There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Scripture connects faithful Christian living with sound doctrine; thus, the church has always emphasized the importance of right theology for a healthy relationship with the Lord as well as faithful service to Him. In this message, Dr. Burk Parsons explores the connection between creedal and confessional statements and life, reminding us that the purpose of sound theology is to know, serve, and worship God.
In the fullness of time, our heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save sinners, establishing Him as the only Mediator between God and man. In this message, Dr. Stephen Nichols provides an overview of Christ’s work of mediation based on confessional statements that point to the fullness of the Bible’s testimony.
Like most of you, I was stunned when the presidents of three of America’s leading universities—UPenn, Harvard and MIT—testified before a congressional committee investigating antisemitism on college campuses. On their campuses, raucous pro-Palestinian protestors chanted, “From the river to the sea,” effectively calling for the elimination of the Jewish state and the genocide of the Jewish people.
When New York Rep. Elise Stefanik asked if “calling for the genocide of Jews” violated student codes of conduct, the presidents dodged the yes-or-no question and refused to take a position. Can you imagine? The leaders of some of the most prestigious educational institutions in America did not have the moral courage or clarity to take a stand against genocide. Their response: “It depends on the context.”
When we see what’s going on at these so-called elite universities, it all points back to the moral decay and character void at the very top. The answer to Rep. Stefanik’s questions should have been easy to answer—Yes, genocide and terrorism against anyone should be condemned. They would have been quick to condemn students supporting attacks against an LGBTQ group—but not Jews. Where’s their moral clarity? It’s pretty clear to most everyone that our university students need leaders who are role models with strong moral character.
Harvard, America’s oldest college, is a good example of what can happen to an elite institution that has cast off its moral anchor. Founded just 16 years after the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock, Harvard once focused on training pastors and instilling Puritan values. Its motto, Veritas, is Latin for truth; and the original motto was Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae, or Truth for Christ and the Church. Yet its halls today echo loudly with untruths. The University of Pennsylvania was born from a friendship between Benjamin Franklin and evangelist George Whitefield, and was originally established in a meeting house used for Whitefield’s revivals.
My father spoke several times at Harvard and also at MIT, in addition to other colleges. Even in those bastions of arrogant liberalism, he was always true to the Gospel. When he confronted a worldly lie or a moral issue, he would declare “The Bible says …” and share God’s truth.
When I think of someone who demonstrated moral courage in the midst of a decadent culture, the Prophet Daniel comes to mind. Exiled to Babylon in 605 B.C. after the Babylonians had conquered and ransacked Judah, young Daniel demonstrated remarkable moral bravery though surrounded by pagans. Chosen along with three other Hebrew young men to train for King Nebuchadnezzar’s court, “Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank” (Daniel 1:8).
Instead, he asked for a diet of vegetables and water. When he and his friends were brought before the Babylonian king, they were found to be in far better shape and 10 times better in wisdom than any of their contemporaries, and they entered into the king’s court.
Later, when King Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, and his entourage had finished partying by drinking wine out of golden vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem, he had a disturbing vision of a hand writing on the wall. After the court’s magicians failed to interpret the message for him, the king’s wife recalled the wisdom that God had given Daniel, who was then asked to interpret.
The news Daniel delivered told of God’s impending judgment upon the king. “God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end … you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting … your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel 5:26-28). Daniel did not shrink from delivering God’s message, and that very night the king perished.
Under the reign of another king, Darius, jealous court officials conspired to eliminate Daniel due to his godly influence. Darius ordered that anyone caught worshipping anyone other than the king himself should be cast in the lion’s den. Of course you know the story. Daniel prayed in front of his open windows three times a day, in full view of everyone. He was seized by the king’s officials, thrown into a lion’s den and miraculously delivered by Almighty God. Daniel would not compromise his faith, regardless of the consequences. He would not back down from allegiance to God for any reason. He boldly stood for the truth of God’s Word.
