent of Americans say we're headed in the wrong direction under President Biden's leadership. I am one of them, and it's pretty likely you are too. In Oklahoma, and much of the nation, everyday life is harder and less safe under President Biden's economy and policies.
The disturbing actions of students and faculty deriding and disrupting a federal judge at a California law school earlier this month smacks of Marxist practices, Mike Davis warned on Friday's "Washington Watch." "It's not free speech to show up and shout someone down. That is not free speech; that's what Marxists do. And we cannot tolerate this in America. They've crossed a red line here."
Like most grandmothers, Carolyn Pettiford thought she was done raising children. A horrible February night in 2022 changed that. Her daughter, Ashley, had been parked on the street when a man walked up, leaned into the car, and fired a gun twice. When police arrived, they found Ashley and her boyfriend dead, and Carolyn's terrified five-year-old grandson alive, but shot badly in the face in the backseat. "He's a pretty strong kid," Carolyn says. But "to have to tell a five-year-old that he won't be able to talk to his mother... it's hard." There are 20,138 families like Carolyn's who lost someone to gun violence last year. And while everyone's stories are different, they all have one thing in common.
A conservative state's supreme court has "taken on the role of a legislative body" by halting the state's pro-life protection law for violating a constitutional "right" that does not exist, the state's attorney general has said.
The Tampa Bay Times "exclusively" published an op-ed Wednesday written by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, which stated, "As US education secretary, I want us to enrich public schools, not ban books and topics." The content of the column - not to mention its very existence - reveals the Left's desperate realization that they are losing the battle over education, which they have long presumed was settled.
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that, in 2021, the United States suffered its worst maternal mortality rate since 1965. The 2021 rate was 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births; this rate marks a 40% increase from the rate of 23.8 the previous year.
After Texas officials announced earlier this week that the state would be taking over the Houston public school district due to underperforming schools and state and federal law violations committed by the school board, reports from the Associated Press and other outlets pointed to race and political affiliation as driving factors in the decision. Local school board members, however, are insisting that the state action was needed to help underserved students.
Nigeria has become a hotbed of mistreatment and extermination of religious minorities, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins warned on Tuesday. "Observers of the situation in Nigeria have noted how northern Nigeria has become a frontier for Islamic extremist groups, warlords and violence under the watch of the country's outgoing president, Muhammadu Buhari." And it's only getting worse, experts warn.
The state of Utah will ban all abortion facilities from the state by requiring abortionists to meet the same quality standards as hospitals, a step abortion facilities call a backdoor ban on elective abortions. Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) signed H.B. 467, introduced by Majority Assistant Whip Rep. Karianne Lisonbee (R-Clearfield), on Wednesday.
As revelations continue to emerge about the controversial corporate policies that Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) practiced in the wake of the bank's collapse last Friday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday announced a newly formed alliance between 18 states with the expressed goal of "push[ing] back against President Biden's environmental, social, corporate governance (ESG) agenda."
In a recent video that has gone viral on social media, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan (D) discusses an executive order that Governor Tim Walz (D) signed last week reaffirming the legality of gender transition treatments, including for children. In the clip, the lieutenant governor says, "When our children tell us who they are, it is our job as grown-ups to listen and to believe them. That's what it means to be a good parent."
The Department of Defense released footage Thursday morning showing Russian jets conducting an "unsafe and unprofessional intercept" of a U.S. drone operating in international waters over the Black Sea. Two Russian fighters harassed a U.S. drone into a watery crash landing on Tuesday, sending $56 million (in 2011 dollars) worth of equipment quite literally to the sea floor.
The Biden administration is days away from revoking a federal regulation defending religious liberty on campus, even though critics say the president has offered "no evidence" that religious student groups may not lose their First Amendment rights as a result.
New York and Florida may be 1,000 miles apart, but that doesn't begin to describe the distance between them in leadership. The best illustration of that may have been this week, when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) made headlines for punishing a kids' drag event - and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) decided to host one.
If there's anything more inappropriately disrespectful than future lawyers shouting down a federal judge, it's not-yet-credentialed (or supposedly educated) law students creating a "hostile environment" for their own professor and dean. Yet that's exactly what happened Monday at Stanford Law School.
This week, in a stunning display of allegiance to men who identify as transgender women, actress Drew Barrymore literally got down from her seat to kneel before guest Dylan Mulvaney on an episode of her talk show. Trans activists like Dylan Mulvaney, whose painfully offensive internet content shows each day of his life of "girlhood" using outdated female stereotypes, may merit our compassion and an invitation to redemption - but Barrymore's behavior was more akin to worship.
As studies confirm the rise of controversial and highly disputed ideas based in critical race theory (CRT) and gender theory in school curriculums, many parents are increasingly concerned about what actions they can take to protect their children. In response to these concerns, Arizona's school superintendent this week announced the launch of a hotline for parents to report school material that they deem inappropriate.
We live in an era in which misrepresentations of the Bible's teaching on sexuality are common. We're told that being pro-life is the same as being anti-women, that marriage is simply a matter of male dominance, and that Scripture's teachings about male and female roles are merely subtle ways of affirming male patriarchy. These things are not only common but utterly false.
Jon Erwin happened to be doing research for another movie when he stumbled on the iconic cover of Time Magazine from June 21, 1971. A copy in good condition goes for about $2,000 on eBay today, but Jon managed to snatch one up in 2015 - years before his movie made the psychedelic Jesus a collectors' item. Back then, making a film about the 1970s revival known as The Jesus Revolution was a distant dream. Today, it's a blockbuster reality - one that continues to exceed everyone's expectations, in the box office and real life.
The West Virginia legislature on Saturday passed a bill (H.B. 2007) to prohibit gender transition procedures on minors - after amending the bill to render it nearly ineffectual. Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo (R) introduced the massive exception from the Senate floor late Friday night, just before the final vote.
Protecting children from premature, harmful exposure to gender ideology and its life-altering consequences is "close to sinful," said President Biden Monday on "The Daily Show." The remark came as Biden searched for language strong enough to describe Florida's recent efforts to protect children - he also called it "terrible" and "cruel."
On February 27, a district court judge in Minnesota ruled that USA Powerlifting must allow biological males who identify as female to compete in their women's division. The decision is garnering widespread condemnation from athletes, governing bodies, sports commentators, women's rights advocates, and many others, highlighting a growing trend among a public that is increasingly unafraid to speak out in defense of keeping men's and women's sports separate.
This week, 17 Senate Democrats released a series of letters harassing major pharmaceutical chains about their plans to sell chemical abortion drugs. In one letter, the senators applied pressure to Walgreens, criticizing the corporation for doing "the disservice of adding to" what they call "great confusion about abortion access." The letter critiques Walgreens for its "unacceptable" response to the concerns of 20 state attorneys general who previously wrote to the company explaining that they would be in violation of the law if they were to ship and dispense chemical abortion drugs within their states.
The relationship between Biden's executive agencies, federal and state policies, and bold attorneys general are dynamically interconnected and playing a key role in deciding the availability of chemical abortion pills in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been under fire for the lack of regulation on chemical abortion, having recently "lifted restrictions for the process of attaining abortion pills at retail pharmacies." As big box pharmacies have begun to make public their intentions to distribute abortion pills, there are strong opinions on both sides of the aisle, especially as it relates to Walgreens.
In a pair of contrasting interviews over the weekend, Pope Francis called extreme transgender ideology "one of the most dangerous" ideas in the world which reminds him of a dystopian novel about an evil world government, while President Joe Biden said he found legislation that bans transgender surgeries for minors or teaching gender ideology to young children "close to sinful." The dueling comments set up a rare clash between Biden, who frequently describes himself as a "devout Catholic," and the progressive pope.
Actor Rainn Wilson, who famously played Dwight Schrute on "The Office," recently criticized an episode in the HBO series "The Last of Us," saying that "there is an anti-Christian bias in Hollywood." The show, which is based on a video game released in early 2013, strings together themes of "love, hope, loss and the struggles of parentage against a backdrop of a collapsed society" in a post-apocalyptic world. Although Wilson does not claim a Christian faith, the tweet has made headlines for his boldness in calling out Hollywood.
Many Christian commitments seem outdated - and even subversive to many in our culture - and faithfulness to God and His Word is becoming increasingly rare. This is true even for those who desire to honor the Lord, and especially true for navigating controversial issues such as marriage, gender, and sexuality. Bombarded with so many competing messages, it is not always clear what faithfulness requires for addressing morally contentious topics.
It says a lot about the state of our nation when the country's second largest lender, Bank of America, feels the need to reassure people: "We are capitalists." CEO Brian Moynihan reiterated that message to shareholders last week after the uproar over his company's woke investments. Now, a handful of days later, as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) sparks panic across the market, the critics seem right to wonder: Will corporate activism bankrupt us all?
This weekend was the most tumultuous for the banking sector since 2008, as an apparently prosperous, mid-sized bank completely collapsed. When the dust settled, federal regulators had taken over management of two banks while several others teetered on the brink. Needless to say, the incident has deeply shaken Americans' confidence in the banking industry.
On March 9, a Federalist Society event at Stanford Law School featuring U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan was disrupted and shouted down for an extended period by dozens of transgender activists and other hecklers, causing the event to end at least 40 minutes earlier than planned. Law professors and free speech advocates are expressing concern over the incident, calling it the latest egregious example of an ongoing assault on academic freedom and free speech occurring at college campuses around the country.
The world has changed a lot since the height of global communism. Yet, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) still clings on to power and has adapted over time to reinforce its brutal rule in a digital age. One new repressive innovation is forcing residents of China's Henan province to fill out an online form via an app created by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission of Henan Province and gain approval before attending a religious service.
When it comes to navigating the minefield of legal controversy after the Dobbs decision, all roads seem to lead back to Texas. In a new wrongful death lawsuit, Texas father Marcus Silva has accused three women of aiding and abetting the killing of his unborn child by providing illegal chemical abortion drugs for his ex-wife.
More than 5,000 schools across the nation allow teachers to hide a child's decision to identify as a member of the opposite sex from the child's parents. The parental exclusion policy - which is heavily advocated by LGBT lobbying groups and applies to more than 3.2 million children nationally - has already resulted in the sexual trafficking of at least one young girl.
Over the past few years, free speech rights on college campuses have faced unprecedented challenges. Whether it's violent mobs preventing conservatives from speaking to student organizations or progressive administrators subverting academic freedom in the name of protecting favored identity groups, it is clear that free expression in higher education is under attack.
We cannot divorce our safety, freedom, and economic well-being from the rest of the world. We build needed alliances through trade, military assistance, and food relief. We gain access to raw materials through trade with nations on every continent. We safeguard our homeland by defending vulnerable friends.
In the Bluegrass State of Kentucky, a new bill recently approved by the state's House promises to ensure religious liberty for public school faculty and staff. HB547 would allow voluntary religious programs in public schools free of reprisal. The bill was inspired by the 2022 landmark Supreme Court decision Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, in which Washington state high school football coach Joe Kennedy was vindicated for exercising his First Amendment right to personal prayer.
Keeping the focus on a Georgia police officer who was the object of "religious bigotry," a contingent from the Family Research Council traveled to Port Wentworth, Ga., to present a petition in support of the former officer to the town's city manager. The petition, which contained nearly 35,000 signatures, called for the city to apologize to Jacob Kersey, the 19-year-old who was threatened with dismissal from the Port Wentworth Police Department for referencing the biblical definition of marriage on his personal Facebook page.
As the nation watches Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) in anticipation of a long-awaited presidential campaign announcement, the Sunshine State will soon be drawing national attention for another reason: the intensifying efforts of the pro-life movement in Florida to defund Planned Parenthood and pass a stronger pro-life law than the one already in existence.
Friday morning, on the infamously progressive talk show "The View," 85-year-old actress Jane Fonda made a disturbing recommendation for dealing with pro-lifers: murder. The remarks came amid a conversation regarding Fonda's pro-abortion activism, particularly in the months following the Dobbs Supreme Court decision last June.
Dedicating a whole month to commemorate a particular demographic is not rare, according to the U.S. calendar. In February, the spotlight is on black history and the significant role black leaders have played in our country's past. November is National American Indian Heritage Month. Now, as we reach the midpoint of March, America is marking Women's History Month, which encourages "the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women," with a special focus on International Women's Day on March 8.
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) issued a public statement Monday voicing their ongoing support of Thomas Webb Jurgens, an SPLC staff attorney arrested and charged with domestic terrorism. Jurgens was one of 35 agitators arrested, and one of 23 charged with domestic terrorism, in a Sunday night assault on the future site of an Atlanta police training facility. Jurgens was the only one granted bail, which the judge set at a piddling $5,000.
On Thursday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government held a hearing on the "Twitter Files," a collection of thousands of internal Twitter document, parts of which have recently been released. As noted by two independent journalists and lawmakers, the hearing confirmed what many conservatives have suspected for years - that the federal government and elements of the mainstream media actively worked with social media giants to censor and deplatform content.
President Joe Biden's $6.9 trillion proposed budget would have the hand of the government rock the cradle by creating a federally regulated, universal pre-K program for children as young as three. "The estimated cost of these child care and preschool investments is $600 billion over 10 years," the budget proposal states.
New legislation seeking to legalize physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is on the move in several U.S. states - perhaps most notably Connecticut (with a 75% approval rating) and Minnesota (with a 73% approval rating). While both bills insist that assisted suicide will be made available only to individuals suffering from incurable terminal illness, similar legislation around the world has earned the reputation of beginning a dangerous slippery slope.
President Biden on Thursday released his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2024, which will run from October 2023-September 2024. Among other things, the president's plan would increase taxes, implement price controls, and expand green energy subsidies. Here are four things to know about the president's budget proposal.
On Wednesday, The Post Millennial reported that 47 biological males who identify as transgender have been allowed entry into women's prisons in California since the state's Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act (SB-132) went into effect in 2021. Experts are decrying the policy, pointing to the dangers posed to women's safety and privacy.
The NCAA may be pushing the transgender envelope publicly, but is the group's leadership actually on board? Or are they just too scared to speak out? According to swimmer Riley Gaines, the story behind closed doors is dramatically different than the lines Americans are being fed in the media. At the most recent NCAA convention, Gaines talked to dozens of athletic directors, university presidents, and chancellors, and "They all said to me, 'Keep doing what you are doing, we support you. We just can't do it publicly."
British police will continue to arrest Christians for the crime of praying within hundreds of feet of an abortion facility, after the U.K. Parliament voted down an amendment that would have legalized "silent prayer" - a situation Christians have described as a "dystopian" ban on pro-life "thoughtcrime."
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday issued a shocking rebuke to the District of Columbia's city council, voting against a measure (H.J. Res. 26) that would comprehensively reduce sentences for violent crimes by a vote of 81-14. The U.S. House carried the resolution 250-173 on February 9.
Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of 12 senators introduced the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act, with Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) leading the way. This new legislation allows the government to address threats from foreign technology adversaries that pose risk to national security, taking specific aim at TikTok.
In 2023, it isn't enough to appreciate women for their contributions to society as leaders, activists, thinkers, wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters - because even being a biological woman isn't enough to warrant celebration on International Women's Day anymore.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council Action (FRC Action), the legislative arm of Family Research Council, announced today its "True Blue" award winners for the Second Session of the 117th Congress. The annual award recognizes the members of Congress who displayed unwavering commitment and support of faith, family, and freedom by voting 100% of the time with FRC Action. Last year, 138 Representatives and 21 Senators earned the award.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre asserted that the level of fentanyl present at America's southern border is currently "at historic lows." Amid calls for the Biden administration to secure the border after the deaths of two kidnapped Americans in Mexico at the hands of a drug cartel, observers are pointing to vast increases in overdose deaths and human trafficking under President Biden's watch.
So, President Biden is preparing to announce $2 billion in tax hikes. Why? Because, he says, it's time "we" - that is, the government in Washington - "start making people pay a fair share." By now, it should be axiomatic that whenever a politician talks about "fair share" in the same breath as taxes, you should grab your wallet.
After the New York Rangers and Islanders both dumped their Pride gear for players, a third NHL team is jumping on the bandwagon (or in this case, Zamboni). On Tuesday night, the Minnesota Wild, who'd planned to have skaters wear the rainbow-themed gear for warm-ups made an "organizational decision" to stick to routine team jerseys - building on a narrative that's been hard for professional sports to ignore.
Left-wing attorney Gigi Sohn withdrew her candidacy to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday after a protracted nomination battle turned into bipartisan opposition. President Biden nominated Sohn to serve on the commission in October 2021 and renominated her this year after the first nomination expired. On Thursday, Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) indicated he would oppose her nomination, ending her chances of gaining approval during this Congress.
As Chinese communist officials forecast an impending "conflict" with the U.S., congressional Republicans have introduced legislation to cut off the Chinese Communist Party's greatest source of strength: its economic might.
It's difficult to overemphasize the extent to which the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision shook up the legal landscape of abortion in the states. In a matter of months, the United States went from federal abortion gridlock under Roe v. Wade to a scattered assortment of laws protecting life in the womb at different markers in gestation. Currently, there are only 20 states that don't protect life at any point in pregnancy - and, despite the differences in laws between the other 30, some aspects remain universal.
The governor of the nation's largest state has threatened to cut off all state business with the retail pharmaceutical chain Walgreens, unless it agrees to carry abortion-inducing pills in states where they are banned by law. Ironically, pro-life advocates say, bringing his boycott to reality would save unborn children's lives.
Like a lot of parents, Cindy Martin didn't realize how out of control the book situation had gotten in their local schools. When a friend told her there was pornographic content on the shelves, she decided to investigate herself. What she found defied imagination.
In a massive show of public support for former Georgia police officer Jacob Kersey, over 30,000 petitions will be delivered to the mayor and city council of Port Wentworth on Friday, March 10, calling on the city officials to apologize for infringing on the First Amendment rights of Kersey. The 19-year-old was pulled from duty and pressured to resign his position in January over a Facebook post he wrote on his personal account upholding a biblical view of marriage.
Atlanta police detained 35 "violent agitators" on Sunday after what appear to be hundreds of rioters broke into the future site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) charged 23 individuals with domestic terrorism, including Thomas Webb Jurgens, a staff lawyer with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
For centuries, America has prided itself on being a nation of innovation and scientific advancement. We have generally considered science to be an authority on various matters, at least until it became politicized. For example, we now know (from real scientific research) that masks did virtually nothing to prevent the spread of COVID - nothing! We also know that the lockdowns did not slow down the disease. The lockdowns were destructive, creating the demise of countless livelihoods for no credible reason. It was simply an opportunity for liberal government officials to abuse their power and gain control over the personal lives of Americans. But this isn't the only area in which true science has been ignored.
In late February, the Washington Elementary School District (WESD) held a meeting in which an Arizona school board member, who appeared in front of her colleagues wearing cat ears, voiced her opposition to the renewed contract for student teachers with Arizona Christian University (ACU), due to the institution's biblical values.
Last week at a meeting of the G20 nations (which account for "more than 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population"), the attendees erupted in derisive laughter when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed "the war, which we are trying to stop, was launched against us using the Ukrainian people." This is only the latest humiliation faced by Vladimir Putin.
The Republican Party in the nation's largest red state has urged a sitting Republican congressman not to seek another term in office in 2024, because he cast two votes to redefine marriage. The elected official responded to his constituents with a vulgar Spanish phrase, and the national Republican Party machinery immediately signaled its support for his reelection.
Despite the intensely polarized state of partisan politics in the United States today, an unlikely policy appears to have generated the support of both the GOP and Democrats: banning TikTok.
On Sunday, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released emails between Biden administration officials and outside scientists in early 2020 indicating that Dr. Anthony Fauci "prompted" a scientific paper to be released that contested the Wuhan lab leak theory. The news is the latest in an ongoing saga of reports that undermine key aspects of the Biden administration and Fauci's COVID pandemic narrative.
The D.C. Council withdrew a radical rewrite of the city's criminal code Monday, city council chairman Phil Mendelson (D) informed Vice President Kamala Harris, in her capacity as president of the Senate. "Withdrawal enables the Council to work on the measure in light of Congressional comments, and to re-transmit it later," said Mendelson.
In a recent interview, FBI Director Christopher Wray nonchalantly announced that "the FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the [COVID] pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan." Now that the FBI has acknowledged what the legacy and social media giants censored three years ago, the agency should turn its attention to that censorship; but such hopes are wishful thinking now that evidence suggests the FBI has played a key role in censoring those with narratives the Left does not like.
For years, we have witnessed a concerted effort by activists on the Left to abolish the natural family. The natural family, a man and a woman committed for life to each other and to their children, was ordained by God as the foundation of our society. The natural family is essential for a nation to prosper because the family is the root of self-government, service, community, and personal responsibility. That is why we are proudly launching the Congressional Family Caucus to defend the interests of families in Washington.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) on Thursday signed two bills designed to protect children under the age of 18 from harmful applications of transgender ideology. Tennessee Senate Bill 1 forbids gender transition procedures on minors, while Tennessee Senate Bill 3 forbids drag performances with minors present.
Actress Nicole Abisinio is the first to acknowledge she shouldn't even be alive. Before she was born, her father attempted to kill her pregnant mother because she refused to get an abortion. And after she was born, her mother was forced to go into hiding to protect her infant daughter's life. "I like to say I kind of came out fighting," Abisinio told The Christian Post.
The District of Columbia city council's decision to adopt statutes that soften penalties for serious crimes last fall prompted Congressman Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) to introduce a bill to undo the city's rewrite of its criminal code. The bill, H.J. Res. 26, passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support (250-173).
After two and a half successful years of coaching at Jackson State University (JSU), Deion Sanders says he felt a call from the Lord to take on the head coach position at University of Colorado, starting in December of 2022. Not even a few months into his new position within the program, Sanders provoked a reaction from an atheist nonprofit for implementing his faith into his coaching.
The Hershey Company is facing boycotts and backlash in response to a new ad campaign from Hershey Canada, which uses a male activist who identifies as a transgender woman as a spokesman for International Women's Day. The activist, who goes by the name Fae Johnstone, is one of five individuals whose likenesses have been printed on limited edition "HER for SHE" chocolate bars for the campaign. While the other four people chosen are actually women, the inclusion of a male dressed as a female in a campaign promoting a holiday dedicated to women has drawn widespread criticism.
Grassroots Republicans will prevent an incumbent U.S. senator from accessing any party funds during a primary challenge because of his vote to redefine marriage, if the state party approves their proposal. This week, two of the 12 Republican senators who voted for the so-called Respect for Marriage Act faced massive backlash from their party's base.
Worship services in first century Corinth must have been a raucous affair. After lengthy instructions about the way the church should conduct its services, Paul charges those early believers, "Let all things be done decently and in order" (I Cor. 14:40). You can almost imagine Paul writing this with a sigh of exasperation. You wonder, then, what Paul would have thought about the state of American politics today.
The political battle to defend natural marriage is far from over in the nation's heartland, as Iowa legislators have introduced two bills that would expunge same-sex marriage from state law and declare a national law redefining marriage "null and void." The bills come as yet another local Republican Party chapter condemned Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), one of 12 Republican senators who voted for the so-called Respect for Marriage Act.
A liberal Democratic mayor and longtime LGBTQ activist, who has a long association with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, has been charged with dozens of counts of possessing and distributing child pornography.A liberal Democratic mayor and longtime LGBTQ activist, who has a long association with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, has been charged with dozens of counts of possessing and distributing child pornography. Police arrested Patrick Wojahn (D) - the mayor of College Park, Maryland - on Thursday morning.
Communist China is an "existential threat" to the United States, U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said Thursday on "Washington Watch." Smith, who serves on the House Committee of Foreign Affairs, expressed optimism that both sides of the political aisle in Washington appear to be finally coming to the realization that the communist government of China under Xi Jinping is not only a threat to his own people, but to the entire world:
Many are rightfully concerned about the integrity of our national elections. And if we don't have confidence in the administration of our elections, then we don't have trust in the results of our elections.
Despite the influence that leftist groups have on our children and our culture, we have reason to be hopeful: a growing number of countries have taken steps recently to pull back on transgender medical treatments for gender-dysphoric children.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) sparked a firestorm of backlash for his comments about prayer at an interfaith prayer breakfast in Manhattan on Tuesday. "When we took prayers out of schools," he said, "guns came into schools." In addition, he stated, "Don't tell me about no separation of church and state. State is the body. Church is the heart. You take the heart out of the body, the body dies." While Adams's remarks lack some of the polish we might hope from our political leaders, his remarks are not as radical as some might suggest.
Attorney General Merrick Garland insisted Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee that "it is a priority of the Department [of Justice] to prosecute and investigate and find the people who are doing those fire bombings" of pregnancy resource centers (PRCs). But members of Congress weren't easily convinced.
As U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland received pointed questions from Republican senators during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, concerns are growing about President Biden's Justice Department becoming politicized through the targeting of pro-life individuals and organizations.
This week, a group of nearly 200 so-called human rights organizations sent a letter to the United Nations (U.N.) asking for intervention to prevent the protection of unborn children from abortion in the United States. The plea condemns the Supreme Court's historic decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, saying that, "people residing in the U.S. who can become pregnant are facing a human rights crisis."
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R) didn't just sign a bill on Tuesday protecting children from harmful drugs and surgeries that accompany a gender transition. He also offered a lengthy, well-reasoned defense of the legislation and then competently defended his conservative position against the media's attacks.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) warned Wednesday that discussions between the U.S. government and the World Health Organization (WHO) risk giving the health organization more power over public health decisions in the U.S. despite the group's questionable actions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
They aren't the words most people would expect from a transgender clinic whistleblower: "I am a 42-year-old St. Louis native, a queer woman, and politically to the left of Bernie Sanders." But Jamie Reed's deep, pro-trans ideology is one of the biggest reasons her explosive account about the St. Louis Children's Hospital seems so credible to observers. "When this kind of whistleblower steps forward," Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) told Tony Perkins, "you've got to take [the] allegations seriously."
The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard oral arguments on two cases challenging President Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in outstanding student loans for millions of former students. In the first case, Biden v. Nebraska, six states (Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas, and South Carolina) challenged the Biden administration's authority to issue a $500 billion loan bailout without congressional approval. In the second case, Board of Education v. Brown, private parties excluded from the sweeping benefits challenged the statutory and procedural basis of the loan forgiveness.
Twitter has suspended the personal account of Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), the senator announced early Wednesday afternoon. "My personal Twitter account - @BasedMikeLee - has been suspended," the conservative senator stated at 1:32 p.m. Eastern from his official Senate Twitter account. "Twitter did not alert me ahead of time, nor have they yet offered an explanation for the suspension. My team and I are seeking answers."
A Biden administration official told Congress that "natural immunity is not something we believe in" for members of the U.S. military who have had COVID-19, just days after a British study showed prior infection protects people as well as or better than vaccination. The armed forces will instead continue to push service members to take the COVID vaccine "and boosters," the military undersecretary and chief diversity officer announced, before denying an inspector general's report that officials reviewed Christians' requests for religious exemptions only 12 minutes before dismissing them.
Wednesday morning, FRC Action, Family Research Council's legislative affiliate, presented True Blue awards to members of Congress whose voting records perfectly defended the values of faith, family, and freedom. This year, 159 members of Congress were honored with a True Blue Award -21 from the Senate and 138 from the House.
Last week, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) claimed in a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration that the abortion pill is safer than Tylenol. The contention has sparked outcry from experts, who point to data showing the severe health risks associated with the abortion pill regimen.
Since the Dobbs decision, many anti-life celebrities have outspokenly advocated for unlimited abortion on demand; featuring a link to an abortion fund on one's social media pages has become a popular way for celebrities to denote their allyship to the cause of killing babies in the womb. In recent weeks, yet another disturbing anti-life trend is rippling through celebrity circles - this one, however, under the guise of loving children.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council Action (FRC Action), the legislative arm of Family Research Council, announced today its "True Blue" award winners for the Second Session of the 117th Congress. The annual award recognizes the members of Congress who displayed unwavering commitment and support of faith, family, and freedom by voting 100% of the time with FRC Action. Last year, 138 Representatives and 21 Senators earned the award.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council Action (FRC Action), the legislative arm of Family Research Council, announced today its "True Blue" award winners for the Second Session of the 117th Congress. The annual award recognizes the members of Congress who displayed unwavering commitment and support of faith, family, and freedom by voting 100% of the time with FRC Action. Last year, 138 Representatives and 21 Senators earned the award.
Nigeria's controversial president, Mohammadu Buhari, faces the end of his term of office in May 2023. With that on the calendar, the country's presidential election took place on February 25 and 26. In a perfect world, elections would be fair and conclusive. But many international observers see Nigeria as a tragically corrupt nation.
While the debate swirls over a "national divorce," there's one area where states have already filed the paperwork: corporate activism. In deep red America, the Most Wanted signs have already been hung for woke asset firms who've been funding a war on values with conservatives' own dollars. Now that Republicans are putting some real muscle into the fight against ESG (environmental, social, governance), kingpins like BlackRock are feeling the squeeze. Is it too late to worm back into the GOP's good graces? CEO Larry Fink is about to find out.
Mississippi enacted on Tuesday the Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures (REAP) Act (H.B. 1125), which forbids any person to "knowingly provide gender transition procedures to any person under eighteen years of age" or "engage in conduct that aids or abets" such procedures. H.B. 1125 passed the Mississippi House 78-29 on January 19, passed the Mississippi Senate 33-15 on February 21, and was signed by Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R) on February 28. The bill goes into effect immediately.
On Monday, it was reported that a Christian high school girls' basketball team in Vermont forfeited a game in the fourth round of a state championship tournament when it was discovered that a biological male who identifies as a transgender female was on the opposing team's roster. Experts are applauding the school's decision, pointing to the physical dangers that male athletes pose to female athletes as well as the infringement on fair play that is created by allowing males to compete against females.
In another international setback for the LGBTQ agenda, the British government has banned nearly all men who identify as women from being jailed inside women's prisons - implicitly condemning the unisex prison policy advocated by President Joe Biden.
Artificial intelligence (more commonly known as "AI") has gained attention and popularity in recent months, particularly since the launch of the ChatGPT chatbot from OpenAI, which captivated the internet with both its impressive abilities and surprising limitations. The millions of AI users in the U.S. are mostly eager to cheat on their homework or escape writing work emails; however, some bad actors have also discovered how to employ AI technology to attain far more nefarious ends.
Rebellious, confused, drug addicted, and above all, in need of a bath. This is how Chuck Smith, a rigid pastor of a dwindling church, would have described hippies at the beginning of "Jesus Revolution." That is, until Lonnie Frisbee, a hippie himself, enters his life.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated in a laboratory leak, according to a classified intelligence report, reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). This marks the second known intelligence agency to conclude that the evidence points to the lab-leak theory, although at least four other agencies reportedly believe that natural transmission is the stronger explanation.
Recently in the "Powerline Blog," John Hinderaker wrote that when Scott Johnson and he launched the site in about 1990, they "never imagined that someday, we would have to write about sex-change operations and mastectomies carried out on 13-year-old girls." He noted he is "much more comfortable writing about economic data and the like. But unfortunately, the Left has mounted a campaign against America's youth that it is impossible to ignore."
Not to be deterred by deadlines that expired decades ago, supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) are once again attempting to resurrect this long-dead measure. On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing aimed at identifying a path forward to enshrine the ERA into the Constitution.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a new study focused on the dramatic increase of suicides among teenage girls over the last few years. The results are shocking. They reported that between 2019 and 2021, suicide attempts by high school girls increased by 51%, which translates into one out of every three girls. In contrast, attempts by teenage boys increased by 4%.
Two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court are challenging how far Section 230 goes in protecting websites when they contain dangerous or defamatory content. "At stake in both cases is the liability protections tech providers have for content that they host and distribute," explained Tony Perkins on "Washington Watch."
In an age when the conventional wisdom holds that men can get pregnant, America was founded in 1619, and President Joe Biden's free-spending policies reduced the national deficit, perhaps it is only fitting that one of the primary sources of misinformation comes from online "fact-checkers."
Billy Graham maintained a profound passion for youth throughout his ministry, recognizing that they are the future leaders of the church with tremendous capacity to contribute to the Kingdom of God. As a result of working with young people from all over the world, he made the observation that they want "something to really believe in. Something that's intellectually logical and something that will satisfy their hearts and give them an experience ... a spiritual experience." The explanation in his mind was simple, "...If you\u00A0come to Jesus Christ you've found it."
With the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the rearview mirror, Chinese Communist leaders are closely monitoring Russia's struggles in the conflict, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin said on a recent edition of "Washington Watch."
As Black History Month draws to a close, it's worth considering Scripture's teaching about race and ethnicity. In our country, tremendous progress has been made, but more is needed - including in the body of Christ.
In the United States, February marks Black History Month - a profound celebration of the significant contributions that black Americans have made to our country and an opportunity to pay tribute to their perseverance throughout history. Coinciding with Black History Month, I recently had the honor of interviewing one of the most accomplished leaders in American politics today: Dr. Ben Carson.
What happens when you've built your entire worldview around a certain aspect of your identity - and then it turns out to be a lie? How can you process the information, or manage the dissonance from other beliefs you hold? Racial activist and author Angela Davis was forced to confront those questions in real time on a recent broadcast of PBS's program, "Finding Your Roots."
The Food and Drug Administration recently made it legal to obtain a medical abortion via a drug called mifepristone at any pharmacy willing to sell the pharmaceutical. These medical abortions now account for over half of all abortions obtained in America today. All this, despite the Dobbs decision.
After two years of life under President Joe Biden, it's no secret that Republicans are chomping at the bit to determine who will represent the party on the 2024 stage. Despite several candidates having already declared their presidential bid, however, there remains no greater challenger to former President Donald Trump than the governor from Florida, who has yet to confirm whether he has presidential aspirations for 2024.
On February 17, Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) reintroduced a bill that would allow states to exclude abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood from receiving federal Medicaid funds. Experts say the bill is part of a multi-pronged strategy that is being deployed by GOP lawmakers and state officials to divest the abortion industry of taxpayer dollars in the wake of Dobbs.
The Tennessee House voted 77-16 on Thursday to prohibit health care providers from performing gender transition medical procedures on a minor, with three Democrats joining all Republicans to approve the bill (SB 1). The bill, which already passed the state Senate 26-6 on February 13, now heads to the desk of Governor Bill Lee (R), who has indicated he will sign it.
"An employer that covers the cost ... of gender dysphoria treatment for employees must also cover the total costs associated with treatment that reverses the gender dysphoria treatment," according to the "Reverse Woke Act" (SB 952), introduced Monday by Florida Senator Blaise Ingoglia (R).
As yet another massive train derailment unfolded in Nebraska on Tuesday in the wake of the controversial federal response to the derailment disaster that has engulfed East Palestine, Ohio, experts are seeing a connection between the responses to both East Palestine and the recent aggressive actions of the Chinese regime: failed and incompetent American leadership.
A World Health Organization (WHO) international negotiating body (INB) devoted to drafting an international pandemic convention will gather on Monday in a session scheduled to last all week. The INB's session, its fourth since it was established in December 2021, will consider a draft convention text, labeled "zero draft," which would dramatically expand the WHO's power to control national pandemic responses.
Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that retail pharmacies would be permitted to sell the chemical abortion regimen, pro-life leaders in the states have begun to speak out against the various ways that such a plan would encourage pharmacy businesses to violate both federal and state laws. Pro-life attorneys general like AG Kris Kobach in Kansas are making it clear that they will enforce the rule of law where the Biden administration's Department of Justice (DOJ) fails.
Mulvaney, and gender ideologues like him, merit both correction and compassion. Thankfully, the redeeming love of God is sufficient to provide both; as agents of the Lord, we should extend both in every response.
In a story largely buried by the mainstream media, a second NHL team announced this month that it was ditching its Pride gear for players. Less than two weeks after the New York Rangers sent shockwaves through the sports world for bagging their special rainbow warm-ups, a neighboring team, the New York Islanders, followed suit.
The Biden administration "is trying to cancel religious student groups" on campus by rescinding a Trump-era religious freedom protection holding universities responsible for violating the First Amendment rights of believing students, a religious liberty watchdog tells The Washington Stand.
As it turns out, studies show that it's best not to dismiss the commonsense concerns and personal health care decisions of tens of millions of Americans.
An Arizona teacher made the case for parental rights legislation she was testifying against in a bizarre rant last Wednesday. While testifying against Arizona SB 1700 on February 15, the teacher insisted that parents should not have the right to oversee her school materials because, "I have a master's degree. ... What do the parents have?"
Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) declared Friday that he would "follow through" with a "plan to hold all DOD civilian, flag, and general officer nominations that come before the U.S. Senate" in response to the Department of Defense (DOD) "following through" with a "radical plan to facilitate thousands of abortions a year with taxpayer dollars."
In an exclusive interview with Tucker Carlson this week, conservative entrepreneur, author, and activist Vivek Ramaswamy announced his bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. Ramaswamy is the third Republican contender to declare candidacy, joining the ranks of former President Donald Trump and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
Since 1867, the Archbishop of Canterbury has been recognized as the "first among equals" among all the bishops of the worldwide Anglican communion. This fellowship of churches, rooted in the Church of England, is now composed of 42 national churches worldwide.
America cannot simultaneously claim to support women's equality while erasing the very existence of women and relegating our opportunities to any man willing to grow out his hair and occasionally wear a skirt.
When speaking of chemical abortion, Linda Prine, who counsels women who self-manage their abortion with the use of mifepristone and misoprostol, told Vox, "[W]e get calls from people completely freaked out, crying, sobbing ..." She continued, "They're calling us scared, because they've passed a tiny but recognizable fetus, and they are freaked out and they weren't expecting that. And it's frankly traumatizing ..."
They called it a "night of rage." But outside the charred walls of Buffalo's CompassCare, pro-lifers could barely get the national media to call it anything. Like the string of domestic firebombings across Wisconsin, Oregon, Colorado, Tennessee, and Washington, the blown out windows, graffiti, and trashed offices were barely a blip on network news. It's been quite a contrast to the extensive coverage a single burned flag in New York is getting. But then, that's the power of the Pride.
A 15-year-old girl has felt "very depressed" after a state worker removed her from her parents' custody and talked her into an illegal and "traumatic" abortion without parental consent, according to the lawyer who filed a $15.4 million lawsuit against the abortion facility and county employees.
Russian president Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that Russia "is suspending its participation" in New START, a treaty between the U.S. and Russia limiting the deployment of long-range nuclear weapons. Putin blamed his decision on the West, which he claimed instigated the war in Ukraine.
Over the weekend, reports surfaced that the Biden administration was preparing to enter the United States into a "legally binding" agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO) that would grant the entity authority to mandate America's health care policies in the event of a future pandemic. Experts say the proposed plan would be an unprecedented violation of the Constitution, which grants the Senate the authority to approve international treaties.
In the United States under Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the abortion industry has relied on the fast-acting and easily concealable nature of chemical abortion drugs to circumvent pro-life laws in the states that protect unborn children and their mothers from abortion. After a recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule change allowing retail pharmacies to sell the chemical abortion regimen with a prescription, the battle against chemical abortion drugs has only intensified - but, thankfully, pro-life state attorneys general are rising to the challenge.
Sanford Health, the lobbying force behind South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem's initial opposition of girls' sports and gender transition protections, appears to be running a similar (though not identical) playbook in neighboring North Dakota. The North Dakota House on Friday passed a bill (H.B. 1254) to protect minors from gender transition procedures - but with substantial Republican opposition.
It was five years ago today that our nation and the world lost one of the greatest modern-day preachers of the gospel. Known affectionately as America's pastor, Billy Graham came face-to-face with the Savior He had proclaimed for nearly a century on February 21, 2018. While Graham was well-known in the United States, he holds a special place in the hearts of North Carolinians like me. It's why we've gone to such great lengths to honor him and preserve his legacy for future generations.
A recent decision made by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) to cover up a 10-foot by 19-foot painting has prompted a furious response from House Republicans. The image depicts Jesus and merchant mariners floating in a lifeboat, "presumably after being torpedoed in the Indian Ocean during World War II." The painting was covered by a white sheet at the request of 26 people.
When San Francisco decided to boycott the country's red states, they were hoping it would have an economic impact. Trouble is, it did. Just not on conservatives. For seven years, the city has stubbornly clung to its travel bans and contracting blackouts for states with sane policies on life and gender - only to find out that the side paying the biggest price is their own.
A new poll reveals that the overwhelming majority of Republican primary voters want future GOP presidential contenders to embrace hot button issues like gender transition procedures for minors and implementing restrictions on pornography.
On February 3, in East Palestine, Ohio, a train derailed, leaving 38 train cars off the track and an additional 12 cars damaged by fire. Five of the railcars were at risk of exploding, so emergency crews performed a controlled release of vinyl chloride, a hazardous chemical compound connected to a deadly form of liver cancer. When burned, vinyl chloride reacts to form phosphene gas, which was used as a chemical weapon during World War I. Essentially, the town was gassed.
On the rare occasions America looks to her history, the legacy media reports her presidents' virtues and vices (real or imagined). Yet they purposefully omit American presidents' firm conviction in Jesus Christ, the Bible, and the indispensable role the Christian religion has played in establishing, undergirding, and sustaining American institutions to this day. To remedy this oversight, we present the words of 20 presidents representing every epoch of U.S. history, from its founding to the present.
Performing gender transition surgery on a minor would become a felony in North Dakota, and prescribing puberty blocking drugs or cross-sex hormones would become a misdemeanor under a bill (H.B. 1254) passed Friday by the state House in a 66-25 vote. The chamber also voted down (29-62) a bill (H.B. 1301) creating civil penalties for performing gender transition procedures on a minor.
It's natural for little girls to look to older women as role models; whether it's a mother or a famous historical figure, finding an example of womanhood to emulate can encourage girls as they navigate the fears and uncertainty inherent to adolescence. Progressives, however, are intent on manipulating the naivete and innocence of young women in search of heroes by force-feeding them content of biological men making a mockery of womanhood - the exact opposite of the female exemplars they crave.
A father who was shut down by the Anchorage, Alaska school board February 7 when he attempted to read from a sexually graphic book available to students in the school district said parents are not being informed about the nature of material available to students.
The cost of following Christ just hit home in a new way for one California teacher who was fired for refusing to tell lies about biological reality or hide student's gender transitions from their parents. Jurupa Unified School District served physical education teacher Jessica Tapia, mother of three, with a Notice of Unprofessional Conduct for not embracing the district's new polices promoting transgender identities and, on January 31, fired her after determining it could not accommodate her religious beliefs.
A Norfolk Southern train derailment that occurred two weeks ago in eastern Ohio still has not received the attention it should have from the federal government, said Representative Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) February 17 on "Washington Watch with Tony Perkins." Those impacted by the disaster need answers, he insisted.
A prominent Democratic senator has urged the Biden administration to "ignore" a potential federal court ruling that could impose a nationwide ban on abortion pills, comparing the "right" to abortion with Abraham Lincoln's efforts to free the slaves.
A pediatric transgender clinic under multiple investigations for harming teenagers and potentially defrauding taxpayers has announced it will continue carrying out services - even as emails show clinic employees advising a local school to "affirm" an entire group of fifth-grade girls who identified as transgender. This is just the latest controversy engulfing The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
"Porn disguised as education." That's how parents are describing the flood of graphic books dotting shelves across America's libraries and schools. Thanks to wide-scale investigations in states like Florida, moms and dads are finally getting a full picture of the amount of filth available to their children. This is "an absolute battle between good and evil," Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) told a group of pastors in Baton Rouge on Friday.
The "He Gets Us" campaign, launched most prominently during Sunday's Super Bowl, is an attempt to reach people with an image of Jesus that is compassionate and relevant. It seeks to present Him as the ultimate empathizer, someone who understands rejection, fear, and social isolation. Jesus does "get us," but He is more than the one-dimensional man presented here.
The Chinese Communist Party has continued to destroy churches, arrest and abuse Christians, forcibly "disappear" clergy, prevent believers from expressing their faith online, and attempt to coerce Christians into proclaiming Marxist principles from the pulpit in place of the Holy Bible. ChinaAid's new report, including a "partial list of persecution cases in 2022," broken down by province, takes up 20 pages.
Here's one ballooning problem the military can't simply knock out of the sky: net interest payments on the U.S. government's debt are projected to triple over the next 10 years, totaling 300% of 2022 outlays in 2033, according to a new report published this week by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
On Thursday, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced legislation that would prevent individuals who identify as transgender or who have gender dysphoria from serving in the military, with some exceptions. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) introduced companion legislation in the House. The lawmakers have emphasized that the bill's purpose is to help the Pentagon stay focused on "military readiness" and not on complications that ensue from gender confusion in the ranks.
A school board meeting in Anchorage, Alaska took a testy turn last week when a local dad decided to read aloud from one of the books the district was using to promote "tolerance." "We hear so much about 'diversity, inclusion, and equity,'" Jay McDonald said. "[But] we don't often see specific examples ... So today I brought an excellent representation ... from one of the books that was just recently purchased for our libraries." He barely made it three sentences before the vice president of the board ordered him to stop.
If you were reared in evangelicalism, revival is a familiar term. In my childhood, so-called "revivals" were typically a pre-planned week of special services where an itinerant preacher would come to the church and give nightly evangelistic messages. Truth be told, these "revivals" were planned to fuel actual revival, but they in themselves weren't revival.