As God later revealed to Daniel the succession of worldly dynasties that would appear in the coming centuries, he was told, “the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action” (Daniel 11:32). Bold faith requires bold action.
God calls on His people in any age and any circumstance to stand boldly for Him. In our day, when God’s truth is clearly disregarded and disobeyed, I hope we will all be bold in the Lord and refuse to buy into the lies of our culture. Like Daniel, we need to fully follow the Lord, and leave the consequences to Him.
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (LSB)
Much of the false doctrine that we see in our time can be at least partially seen to emanate from a misunderstanding of what faith is. Paul tell us in Ephesians 2:8 that Christians are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. So, whatever faith is, saving faith has as its source something other than our fallen nature.
To understand what genuine saving faith is, let us take a deeper look at this something that has been made difficult to understand, but is actually quite simple. Faith is made up of three things: knowledge, belief, and trust. Knowledge always comes first. View article →
Wow, our economic problems really are starting to accelerate at a shocking pace. I know that I have been writing about layoffs a lot lately, but what is happening to the employment market right now is definitely big news. Day after day, more large companies are announcing mass layoffs. Why would all of these large companies be doing this if the outlook for the U.S. economy is promising? That wouldn’t make any sense at all. But if these companies are convinced that the U.S. economy is heading into a recession (or worse), it would make perfect sense to slash payrolls at this time.
To me, the most accurate numbers that we get are those that come from non-government sources. And so I was greatly alarmed to learn that Challenger, Gray & Christmas has just published a report which shows that the number of layoffs in the United States went up by 136 percent from December to January…
The pace of job cuts by U.S. employers accelerated at the start of 2024, a sign the labor market is starting to deteriorate in the face of ongoing inflation and high interest rates.
That is according to a new report published by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which found that companies planned 82,307 job cuts in January, a substantial 136% increase from the previous month.
So what should we call it when the number of layoffs in our country goes up by 136 percent in just one month?
A catastrophe?
A tsunami?
I don’t know.
According to the report, financial companies laid off more workers than anyone else in January…
Financial companies bore the brunt of the job losses in January, with the industry shedding 23,238 employees. That is the highest monthly layoff total for the financial sector since September 2018, when it announced 27,343 job cuts.
The technology sector followed with 15,806 layoffs, the most since May 2023 and a stunning 254% increase from just one month prior.
Let’s talk about the financial industry for a moment.
Our banks are in very serious trouble. Higher interest rates have hit them very hard, and many institutions have been forced to lay off workers in recent months.
Banks are shutting hundreds of branches a year – this month some 41 closures were announced in a single week and among those affected were nine US Bank locations.
Bank of America, Chase, PNC, Citizen, Capital One, First National Bank of Pennsylvania and Huntington also said they were axing branches.
Such closures deal a huge blow to customers looking to visit in person to submit a document, make a withdrawal or deposit, cash in a check or simply run through their finances with a trusted bank manager.
This is a trend that I expect to continue all throughout 2024.
Meanwhile, the tech industry continues to bleed jobs at an alarming pace.
Zoom is cutting about 150 jobs, CNBC confirmed on Thursday, the latest tech company to slash headcount this year as investors continue to push for efficiency.
I thought that Zoom was doing quite well.
I guess not.
Identity management company Okta is giving the axe to even more workers than Zoom is…
Identity management company Okta said on Thursday in a message to employees that it would lay off 400 employees, which is about 7% of the company’s headcount. Okta also reaffirmed its fourth-quarter and full-year guidance in a securities filing.
CEO Todd McKinnon said in his message that the “reality is that costs are still too high.”
So many layoff announcements are coming in now that I can’t possibly keep up with them all.
But there is one more that I wanted to specifically mention in this article. The Messenger is shutting down all operations, and all of their employees will now be searching for new employment…
The Messenger, an online news site that promoted itself to deliver unbiased and trusted news, abruptly shut down Wednesday after eight months of operation.
Jimmy Finkelstein, the founder of The Messenger, sent an email to its over 300 employees announcing the immediate shutdown.
The Messenger received $50 million in investor money in order to launch in May 2023 with hopes of growing its newsroom relatively fast. With experienced journalists joining their team, Finkelstein’s plan was to bring back the old days of journalism that he and his family once shared.
How in the world did they manage to burn through 50 million dollars in less than a year?
Did they have employees flushing hundred dollar bills down the toilets?
I just don’t understand.
The layoffs that I mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg.
Zero Hedge has put together a list of some of the most notable layoffs that we have seen during the past few months…
1. Twitch: 35% of workforce 2. Hasbro: 20% of workforce 3. Spotify: 17% of workforce 4. Levi’s: 15% of workforce 5. Zerox: 15% of workforce 6. Qualtrics: 14% of workforce 7. Wayfair: 13% of workforce 8. Duolingo: 10% of workforce 9. Washington Post: 10% of workforce 10. eBay: 9% of workforce 11. Business Insider: 8% of workforce 12. Paypal: 7% of workforce 13. Charles Schwab: 6% of workforce 14. UPS: 2% of workforce 15. Blackrock: 3% of workforce 16. Citigroup: 20,000 employees 17. Pixar: 1,300 employees
Needless to say, there are quite a few more that could have been added to that list.
Google, Microsoft, Salesforce and Sports Illustrated are just a few names that quickly come to mind.
We have been anticipating that a massive wave of layoffs would be coming, and now it is here.
Just in time for the most chaotic election season in our history, a great deal of economic chaos is breaking out all around us.
The outlook for the rest of 2024 is not good at all, and the outlook beyond 2024 is even worse.
So many people are going to lose their jobs during the months ahead.
About the Author: Michael Snyder’s extremely controversial new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. You can connect with Michael on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and sharing his articles on your own social media accounts is definitely a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.
In this fallen world, Christians will continue to struggle with sin. Today, Derek Thomas teaches that our victory in the ongoing war against our indwelling sin is found in the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer.
Biblical Love & Attending a Transgender Wedding: A Response to Alistair Begg – Pastor Patrick Hines
Alistair Begg (born May 22, 1952) is a Scottish pastor. He is the senior pastor of Cleveland’s Parkside Church (located in Bainbridge Township, Geauga County, Ohio), a position he has held since 1983. He is the voice behind the Truth For Life Christian radio preaching and teaching ministry, which broadcasts his sermons daily to stations across North America through over 1,800 radio outlets. He is also the author of several books.
▶️Pastor Patrick Hines has recently had a brand new book published, called, “Earth’s Foundational History – Part 1: Genesis Chapters 1 Through 5.” (Paperback – May 4, 2023) https://cutt.ly/16RCeZ0
These two books are also available on Amazon. All proceeds go directly to Pastor Hines:
▶️Am I Right With God?: The Gospel, Justification, Saving Faith, Repentance, Assurance, & The New Birth https://cutt.ly/S6RCbuM
▶️Redrawing the Battle Lines: 23 Sermons on Critical Issues Facing the Church https://cutt.ly/m6RCTi0
We subscribe to the Westminster Standards as our doctrinal statement. It consists of the following documents:
The Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Larger Catechism The Westminster Shorter Catechism
We also believe that Christian Worship is to be regulated and defined by God’s Word, the Bible.
Our worship services are designed to please and honor the Triune God of the Bible. We place Scripture reading and the preaching of the word of God at the center of worship along with Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are God’s gifts to His church and ought to always be at the center of Christian worship. We are a congregation that loves to sing God’s praises, recite His Word back to Him, and actively engage in hearing and learning from God’s Word.
We embrace and promote a comprehensive Christian world and life view.
There is no area of life which is not under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is to God and His law which all people, including governments and civil rulers, will answer. The Word of God embraces and informs the way we view marriage, the family, children, education, politics, worship, law, government, war, the church, missions, evangelism, and worship. In the world today there is a battle of opposing worldviews. There are basically only two positions: God’s Word and man’s ideas. We stand positively for Biblical truth and negatively against man’s ideas which are opposed to Biblical truth.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only hope for mankind.