It's now been a week since a routine chapel service at Kentucky's Asbury University began - and it hasn't stopped. As worshippers were inspired to continue singing, praying, and repenting, people from around the country have traveled to the campus to see this spontaneous outbreak of the Holy Spirit - including Family Research Council's own chaplain, Dr. Jay Johnston. He joined FRC President Tony Perkins on "Washington Watch" to share what he saw.
An overwhelming majority of books removed from\u00A0Florida schools\u00A0since the beginning of the academic year in September 2022 were pornographic, violent, or inappropriate for students' grade levels, according to school district data submitted to the state's Department of Education.
The leader of Scotland resigned on Wednesday after her months-long advocacy of an extreme transgender bill ended in a humiliating defeat - a sign that even the most secular of countries has definitively turned against the LGBTQ movement.
Legislative efforts to protect minors from harmful, irreversible gender transition procedures are going so well, some proponents are focusing on the next step: beating the inevitable legal challenges. From one state in 2021, the push to ban gender transition procedures on those too young to legitimately consent is now "moving across the country," said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, host of "Washington Watch." "But," he continued, "observers already anticipate a legal fight from both the ACLU and the transgender industry."
The Senate's classified briefing was supposed to answer questions about China's spy balloons, Republicans insisted, not create more. And yet, several senators seemed surprised after Tuesday's meeting with U.S. intelligence and military officials - not by what they learned, but by the growing pile of unknowns, including why so much information is being kept from the American public. "They're concerned, they're interested, and they have a right to know why President Biden directed the actions that he did over the last week," Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) argued.
A new lawsuit led by Alliance Defending Freedom, a pro-life legal organization heavily involved in the Dobbs case, is now representing four national medical associations and four physicians in a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to reverse FDA approval for abortion drugs on the basis that they were approved illegally. Family Research Council (FRC) submitted one of 15 friend-of-the-court briefs in the case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
A Democratic politician has received massive backlash after she called the scientifically attested belief that children suffer less abuse in nuclear families "dangerous and un-American." "Extremist group Family Heritage Alliance said this morning that the safest place for kids are in families that have a married mom and dad. What a dangerous and un-American belief," tweeted State Representative Erin Healy (D) on Monday.
Sooty plumes of toxic smoke towered stories above the quiet, evacuated village of East Palestine, Ohio last week as officials tried to contain what might be the worst rail disaster of the decade. As usual, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has stayed as far from the crisis as possible.
On Monday, The New York Times reported on new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which found that the rate of sadness among U.S. teenagers is at its highest level in a decade, with almost three in five girls reporting "persistent sadness" in 2021 - double the rate of boys. Strikingly, almost 70% of teens who identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual "reported feeling sadness every day for at least two weeks during the previous year."
"I thought surely there would be someone, whether that be a coach, or another swimmer, or someone within the NCAA - I thought surely someone would stick up for us." For the University of Kentucky's Riley Gaines, that was the moment she realized: they were on their own. The teams forced to swim against Lia Thomas, a biological man, had no other choice but to speak up themselves or lose everything they'd worked for. "It kind of hit me. If we, as women, were not willing to stick up for ourselves, how can we expect someone else to?"
Americans are outraged over the Chinese spy balloon that wafted gently over American airspace, apparently transmitting extensive data back to Beijing. New reports of other aerial objects being shot-down by our Air Force are making additional headlines. While these things raise alarms, they point to a larger issue: China is pressing American in every way it can. And in terms of global influence, even dominance, China is playing for keeps.
Republican party officials have censured two more members of Congress for voting in favor of same-sex marriage, including the U.S. senator who cited her Christian faith as the reason she chose to support a bill that critics say stifles religious liberty.
When the military isn't shooting down Chinese UFOs, it's dealing with another ballooning problem: recruitment. The Army's 15,000-person shortfall is still keeping leaders up at night, as they scramble to understand what's keeping this generation from enlisting. "They just don't see the Army as something that's relevant," Major General Alex Fink said after reading the results of the branch's latest survey. But it's not because the military is woke, he told critics. That and the mandatory COVID vaccine have nothing to do with the Armed Forces' problems - or so the Biden brass would have you believe.
President Joe Biden hasn't ordered this many shots since his last COVID booster. On Friday, on Saturday, and again on Sunday, U.S. aircraft shot down aerial objects that had intruded into U.S. and Canadian airspace uninvited. The incidents come merely a week after a colossal Chinese spy balloon crossed the entire country before the Biden administration shot it down, and after the military admitted at least four previously undisclosed incursions by Chinese balloons.
A Georgia police officer's Facebook post paraphrasing what Ephesians 5 says about marriage results in his suspension from the police force. The officer, Jacob Kersey, then resigns instead of accepting the muzzle his superiors will place on him as a condition of his employment. First Liberty Institute sent a letter to the mayor and assistant police chief demanding they reverse course. This latest cancel culture incident is all too familiar.
A whistleblower's explosive account reveals that the transgender medical industry uses high-pressure techniques, employs its own cadre of "experts," and lies about the impact of puberty blockers and other drugs to convince parents to authorize lifelong "gender-affirming care" that effectively, or literally, castrates their children. When the parents refuse, at least one transgender clinic disregarded the will of the custodial parent, the insider's testimony states.
Tempers grew heated in the Sunshine State on Friday afternoon, as well-organized pro-trans activists unsuccessfully tried to derail the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine from confirming standards of care prohibiting licensed medical professionals from inflicting irreversible harm on minors through gender transition procedures.
For too long, we've been digging in our heels and yelling at the other side, rather than taking time to get to know one another. Rather than slandering each other in the media, it's time to sit down to coffee and try to work out some of those differences for the common good.
Both chambers of the South Dakota legislature overwhelmingly voted to protect minors from gender transition procedures, sending the measure, House Bill 1080, to Governor Kristi Noem's (R) desk on Thursday. Noem now faces intense pressure to sign the bill, which is similar to one her allies at the giant Sanford Health system successfully lobbied to kill during the previous legislative session.
On February 14, the Senate Commerce Committee will consider for the second time the nomination of Gigi Sohn to serve as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Experts and lawmakers are pointing to a host of issues they say should disqualify her from consideration, including ethics concerns as well as far-left views on defunding police, sex trafficking, and censorship.
The new Republican majority may have taken a few days to elect a speaker, but it has wasted no time in launching hearings on Capitol Hill. Following Wednesday's hearing on Oversight and Accountability that addressed speech suppression by Big Tech, the House Judiciary Committee held a select subcommittee hearing on Thursday that consisted of two panels to discuss the weaponization of the federal government.
Let's work to eliminate fears for all women in unplanned pregnancies, including those with disabilities, instead of defaulting to abortion as the solution.
A freshman, a graduate assistant, and a political party walked into a university's administration building - er, actually, around 100 of them did. But it's not a dry twist on the old bar joke; the tense moment really took place Monday at Tigert Hall, administration headquarters for the University of Florida in Gainesville.
There was much to disagree with in President Biden's recent State of the Union address, but he was right about one thing: the world's eyes are on America. However, those eyes are seeing some things that the president celebrates but which committed Christians should find disturbing.
A pediatric gender clinic is under criminal investigation after a whistleblower charged the center with potentially defrauding Medicaid and private insurance to prescribe transgender hormones to children as young as 11. The sworn affidavit states the St. Louis facility administered cross-sex hormones to mentally ill children, sometimes against their parents' wishes, and ignored children's worsening physical and mental health conditions - including at least one suicidal teenager.
According to a former Twitter executive, restrictions on speech facilitate more speech. In his opening remarks Wednesday to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, former Twitter global head of trust and safety Yoel Roth, said, "Unrestricted free speech, paradoxically, results in less speech, not more."
During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Biden asserted that "some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset." A chorus of GOP lawmakers, including Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) are fiercely disputing the claim, pointing out that as a U.S. senator, Biden himself supported cuts in the social welfare programs.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) last Tuesday rolled out a new education agenda designed to comprehensively recapture the state's higher education system from woke ideologues. Instead, he set forth a conservative vision for a higher education system: "to focus on promoting academic excellence, the pursuit of truth, and to give students the foundation so they can think for themselves." The proposals affect curriculum, faculty, funding, and more.
The contentious debate surrounding gender transition procedures for minors continued unabated in statehouses across the nation this week, with several states moving bills meant to shield youth from the physical and emotional harms of such procedures.
When confronted with the Turkish government's undeniable anti-Christian policies and pro-Islamist crusades, no one suffers more than the Syriac, Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and other believers who are confronted with injustice every day of their lives. Today they endure even more crushing losses and broken dreams. And, tragically, Tayyip Erdogan's history of brutality toward them and their communities forebodes only further negligence and abuse.
Cleanup from a devastating earthquake which struck southern Turkey on Monday "is going to be an all-hands-on-deck effort internationally," said Tony Perkins, FRC president and host of "Washington Watch." "So, Christian ministries are responding," he said, joining thousands of governmental and non-governmental rescuers bringing supplies and aid to the region.
The Biden administration, which has sued states that ban surgeries that remove the healthy reproductive anatomy of underage girls, has announced its support for the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.
Repeatedly, we are told to overlook evil things because those evil things are being done in the name of some greater good.
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will once again consider the Biden administration's nomination of Nancy Abudu to serve as a federal judge on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Experts and lawmakers say that Abudu, who serves as strategic litigation director for the scandal-plagued Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), is unqualified for the position due to making highly disputed claims about "voter suppression," fighting against voter ID laws, and supporting voting rights for convicted felons, among other concerns.
Around 150 "trans lives matter" protestors occupied the Oklahoma Capitol on Monday, carrying signs and chanting so loudly that their shouts echoed off the rotunda. "When the chanting was at its loudest, it was difficult to hear the person talking next to you," reported local news station KFOR, which also said that the "demonstrators were let in by Oklahoma State Troopers and Capitol security staff."
One of the most infuriating tactics adopted by the abortion industry and its political supporters in the wake of the Dobbs decision has been the persistent attempts to demonize pregnancy resource centers (PRCs). Though these charitable organizations exist solely to assist mothers in need, they have borne the brunt of anti-life extremism and violence. However, even outside of the pro-life movement, objective observers can't help but notice that the powerful work of PRCs has a profoundly beneficial impact on women.
During his State of the Union Address Tuesday night, President Joe Biden called on Congress "to restore the soul of this nation" by making abortion legal nationwide until birth and passing a bill that would force religious employers to hire people who identify as transgender. His administration's focus on pushing polarizing social issues clashes with Republicans' more mainstream views of abortion and gender identity, a contrast that Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) said gives Americans a clear choice "between normal or crazy."
The U.S. military never briefed civilian officials about three Chinese spy balloons that crossed into U.S. territory during the Trump administration. At least eight former high-ranking officials in the Trump administration, plus former President Donald Trump himself, denied any knowledge of Chinese spy balloons flying over U.S. territory after reports broke on Saturday.
On Monday, it was reported that Disney removed an episode of the series "The Simpsons" from its streaming service in Hong Kong because of a line referring to "forced labor camps." Experts say the move is the latest in a series of decisions made by the entertainment giant that appear to acquiesce to the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) demands in order to stay in business in the country, despite ongoing human rights abuses that are being committed by the regime.
Do our country's political divides present Christians with opportunities for the gospel? This question can't be answered simply, but we can at least consider how Christ-followers can reach our people, liberal and conservative alike, with His grace and truth.
Overshadowing the reunion of Motown legends Robinson and Stevie Wonder was a lesser duo of Sam Smith and Kim Petras singing the Grammy-winning duet "Unholy," which celebrates adultery. Smith emerged before a fiery backdrop, wearing horns, surrounded by dancers, and bathed in red light nearly as demonic-looking as the backdrop of President Biden's speech at Independence Hall in September 2022.
A recent episode of the Disney+ cartoon series "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder" is creating controversy for depicting America as a country "built on slavery, which means slaves built this country." The show, which is rated TV-PG and is marketed for kids, also questions whether Lincoln freed the slaves and states that the descendants of slaves "have earned reparations."
As the nation prepares for President Biden's State of the Union Address, President of Family Research Council (FRC) Tony Perkins gave an address seeking to point America back to biblical truth. Pastors from 19 different states and other guests joined together on Monday to hear Perkins's State of Faith, Family, and Freedom address. Perkins began with the observation, "We've [America] not been this divided since Abraham Lincoln's day."
After years of increasingly horrendous reports on Nigeria, a new Congressional Resolution was introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) on January 31, 2022. Perhaps it will help undo the damage done to Nigeria's Christians by the Biden administration's negligence.
Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, distributed Bibles and invited fellow committee members to read through it in 2023 at the committee's first meeting on January 31. McMorris Rodgers said the Bible "changed my life" when she read it through for the first time, so she encouraged "everyone to read this book in their lifetime."
Any tool can be misused. A hammer can construct or kill. An electrical wire can give instant light or, if mishandled, bring sudden death. So it is with computers and televisions. They are valuable and helpful but also potentially dangerous. So, when children use "screens," parents need to be extra vigilant.
USAID, which serves as the "world's premier international development agency," recently released a guide that promotes ways of integrating people who identify as LGBTQ into the American education system. To help public school partners implement widespread acceptance, the guide presents its "best practices for LGBTQ inclusion in education," but admittedly states that "not all of these strategies will be relevant or appropriate in every country-context."
While all eyes are on the mysterious spy balloon above Montana, it's no secret what's happening inside the country that sent it. China, when it isn't busy invading U.S. airspace, is torturing its own people and operating an organ harvesting ring that no horror movie could do justice. For years, the personal stories have been pouring out of Xi Jinping's country - and it's past time, one U.S. congressman says, to do something about it.
A Chinese surveillance balloon is currently pursuing a leisurely jaunt across the continental United States. Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary said on Thursday that "the United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now." The Department of Defense (DOD) said it was "most certainly launched by the People's Republic of China," later adding that the surveillance balloon is "maneuverable" and headed in "an easterly direction."
Driving kids to Vacation Bible School would become a misdemeanor in Nebraska if a recent proposal by Nebraska Senator Megan Hunt (D) passed into law. Hunt proposed to "amend" a bill that would protect children from adult-themed drag performances (LB371) by striking all the language and replacing it with similar language to bar children from attending a "religious indoctrination camp" instead.
The House of Representatives voted Thursday to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the sensitive House Foreign Affairs Committee, citing her four-year-long history of incendiary remarks downplaying Islamic terrorism while equating the U.S. and Israel with Hamas and the Taliban.
Pro-life leaders have always said legalized abortion devalues life and paves the way to infanticide - a view verified by a recent tragedy and upheld in a court of law.
It was a somber scene in Memphis on Wednesday - a scene Americans have lived through with tragic frequency these past few years. As mourners filled Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church to remember 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, the senselessness of his death at the hands of five police officers reverberated through the pews. "Tyre was a beautiful person," an emotional RowVaughn Wells said of her son, "and for this to happen to him is just unimaginable." But as Tyre's stepdad, Rodney Wells, reminded the congregation, "What's done in the dark will always come to light."
Distributing abortion pills through the mail is unsafe and illegal under both federal and state law, wrote Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and the attorneys general of 19 other states, in letters to the headquarters of national pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens. Both companies are seeking certification from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to dispense abortion pills through the mail. "We will use every tool at our disposal to uphold the law if broken," said Bailey.
Damar Hamlin is not dead. And Paul Pelosi was not engaging in funny business with his attacker. Over the past few weeks, not everyone has agreed on those two points. Those who have reconciled the point with Hamlin seem to be more plentiful, and the consensus on the Pelosi opinion seems to be settling as well. Still, a cursory search of social media shows not everyone is convinced. But let's back up a bit.
It's deja vu all over again. The Biden administration has revived the Obama-era fight over whether the federal government should be able to "hijack" employers' insurance plans and force owners with moral objections to furnish their employees with contraception, sterilization, and potentially abortifacient drugs.
On Wednesday, February 1, thousands of Virginians from across the state swarmed on the capital city of Richmond to demonstrate their passionate desire to protect their state's littlest citizens from abortion. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the historic Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case, pro-life Americans are increasingly taking to their state capitols to advocate for pro-life legislation defending the unborn.
A bill to protect minors from gender transition procedures advanced in Tennessee, after the Senate Health and Welfare Committee recommended the bill for passage with amendment on Wednesday by an 8-1 vote. The bill, SB 0001, now advances to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will consider it on February 7.
How does a church respond when it is "thrust into a maelstrom of hate and disinformation," in the words of Denny Burk, as First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida was last week? FBC Jacksonville announced an open mic night, where quite literally anyone was welcome to come and say quite literally anything. Burk, who is president of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and professor of biblical studies at Boyce College, called the event "one of the most extraordinary things I've ever seen."
On a snowy Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C., hundreds of people made their way to the Museum of the Bible for a unique event: the National Gathering of Prayer and Repentance. Before dawn had even broken across the city, almost 60 speakers from different nations, organizations, political districts, and backgrounds responded to God's call to humble themselves and seek His face.
Republicans have introduced a national heartbeat bill that would protect nearly all unborn Americans from abortion and educate the public about how early fetal life begins - an education campaign that pro-life advocates say has saved lives by itself.
A new documentary on the Walt Disney Company is making crystal clear how the once family-friendly company is today one of the most serious peddlers of radical ideology in America. Released last week by the Catholic League, "Walt's Disenchanted Kingdom" is a 50-minute film that highlights how Disney went from entertaining and inspiring kids to indoctrinating and grooming them as it embraces and advances the radical agenda of a very small yet vocal minority that even a growing number of liberals feel have gone too far.
At a time in American history when human dignity is increasingly in the political crosshairs, it is more essential than ever to affirm that assisted suicide is never a compassionate choice, no matter the diagnosis.
This week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hold the hearings for several of the judicial nominees resubmitted by President Biden in early January. Among them is Julie Rikelman, senior director of U.S. Litigation for the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights. While Rikelman, who represented Jackson Women's Health Organization (the pro-abortion side in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health), may not be a household name, her willingness to obfuscate the truth and disregard the Constitution for the sake of "women's rights" is a hallmark of those involved in the abortion industry.
No three letters have gotten more attention in the Republican Party lately than ESG. The Left's Environmental, Social, Governance investing scheme was quite the racket until recently, when conservatives started pulling back the curtain on woke Wall Street's plans. Now that Americans are onto the three-headed monster of BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard, it's been harder for leftist asset managers to exploit people's money for their radical agendas. But if Joe Biden's Labor Department gets his way, that's all about to change.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Monday that his department is conducting "an evaluation" about whether to declare a public health emergency declaration regarding abortion. The evaluation comes amid a "discussions on a wide range of measures," explained Becerra, and the department has yet to conduct a "full assessment." Still, the concept has developed far enough that the secretary chose to float the possibility of an emergency declaration publicly.
"I'm George Bailey today," were among the first words spoken by Mark Houck in the moments following his acquittal on Monday. The pro-life husband and father of seven had been subjected to months of torturous waiting under a looming prosecution by the Biden administration that could have resulted in a sentence of 11 years in federal prison. While the Department of Justice claimed that Houck had violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act outside of a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood, the Houck family and its faithful allies knew the Biden administration's politically-motivated narrative was a far cry from the truth.
Following the Food and Drug Administration's recent move to permit retail pharmacies to dispense dangerous chemical abortion drugs with a prescription, the nation's largest pharmacy businesses tripped over one another to apply for certification. CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid have all formally applied to the FDA seeking to sell the mifepristone and misoprostol drug cocktail that starves children to death in the womb and then violently expels them - often into a toilet where they are flushed into the sewer. As of now, however, some national businesses have stayed quiet about whether they will seek to turn their pharmacies into abortion facilities.
Port Wentworth, Georgia, Police Chief Matt Libby announced his retirement Monday, less than a week after The Daily Signal reported that Police Officer Jacob Kersey had been placed on administrative leave after sharing his views on traditional marriage on Facebook.
A flurry of legislation, executive orders, and lawsuits have volleyed back and forth between the Biden administration, which seeks to protect the abortion industry, and pro-life advocates attempting to protect unborn children and their mothers. As the Biden administration expanded the distribution of abortion-inducing drugs, 75 pro-life lawmakers have demanded the FDA take pills off the market altogether.
As state legislative sessions kicked off this month after what was, for some, a months-long recess, the battle over whether to provide gender transition procedures to minors continues to be waged across the United States. As The Washington Stand has reported, legislators in several states have courageously introduced legislation in an attempt to protect minors from the dangers of such procedures. One of these states is Montana, where state Senator John Fuller (R) has introduced S.B. 99, the Youth Health Protection Act.
If the point was grabbing headlines, Utah's SB 16 has done the trick. More than a dozen outlets, from Fox News to Newsweek to CNN, described the bill Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) signed Saturday as a "ban" on "gender-affirming" procedures for minors. Unfortunately, the bill no more banned ideological experiments on children than cross-sex hormones are "gender-affirming."
Following the tragic death of Tyre Nichols during a January 7 traffic stop by officers of the Memphis Police Department, in which Nichols was beaten so severely by the officers that he died from his injuries three days later, reports have surfaced that two of the officers involved in Nichols's death were hired after the department lowered its recruiting standards.
On a normal night, a win for the New York Rangers would've dominated the local news. But Friday was no normal night. For most of the sports world, the 4-1 score was barely a footnote to the biggest story of the day - the team's unexpected decision to dump their Pride Night uniforms. In a last-minute change that sent shockwaves through the NHL, the Rangers decided to shelve their rainbow jerseys and tape, exposing the deep cracks that exist between players and the league's woke agenda.
In an era of growing anti-Semitism, it's worth our asking, was the Holocaust - Germany's systematic slaughter of up to six million Jews during the period of Nazi rule - unique? Is it only one of many great human tragedies of the past 120 years? Was it truly exceptional?
Since the dawn of the internet, pornography use has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, available now to anyone at the click of a button. It is arguably one of the greatest public health crises facing America, and yet, no conservative political leader, namely the ones who espouse family values, have even mentioned this issue, much less lifted a finger to do anything about it. That all changed last month when a young U.S. senator from Missouri boldly addressed the issue of pornography and what it truly means to be a man.
An appeals court has ruled that Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips cannot refuse to handcraft a cake "celebrating" an individual's gender "transition from male to female," even though the action violates his Christian beliefs. Judges denied Phillips had been "set up" by the customer, a personal injury attorney who also asked the evangelical Christian to bake a cake depicting Satan smoking marijuana. The court proceedings in this chapter of his legal saga singled out Phillips's refusal to use someone's preferred pronouns as proof of discrimination.
Four separate bills aimed at protecting minors from harmful gender transition procedures have been introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives in 2023. The House Committee on General Laws held a marathon, nine-hour hearing on Tuesday to take public comment on three of the bills, as well as five other bills related to protecting children from drag shows and protecting women's sports.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day takes place each year on January 27. This date was chosen because it is the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau labor and extermination camp.