Because all men fall short of obeying God’s law, all men everywhere are in need of divine grace and salvation from God. This salvation is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for sinners, was buried, rose again, and is alive today seated at God the Father’s right hand.
We Worship God Together as Families.
We offer nursery during the morning worship service for newborns and infants but encourage people to keep as many of their children as they can with them for morning worship. The audio of the service is in the nursery via speakers. There is also a crying room with a video screen and audio of the sermon. We offer Sunday school classes for all ages, but worship together as families. We do not offer “children’s” church.
All who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and are members of an evangelical church are cordially invited to participate with us in the Lord’s Supper.
The devotional for February will be a journey through the Old Testament in search of grace. What do you think? Will we find an ample supply? How often and how explicitly does God reveal His grace toward His erring covenant community in the Old Covenant? Do we find grace in Genesis? How about in Numbers and Judges and 2nd Kings? Yes, of course. We do say that, don’t we – “yes, of course”? But there is a lot of joy to be experienced and knowledge to be gathered up in the search!
Louis Berkhof has an insightful explanation of the various ways the Scriptures employ the word or concept of grace. He writes (among other things) that grace in the Old Testament “…most generally means favour or good-will…This means that grace is not an abstract quality, but is an active, working principle manifesting itself in beneficent acts…The fundamental idea is, that the blessings graciously bestowed are freely given, and not in consideration of any claim or merit.” This way of understanding grace will flower and bloom before our eyes in this devotional, but we will also see it transition into the grace of salvation as found in the covenant of grace in Jesus Christ. In other words, it’s not easy to overstate the rich value of the grace of God in Christ to sinners as seen in the Old Testament.
Twenty-nine snapshots of the grace of God await you, rushing out of the good old breezes of the Old Testament. Pray that our hearts may be filled to overflowing as we learn how rich is the grace of God in Christ to His covenant people both then and now!
Clothed by the grace of God
“Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.” –Genesis 3:21
We begin our month of exploring the grace of God with those well-known parents of ours, Adam and Eve. This is an exceptionally important place to start. It helps us on this first day of the month to have our grasp of the human condition and God’s answer set squarely before us. You know this history, don’t you? Adam and Eve, placed in the garden of God’s goodness, had everything going for them. The world was perfect, their relationship with God intimate and joyful and their union with each other sweet and sin-free. Imagine a marriage like that! Imagine a world like that.
But. Then. Sin. How? The long and short of it is they did not believe God. When the tempter told them he had a better plan than what God had said, they listened to the liar. Terror and violence and everything ugly and gross was brought into the world all at once. Very soon, jealousy and murder would follow. God provides the answer.
The answer of grace was costly. Death. Blood was spilled so that Adam and Eve could be covered. This death-for-covering was real in that moment, but also a preview of what Jesus Christ would do for all His people. Grace. It is vital that we see how costly His grace is. By month’s end, we should know that truth better.
Suggestions for prayer
Ask the Lord this month to teach you how much His grace for you cost.
Rev. Harold Miller graduated from Mid-America Reformed Seminary in 2001 and has served churches in Wellsburg, Iowa and Kansas City, Missouri before arriving at Oak Lawn, Illinois in 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each dayvia our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.
Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 1:8)
Whenever fear comes in and makes us falter, we are in danger of falling into sin. Conceit is to be dreaded, but so is cowardice. “Dare to be a Daniel.” Our great Captain should be served by brave soldiers.
What a reason for bravery is here! God is with those who are with Him. God will never be away when the hour of struggle comes. Do they threaten you? Who are you that you should be afraid of a man that shall die? Will you lose your situation? Your God whom you serve will find bread and water for His servants. Can you not trust Him? Do they pour ridicule upon you? Will this break your bones or your heart? Bear it for Christ’s sake, and even rejoice because of it.