On Friday, FRC's Dr. Jennifer Bauwens spoke before the Montana Senate in support of SB 99, the Youth Health Protection Act. SB 99 would protect children by ensuring they are not rushed into irreversible and lifelong-damaging gender transition procedures. The following is Dr. Bauwens's testimony.
On Friday, the Republican National Committee (RNC) reelected Ronna McDaniel to a fourth term as party chair at their winter meeting in Dana Point, Calif. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who previously endorsed McDaniel for chair, spoke Thursday at the meeting and encouraged the committee members to stand firmly in support of the "values and ideals of faith, family, and freedom," arguing that millions of Bible-believing evangelical voters reliably vote for policies over personalities.
Last week, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis (N.C.) bragged to The Washington Post that he doesn't "vote for anything" that he thinks "will have a serious political consequence." They were glib words for a man who'd just put his name behind a bill rewriting marriage for every American. Like the 11 other Republican senators whose moral courage collapsed before the nation's eyes, Senator Tillis would have you believe there's no fallout from his vote for same-sex marriage. But a young Georgia policeman who's out of a job over his beliefs would beg to disagree.
The U.S. economy is currently mimicking the snoring old man who wouldn't get out of bed in the morning. U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the standard measure for total economic activity, grew by an annualized 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the advance estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released Thursday morning. According to the report, the U.S. economy is a mixed bag right now.
A Washington Post column on Monday highlighted the fact that assisted suicide in Canada is moving closer and closer to being considered a "right" for anyone, for virtually any reason. While assisted suicide laws in the U.S. are not as freewheeling as Canada's, more and more states are legalizing the intensely controversial practice, despite the outcry from human rights advocates who point to the inherent value of every human life.
Virginia's public school system has been at the forefront of a great awakening among parents across America. Beginning with the government school shutdowns largely at the behest of teachers' unions during the 2020-21 height of the coronavirus, parents got a peek behind the curtains of public school classrooms - and they didn't like what they saw.
To be on the Intelligence Committee requires a high level of discretion and exceptional good judgment. When these things are not present, the suitability of any given member to serve on the Committee has to be called into question. This is why Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has removed two Democrats from the committee. He is also seeking to remove a third.
Today, the headlines you read on your local news site do not necessarily portray our current nation as being in good condition, aligned with the will of God. Like the disobedience of the Israelites, we too have stepped outside of God's original design. So, what is the solution for a nation that violates His law? Return to the Father through repentance and pray.
It's National School Choice Week, but serious work on school choice has been happening for a while now. Indeed, school choice programs of various kinds have existed for decades, but most of them have been limited in scope and contained eligibility requirements that made them inaccessible for most students. The bills being debated and passed now will change the landscape of education permanently.
The Biden administration has "abdicated its Constitutional responsibility" and must begin "prosecuting those in the abortion industry" who violate a federal law against mailing abortion-inducing drugs, according to a coalition of 41 Members of Congress.
If you've been in the conservative movement long enough, getting canceled is almost inevitable. At some point, your beliefs about faith, the climate, marriage, abortion, or transgenderism will put you crosswise with America's woke CEOs, and a notice will arrive in your inbox: You've been dropped. For some, that's a badge of honor. For others, it's a monumental headache. Either way, finding a vendor who won't take their radical politics out on clients has never been harder. Fortunately for today's counter-culturists, there's help.
A Pew Research Center study released on Tuesday has found that four out of 10 American parents of children under 18 are "very" or "extremely" worried that their child "might struggle with anxiety or depression at some point." The survey found that mental health concerns topped the list of the biggest worries that parents say they have about their kids, beating fears over drug or alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, and getting into trouble with police.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into pro-abortion attacks on churches and pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) accelerated Tuesday from motionless to glacial. Nearly nine months after the Dobbs opinion leak on May 2, 2022, which triggered a wave of pro-abortion violence, the DOJ finally announced the first two grand jury indictments against Caleb Freestone and Amber Smith-Stewart.
When we find ourselves encountering education professionals who sincerely believe and defend concepts like Queer Theory and believe they have a moral obligation to teach those concepts to children for the good of society, it is long past time for parents and concerned citizens to act. Gender ideology is a dangerous force in education and our culture. Parents can take several important steps to safeguard our own children and our communities from this evil influence.
The transgender movement promises its adherents a new and fulfilling life, but a powerful new documentary shows that, for many, gender transitioning brings depression, strife, and separation within families - and in some cases, death.
An online streaming platform has removed the documentary "Dead Name," claiming the movie documenting the harms caused by the gender-transition industry amounts to "hateful content." The decision comes as one of the major television providers chose to drop conservative network Newsmax from its line-up after intense pressure from lobbyists, including Democratic members of Congress.
On Monday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland strongly downplayed the rights of states to establish their own pro-life legislation, saying that the Department of Justice is "monitor[ing] state laws and enforcement actions to ensure that states do not infringe on federal protections of reproductive rights." Experts are pointing out the brazen nature of Garland's comments in the wake of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision last June, which overturned Roe v. Wade.
The Science and Security Board at The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists released their annual Doomsday Clock report on Tuesday, advancing the time to an "unprecedented" 90 seconds from midnight. Maintained since 1947, the Doomsday Clock quantifies how close the world is to utter disaster, in the opinion of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. They chose to move the clock closer to midnight "largely (though not exclusively) because of the mounting dangers of the war in Ukraine." The new rating is intended to indicate that the world is "the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been."
Zero percent of black voters in Georgia rated their personal voting experience as "poor" in the 2022 midterm election, according to a University of Georgia Post-Election Survey released last week. The results of this survey (should) drive the final nail in the coffin to the progressive narrative that Georgia's Election Integrity Bill of 2021 was a racist conspiracy to undermine democracy.
His old boss told him to "shut up" about China, but former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has done anything but that in his two years out of government service. Xi Jinping's country has constantly been on the radar of the one-time CIA director, who said in a new interview with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins that China is the "one external threat that can change the way we live in America."
A Christian charity worker in Malta faces prosecution for sharing his personal testimony about rejecting homosexual activity on the radio.
Former President Bill Clinton tried to soften the Democratic Party's image as extreme liberals by insisting, "I am not pro-abortion." Over the weekend, Kamala Harris opened a widely panned speech on abortion by saying she and President Joe Biden "love" abortionists, before concluding her speech, "God bless America."
Following Arizona's successful rollout of its groundbreaking school choice law last October, an increasing number of states are moving forward with bills that allow students and their families to utilize taxpayer dollars to fund the schooling options of their choice.
As the scandal over Joe Biden's classified documents widens, Democrats may finally be jumping ship. After weeks of holding their fire, party leaders showed the first signs of turning on the president after Friday's revelations that a fifth batch of documents had been found at the Bidens' Delaware home. In a string of interviews across the Sunday shows, the White House's support seemed to crumble, as one Democrat after another blasted the president for his carelessness.
Will Rogers used to joke, "Alexander Hamilton started the Treasury Department with nothing - and sometimes I think that's the closest we've been to breaking even." Not many people saw the humor in that Thursday when the U.S. bumped its head on the debt ceiling, setting the stage for a titanic showdown over America's spending. While Uncle Sam has maxed out his credit cards for years, the government has never owed anything close to $31 trillion - a failure the new conservative House majority has zero intention of repeating.
On Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled discuss "the fight for women across America to have access to reproductive care and make their own healthcare decisions." Well, three cheers - who could disagree with this? I trust every decent person supports sound reproductive care (i.e., prenatal care for mothers and their babies) and the right of women to "make their own healthcare decisions." But that's not what Harris means.
President Joe Biden's White House had uncharacteristically positive things to say about pro-life advocates, stating that the peaceful, prayerful activity of the March for Life exercises "a critical pillar of democracy."
Hundreds of thousands of pro-life advocates gathered in Washington, D.C., Friday as speakers at the 50th annual March for Life outlined "the next steps to building a culture of life in a post-Roe America." The comprehensive vision includes national and state legislation, changing a dark and life-denying entertainment culture, and personally serving needy mothers and vulnerable children with no one to care for them.
In light of CVS and Walgreens's intentions to dispense the abortion pill after the Biden administration's January 3 unilateral decision to drastically expand access to the controversial drug to pharmacies and mail-order companies nationwide, a coalition of pro-life organizations led by Family Research Council (FRC) sent a letter to both chains Friday urging them to reverse course.
As pro-lifers from across the nation gather in Washington, D.C. to March for Life - the first march since Roe v. Wade was overturned - former NFL coach Tony Dungy announced Thursday that he and his wife would be attending the March for the first time (he is scheduled to speak). But one left-wing commentator found that innocuous tweet "nauseating."
House Republicans have discussed launching an independent investigation into who leaked the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade after the court concluded its inquiry on Thursday without uncovering the leaker's identity.
Turns out, time doesn't heal all wounds - a lesson that Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is learning from a growing wave of home-state critics. While the two-term Tar Heel probably thought the outrage over his vote for same-sex marriage would evaporate over Christmas and the chaos of the speakership race, local party chairs are making it quite clear that the repercussions are just beginning.
A Nebraska bill introduced Tuesday would protect minors from gender transition procedures. Nebraska Senator Kathleen Kauth (R) introduced LB574, the Let Them Grow Act, along with 22 Senate cosponsors. Nebraska is unique among the 50 states for its unicameral (one-chamber) legislature. While elections to the Nebraska Senate are technically nonpartisan, Republicans hold a non-official 32-17 majority.
On Tuesday, attorneys for the Biden administration's Department of Justice argued before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that the mandate the administration put in place in January 2021 for all passengers on planes and other forms of mass transit to wear masks should be reinstated. Experts are pointing out that the government has failed to demonstrate that reestablishing a mask mandate is an urgent matter of public health and that the original mandate infringed on personal freedoms.
A bill to protect minors from gender transition procedures was introduced in the South Dakota legislature on Tuesday. South Dakota Representative Bethany Soye (R) and South Dakota Senator Al Novstrup (R) filed H.B. 1080, nicknamed the "Help Not Harm" legislation, along with 23 House cosponsors and six Senate cosponsors. Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers: 63-7 in the state House and 31-4 in the state Senate.
Back in the '80s, I used to watch a quirky PBS show with my dad on woodworking called "The Woodwright's Shop." In one episode, host Roy Underhill introduced an old wooden folk toy called a "smoke grinder," or "do-nothing-machine." It consisted of a block of wood with dovetails cut into the top, with a handle attached that would spin along the grooves in an elliptical pattern. Just for fun, my dad built one, and it did exactly what its name implied: nothing.
A strong majority of Americans support stronger pro-life laws, according to a new poll released just days before the annual March for Life. More than two-thirds of Americans (69%) would support ending all abortion no later than the first trimester, including nearly three out of four women (72%) and nearly half (49%) of all surveyed Democrats.
Nine federal agencies announced a proposed rule on Friday that would roll back Trump-era protections for faith-based organizations against discrimination by the federal government. The agencies cloak their discrimination in seemingly neutral language, but the changes could roll "back the way in which organizations can participate with the federal government and remain free to their faith," Family Research Council's Travis Weber warned.
Whether babies with serious medical conditions end up tragically passing away like Roona did - or in my case, end up living a productive and independent life, each of us have value; because Roona and countless other babies like me with medical issues are worth the fight.
On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) announced that a city-run clinic in the Bronx will begin to offer free abortion pills to women starting Wednesday, with plans to expand the program to three more clinics by the end of the year in order to dispense the drug to up to 10,000 women. Experts say that the plan poses dangerous health risks for women.
As someone who's been a season ticket holder of the Washington Capitals since before Alex Ovechkin could drive, the idea of sitting through another NHL Pride Night - when everything we love about hockey is drenched in politics and phony rainbow pageantry - was a non-starter. So we sold our tickets for Tuesday's game. Unfortunately, not everyone who wants to sit out the league's pandering can make such an easy choice. But for Philadelphia Flyers' defenseman Ivan Provorov, easy isn't what mattered. Staying true to his convictions was.
Facing mounting backlash from parents over decades of pressuring public school administrators to mainstream explicit sexuality and transgender ideology in the classroom, the LGBT lobby is increasingly turning to a new tactic: blaming the victim. Parents who would rather discuss sensitive topics such as sex, the definition of the family, and the number of genders with their children personally are "launching a culture war," said the leader of the nation's largest LGBTQ lobbying group, which encourages schools to begin teaching gender fluidity in preschool.
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear Groff v. DeJoy, a case involving a former postal carrier who lost his job after the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) refused to grant him a religious accommodation to observe the Christian Sabbath on Sunday.
Amidst the negative news surrounding the state of marriage and the family in the U.S., a bright spot is beginning to emerge: the number of children being raised by their married mothers and fathers is slowly rising.
"The United States is the most permissive country when it comes to the legal and medical gender transition of children," according to a 12-country policy review by medical advocacy group Do No Harm. The group compared "different legal requirements for gender change-related treatments and actions" among the U.S. and the 11 countries of Northern and Western Europe.
"Whoever succeeds in telling the stories to the children gets to control the future." That was Kirk Cameron's answer to people wondering why he's joined the debate over America's libraries. As parents everywhere fight to keep graphic content out of their children's hands, Texas officials are warning the battle is taking an ominous turn. It's not just the forces of the Left that communities will have to contend with. It's the federal government, whose new investigation into a local school district could upend every grassroots effort to protect kids.
In all of the reporting on the classified documents being found in President Biden's Delaware homes, there's one particularly baffling and underreported aspect of this issue that deserves a close look. There was no visitor log kept at either of his Delaware residences on any of the nearly 200 days Mr. Biden was there over the past two years.
For a man who ran for president to save the soul of America from racism, former segregationists' buddy Joe Biden resembles few people more than the infamously abusive police chief Bull Connor. Both allowed domestic terrorists aligned with the Democratic Party to vandalize, bomb, and set fire to their opponents' churches with impunity while using maximum force to arrest peaceful, Christian, protesters.
The Sunday before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President Joe Biden took the civil rights leader's former pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta - now filled by pro-abortion Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). There, Biden preached a gospel of works, of civil religion, and of social progress towards an earthly paradise.
The Florida governor's office may require state-funded colleges and universities to itemize their "expenditures and resources utilized for campus activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion [DEI] and critical race theory [CRT]," a federal judge ruled Thursday.
Did you know that assaults, harassment, and vandalism against Jews take place in the United States seven times a day? Are you aware that lies and distortions about religious Jews and their educational institutions are being published in prestigious news publications, including The New York Times? Have you heard that Jews are targeted for more hate crimes in the U.S. than any other group?
An increasing number of parents and researchers are sounding the alarm about the potential harms that the social media app TikTok inflicts on impressionable adolescents. At the same time, national security and law enforcement experts as well as lawmakers are expressing escalating concerns over the Chinese-owned app's security flaws and its unauthorized use of personal data.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by the LGBTQ-sponsored "Religious Exemption Accountability Project" (REAP) asserting that "young and vulnerable" LGBTQ+ persons are "at the mercy of religiously affiliated, taxpayer-funded social service and educational institutions that often turn them away or force them into the closet."
Even the frigid temperatures couldn't keep angry South Dakotans away. Despite the blistering, nine-degree cold, as many as 150 people gathered in the snow outside the 2023 Midwest Gender Identity Summit in Sioux Falls Friday morning to protest Sanford Health's unwelcome presence in their state. Standing by snow drifts, with a long convoy of cars heading to join them, organizer Adam Broin insisted, "This is NOT South Dakota!" But according to a bombshell report by NRO reporter Nate Hochman, it may already be South Dakota, thanks to the transgender movement's unlikely ally: Republican Governor Kristi Noem.
Allegedly inadvertent "oversights" and "drafting errors" by Democratic lawmakers over the last year alone would have decriminalized infanticide, legalized polygamy, and suppressed sacred religious liberty rights enshrined in the First Amendment.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate classified documents dating from the Obama administration that were recently discovered at President Joe Biden's home and office. First reported Monday, revelations about Biden's illegal possession of classified documents have gradually unraveled all week long, with classified information discovered in a third location on Thursday. The most widely debated angle to the story is over the similarities and differences with former President Trump's illegal possession of classified documents, which the FBI recovered from Mar-a-Lago in August.
This week, House Republicans used their new majority to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, legislation that would require health care practitioners to provide the same life-saving medical care to babies born alive after surviving an abortion as they would any other baby born at the same gestational age. This represents the first time the House has voted in favor of providing protections for unborn children since 2018.
The new year began on a grim note for the Biden administration. On the first day back in the office after the New Year's holiday, news broke that almost 80% of Americans projected 2023 to be a "year of economic difficulty." Things haven't gotten much better since then for the White House. It has indeed been a particularly rough week for the Biden administration. Here are five of their biggest fails.
Although the midterm elections are long over, the U.S. Senate has a new pro-life, pro-family Republican: Former Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts will take the seat formerly held by Ben Sasse (R), who resigned from the chamber this week.
With inflation cleaning out the fridge, one Biden administration official fixed his scope on another kitchen appliance - gas stoves. "This is a hidden hazard," U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. told Bloomberg News in an article published Monday.
In the eyes of abortionists, every "successful" abortion ends in the death of a child - but, thankfully, not every abortion goes according to their plans. Countless abortion survivors, each one condemned to death as an innocent baby in the womb, walk among us every day. For pro-life advocates like Melissa Ohden and members of the Abortion Survivors Network, legislation that ensures protection for infants born alive after abortions holds deep personal significance.
From the headlines after the Born-Alive debate, one gets the sense that the GOP is engaging in a ruthless effort to destroy something noble and lovely. For example, the phrase, "use new majority" sounds almost sinister. Missing from these headlines is any acknowledgment that sustaining the baby who somehow survived the surgeon's knife might be the most obviously decent thing imaginable.
In the wee morning hours of Saturday, January 7, the 434 members of the House of Representatives swore an oath to "bear true faith and allegiance" to the Constitution. After 15 votes, they had finally chosen a House speaker and could all take the oath of office. A short time earlier, seven of their number had acted out their true faith and allegiance to a different, higher governmental authority.
A congressional Democrat stated that a Bible verse declaring that God forms unborn human life inside the womb actually supports abortion-on-demand before voting against a law that would protect newborn children from the threat of infanticide.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives followed through with its pro-life campaign promises on Wednesday by passing two life-affirming bills, including legislation to protect babies born alive during botched abortions that Nancy Pelosi had prevented members from voting on more than 80 times. House Republicans also advanced a congressional resolution condemning the nationwide epidemic of assaults, arsons, and fire-bombings against pro-life churches and pregnancy resource centers, likening the attacks to "the KKK's burning cross on the lawn."
Attacks against pro-life churches and pregnancy resource centers bear the eerie "echo of the KKK's burning cross on the lawn" of churches that supported civil rights, a Republican congressman said as the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning 100 such attacks nationwide on Wednesday.
As newly elected Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) is sworn into office with an increased supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature after November's midterm elections, Arkansas lawmakers are seeing 2023 as a prime opportunity to pass a bill protecting minors from sexually explicit drag shows by defining them as "adult-oriented businesses."
The U.S. House voted 221-211 along party lines Tuesday to establish a Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government under the auspices of the House Judiciary Committee. The committee will investigate the Biden administration for improper investigations, collusion, data collection, and other civil liberty violations, so naturally all the Democrats voted against it.
For all of the false starts, the House's new leadership team is more than making up for lost time. With last week's drama in his rearview mirror, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is hitting the ground running with an armload of bills - all thanks, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) says, to the Republicans' decision to stand up and fix the process.
Americans who are young, single, or self-identified liberals have long experienced declines in religious membership, practice, and identity. But the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have accelerated those declines, pushing out those who had maintained the weakest commitments to regular religious attendance, according to a new study.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), a member of the far-left "Squad," celebrated the Biden administration's unilateral decision to let retail pharmacies carry abortion pills - on the grounds that abortion has historically been "pushed out of reach" for minorities and the disabled. Pressley's comments stand as a living testament that every fact can be inverted when touched by Woke ideology.
The U.S. House enacted a rules package Monday night by a vote of 220-213, with one Republican siding with the Democrats and another not voting. The rules, which will govern the chamber throughout the 118th Congress, incorporate changes negotiated by GOP holdouts during last week's historic, 15-round marathon vote to choose a House speaker.
Citing Supreme Court precedent and economic benefits, many states have legalized sports betting over the last four years. But economic and legal experts are pointing out the questionable monetary and legal reasoning that undergirds pro-gambling arguments, as well as an abundance of societal ills that surround gambling culture.
The new Republican Congress is working to get its house - actually, the House - in order, putting new rules in place to better ensure honesty and coherence in the way it conducts its business. However, holding defense hostage as part of the effort to rein in spending is, at best, a very risky gamble.
As the Biden administration opens the spigots to flood the United States with abortion pills, state pro-life laws against distributing chemical abortion drugs hold the power to save babies' lives, limit the most serious injuries to expectant mothers, and jail the profiteers of the abortion industry.
Now that the "who" question has been answered in the U.S. House, new Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is turning Republicans' attention to the "what." In the first full week of the GOP's majority, there are plenty of priorities clamoring for attention, but conservatives have already made it quite clear what's at the top: life.
St. Joseph Medical Center in Baltimore violated Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (the anti-discrimination provision of Obamacare) by refusing to perform a gender transition surgery in 2020, ruled a federal judge in the District Court of Maryland on Friday.
On December 3, President Biden was asked by a reporter why he was visiting the border state of Arizona without visiting the border itself, which is in the midst of experiencing an all-time high in immigrant encounters. "Because there's more important things going on," Biden responded.
The Biden administration's recent push to allow retail pharmacies to carry abortion-inducing pills harms women and adds to the president's "shameful" record of trampling on pro-life conscience rights, a former Trump official has said. The FDA's January 3 announcement left Christians, and others who believe in the sanctity of the unborn, uneasy about the regulation's impact on pro-life pharmacists.
As retail pharmacy giants CVS and Walgreens announced they plan to carry abortion pills - and may soon be joined by Rite Aid - thousands of Christians have signed a petition pleading with them not to facilitate the fastest-growing form of abortion, which also inflicts the greatest harms on women.
Unlike human organizations, the body of Christ is not composed of people with common backgrounds, professions, aptitudes, educations, or heritages. "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit," Paul continues. What makes the body of Christ unique is our common regeneration and common Lord. This uniqueness is seen most vividly in the capacity of such disparate people, those of "all tribes and peoples and languages" (Revelation 7:9), to love one another.
A lot will be said and written about the last 100 hours in Washington - a historic four days that not only gave Americans a new Speaker of the House, but more importantly, a fresh start. Nothing about the process to transfer power to former Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has been easy, but at the end of the day, nothing worth pursuing ever is. When the smoke clears and Republicans get to work, one thing will be obvious - the pain of this past week was trivial compared to what was gained: a chance to move forward, united.
After a week of turmoil, former House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) finally won the speaker's gavel just after midnight Saturday morning. The victory capped off a marathon week of negotiating with the Republicans' staunchest conservatives, which, even late Friday night, threatened to stretch into next week. "I'm glad it's over," McCarthy told reporters.
A new grant competition will award up to $1.5 million for projects to promote LGBT communities and agendas overseas, the U.S. State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) announced last week. These projects would "(1) empower local movements and communities; (2) prevent, mitigate, and recover from violence, discrimination, stigma, and human rights abuses; (3) promote full social inclusion; or (4) address critical issues of justice" in foreign countries whose governments have not caved to the LGBT agenda.
Six and a half months after the FBI announced the opening of an investigation into a series of violent attacks against pregnancy resource centers and pro-life organizations, the Bureau has yet to disclose any progress or whether any arrests have been made in the probe. As a result, at least one pregnancy resource center that was targeted is now hiring a private investigator to conduct its own inquiries into the unsolved attacks.
In the latest episode of "How the Speakership Turns," the two sides of the Republican feud over Nancy Pelosi's (R-Calif.) successor seem to be inching closer to a deal. Early Friday, reporters were buzzing with news that the holdouts had exacted even more from their list of demands - leading the former House minority leader to sound slightly more optimistic heading into what could be a long, working weekend.
Gullibility is dangerous. It creates disappointment and grief, lost income, and lost marriages. For followers of Jesus, unthinking faith can collapse as difficulties intrude upon immature bliss.
Despite a provision in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that rescinded the Department of Defense's COVID vaccine mandate for all military personnel, the Army issued guidance in December saying that the directive does not apply to National Guard and Reserve troops. Experts and lawmakers say that the guidance is in direct violation of the law.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) required all state university and college systems to "report expenditures and resources utilized for campus activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion [DEI] and critical race theory [CRT]," announced his press secretary, Brian Griffin, on Wednesday. DeSantis made the request in a December 28 memo "to provide a comprehensive list of all staff, programs, and campus activities" related to the woke topics.
While the chaos over the next House speaker roared into its third day, the band of conservative holdouts have managed to accomplish one thing: exposing the flaws they believe are destroying the current system. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who's helped lead the counter-movement to former Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), insists the chamber is broken - and this is the best chance Republicans have to fix it.
Just before Christmas, a stunning video showing the arrest of one U.K. citizen who was silently praying near an abortion facility in Birmingham, England went viral on social media.
Shortly after the Biden administration issued a rule allowing most pharmacies to dispense the abortion-inducing pill mifepristone, representatives from the retail pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens confirmed that they plan to stock the substance - a move that will put more women's lives in danger and "transform pharmacies from centers of healing into centers of death," pro-life advocates say.
A publicly funded university hospital's department of surgery publicly boasted Saturday about expanding gender transition surgeries, which will likely target children.
Starting on January 1, a new law took effect in Louisiana that requires internet users to prove their age via a government-provided form of identification before being able to access pornographic websites. Experts say the law could provide a model for other states to follow in order to discourage minors from viewing websites that feature sexually obscene material, which often includes violence, abuse, and rape, even of children.
This moment demonstrates that Christianity still maintains incredible cultural influence in America, despite decades of routine mockery and secular infiltration. When unexpected, unexplained tragedy strikes, ordinary citizens and influential people across America's institutions alike turn to prayer.
Without a growing population we will not have enough people to produce the goods and services, ranging from high-tech equipment to the food on our tables, to sustain a robust economy. Even liberal economists recognize this.
Republican leaders in the House of Representatives plan to ring in the new year with a conservative, pro-life agenda that proves elections have consequences. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) announced that "in the first two weeks of the Republican majority," Congress will vote on 11 "commonsense measures" focused on protecting life, border security, U.S. energy, and China.
As the 118th Congress was officially gaveled in Tuesday, the first order of business in the House of Representatives to elect a speaker became anything but routine. For the first time in 100 years, the House failed to elect a speaker in the initial vote, as Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) came up well short of the 218 votes needed to secure the speakership.
Former President Donald Trump attempted to blame the disappointing outcome of the 2022 midterm elections on pro-life advocates who refuse to compromise their principles, a move critics called opportunistic, factually challenged, and "very dumb."
Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball published on Tuesday a list of 11 financial companies with anti-energy policies. Kentucky state governmental entities are restricted from investing any public funds with corporations on this list.
"Separating school bathrooms based on biological sex passes constitutional muster and comports with Title IX," held the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Friday. Their decision upheld the policy of the school board in St. Johns County, Florida (St. Augustine), which was challenged by a student who identifies as transgender.
Most North Carolinians stand for the timeless values of life, family, and religious freedom that have made our state one of the greatest places to live and raise a family since we joined the Union in 1789. Newly elected Senator Ted Budd will uphold those values.
According to a 2020 poll, 68% of Americans report giving up on their resolutions by February 1. So, how do we get our well-intentioned resolutions to stick around beyond a month? Here are a few tips that can help.
Our goal is not an America that will never be. Nor can it be only a society where we feel at ease and unthreatened, luxuriating in the friendliness of our cultural surroundings. Such a place is inherently deceptive. It urges us to forget the crouching presence of sin and softens the sense of urgency compelled by the gospel.
Loss needs comfort. But death deserves, from the Christian, a sneer. It has no victory, and its sting is the prick of an instant. The warm spring morning of heaven is forever.
North Korea is not a land of hopeless suffering. It is a land filled with the blood of martyrs that God has used to water the seeds of revival. Like the dry bones of Israel in Ezekiel, God is bringing resurrection life to the nation of North Korea.
Mary would have understood the social consequences of her conceiving prior to her impending marriage to Joseph. Nevertheless, Mary readily accepted the Lord's charge for her, telling Gabriel, "I am the Lord's servant. ... May your word to me be fulfilled" (Luke 1:38).
Despite immense persecution from the Chinese Communist Party, some experts believe there are 130 to 150 million Christians growing at a rate of 30,000 new believers a day in China.
The story of Bathsheba reminds us that Jesus Christ came to free mankind from captivity to sin and demonstrates the loving character of God in bringing beauty even from the depravity of human actions.
The family is indeed needful, but God has provided a protector. The father's task is formidable, but it is dignifying. It is a call to heroism.
Ruth displayed her noble character by acting based on her love for her family and trust in God, rather than allowing the pain of loss to overshadow her hope for the future. Her story reminds us to turn to the Lord in every sorrow and trust that He is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).
"Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile," said God through the prophet Jeremiah, "and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7). This is an intrinsic part of our calling as exiles living in the kingdom of man. In 2023, we need to keep fulfilling it.
Rahab's story shows that being strong and courageous can take many different forms - sometimes, it is simply choosing to trust the Lord and serve one's family that can produce the greatest fruit.
In order for our children to recognize the truth and not fall away from the faith, we need to help them grow in their Bible knowledge and develop a biblical worldview (Romans 12:2).
The story of Tamar reveals God's enduring faithfulness to Abraham in allowing the line of Judah to continue so that Jesus could be born from it. Tamar gave birth to twin boys - Perez and Zerah. From the line of Perez came King David, and later, Jesus Christ - the Son of God.
Many of us know today that, in a deep way, we need the refreshment of a good theological reset. Praise God, that's exactly what Christmas provides. Let's consider four truths related to the coming of Christ that yield encouragement for weary people like you and me.
Whether or not the producers intended, "It's a Wonderful Life" teaches a powerful biblical lesson - every life matters. Each human being was uniquely created by God in His image for a distinct purpose that only that one person can accomplish.
Somewhere between the haze of unlimited abortion and the advent of trans mania, western society began to wage war on children - both their existence, and their innocence. As we approach the celebration of Christmas, there is no better time to reflect on the value that each unique child brings to the world.
The challenge is not to shun the world around us with its material goods and traditions but to experience it as pointing to a fundamental spiritual reality. Commerce, material goods, and business are not bad in themselves, but they become dangerous for Christians if they distract us from Christ.
We need the war we've declared upon God to be interrupted. The truce he offers is a permanent one. We need not fear the army of heaven, because its commanding officer is himself bringing us peace.
Congress has passed, and President Biden has now signed, a sweeping $1.65 trillion omnibus spending bill that gives millions of taxpayers' dollars to LGBT pressure groups, causes veterans' hospitals to commit abortions, and could compel the U.S. military and pro-life business people to facilitate abortion-on-demand.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington, D.C. this week to plead for U.S. support. Some are warning, however, that the Biden administration's objectives for Ukraine are less clear than Russian President Vladimir Putin's.
In city governments across the United States, officials are seeking to use federal COVID-19 funds intended to preserve life to fund abortion and benefit the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, an outcome pro-life leaders call a "tragic" and foreseeable misuse of funds.
The long march of God's work in the world is unstoppable. Followers of Jesus can rejoice in partnering with Him in advancing "the good of the city" (Jeremiah 29:7) in our beloved country and in heralding the word that an eternal King offers light and life to all who come to Him.
While churches are preparing to celebrate Christmas this year, a new report from Family Research Council suggests that they face increasing risks of vandalism and other physical attacks against church buildings.
As an impending snowstorm in the Washington, D.C. area and Senate Democrats put mounting pressure on Congress to push through a last-minute 4,155-page, $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill before the Friday deadline and Christmas recess, conservative lawmakers are voicing strong opposition to the measure, citing irresponsible delays and reckless spending on progressive special interest projects.
The issue of assisted suicide has gained extensive media attention in recent weeks as Americans learned with shock of Canada's increasingly draconian Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) policies. As those in the United States grapple with the dystopian reality of a nation seeking to kill its citizens who are homeless or have a disability, there is no better time to draw attention to the euthanasia crisis being perpetuated within our own borders. A new lawsuit in New Mexico highlights just how far the culture of death has spread within the health care system - and points the way to reversing course.
A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by four female athletes who were forced to compete against biological males and lost positions, awards, and scholarships as a result.
In 2022, much of the world's attention has been focused on the horrific warfare in Ukraine, along with Iran's courageous demonstrators, who are being violently assaulted for rejecting their country's radically brutal regime. However, while these shocking abuses have carried on, the West African country of Nigeria continues to experience what has often been described as a "silent slaughter." In recent years, tens of thousands of Christian believers have been killed in relentless assaults on their villages, homes, churches, and families.
The federal government made an "apparent violation of the law" by pressuring social media outlets to ban or suppress American citizens' accounts, or to ban the Hunter Biden laptop story as a foreign intelligence operation, an expert has said. Meanwhile, the federal government exploited the same online platforms to spread U.S. government propaganda, new disclosures from Twitter have revealed.
Prior to June 24, 2022, the United States was one of only six countries in the world that offered no protection for unborn children at any point in pregnancy. Today, because of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, over half of the 50 states protect life in the womb. The United States has shown the world that it is possible to reverse a culture of death; now, countries like South Korea must follow suit, removing themselves from the worst offenders list where they currently reside alongside the likes of China and North Korea.
Hours before the Supreme Court paused the end of Title 42 (scheduled for Wednesday) until the Tuesday after Christmas, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre achieved new levels of Orwellian Newspeak on Monday for insisting, repeatedly, that the southern border was not "open." And further, she argued that anyone claiming the border was open was actually aiding the Mexican cartels who commit human trafficking.
Congressional Democrats unveiled an over 4,000-page, $1.7 trillion government funding package early Tuesday morning, leaving lawmakers little time to review the text and vote on it before a looming government shutdown on Friday at midnight. Experts point out that the omnibus bill's earmarks include over $11 million in LGBT-themed projects, and GOP lawmakers say the special interest spending could be avoided if the omnibus was delayed until January when the newly elected Republican-led House would be in power.
The Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBT group, hosted their "Spirit of Lincoln" gala Thursday night at Mar-a-Lago, the residence of former president Donald Trump. The event was a "joyous celebration of gay rights and - in a case of ironic timing - the historic same-sex marriage law signed by President Joe Biden days earlier." Said Trump, "We are fighting for the gay community, and we are fighting and fighting hard."
Although left-wing activists often say they represent "the right side of history," a well-regarded poll finds that support for a key item of the LGBTQ agenda has collapsed faster than virtually any other issue: Significantly fewer Americans support allowing men to use women's restrooms in 2022 than in 2016.
The top education official in a heavily Republican state is cleaning house, demanding that all public school districts and charter school have policies respecting the privacy of female students, after a male who identifies as female allegedly beat up two teenage girls in a high school restroom.
As a young law student wrote many years ago, "progressives" need to quit talking about their love of democracy and, instead, make their arguments and live with the consequences. Even if they mean that their proprietary claim on the federal courts is weighed in the balance and found wanting.
Rachel Levine, a biologically male senior official at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) who identifies as a transgender woman, recently stated publicly that he was happy to have undergone gender transition procedures later in life because it allowed him to have children. Experts, however, are pointing out that the policies promoted by Levine favor allowing minors to undergo gender transition procedures despite the fact that such procedures can lead to permanent sterility.
Stephanie Carter, a Texas nurse practitioner who has worked for the VA for 23 years, is standing up to the Biden administration's Department of Veterans Affairs rule that mandates VA medical facilities provide abortion counseling and abortions. She says that both the requirement to participate in abortions, directly or indirectly, and the VA's refusal to facilitate religious accommodations, violates her sincerely held religious beliefs.
It was a catastrophe as predictable as a comet on collision course, although far easier to dodge. The Trump-era Title 42 policy has topped the Biden administration's hit list for two years and, after a judge ordered its end, will finally expire on December 21. The only problem is, once the program for expediting migrant removal ends, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has no idea how to stem the inevitable flood of border crossings.
Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo felt the arm of a soldier around his neck, slowly strangling him, while he was moved to a police car. It happened on July 11, 2022 (also known as "11J"), in the city of Palma Soriano, in the eastern part of Cuba. On that date, thousands of Cubans took to the streets demanding freedom, and they ended in the largest protests against socialism in 60 years.
Our worry is not the fabled singularity, where machines become self-sustaining and can think for themselves. Our caution should be a familiar one - that we're not putting our hope in the created. The created will fail us. God's enduring word provides us with an intelligence that creates out of nothing, needs no programming, and can lead us through any contingency.
Some folks can dish it out, but they can't take it. These declared themselves Thursday evening after Elon Musk suspended several mainstream journalists for retweeting the location of his private airplane in real time. Among the suspended accounts were those of CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, The New York Times' Ryan Mac, The Washington Post's Drew Harwell, former Vox reporter Aaron Rupar, The Intercept's Micah Lee, and former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann.
As the U.S. Senate passed a short-term government spending bill Thursday to extend the deadline for a year-long omnibus bill into next week, lawmakers on Capitol Hill continued to debate the measure. On Thursday evening, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Family Research Council President Tony Perkins that Republicans must persist in delaying the approval of the omnibus into the new year in order for the newly elected House GOP majority to set spending priorities.
Pluralism doesn't mean cultural anarchy or moral chaos. It means freedom within the bounds of agreement about some essential things.
A Christian leader has blasted the Biden administration for "creating an atmosphere of lawlessness" by ignoring attacks on churches and houses of worship nationwide, which have nearly tripled over the last four years according to a startling new report. These assaults ranged from deadly to defacing, covered every region of the country and denominational background, and often sprang from pro-abortion domestic terrorism or other forms of left-wing enmity against biblical morality.
Days after the vote, it's still a musical hot seat for the 12 Senate Republicans who bucked their base on marriage. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), and others are facing fiercer-than-expected pushback for their traitorous decisions from back home. As the senators scramble to explain the inexplicable - their outrageous departure from core values - local Republicans are taking matters into their own hands. For Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), that means a very uncomfortable holiday with the Hawkeyes, where GOP leaders are a united front of disgust.
The recent, lamentable vote over the so-called Respect for Marriage Act revealed a new breed of Republican: The "personally pro-marriage, but" Republican. Like their spiritual forebears, the "personally pro-life, but" Democrats, they strenuously present themselves as people of deep moral conviction, who have equally compelling reasons to lay aside their views and act on other people's convictions for political reasons. Here are six such explanations offered by Republican senators who supported the Disrespect for Marriage Act, and the reason their rationales fall short.
A large group of Republican lawmakers are voicing strong opposition to Democrats' efforts to force a vote on a year-long federal omnibus spending bill before the Christmas recess. They argue that spending priorities should not be set by an outgoing Democrat-controlled Congress when control of the House will shift to Republicans in a matter of weeks.
A Democratic witness at a Wednesday House Oversight hearing made shocking admissions calculated to goad into action all mama bears everywhere. She described a startling scenario, where the state granted LGBT activists open season on adolescents, while slamming the door in the face of parents. The admission by Jessie Pocock, CEO and director of Inside Out Youth Services Advocacy Organization in Colorado Springs, came during an exchange with Representative Michael Cloud (R-Texas), who asked her, "Do parents have a right? Should they be informed about what's going on ... in their kids' lives?"
Since its founding, the abortion industry has always targeted minority and economically disadvantaged women as its prime sources of profit. Today, this anti-life narrative often takes the form of arguing that protecting life in the womb will exacerbate the nation's maternal mortality crisis - a lie that a bogus new study from Boston University and the Commonwealth Fund attempts to perpetuate.
Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) recently attempted to justify his vote for the Respect for Marriage Act. Here's what's wrong with his defense.
With the explosive phenomenon of gender dysphoria continuing to ripple across America's youth, a related but much less highlighted trend is simultaneously occurring - a movement almost completely ignored by the mainstream media. New studies are now emerging showing that the "detransitioner" movement is far larger than what is commonly acknowledged, with detransition rates nearing 30% in some instances.
Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) board members took a beating from parents during an especially fiery public meeting Tuesday night. The meeting was parents' first opportunity to express their displeasure since a 92-page special grand jury report released On December 5 described how the school district egregiously mishandled two cases of sexual assault which threatened to disrupt the implementation of transgender bathroom policy.
After 813 years, the second-oldest English-speaking university has reinvented itself as an institution devoted to un-learning. Users of the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary awoke this week to find that the dictionary had added strange definitions of "man" and "woman" to appease transgender ideologues.
Images of brave, death-defying protestors have flooded the highways and byways of Iran, and the world has been amazed by the courage of these fearless women and men. They have stirred the hearts of liberty-loving westerners with their angry chants against the mullahs of the Iranian dictatorship. And in the process, they also managed to silence - at least for the moment - the voice of U.S. special representative for Iran, Robert Malley.
"If they had left me with the baby, I would have wanted it." This is what Bintu Ibrahim told Reuters' reporters, after she was given injections without her consent by the Nigerian army officers who were supposed to be helping her. It resulted in a forced abortion. Ibrahim is one of approximately 10,000 Nigerian women and girls who are believed to have undergone forced abortions at the hands of the Nigerian military after the women were rescued from Boko Haram or other militants.
Mormons mixed with drag queens in a teeming crowd that came to celebrate President Joe Biden's signing of the "Respect for Marriage" Act at an elaborate ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday. Democrats alternately praised a pedophile and yelled "praise God!" over the passage of the law that conservatives warn will hamper religious liberty and drive Christians from the public square. And, the president promised, they were just getting started.
Facing intense backlash back home, Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) recently attempted to justify her vote for the Respect for Marriage Act. Here's what's wrong with her defense.
If Elon Musk won't suppress the news, CBS, ABC, and NBC News are more than happy to. While the Twitter files continue to drip out damning evidence of the company's pre-Musk bias, three of America's biggest outlets refuse to cover the story that's riveting people the world over. In an ironic twist, the media is so beholden to Big Tech that it is suppressing a story about suppression. But don't think the truth won't get out, Congressman Pat Fallon (R-Texas) warns. The GOP is weeks away from House control, and no amount of coordinated media blackouts will protect Silicon Valley then.
Two Loudoun County Public School (LCPS) officials have been indicted in Virginia on charges related to attempts to cover up two sexual assaults in a girls' bathroom and in an empty classroom perpetrated against female students by a male student who identified as a transgender female. After the indictments were handed down, the parents of one of the victims spoke out about the "staggering" ineptitude of the actions taken by school administrators. The family's statement highlights a growing movement of parent-led activism that is leading to the transformation of school boards and policies.
Migrants crossing the border in El Paso, Texas Sunday night lined up single-file "as far as the eye can see" for processing by U.S. border agents. A veteran immigration reporter called the migrant caravan of more than 1,500 people "the biggest single group we have ever seen." At the same time, multiple caravans of 500, 600, and 700 migrants crossed the border at Eagle Pass, Texas. These vast migrant waves come only days before the main policy enabling the U.S. government to quickly deport migrants back to their home countries is set to expire on December 21.
Things change so rapidly in politics, particularly in our volatile era, that to make anything like a bold prediction is unwise. With that said, the past year has provided some interesting fodder for speculation as we consider the 2024 election.
The Biden administration has fired Sam Brinton, the gender-fluid official in charge of disposing of the nation's spent nuclear fuel, after allegations he stole two women's suitcases. Brinton's lipstick-laden penchant for teaching "kink" sessions raised public alarm, and his "ever-changing story about abuse" played a key role in the ban of reparative therapy.
An Indiana judge has ruled a law that would protect nearly all children from abortion cannot take effect, on the grounds that it would violate the religious beliefs of non-Christians, including pagans.
As the public continues to digest "the Twitter files," a series of past internal Twitter documents released to journalists by new Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk, lawmakers and public figures are expressing outrage at what they call an unjust concentration of power that fell into the hands of overtly partisan actors.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may not enforce a rule against religious entities that interprets "antidiscrimination laws in a way that compels them to perform and provide insurance coverage for gender transitions," a panel of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Friday. The decision comes only months after the Fifth Circuit upheld a permanent injunction against the HHS rule for different group of Catholic health care providers.
As far as dramas go, America's library wars have all the makings of a good Hollywood script. But unfortunately for actor Kirk Cameron, there's nothing fictional about it. The "Growing Pains" star is the latest parent to do battle with the country's woke book lenders after 50 locations opened their doors to drag queens - only to slam them in the face of Christians. If the libraries he contacted about a book reading won't reconsider, Cameron has a message for them: welcome me to your library or see you in court.
Britney Griner has hit the basketball court once again, completing her first workout after 10 months of detainment in a Russian prison and transportation to a Russian penal colony last month. This is a feel-good story for many, yet the full ramifications of the controversial prisoner swap that freed her remain unknown. For President Biden, this is good politics. But is it good for the American people?
The God who made his dwelling among us prefaced his coming with prophecies and types in the Old Testament book of First Samuel. Just as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John describe, the unknown author of 1 Samuel tells his readers about the marvelous news of salvation and instructs believers about how to live.
Most in the Democratic Party only refer to the Bible when it suits their purposes, like "Judge not lest you also be judged" or loving everyone regardless of their lifestyle. But Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) has taken this a step further. In a recent interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid, Warnock responded that "it's exactly what Jesus would do," in addressing his opposition to Senator Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act, which would ban abortions after 15 weeks gestation. Unfortunately, we now must listen to Warnock's heresies for another six years.
In this article adapted from Andrew Brunson's "Prepare to Stand" video series, Brunson discusses some of the blessings that can come when we are faithful in spite of persecution. The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sins, and that Christ's followers will suffer persecution as well. Looking back on his two-year imprisonment in Turkey, Brunson sees that even during the darkest times, God was at work.
Twitter kept secret blacklists of conservatives, according to new information published as part of "The Twitter Files," confirming longstanding conservative complaints. The detail and organization of Twitter's blacklist system went far beyond what anyone had imagined, with individualized blacklist profiles for a wide array of public voices, specifying whether the figure was on the "Trends Blacklist," "Search Blacklist," or on the "Do Not Amplify" list, among others.
The rumors that Congress might be working right up to Christmas might come as a relief to the 12 Senate Republicans who voted for the radical Respect for Marriage Act. Facing constituents can't seem like a very enticing prospect, not after the heat they've already been taking from national groups. Back home, the knives are out for the dozen senators who helped the Left take a hammer to religious freedom. And in some local GOP chapters, that means throwing a counterpunch.
News of a Satanic temple attempting to start an after-school club for children on school property in Virginia is the latest in a rising pattern of public activity by groups that openly identify as followers of Satan.
Demonstrations on the scale of the anti-lockdown protests perhaps have not been seen since the Tiananmen Square Massacre, when Chinese citizens learned just how far the communist government would go to secure its own power and crush peaceful protests. Yet the Biden administration's reaction to the protests has been muted.
Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen and Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions related to a proposed merger between two of the nation's largest grocery chains. During the hearing, Committee Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Ranking Member Mike Lee (R-Utah) both expressed skepticism about the deal. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) cautioned Kroger against expecting "Republican senators to carry the water for them" while pursuing corporate policies that promote abortion and the LGBT agenda at the expense of families and people of faith.
As one of her last acts as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declared a bill foisting same-sex marriage on all 50 states reflects "the divinity" inside every human being, then praised the memory of a homosexual-identifying pedophile. She and her fellow Democratic colleagues then derided "the forces of hate" that oppose same-sex marriage.
The House of Representatives passed the so-called Respect for Marriage Act on Thursday, threatening the religious liberty of Americans who believe marriage is exclusively the union of one man and one woman. All House Democrats were joined by 39 Republicans in the 258-169 vote. One congressman voted present.
Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) defended himself to a constituent by insisting that the Respect for Marriage Act protects religious liberty. Here's why he is wrong.
A federal judge has ordered Southwest Airlines to rehire a flight attendant and award her damages, back pay, and interest after she was fired in 2017 for stating her pro-life views on social media. The ruling marks a victory for the religious freedom rights of Christians in the workplace at the same time that the U.S. Supreme Court wrestles with the issue in 303 Creative v. Elenis.
After the passage of Title IX in 1972, women who had matriculated from college into the workforce soon learned that they were at least semi-welcome - as long as they weren't pregnant. In fact, in 1976, the Supreme Court ruled in General Electric v. Gilbert that refusing benefits to pregnant women did not constitute sex discrimination under Title VII. By 1977, only 25% of insurance plans allowed sick leave to be used for pregnancy. Unwilling to accept a workplace that only valued men, those who believed pregnant mothers made critical contributions working outside the home labored tirelessly to pass the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA).
Asset management firm Vanguard announced Wednesday the corporation will withdraw from the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM) "so that we can provide the clarity our investors desire ... and to make clear that Vanguard speaks independently on matters of importance." Vanguard's announcement came only a week after 13 state attorneys general had filed to block the green giant's application to purchase more than $10 million worth of shares in publicly traded utility companies in their states.
After a historically bad showing in this year's midterm elections, Republican finger-pointing has become almost a contact sport. One of the biggest targets of GOP ire is the Republican National Committee (RNC), where some critics think shaking up the leadership could put conservatives back on a winning path.
The transgender-identifying individual who serves as the Biden administration's assistant secretary for health has warned that "medicine and science are being politically perverted" by those who oppose transgender procedures for minors, telling medical professionals to question whether parents are truly motivated by "care and compassion" when they seek to protect their children from the transgender industry.
On Monday, a Loudoun County special grand jury dropped a scathing report following a governor-ordered investigation of the school administration's handling of two sexual assault incidents from last year. The details were condemning, finding that those in leadership had concealed the horrific misconduct in hope of managing public perception.
After-election analysis is often pretentious and, worse, boring. So, in the interest of avoiding the temptation to wax wise, here are a few simple things to consider for the 2024 elections.
A simple question provoked an astonishing answer during President Joe Biden's Tuesday visit to a new computer chip manufacturing plant in Phoenix, Arizona. When asked whether he planned to visit the border, only minutes away on Air Force One, Biden responded in the negative. "There's a more important thing going on," he said. Really, asked a cacophony of conservative commentary, what's more important than the border crisis?
With thousands of America's men and women in uniform expelled from the military due to the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Republican lawmakers are urging Congress to reinstate discharged servicemembers as the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) inches closer to passage. On Wednesday, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) signaled his support for restoring discharged troops, tweeting, "We owe it to the brave men and women of our Armed Forces to reinstate members dismissed for not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine WITH backpay."
If there's one thing Republicans are anxious to wrap up this Christmas, it's Democratic control. But there's plenty to do first, as both sides make a mad scramble to tie up dozens of legislative loose ends. Government funding tops the list, thanks to procrastinating Democrats who refused to make their most important constitutional obligation - passing a federal budget - a priority. Now, with time ticking down to a government shutdown this month, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are hoping Republicans will just roll over and let them set all of the spending priorities for next year. Not so fast, conservatives say.
Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock defeated Republican Herschel Walker in Georgia's runoff election Tuesday night, giving the Democratic Party an outright majority that eases their ability to pass legislation and confirm judges to the nation's bench.
The liberal morality police want to enact an entire body of law to curtail the God-given right of religious liberty and compress it into the narrowest of venues. Maybe within the walls of churches and perhaps in private homes, people will be able to uphold the tenets of Scripture. But step into the wide world and announce that sexual intimacy is reserved for one-man, one-woman marriage, let alone bring this belief into the marketplace, and watch out.
As Congress closes in on approving the next iteration of the defense authorization bill to fund the military for the next year, Republican lawmakers are threatening to withhold support for the measure until the Biden administration rescinds its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all military personnel. Critics of Biden's mandate point to how the policy has led to low recruitment numbers, lowering standards for new recruits, and unjust denial of benefits, among other issues.
The chances of a Democratic-led House lifting a finger to protect religious freedom were always slim. This is, after all, the same chamber that sent a sweeping same-sex marriage bill to the Senate without so much as a nod to the First Amendment. Their message to non-conformists was simple: the government is coming for you. And despite the urgent pleas of House and Senate conservatives, that hasn't changed.
As the Respect for Marriage Act moves through Congress, there have been a variety of attempts to defend the religious freedom protections in the bill. These attempts all fail for one reason or another. Many of them are silly, foolish, and dangerous. Here we take a look at one recent opinion piece in Deseret News, which makes certain claims about the Respect for Marriage Act - followed by specific rebuttals to those claims.
A substantial majority of American likely voters say that "the transgender movement has gone too far by encouraging underage minors to use drugs and surgery to transition to the oppose sex," according to a poll conducted by McLaughlin & Associates, in conjunction with Summit Ministries.
As Georgia voters go to the polls in Tuesday's U.S. Senate runoff election, the overwhelmingly Christian state could again be represented by a pastor who will use the Senate to promote his "rejection of the Bible's teachings" on issues ranging from abortion to the importance of the resurrection of Christ. Warnock has supported legislation to authorize abortion-on-demand until birth, strip Christians of conscience and religious liberty rights, and claimed Christians who oppose socialism need to "read the Bible" - claiming he holds a biblical position on each topic.
Another one of the 47 House Republicans who voted for the so-called Respect for Marriage Act has withdrawn his support, charging Democrats with "failing to provide legitimate safeguards for faith-based organizations" that hold "deeply-held religious beliefs" about natural marriage.
A new poll released Monday revealed that public trust in mainstream media outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, CBS News, etc. is at an all-time low. Meanwhile, a number of legacy outlets have recently announced that they will be slashing hundreds of jobs in an effort to cut costs.
In the December chill of Monday morning, a small crowd gathered outside the Supreme Court as the justices listened to the oral arguments for 303 Creative v. Elenis. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) President and General Counsel Kristen Waggoner represents graphic designer Lorie Smith in her battle to defend her First Amendment rights as an artist.
"We can all agree that a pacifist painter shouldn't be forced to paint a pro-war mural, and a Democratic speechwriter shouldn't be forced to write speeches for President Trump." Or can we? The state of Colorado and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) would have you believe that people of faith should not be allowed to open businesses if they plan to live out their convictions while running them. Time will tell whether that view prevails at the Supreme Court.
As the Senate voted 61-36 to pass the "(Dis)Respect for Marriage" Act last Tuesday, an editor for The Washington Post, Jonathan Capehart, wrote in its pages under the headline, "Gee, thanks for this tiny step to protect my same-sex marriage." Despite his self-description "as an institutionalist who recognizes the power of incrementalism," the act "offend[ed] my sense of fairness and justice" for including religious freedom protections. He urged the Senate to pass the misleadingly titled Equality Act "if the Senate really wanted to take a big step."
"Have you ever been denied a meal because of your beliefs?" Victoria Cobb asked. Because she has. The head of the Virginia Family Foundation spent the weekend grappling with the news that a local Richmond restaurant, Metzger Bar and Butchery, refused to serve her organization because of its conservative views. And if the Democrats' get their way with the bill to redefine marriage, guess what? A lot more Americans might have to go hungry.
Through the rallying of outraged moms and dads, who formed coalitions and voted for parental power in the classroom, the midterms are bringing even more victories for parents in education. Families across America are reaping the fruits of their labor as various school districts make headlines for their education reforms in favor of parental involvement.
For Christians, Nigeria has long been one of most violently abusive countries in the world. At the same time, the country also persists in mistreating atheists and other religious groups as well as non-radicalized Muslims. But Christians, in particular, continue to suffer brutal abuses, massacres, and terrorism. Genocide Watch has reported that in Nigeria, more than 6,000 Christians were killed in 15 months (January 2021-March 2022), while 45,644 died in the course of 13 years.
This past week, 61 U.S. senators voted for a bill that would abolish from federal law the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman - instead conferring the name, rights, and privileges of marriage on the union of any two adults, including same-sex couples. How could such a situation arise? And what should the people of God do when they find themselves in such a depraved culture? The book of Judges can help inform American Christians' response to our own cultural moment.
Each year, December 3 marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities -- a holiday facilitated by the United Nations with the intention to "promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights, and well-being of persons with disabilities." Ironically, however, some of the most influential global actors at work in the United Nations consistently demonstrate that they have zero regard for persons with disabilities if there is still time to prevent them from being born.
The American family is in dire straits. And despite what conservative political pundits may think, the root cause is not because the Senate just passed a bill to codify same-sex marriage or because California is paying for women to fly there for abortions.
Let's hope the 12 Republicans who voted to redefine marriage enjoyed the back-slapping of their Democratic colleagues, because they're about to settle in to the next (and longest) chapter of the Senate aftermath: the reckoning. While Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) basked in the praise of Senate radicals Tuesday, she and the other 11 GOP imposters now have the unenviable task of owning the votes they cast. And as reassuring as the Left's applause may have been, it was fleeting. The damage they have done to America and their reputations is not.
Atheism and humanism are on the rise, as the number of elected members filling state and federal seats who profess no belief in God increases from only five before 2016, to upward of 70 after the most recent election cycle - a sharp shift from the Judeo-Christian values that have defined America since its founding.
Recently, Human Rights Watch released an article titled, "US: Anti-Trans Bills Also Harm Intersex Children." It tried to explain why state legislation aimed at limiting irreversible gender transition procedures to adults over age 18 not only harms so-called "transgender children," but actually harms intersex kids, too, because they are "subjected" to "'normalizing' surgeries that are irreversible, risky, and medically unnecessary" before the age at which they can consent.
Republican National Council Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has named Family Research Council President Tony Perkins to a selective, newly formed panel that will chart the future course of the Republican Party. Conservative leaders say Perkins's appointment demonstrates his role as "a true leader and lamplighter in the conservative movement" - and the GOP's understanding that pro-life, pro-family voters will make up a critical mass of its voters for many election cycles to come.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a longtime critic of Elon Musk, has recently shared her opinion on the new CEO's changes to Twitter that allowed conservative voices to be heard again on the platform. On Wednesday, when a reporter from Fox Business asked Warren if users should have a right to free speech even if the content was wrong or offensive, she evaded the question and criticized Musk instead. "I think that one human being should not decide how millions of people communicate with each other, and it doesn't make any difference who that human being is. One human being should not be able to go into a dark room by himself and decide, 'Oh, that person gets heard from, that person doesn't.' That's not how it should work."
This week has been a difficult one, as we watch our nation be shamelessly compromised by our Congress in the lame duck session of 2022. After watching the Senate vote Tuesday to reject marriage as an institution uniquely between one man and one woman, I was reminded of one of my first experiences as a 4th grade religious education teacher.
Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis announced on Thursday that the state would pull over $2 billion worth of assets invested by woke asset manager BlackRock, Inc. The Florida Treasury would immediately remove $600 million in short-term investments and freeze $1.43 billion in longer-term investments, which will also be removed by the beginning of 2023. Patronis and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced plans to divest state funds from woke investments this summer, before both convincingly won reelection by nearly 20 percentage points.
As the U.S. Senate burned precious legislative days dealing with the Respect for Marriage Act, which senators like Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) noted was a "stupid waste of time" back in July because the 2015 Obergefell Supreme Court decision had already guaranteed same-sex couples a right to marry, observers are pointing to a logjam of critical priorities that must be dealt with during the final 15 legislative days before the lame duck session expires, including an omnibus bill to fund the federal government and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to fund the military.
Before casting a vote for same-sex marriage on Tuesday, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) spoke from the floor to enumerate all the reasons she shouldn't. "So, why have I strayed with such anguish from a path that conforms to my beliefs, my instruction, my faith to vote for the Respect for Marriage Act?" That's a great question to which many people want an answer, especially in Wyoming.
The attempt to cast doubt on the impartiality of Justice Amy Coney Barrett is not new. For years, those leading the moral revolution and pushing the panoply of LGBTQ+ issues have sought to caricature anyone who believes in a biblical sexual ethic as outdated or bigoted. But the argument that she ought to sit out a case due to her faith merits further consideration.
To be pro-life means to cherish life at all its stages, from the earliest moments in the womb to the final moments before eternity. This is one reason to celebrate that there are now eight billion people on the planet. Some estimates say that total population could reach as high as 10.4 billion or even higher by 2100. Yet the numbers don't tell the whole story.
In a provocative article published by The Guardian last week, former members of a Christian community, People of Praise, to which Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett belongs, argued that Barrett should recuse herself from the upcoming 303 Creative v. Elenis case. In some ways, this should be a wake-up call for Christians.
Attorneys General for 13 states filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to block capital asset manager Vanguard from purchasing more than $10 million worth of shares in publicly traded utility companies. They accused the firm of "engaging in environmental activism and using its financial influence to manipulate the activities of the utility companies in its portfolio."
In all the hullabaloo over the Senate vote on the (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act, there is one argument that may have gone overlooked that gets at the heart of God's design for framing marriage to be between a man and a woman.
The Biden administration has declined to appeal a federal court ruling that blocked their proposed federal mandate that would have required medical staff to perform gender transition procedures, including the removal of healthy organs, regardless of religious objections. The move could signal a recognition from the White House that a cultural shift away from widespread acceptance of gender transition procedures for minors is occurring.
For conservatives, who've spent the better part of six months in the trenches for an institution Republicans have always stood for, there were plenty of sad storylines from Tuesday night's marriage vote. Perhaps the saddest, at least to the movement's veterans, was watching men and women they trusted try to justify the abandonment of their longtime principles. Some didn't bother. Others, like Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.), took to the pages of their state's newspapers to mitigate the damage back home. And then there was Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), whose tragic and flawed thought process was laid bare for everyone to see - and lament.
China's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission promised Tuesday to "resolutely crack down on infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces" as protests against the communist regime's "zero COVID" policy lingered for a fifth day. In implementing the likely brutal lockdown, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will have an ally that might surprise many Westerners: California-based Apple, Inc.
Many Christians rightly possess a positive perspective of adoption as a means of growing a family - proven by the fact that Christians are twice as likely to adopt a child as other Americans. However, even among Christians, the rate of families that adopt is around a dismally low 5% despite 38% of practicing Christians having seriously considered adopting. There is perhaps no greater encouragement for someone considering adoption than to hear the wisdom of parents who have walked that road themselves - and who would make the same decision again in a heartbeat.
Despite the constantly shifting sands of the culture war, one could hope that there is still moral territory where common ground between conservatives and liberals can be found; namely, protecting children from the likes of pedophiles and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) producers. If the lack of shared public concern about harbingers of pedophilia is any indication, however, the complete moral desolation of western society may have already arrived on our doorstep.
On Tuesday night, the U.S. Senate passed the so-called "Respect for Marriage" Act which critics say invites "predatory lawsuits" against people of faith, stigmatizes biblical values, and drives Christians from the public square. Although nearly all Senate Republicans voted for amendments demanding greater respect for religious liberty, 12 Republicans voted for the unamended bill - and against the interests of their own voters, according to pro-family organizations.
On Saturday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury gave American energy company Chevron the green light to drill for oil again in Venezuela. Previously, the United States had targeted sanctions on the country due to the communist regime under President Nicolas Maduro. According to the Treasury Department's press release, this move towards natural resource extraction will help "alleviate the suffering of the Venezuelan people and support the restoration of democracy."
A school board in the Portland, Ore. area walked out during a meeting in October after parents brought up concerns over content in school libraries featuring "gender-affirming care" and sexually explicit material. Meanwhile, a medical doctor testified in an Arkansas court on Monday that gender-affirming care fails to take into account underlying psychological disorders.
The Chinese regime is gradually escalating a nationwide crackdown after a fatal apartment fire in the city of Urumqi flared up into widespread demonstrations against the central government. But the regime's tolerance of protests is nearly gone.
With Congress set to vote on the Democrat-led Respect for Marriage Act, a bill that would redefine marriage, there is ample cause for concern about the many consequences that might arise. The potential repercussions - both anticipated and not yet seen - make way for a longstanding argument: that we should not be quick to burn down the institutional structures passed down to us through the ages.
When the Senate floor came to a screeching halt Monday evening, there was hope that the Republicans' 12 marriage defectors were on the verge of making things right. For two and a half hours, the chamber was at a virtual standstill - crawling toward the 60 votes needed to move the so-called Respect for Marriage Act forward. A little before 8:00 p.m., the spell was broken, along with any confidence that the GOP's dozen Democrat enablers would have a change of heart.
As the United States grapples with the reality of a future without Roe v. Wade, the topic of adoption has surfaced as a surprising source of controversy. The abortion industry and its supporters have been quick to demonize adoption as a viable alternative to abortion - often citing concerns about transracial adoptions as causing a lifetime of trauma for a child. For countless adoptees like Jaelyn Morgan, however, adoption is characterized primarily by immense love.
In their newly released Abortion Surveillance report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a victory for life. In 2020, the year that gave us the COVID-19 pandemic, reported abortions decreased overall by 1.5% in the United States.
In a blow to religious freedom, the U.S. Senate voted to overcome a Republican filibuster against an amendment to the so-called "Respect for Marriage" Act, clearing the way for the passage of a bill that critics say is "dangerous," "deceptive," and "harmful" to Christian businesspeople and nonprofits soon to face legal harassment.
As senators prepare to take a series of votes on the deceptively titled "Respect for Marriage Act" (H.R. 8404) this week, one focal point of concern is the inadequate - perhaps even stillborn - protections that the bill to codify same-sex marriage provides for religious freedom.
I encourage you to immediately embark on a healthy change. Not in your diet, although that might be valuable. And not in your spiritual regimen, although that might also be life-changing. It is time for each of us to reconsider how we think about and engage in electoral politics.
Rare protests across China were sparked on Saturday against the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) ongoing draconian COVID-lockdowns. The Chinese people have endured exceedingly tight restrictions affecting daily life since the beginning of the pandemic. One incident in the city of Urumqi seemed to be the final straw - igniting pushback after 10 people were killed in a fire when rescue efforts were hampered by the government's "zero-COVID" policy.
A birthday is a celebration of life - but unfortunately, not everyone leaves behind a legacy that makes theirs worth celebrating. Friedrich Engels, co-father of Marxist theory, born 202 years ago today on November 28, 1820, is one such individual. Engels dedicated his life to an ideology that, in its every iteration, has destroyed lives - including by preventing the birthdays of millions of unborn children.
During this summer's monkeypox outbreak, one man who caught the virus casually told an interviewer something that would have seemed impossible to most readers: "I have a boyfriend and my boyfriend has a husband and we all live together." To most Americans, the combination - of words or relationships - would seem shocking. Yet some do not see the lack of monogamy in same-sex marriages as a problem: LGBT activists privately hope to break the "heteronormativity" of having only two partners in a marriage, "to infect the straight world" with polyamory, and to "radically alter" or abolish marriage altogether.
This year for Thanksgiving, I joined extended family for a Thursday feast and introduced them to my wife and son for the first time. Right there, I have a lot to be thankful for. Perhaps you, too, counted your many blessings this past week. Or perhaps you feel that your reasons to give thanks are few and far between. Either way, the Bible exhorts us to primarily give thanks for God's unalienable gifts that are immune to the circumstances of this life. "Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken" (Hebrews 12:28). In reinforcing our hope in our future reward, few books outshine that of Joshua.
Some people seem to make a career of attacking America's heroes. This is not to say anyone is above criticism or that our admiration for exceptional people should go from respect to reverence. Instead, there is a difference between dealing honestly with the flaws of the great and using those flaws to justify degrading them.
The Western world has been admirably united in opposing Russia's war in Ukraine. A new report, however, indicates that Christians may have more of a stake in the conflict than previously realized.
After any election, the true winners and losers are reflected not merely by the tally of votes received but how they are perceived by the public. Here is a brief guide now that the dust has settled on this month's midterm elections.
Without a doubt, 2022 has been a year of monumental victories for the unborn. This year brought with it unimaginable joy as the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade - the white whale of the pro-life movement - and over half of the country began protecting unborn lives at some point in gestation. The recent midterm elections, however, have left some Republicans blaming the half-hearted "red wave" on the Dobbs decision.
While the Biden administration has been spinning the border crisis as a natural disaster - after months of refusing to even acknowledge the existence of a crisis - House Republicans have argued otherwise, calling the crisis a man-made disaster that is the result of the Biden administration rescinding proven border security measures and implementing catch-and-release policies.
After every national election, the parties represented by an elephant and a donkey desperately seek a third mascot: a scapegoat. This year, both parties have selected a most appropriate sacrifice: the unborn. The Big Business-uber-alles wing of the GOP has made Lindsey Graham's bill, which would protect most (but not all) unborn children at 15 weeks, the unique object of its hatred.
Thanksgiving is a time we take to express our gratitude towards God. Families travel to see each other and maybe play a football game in the yard with friends and neighbors. That is, until last year, when experts and government officials warned us that if we celebrated, we risked death - to ourselves and our loved ones. Especially Grandma. So, stay home! That was the same advice given to the Pilgrims.
The fourth Thursday in November isn't quite as musically-inclined as the older, more internationally-known holidays. Maybe that's because it's a uniquely American holiday (I hear, you Canada...), or maybe it's because our mouths are too filled with turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie to sing effectively. , But we Christians don't have to settle for a songless Thanksgiving Day. After all, we have a whole book of songs, many of which focus on gratitude.
Shortly after Dr. Anthony Fauci gave his final public statement as a government official, one of the doctors Fauci tried to drive from public view gave his own assessment of Fauci's tenure: "His advice turned out very badly," said Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford University professor of medicine and co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration. In his career overall, "He has not succeeded."
The president of the second largest teacher's union in the country described conservative arguments against transgender ideology as "demonic" in a recent interview. But experts say that this rhetorical tactic is a way of dismissing unfavored arguments without ever addressing them.
While Americans are running last minute errands for a weekend of feasting and football, conservatives are frantically working to stop what's awaiting everyone on Monday: the end of religious freedom as we know it. With just days until the next big hurdle on the so-called Respect for Marriage Act, House and Senate Republicans are working around the clock to peel off three of the 60 votes Democrats need to keep the bill alive. Target number one? The party's 12 defectors.
With the 24/7 news cycle rapidly providing reasons to be deeply concerned for the state of our country, Thanksgiving offers an opportunity for us to reexamine our circumstances in life. President George Washington, who led under-supplied rag-tag American patriots in poor conditions against the mighty British army, was no stranger to hardship nor was he naive regarding the immense challenges faced by the new country he fought to establish. Instead of dwelling on the difficulties surrounding him - including internal divisions in his administration and even the fear that the burgeoning political system might fail - he pointed the American people to express gratitude to Almighty God.
According to new post-midterm polling, American voters under 30 are gradually becoming less liberal. On Monday, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk tweeted about Morning Consult survey numbers indicating a 13-point drop in young voters voting liberal in the last five years.
While both parties sift through the midterm results, trying to decipher what messages resonated with voters, Republicans won't have to look far. One of the biggest takeaways for the GOP ought to be just how fed up Americans are with woke capital. Whatever dam broke when conservative governors started doing battle with corporate bullies is opening the political floodgates. And the results of November 8 prove it.
America has increasingly defined itself as a land that lives by fictions. One of the most pervasive lies insists that Americans support same-sex marriage by ever-increasing margins. But occasionally, one of the media's myths runs into a contradictory reality that people know is true in their bones. The belief that married people should not have sex with anyone except their spouse comes as close to a universally accepted truth as this country can muster. That sets public support for same-sex marriage on a collision course with itself.
When Disney CEO Bob Chapek sent a memo to senior leaders Friday explaining that the company was "going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions," he had no idea just how uncomfortable they were about to become. Less than two days later, the ax fell in his own office, ending one of the most tumultuous chapters in Disney history. Chapek, who'd been a polarizing figure from the get-go, was out - and no one was more surprised than him.
With Obergefell, the Supreme Court made gay marriage the law of the land and mandated that government institutions and processes could make no legal distinctions between adult romantic relationships. Two married men cannot be treated any differently than a married man and woman. Indeed, from the perspective of adult emotional fulfillment, there may be no distinction. But from the child's perspective, these two couplings are polar opposites.
As the World Cup soccer tournament kicks off this week - the most watched sporting event in the world - host country Qatar has come under increasing scrutiny because of its restrictions on religious freedom and the human rights violations committed there in order to prepare for the tournament.
In a feel-good story of local generosity, Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, Feed the Fridge, is doing its part to provide Thanksgiving meals for seniors and military families in need. The charity, founded by the co-owner of Medium Rare restaurant, Mark Bucher, started the initiative during the pandemic to feed the hungry and keep small, local restaurants in business. Now, Bucher taking that same goodwill and changing families' holiday for the better.
Last week, Americans witnessed a disturbing vote in the United States Senate as 12 Republican senators joined all 50 Democrats in voting for the so-called Respect for Marriage Act. One of the most interesting storylines is Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who was eager to vote for the bill and quickly dismissed religious liberty concerns in his floor speech. But we need only look back 10 years ago to find a very different Thom Tillis.
Former "Full House" star Candace Cameron Bure is taking the heat for telling The Wall Street Journal that her new television channel will keep Christianity, including "traditional marriage," central in their family-oriented films.
As pressure ramps up on the Democrats' same-sex marriage bill, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) is teaming up with 20 of his colleagues to demand that the party's 12 deserters reconsider their position before the next vote. "The free exercise of religion is absolutely essential to the health of our Republic," Lee wrote in a "Dear Colleague" letter first obtained by The Daily Signal. "We must have the courage to protect it."
"Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here," wrote John J. Ray III of cryptocurrency exchange FTX on Thursday. \rThe sudden rise and spectacular fall of FTX is a cautionary tale for everyone, but believers, in particular, can benefit by applying the wisdom of Scripture to this case study.
For the second time in a week, a woman who has detransitioned from a gender-nonconforming lifestyle is suing the health care professionals who advised her to undergo gender transition procedures, including the surgical removal of both breasts. The lawsuit highlights a growing trend of formerly gender-confused individuals who are suing the health care industry over what they say is medical malpractice for leaving them with disfigured bodies because of medical misdiagnosis.
If the 12 Republican senators who voted for the Democrats' same-sex marriage bill don't have buyer's remorse, they will. Take it from Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.). Ever since his "yea" vote in July, the House Freedom Caucus chair has been squarely in the blast zone of movement conservatives. Now, as his Senate colleagues flirt dangerously with the same mistake, he has one word for them: Don't.
Addressing the declining U.S. birthrate and its economic consequences on the nation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is betting on 11 million illegal immigrants and "Dreamers" from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to do the heavy lifting.
Recent Gallup polling shows that most Americans aren't worrying about COVID like they used to. Mandatory masks, proof of vaccination, six-foot social distancing, and quarantine seem to be buzzwords of the recent past for 78% of respondents who reported that they have completely returned to their normal cadences of life.
In the ever-expanding "Now I've Heard Everything" file, we must today place the latest dictum from Hillary Clinton. "Voters didn't just choose Democrats in these midterm elections," she has written of last week's election. "They chose democracy."
If you're waiting for the Georgia runoff to decide what the Republicans' margins are, don't bother. Thanks to Wednesday's marriage vote, we know exactly where the lines are drawn. Heading into this week, a lot of people said that America was about to find out what the Senate GOP is made of. Now we know. Republicans may be down one seat in the Senate, but they're 12 short where it matters - on principle.
The state of Arkansas is currently on trial in federal court for attempting to protect children from mutilation and sterilization. The Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act would prohibit irreversible gender transition procedures on minors, but it's been blocked from taking effect while it makes its way through the litigation process.
Instead of a war on Christmas, this year features a war on the retailers who sell Christmas gifts. Target reported earnings per share of $1.54, 49.3% lower than the anticipated $3.04. The lackluster profits were partly due to declines in consumer spending, but another, less expected factor was organized retail crime.
A new program run by the city of San Francisco was announced Wednesday that will give a guaranteed monthly income to people who identify as transgender. The program will focus on giving the free money to transgender-identifying individuals who are homeless. City officials made no mention of a similar program for homeless individuals who do not identify as transgender.
A publicly funded state teachers union hosted a drag queen story hour for children at its convention last week. The New Jersey Educators Association (NJEA), which skims millions of dollars directly from property taxes and "is by far the biggest political spender in New Jersey," directly promoted woke political topics for the classroom at its 2022 convention.
Eight days after Election Day, when American voters went to the polls to cast their votes in the midterm elections, the U.S. is still waiting to know the final results. Seven races in the House of Representatives have still not been called by election officials because ballots are still being counted. Many are asking: in perhaps the most technologically advanced nation on earth, why is it taking so long?
A bill supported by President Biden that would legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, threaten Christians who object to participating in LGBT ceremonies, and create a bonanza for trial lawyers to sue believers in natural marriage cleared a key Senate hurdle Wednesday afternoon - with the assistance of 12 Republicans.
A Georgia lower court on Tuesday struck down Sections 4 and 11 in the state's heartbeat bill, provisions that prohibit abortions after a heartbeat is detected, which typically occurs around six weeks gestation. Superior Court of Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney wrote, "those provisions exist on paper only; they have never had legal effect in Georgia. They were and are void and must be re-enacted in our post-Roe world if they are to become the law of Georgia."
At the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) exchanged their crest's red, white, and blue team colors for rainbow stripes in an attempt to bring LGBT activism to the forefront of the Middle Eastern country's mind where homosexuality is outlawed. Though the crest won't be seen on the playing field, the message will be loud and clear off the field.
The Parents Television and Media Council (PTC) released a new study revealing that major media companies such as HBO, Netflix, and Hulu are targeting children with adult content on social media. In their report, "A TikTok-ing Time Bomb," PTC found that despite their TV-MA ratings, children were being exposed to dangerous, violent, and sexual adult television shows via popular TikTok and Instagram hashtags.
"America's comeback starts right now," former President Donald Trump told hundreds of cheering supporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence Tuesday night, as he announced he will run for a second term as president of the United States. Trump asked for prayer as he vowed to protect parental rights, prevent males from competing in women's sports, and "defend life" in an hour-long speech that proved light on specific policies on social issues.
"We've all heard of people being cancelled, thrown off social media, even fired from jobs ... But how many years before a Christian minister [who speaks] on marriage and sexual orientation is reported [to] a government anti-terrorism program?" For Reverend Dr. Bernard Randall, that time has already come. The chaplain of a Church of England School was suspended, fired for gross misconduct, and reported to child protective services simply for restating what the Church of England believes. If his story sounds like a distant outlier, it's not. Randall's nightmare will be every Christian's nightmare if our Senate passes the Respect for Marriage Act.
The abortion industry has garnered both financial profit and political support by marketing itself as an essential component of women's rights - but the evidence proves that legal abortion has concealed the crimes of abusers for generations. Now, as states increasingly embrace pro-life laws that protect the unborn from abortion, abusers are finding it more difficult to manipulate women behind closed doors.
One Republican senator who is considering supporting the so-called Respect for Marriage Act is Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah). "I'd like to get onto the bill," he told The Hill. Romney hopes to attach a flimsy religious freedom amendment to the bill. "If that amendment is attached to the bill, I'll vote for it." Romney sang a much different tune in 2006, when as governor of Massachusetts he joined a Family Research Council simulcast in Boston.
Many have commented that this election was a referendum on abortion. With two pro-life ballot initiatives going down in flames, and radical amendments in California, Michigan, and Vermont passing by large margins, it is hard to make the case that a majority of Americans value life in the womb. Sadly, abortion is not the only example of a time when the collective conscience of the American people has been beaten into submission. There was another point in American history when the question of personhood of a human being was put to a vote.
An 18-year-old advocate for the rights of children who struggle with gender dysphoria is filing a lawsuit against a California-based health care company for "breaching the standard of care" when it recommended and performed puberty blocking drugs, hormone therapy, and surgical transition procedures on her as a minor. The news comes as legacy media outlets are beginning to acknowledge the significant health risks that puberty blocking drugs and gender transition surgeries pose to minors.
Andrew Thorburn had no idea the whirlwind he was in for when he accepted the job of chief executive of Australian Football League club Essendon. He would be pressured to resign just over 24 hours after taking the job. At the center of this controversy was not a personal scandal nor an accusation of being unqualified - rather, it was his association with City on a Hill Church, where he served as chairman.
In an otherwise deflating election for Republicans, one of the few areas where conservatives did make hay was America's school boards. From Florida to Loudoun County, the parents' rebellion rode a red wave of upsets from coast to coast. For all of the chatter about what the GOP could have done differently in these midterms, education stands alone as one of the most powerful issues connecting the party with voters. So why would Republicans support a bill that strips away parents' say in the classroom? Good question - one that every American should be asking their U.S. senators before Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made the case Monday on MSNBC for why it will be "a lot easier to get things done" for Senate Democrats if their party wins the Georgia runoff election. Having that one additional vote enables the party to confirm more progressive nominees, pass legislation more quickly, and exercise subpoena power, he said.
Trust is a wonderful thing. It enables friendships and business investment, marriages and simple purchases at the grocery store. Yet trust, when misplaced, is also a dangerous thing. It emboldens the deceptive and destroys the naÏve. It is my fear that our president might well be in this last category.
Even as officials continue to count the ballots in midterm races, President Joe Biden admitted voters should not "expect much of anything" on his signature campaign promise to codify Roe v. Wade into law, admitting he lacks the votes. At the same time, two federal courts have blocked Biden's student loan bailout, effectively hamstringing two issues that fueled his unexpectedly successful showing last Tuesday.
Though a week has passed since Tuesday's midterm elections, more than a dozen races for the U.S. House seats have yet to be called, according to Fox News, keeping a slim but anticipated Republican majority for the House at bay from the 218-seat target.
In February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, most western Christians didn't express immediate concern about threats to religious freedom. Everyone knew the fighting would be ugly, and a general sense of dread was stirred up by reports of Russia's notorious ruthlessness in other conflicts. Yet specific fears of what might happen to religious believers in Ukraine were not clear in our minds. In retrospect, we should have been paying closer attention.
When Republicans secure a narrow House majority, which appears likely as vote counting continues, it will mean an aggressive oversight agenda in the new year, something the Biden administration largely has avoided from Congress in its first two years. Here are eight investigations to expect under GOP leadership of the House in the coming year.
Dawn broke crisp and clear over Mount Sinai on Sunday morning, as half a dozen climate activists gathered to adorn their cause with religious overtones. They chose the site based on its proximity to COP27, a global climate summit now underway at Sinai coastal resort Sharm El-Sheikh, but once chosen they couldn't resist conscious parallels to Moses receiving the Old Covenant.
While the country's attention flits between the slow drip of election results and Bali's G20 summit, Democrats continue to bask in their softer-than-expected midterm landing. The president, who's taken America's five-million vote shift toward the House GOP as a mandate to change nothing, insisted after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping that the divided results prove that "America is back."
Since the earliest days of the church, false teachers have preyed upon the ill-informed, the impressionable, and the immature. Whether for financial gain or the intoxication of power or because of their own spiritual blindness, those who misrepresent the true Gospel of Jesus Christ are legion. Examples abound.
Every November, the United States celebrates National Adoption Month - a tradition that began in 1984 when President Ronald Reagan first instituted National Adoption Week. For generations, American adoption activists have worked to destigmatize and celebrate the beauty of growing a family through adoption. As more birth mothers consider placing their child for adoption in an increasingly abortion-free America, it is more important than ever to recognize the beauty and hope that characterize stories of adoption.
Republicans may have controlled the redistricting process in more states following the 2020 census, but that hasn't translated into a huge increase of seats in Congress. An analysis by The Washington Stand reveals that Republicans will gain only 1-5 seats in Congress due to redistricting, even though they controlled the redistricting process in 19 states (with 184 seats in Congress), compared to eight states controlled by the Democrats (with 75 seats in Congress).
Republicans haven't won the House yet, but the media is already salivating over the next election - for GOP leadership. While a handful of districts are still up for grabs, the headlines are full of juicy gossip that Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is in for a rocky road to the speakership if his party wins back the gavel. Will there be a messy dogfight over key posts - or is the Left just trying to splinter a narrow majority into unworkable GOP pieces?
On Wednesday, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) made headlines when he posted a comment on Twitter stating that he thought the idea of parents being in charge of their children's education was "stupid." The controversial statement comes in light of a sweeping movement across the nation of parents getting more involved in public education, particularly through running for and winning school board seats.
On Veterans Day, we honor these brave individuals for their willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice and offer their country the very best that they had to give. Every citizen owes a debt of gratitude to the veterans who have made our freedom possible. For President Biden, however, America's veterans appear to have only one purpose: advancing his personal radical abortion agenda.
The man behind the Supreme Court case that redefined marriage nationwide lost his bid to enter the lowest rung of state politics by a landslide on Tuesday. Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges case, ran as a Democrat for the Ohio House of Representatives, losing by 23 percentage points in a district that is 57% Republican. Republican State Rep. D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron) vastly outperformed that metric while burying Obergefell in a 61% to 38% electoral blowout.
CNN exit polling from Tuesday's midterm elections shows that the unmarried woman's vote has become a force for the Democratic party, with 68% voting blue at the ballot box. Some, such as Fox News's Jesse Watters, have gone so far as to say that single women were what stood between Republicans and their anticipated red wave.
Democrats faced a rude awakening in the 2016 election when Donald Trump's surprise upset victory was propelled, in part, by his major inroads into the Left's "Blue Wall." This shock evidently awoke the Democrat's political machine to lock down the voting base in the big three: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Republicans underperformed expectations of a red wave on Tuesday, striking out in dozens of races for governor's mansions, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House which were rated as "toss-ups." But a state where Republicans did surprisingly well is New York.
Only days after a plurality of voters (31%) selected inflation as the top issue in exit polls, another month of bad news proved them right. Inflation rose 7.7% over the past year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Thursday release of Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for October. Every dollar in your pocket has lost that much purchasing power without ever exchanging hands.
For the first six months after Jane's Revenge began a domestic terrorism campaign, pro-life pregnancy resource centers asked the federal government to stop the violence. Now, they're asking an expected pro-life majority in Congress to protect the unborn.
Family Research Council didn't view my son's birth as the end of my career. Instead, they viewed it as an opportunity to utilize the unique gifts moms bring to the workplace. In a country where women are often presented with a choice - children or a career - FRC's willingness to try something different is the envy of every mom I talk to at the park.
As the two sides try to make sense of Tuesday's surprises, Americans can agree on one thing: there were plenty of successes and disappointments to go around. Republicans and Democrats will both walk away discouraged about certain assumptions they carried into this week - and they are equal parts proud and reassured by other obstacles they overcame. By the end of the night, the GOP's sky-high expectations were the drag on what should have been a triumphant moment - stopping President Joe Biden's unchecked radicalism in its tracks.
One might expect the waning of a globe-altering pandemic would bring a sense of relief among the global community. Instead, we've seen the opposite. Relief isn't here.
Riding a nearly 20-point win in his gubernatorial race Tuesday night, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) had six more reasons to celebrate: all six of the school board candidates that he endorsed also won their races. The victories served as a stark reminder of how important the issue of education and parental rights has become, as DeSantis made the issues central to his campaign.
While Republicans underwhelmed expectations of a red wave, the party did extend their gains among a key demographic: Hispanic voters. While the trend is not new to the 2022 election - indeed, the mainstream mediahas warnedextensivelyabout it - the results cement and extend previous gains. Indeed, the GOP outperformed its 2018 performance in 29 out of 33 Hispanic-majority congressional districts, and its 2020 performance in 25 districts, according to an analysis of preliminary results by The Washington Stand. In 13 districts, Republicans bested their 2018 performance by more than 20 percentage points.
Though the wall of Roe v. Wade has fallen, injustice and evil have remained unchecked or been strengthened in multiple states across the country. After the election, it is just as dangerous to be an unborn baby in Michigan as it is to be one in North Korea. Roe is gone - but the hearts of Americans have been infected with the culture of death that was permitted to fester for nearly 50 years. Though the necessity to win hearts and minds for life is an intimidating prospect, it is not an impossible one.
Tuesday night's midterm election results brought in victories for several staunchly pro-life governors across America. While voters remain concerned over the economy, the border, and education, strong pro-life policy turned out to be a winning issue for many incumbent Republican governors.
As states continue counting the final ballots, the race for control of the Senate is taking shape. As of Wednesday afternoon, The Associated Press had unofficially called a winner in all but three races, with control of the Senate still undetermined. Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada continue to hold the keys to the next party majority.
The marijuana industry suffered a blistering setback in the 2022 midterm election, as voters in three states turned back a well-financed campaign to expand recreational marijuana use. The David vs. Goliath contests pitted marijuana companies against a broad-based coalition of civic and faith leaders, which prevailed in the most hotly contested showdown.
Republicans do not appear to have been able to bring the "big red wave" to the shoreline. Multiple elections remain too close to call, leaving control of both the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate uncertain. "There is no red wave. I don't even know if you call it a red ripple tonight," former Rep. Michele Bachmann told Family Research Council President Tony Perkins during a special election night coverage.
While other states were urging patience, the ballots didn't take long to count in Florida, where Republican Ron DeSantis kicked off the night by mopping the floor with Democratic challenger Charlie Crist. His near 20-point landslide set the tone for a remarkable evening in Florida, where Senator Marco Rubio (R) also cruised to his third term - proof that the Sunshine State is not the swing state it once was.
A recent Wall Street Journal story highlighted how the median net worth for cohabitating couples is significantly lower (at $17,372) than it is for married couples ($68,210). This data is the latest in a string of reports that continue to come out exhibiting the benefits of marriage, even as the rates of cohabitation rise and marriages fall.
Dr. George Barna, a senior fellow with Family Research Council's Center for Biblical Worldview, conducted research through the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University exploring what Americans believe about morality. From a sampling of 2,275 respondents, Barna aimed to answer this question: How do people decide what is right versus what is wrong?
Abortion activists unfurled a creative new campaign medium in Philadelphia, in the final push before the 2022 midterm election. Dozens of tiny drones lit up the night sky, bat signal-style. Like a marching band at halftime, they spelled out the Democrats' all-important, closing message of the election: "Protect Abortion. Our Lives, Our Bodies, Our Futures."
Free speech advocate Elon Musk is ready to crack the whip on U.S. Twitter advertisers who give into progressive activist pressure and leave the platform. On November 4 he tweeted, "Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists. Extremely messed up! They're trying to destroy free speech in America."
One of the most legendary soccer players of his time received a jail sentence and a fine for posting "transphobic" social media messages citing the Bible's creation account. "God created Adam and Eve," wrote retired Greek football legend Vassilis Tsiartas in the second of two Facebook posts opposing a 2017 law that would have lowered the age to legally change one's gender to 15 and removed other legal barriers.
Wafting through Biden's speech last week was the Democrats' aroma of desperation as they struggle to find any winning issue to stump through Election Day. Since July, Democrats have piled all their chips on abortion, hoping voters would punish Republicans for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, overriding usual midterm trends. But when Democrats leaned into abortion, the issue proved to be a paper wall. Without abortion, Democrats don't have much to campaign on.
November 8 will mark the first Election Day in a post-Roe v. Wade America, where elected representatives are free to determine the protections that our nation will afford to babies in the womb. To create a culture of life in the United States where all humans receive their God-given rights, voters must use this opportunity to cast their ballot in favor of candidates and policies that will protect the unborn. Here are eight reminders to consider as you prepare for Election Day.
It goes without saying that our democracy only works if every American has confidence in our elections. That's why the RNC has been on the frontlines fighting relentlessly to hold Democrats accountable and protect the vote.
A global "news" outlet has accused a black female Republican candidate of spouting "incendiary Christian nationalist statements" for encouraging Christians to share the gospel. Vice News claimed that Kristina Karamo, Republican candidate for Michigan Secretary of State, has a "history of transphobic, homophobic, and incendiary Christian nationalist statements." To define the term Christian nationalism, the reporter twice linked to an apolitical statement that does not mention nations, government, or politics.
Every year, thousands of young people attend colleges and universities that profess a strong commitment to the Bible and the historic teachings of the Christian faith. Yet today many schools that profess Evangelical Protestant beliefs are straddling an ever-widening chasm between the convictions they claim and the policies they practice. Calvin University is the latest example.
As we enter the final stretches of the midterm election season, summer feels like it was ages ago. But some of you might remember that blistering hot July day just before Congress departed for their August recess when the Pelosi-led House of Representatives passed the so-called "Respect for Marriage Act."
As recently as a decade ago, our military establishment was the most trusted and honorable of all government organizations. However, things began to change during the Obama administration with worrisome surveys telling a different story. Today's Americans are telling pollsters that their level of trust in America's leadership and confidence in our military services are steadily declining. There are some disturbing reasons for this.
Words have meaning and a weight to the meaning, regardless of the language. Words, whether spoke or not, can also have consequences, justified or not. Words that someone is compelled to speak by the powers that be, such as the government, goes against every fiber of the First Amendment. After all, that is not free speech. Former West Point, Va. public school teacher Peter Vlaming knows all this first-hand.
Say the guy next door doesn't like your spouse, your house, your children, your profession, etc. In all likelihood, you would say, in as many words, "Who cares?" You're comfortable with the choices you've made and are unconcerned with whether they meet a cranky neighbor's approval. Why is it, then, that so many people who now identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender insist not only that society accepts them but also affirms and even celebrates their lifestyle choices? Why do they care so much?
It's fall, and we're once again falling back into the dark ages. Not really, of course. It's simply the end of the charade we've all played for the past eight months called Daylight Saving Time (DST). Every first Sunday in November, we all pretend that we get an extra hour of sleep, move whichever ancient non-resetting clocks we still own back one hour, and begrudgingly welcome the dinnertime darkness. While our internal circadian rhythms won't change immediately, we'll instantly alter our external daily schedules to align with the new norm. And everybody does it because, well, because it's the law.
The Florida Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine on Friday adopted standards of care regarding the treatment of individuals suffering from gender dysphoria. During a joint board meeting, the boards each voted to adopt new Practice Standards for the Treatment of Gender Dysphoria that prevent doctors from performing experimental gender transition procedures on minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender transition surgeries.
In recent years, the individuals responsible for leading our nation have often been marked by either immense fame or a lifetime of name recognition based on holding prior offices. Perhaps it is time for Americans to raise our standards and place greater value on a key indicator of integrity for political leaders: respect for human life.
This past summer, when Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb (R) signed legislation outlawing abortion almost completely in the state, Eli Lilly and Company, a major pharmaceutical company, stated that "given this new law, we will be forced to plan for more employment growth outside our home state," and that the law "will hinder Lilly's - and Indiana's - ability to attract diverse scientific, engineering and business talent from around the world." But after a series of mixed messaging that tried to target the overturning of Roe v. Wade, CEO David Ricks quickly changed his mind.
A year into his dumpster fire of a presidency, Joe Biden's team must have already assumed the midterms were lost. By January, when the president had collected more failures than most presidents do in two terms, a tiny seed was being planted. Asked if America would have "free and fair" elections in 2022, Biden replied, "Oh, yeah, I think it easily could be illegitimate. ... I'm not going to say it's going to be legit." Not a single ballot had been cast, and the president was already declaring the whole thing rigged.
A few years ago, controversy struck the Miss United States Of America (USOA) franchise when Anita Green, a biological male who, after transitioning, now identifies as a transwoman, sued the organization for discrimination. While Green had competed in beauty pageants before, such as Miss Montana USA, Miss USOA only allows for "natural born females" to enter their pageants. Upon trying to compete in Oregon, Green argued that the organization had violated the state's public accommodation law. The Ninth Circuit Court disagreed.
On Friday, House Republicans in the Judiciary Committee released a 1,050-page report detailing the testimonies of whistleblowers as well as other documents that point to the growing politicization of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice. The report quoted the descriptions of whistleblowers characterizing the FBI bureaucracy as "rotted at its core" and full of "rampant corruption, manipulation, and abuse."
Penguin Random House rejected a demand to cancel a book deal with Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Over 700 employees in the publishing world have signed an open letter urging the publishing giant to cancel the book deal, first reported in 2021, for her decision this summer to overturn Roe v. Wade. But, in another sign that the woke mob is losing its leverage, Penguin Random House refused to cave.
Only days before the midterm elections in which control of the U.S. House and Senate will be decided, every race matters. One race that could determine control of the Senate is in Pennsylvania where voters will choose between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz to replace retiring Republican Pat Toomey. While this race contains the usual fights over the minimum wage, abortion, and energy policy, discussions over Mr. Fetterman's health have taken center stage following a stroke he suffered around the same time he became the Democrat's nominee.
After multiple federal intelligence agencies warned of a "heightened threat" of violent attacks against people involved in abortion or family issues, the CEO of a firebombed pregnancy center is asking Christians to hold a prayerful vigil outside pro-life institutions on election night and the next evening.
Given the fall of Roe v. Wade earlier this year, much of the mainstream media's focus this election cycle has been on abortion, including the many abortion-related, state-level ballot initiatives being considered by voters. Understandably so. But there is another important issue that will be voted on directly by the people this November - marijuana legalization. A total of five states - Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota - are considering ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana this year.
On Election Day, November 8, Kentuckians - for the first time ever - will have the opportunity to directly vote to protect the sanctity of preborn human life and safeguard our tax dollars from paying for the horrors of abortion by voting Yes on Amendment 2.
"Let's Declare a Pandemic Amnesty," begged a Monday headline in The Atlantic. Author Emily Oster, an economist at Brown University, explained underneath, "We need to forgive one another for what we did and said when we were in the dark about COVID." Since then, conservative rebuttals have flown thick and fast - including, doubtless, many who never read her piece - ranging from respectful to vengeful. A week out from the midterm elections, many on the right are in no forgiving mood.
A prominent pediatric neurosurgeon has publicly spoken out against performing gender transition procedures on minors in a recent Federalist podcast, adding to the growing number of doctors around the country voicing strong objections to the controversial practice as well as a strong majority of voters heading into next week's midterm elections.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that since the August primary election, over 80,000 Floridians have registered as Republicans, nine for every one newly registered Democrat, whose numbers have not significantly increased. Recent polling has DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio (R) taking considerable leads in their respective races, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
President Joe Biden re-engaged the issue of drug legalization with his recent announcement of a blanket pardon for anyone who had committed the federal offense of simple possession of marijuana - around 6,500 individuals. This executive action intensified discussion over whether Congress should take further steps to legalize the drug - and where it might lead.
Although the DHS has dissolved their controversial Disinformation Governance Board (nicknamed the "ministry of truth" by critics) earlier this year, word broke this week that the organization has continued monitoring "misinformation" on social media platforms. Facebook even granted direct access to the DHS and government partners to report alleged disinformation.
During a caustic speech in Washington's crime-ridden Union Station Wednesday night, President Joe Biden declared all people of goodwill "must unite to make it absolutely clear that violence and intimidation have no place in America." He could begin by protecting pro-life advocates, who are 22 times more likely to suffer violent attacks than abortion facilities, a new study has found.
This week on "The View," Anne Hathaway, star of "The Devil Wears Prada," used the anniversary of the film to further perpetuate two lies. The first lie is that women need abortion to succeed, and the second is that women should be satisfied with a world where this is true.
Since the pandemic, the traffic seems to only run one way in California: out. "For Sale" signs dot the lawns up and down the state, as the mass exodus continues. Los Angeles and San Francisco have been hardest hit, racking up top honors as the two cities Americans are fleeing most. For some, it's the expensive housing and high prices. For others, it's the crime and dangerous streets. But that violence is about to get a whole lot worse if Proposition 1 passes. Pretty soon, the most unsafe place to be in California could be the womb.
As news surfaced that almost 60% of CEOs plan to move away from a controversial investment strategy known as "environmental, social, and governance" (ESG) investing in the next six months, Oklahoma became the first state to put into effect a law requiring the state to no longer conduct business with financial firms that use ESG strategies to shun fossil fuel companies.
Pennsylvania taxpayers have paid more than $16.7 million since 2015 on gender transition procedures for minors, according to public records obtained by the Pennsylvania Family Institute (PFI). The news comes at the same time that the U.K.'s National Health Service concluded that, for many adolescents who identify as transgender, doing so is just a "transient phase."
The Supreme Court's decision to return the issue of abortion to the states has resulted in two new firsts: Many states held their first-ever marches for life, and the legacy media had their first opportunity to lie about them. One of the most egregious examples of media bias involved the Ohio March for Life. Thankfully, pro-life advocates can stave off this common media attack by using one word.
Maybe a recession wouldn't be the worst thing in the world after all. According to the woke CEOs of America, conservatives would at least have one thing to look forward to: a "pause" in ESG investing. That's one of the stunning takeaways from KPMG's latest survey of hundreds of top executives. "In an uncertain economic environment, CEOs are adjusting their business strategies ..." Chair Paul Knopp explained. And one of those "adjustments" is to reconsider their radical activism - a shift red states are speeding up with every painful divestment.
Big cities, small cities, suburban areas - the uptick in juvenile crime does not discriminate. From Los Angeles to Philadelphia, children are ganging up to commit crimes like robbery and carjacking. In Washington, D.C., one 13-year-old has already filled out his rap sheet with 11 counts of armed robbery, carjacking, and assault. "I've been in law enforcement for nearly 23 years now, and I will honestly say, within the last year or two, it has been the worst I've ever seen it regarding our youth," said Tyree Jones, sheriff of Hinds County, Mississippi, home to the state's capital in Jackson.
Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), joined Tony Perkins on "Washington Watch" this week to discuss the legal action the RNC is taking against Google's purported censorship of their account. She claimed that their emails would go from 90% deliverability to 0% in the last four days of every month for the past ten months.
On Monday, Politico reported that around $57 million has been spent in support of Michigan's Proposition 3 ahead of next week's midterm elections, a ballot proposal that would codify abortion into a fundamental right in the Michigan Constitution. Experts say the large sum highlights the vast funds available to the abortion industry, while also warning of how the referendum could negatively impact parental rights and the health of minors.
It is no secret that the U.S. military is struggling to maintain its dominance at the international level. A recent annual report from the Heritage Foundation ranked the U.S. military as "weak" for the first time since reporting started. With threats looming from hostile actors regarding strategic U.S. interests on the Korean Peninsula, the Taiwan Strait, and in the Middle East, military leadership has its hands full. Instead of taking these concerns seriously, President Biden's Department of Defense is busy playing politics.
After months of COVID postponements, fall of 2021 saw most schools re-open nationally. Would all be forgiven and forgotten with this "return to normal?" Were kids as resilient as we were promised, could they bounce back? It seems not.
Just nine days before the 2022 midterm elections, a widely touted media outlet has accused the Biden administration of not cracking down hard enough on churches. Yet critics say the law the story endorses violates the First Amendment's protection of religious liberty.
This past summer, Macy Petty, a college junior interning at Family Research Council's headquarters in Washington, D.C., stood outside the court in anticipation of the release of the Dobbs decision. When it finally dropped, Petty fell to her knees and sobbed tears of joy. A few weeks ago, Petty discovered that the clip of her falling to her knees in tears was being used in a pro-abortion advertisement paid for by the California Democratic Party.
Don't ask the man who sings "Most People Are Good" what he thinks about those lyrics this week. Country music star Luke Bryan is probably wondering if people are even rational after spending the weekend as a social media punching bag. Bryan, who's also a celebrity judge on "American Idol," became the object of the Left's fury after his Jacksonville concert on Friday, when he invited Governor Ron DeSantis (R) on stage to help him raise money for the state's hurricane victims. Within hours, Luke was trying to clean up from another storm - his own.
Americans would be hard-pressed to name a president in U.S. history who has taken a more radically anti-life stance on abortion than President Joe Biden - but even #46 can't seem to appease the increasingly dangerous ideas of the abortion industry and the bloodthirsty lobby that supports it.
Independent voters are increasingly shifting to favor a Republican candidates for the U.S. House, according to two CBS News/YouGov polls conducted over the course of October. In a poll conducted October 12-14, 40% of independent registered voters said they would vote for a Democrat for the House of Representatives, while 38% said they would vote for a Republican (D+2). In an October 26-28 poll, 33% of independents said they would vote for a Democrat, while 49% said they would vote for Republican (R+16). Interactive Polls first noticed the 18-point swing in the GOP's favor over a mere two weeks.
The people of Canada have earned a pop-culture stereotype of being polite, kind, and respectful - a reputation that, recently, the nation seems hellbent on dispelling. In March of 2023, Canada will begin allowing individuals to receive assisted suicide based upon mental illness. Given the nation's atrocious record on protecting life in the womb, however, it is actually unsurprising that Canada's disrespect for human dignity targets the innocent at any age.
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to visit Victory Bible Academy, located in Thailand near the border with Burma. Operated by Christian Freedom International (CFI), a nonprofit dedicated to supporting persecuted Christians, this school's student body is comprised of Karen Christian refugees from Myanmar (also known as Burma). Most of the student's families were forced to flee Myanmar and its tyrannical military that has long been at odds with ethnic and religious minorities.
One million pregnancies end in miscarriage in the United States each year. It is shocking to realize that pregnancy loss numbers are even higher than this, because this excludes other losses like stillbirth, infertility, and non-viable pregnancies. often there is profound grief. Women's grief is downplayed and underestimated; men's grief is completely ignored and considered nonexistent.
The Presbyterian Church in the USA has decided to add a "nonbinary/genderqueer category" to the form it uses to collect information about its membership. "We've always asked how many female members there are in the church," says Kris Valerius, who manages denominational roles and statistics. We're now asking how many men, women, and nonbinary/genderqueer members there are. We've never asked that question so we don't know how many people will fill it out."
As polls show the 2022 midterms trending back toward Republican candidates, the legacy media have fixated on a purported rise in "Christian nationalism" - but an expert says state churches in other countries have often diluted the gospel, the last thing Christian conservatives want.
In the last century, America mistakenly theorized that the promotion of a free market economy in countries like China would naturally lead to political freedom and the fall of dictatorial world powers. Perhaps blindsided by the success of the free market in the Western hemisphere, the U.S. couldn't fathom the rise of a communist state with a booming economy that would one day fight to establish a new global order.
As a study from the Netherlands revealed that the vast majority of minors who took puberty blocking drugs continued taking treatments to advance gender transition, another highly publicized study purporting to show improved mental health outcomes for minors who undergo transition treatments has been "appended."
Get ready for another unnecessary economic crisis created by the hapless economic policies of the Biden administration. U.S. diesel reserves have reached critically low levels, fuel supplier Mansfield Energy warned its clients. After steadily dwindling for months, diesel stores have now reached their lowest level since 2008, and America only has supply for 25 days. On Wednesday, inventories were 20% below the seasonal average of the last 10 years.
In a recent interview with VladTV, NBA champion Matt Barnes spoke out against male athletes who identify as women participating in women's sports. "I'm pro-make-your-choice ... but sports is different. It's a different beast. If you're born a woman, you should play women's sports, and if you're born a man, you should play men's sports," Barnes said.
Christians who reject transgender ideology could virtually be barred from serving as police officers in the nation's largest state, thanks to a series of laws and guidelines rolled out under California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) - policies that experts say may lead officers to make more dangerous decisions and would chill free speech. State officials have said police departments should scour applicants' social media profiles for "disqualifying bias," such as calling a man who identifies as female a male.
If the marriage debate was supposed to happen after the election, no one told South Carolina. Wednesday night's showdown between Governor Henry McMaster (R) and challenger Joe Cunningham devoted a good chunk of time to the subject, which Democrats desperately want to believe is a winning issue for them. Since the end of Roe v. Wade, the president's party has been deliberately stoking fears that Obergefell is the next to fall - a prospect that didn't seem to bother McMaster one bit.
In the wake of historic declines in math and reading scores in schools and polls showing concerns over controversial material in classrooms on the top of midterm voters' minds, Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a plan to spend $5 billion on electric school buses.
A failing football team might come out of halftime and score a fluke touchdown based on their opponents' successive penalties, but that doesn't mean they've figured out how to generate effective offense. Just so, a positive result for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) advance estimate for the Third Quarter (July-September) of 2022 doesn't mean the U.S. economy is gaining strength.
Throughout the midterm campaign cycle, the only policy topic that Democrats have been eager to discuss is abortion. Recent debates have demonstrated, however, that the Democrats' goal of appealing to the average American falls flat when their abortion extremism is exposed.
This year's midterm elections have the highest combined total of abortion-related ballot measures in a single year ever recorded in the United States. While most states are moving to either promote abortion or protect unborn life, Montana has opted to go in a slightly different direction, turning its attention to infants who are born alive after failed abortion attempts.
Please, take seriously the danger of the offended heart when you experience difficulties. You must not allow offense to take root in your heart. Decide: "I will turn my eyes toward Jesus and not away." Lean into the leadership of Jesus. Lean into your Beloved. He is committed to bringing you safely through to His Kingdom.
As abortion activists see voters rejecting their message, they have conspicuously reframed their views to say they support some restrictions on abortion: the ones allowed under Roe v. Wade. But what pro-life protections did that 1973 Supreme Court opinion actually allow? Is Roe v. Wade a standard most Americans support? And how should Christians view the controversial ruling?
"It was a grave betrayal of trust by somebody." On Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito addressed the Dobbs draft leak from the stage of a Heritage Foundation lecture. He asserted that whoever leaked his initial draft decision to Politico in May, previewing the overturning of Roe v. Wade, had endangered the lives of the five justices in the conservative court majority.
The Court of Appeals of Indiana on Friday affirmed a trial court decision removing a 17-year-old minor from the custody of his parents for their refusal to affirm him in a female gender identity. The case displays the messy, personal qualities in a gender identity crisis, as well as the disastrous implications of permitting the transgender ideology to gain a foothold in law.
As news broke that the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) will increase restrictions on the use of puberty blockers for minors experiencing gender dysphoria, a leading pediatrician observed that multiple European countries and the American public have moved away from the Left's insistence on giving gender-confused children puberty blocking drugs and undergoing irreversible surgeries to remove healthy organs.
With less than two weeks remaining before the 2022 midterm elections, Americans are deciding which candidates and causes to support. Christian voters should remember that straight-line issues are those where we can draw a straight line from biblical principle to public policy. Abortion is an obvious example of a straight-line issue.
President Joe Biden called laws aimed at preventing minors from undergoing transgender injections, mutilation, or castration "outrageous" and "immoral" - a position that critics tell The Washington Stand is itself immoral, hypocritical, and guilty of inflicting greater moral damage than America's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last year.
While everyone's attention is locked on November 8, there are plenty of ominous things barreling down the track as soon as the elections are over. Regardless of who takes control of Congress, the Democrats are already plotting to spend their last two months doing as much damage with their majority as possible. Everything from military spending to marriage is on the table, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) insists. "Members should be prepared for an extremely - underline 'extremely,'" he said, "busy agenda heading into the last two months of Congress." And the busier senators are, the more concerned Americans should be.
Christopher Monzon, a campaign volunteer for Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), was assaulted on Sunday night in his Rubio for Senate shirt and Ron DeSantis ball cap. He was canvassing a neighborhood in the Hialeah area for the Republican senator as he is up for reelection against his Democratic challenger, Orlando's former chief of police, Rep. Val Demings.
The House Progressive Caucus has now retracted the letter it sent to President Biden in which they call on him to negotiate with the war criminal Vladimir Putin. The Progressive Caucus, composed of the Democratic party's 100 most liberal House members, urged Biden to "engage in a proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a ceasefire."
Two weeks out from the pivotal midterm elections, The New York Times published an article claiming that Congresswoman Mary Miller (R-Ill.) and other Republicans use "inflammatory" and "hostile" language to "vilify" their political opponents at a higher rate than Democrats. Miller countered by saying the "extreme" policies of the Left warrant strong pushback.
President Biden on Sunday declared his executive order forgiving student loans was "a law" from Congress, which he signed, and which is now "being challenged by my Republican colleagues." "I got it passed by a vote or two," the president explained. There's only one problem: Congress never voted on student loan forgiveness; President Biden assumed that power unilaterally.
As the midterm elections approach, voters in every state are already witnessing the desperate scramble of candidates pursuing the last few percentage points to move them out of the margin of error in their race. Amid this political chaos, however, voters in several states must also prepare to cast their vote on more subtly significant measures - namely, ballot referendums centered on abortion.
In light of the looming midterm elections only two weeks away, NowThis News released a one-hour special featuring conversations between six young Democratic activists and President Joe Biden. The presidential forum included interviews on an array of hot-button policy issues: gun violence, student loan forgiveness, transgender laws, abortion, criminal reform, and climate change.
When The New Yorker's Susan Glasser ran into Donna Brazile this month, the former DNC chair didn't exactly share Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) enthusiasm over the Democrats' prospects November 8. Unlike the speaker - who said that America could "take it to the bank" that her party would win the midterms - Brazile was openly skeptical that the Left could "defy history." If there is one thing keeping Democrats in the game, she insisted, it's this strategy: "Roe, Roe, Roe to Vote." But is abortion really the election godsend the president's party thinks it is?
The U.S. State Department will kick off a "10-Day Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Interagency Equity Pursuit Challenge," with a 9 a.m. rally on Tuesday morning, November 1. Lunchtime addresses, articles, teleconferences, and even feature-length documentaries will educate employees about "four cultural groups" - "Women, Minorities, Persons with Disabilities, and LGBTQIA+."
Newly released data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed that almost three million illegal immigrants crossed America's southern border in the fiscal year ending in September 2022, obliterating the previous record by over a million. On Sunday, a Democrat congressman from Texas said the border is "not secure" and that there must be "repercussions" for illegally crossing.