God is with the true, the just, the holy, to deliver them; and He will deliver you. Remember how Daniel came out of the lions’ den and the three holy children out of the furnace. Yours is not so desperate a case as theirs; but if it were, the Lord would bear you through and make you more than a conqueror. Fear to fear. Be afraid to be afraid. Your worst enemy is within your own bosom. Get to your knees and cry for help, and then rise up saying, “I will trust, and not be afraid.”
“The World and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God Lives forever’ 1 John 2:17
Thought So much of what we pursue is fleeting. Once we acquire it, we try to preserve it! Why? Because we know it will soon be gone. God has promised us that just as he is eternal and will live forever, so are those who pursue a relationship with him and are committed to his will. So, let’s look at how we spend our time, money, and effort. Then, let’s ask if what we are pursuing is really worth having. Now, let’s ask one more important question: “Even if it is worth having, is it going to last long enough to make a difference?
Prayer Eternal Father, please give me the courage to be honest about what I am pursuing with my life. I want it to count for your cause. I want to make a difference for good. Some of that desire, I confess, is self-serving. However, dear Father, I truly want to have a life that impacts others for good and brings you honor. I don’t want to waste my time chasing after things that won’t last or matter. Please give me the spiritual wisdom to follow your will and find your life rather than pursue my culture’s vain values. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”Philippians 3: 13-14
“Waiting” has been my buzz word for the past two years as my name has inched up a long list toward a surgery date. I recall a counseling appointment early in the process where I wrestled with feeling set on a shelf. Waiting felt passive, like a huge waste of time. While the specifics of what the counselor said are lost, the bigger message stuck – “Live your life.”
Over time, I am adopting this perspective more and more that my life is whatever is presently going on. It sounds simplistic but are we waiting for something to change or get better in order to start living? I appreciate one author’s idea that we must forgive the very circumstances of our lives and I would add to that, that we even need to embrace them. This is my life – today – right now – these moments. Whatever they are…or aren’t.
And yet I am called to wait for the hope of glory. Scripture clearly instructs us to fix our eyes on the prize, keep the finish line in view, to remember the goal of eternity. So I experience a tension in this earthly home, not waiting to live the one life God has given me here while waiting to live with Him eternally. At first it can seem contradictory when, in fact, it’s the very looking forward to eternity that needs to inform my priorities for today. I catch a glimpse of the big picture as I attempt to faithfully walk out the small picture.
Lord, please help me to keep my eyes focused on the end goal so that I will see You in this moment and what You have for me today. Help me to live each day fully for You. Amen.
Thoughts: Consider what you are waiting for and ask yourself if it is keeping you from living or motivating you toward eternity. How can you actively anticipate eternal life? What are you putting off?
More than 220 Earthquakes Rock Hawaii; USGS Raises Volcano Alert Level More than 220 earthquakes have rocked Hawaii in the last 24 hours; the increase in seismic activity and other signals at the Kilauea Volcano have prompted USGS scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) to increase the volcano alert level there. While the volcano is not erupting yet as of press time, USGS warns that an “eruption can occur in the future with little warning.” Patterns of ground deformation and earthquakes since this morning indicate that pulses of magma continue to move beneath the surface of the region south-southwest of Kilauea’s summit
Future historians might remember Sunday, January 28, 2024, as the day World War Three started. It happened overnight at a US military base in the arid desert of northeast Jordan, where the borders of Jordan, Iraq and Syria meet. American soldiers were asleep in their tents. Suddenly, all hell broke loose and drones were firing at them. Three soldiers perished. At least 34 were wounded. The vicious attack was executed by radical militants in Iraq and Syria backed by Iran.
Physicists Create One-Dimensional Noble Gas Using advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods, physicists at the University of Nottingham have successfully trapped atoms of krypton inside a carbon nanotube to form a one-dimensional gas.
Harvard produces ‘whiny snowflakes’, says major donor as he withdraws funding A major Harvard donor has halted financial support for the university and accused elite US colleges of producing “whiny snowflakes” instead of future leaders. Ken Griffin, an alumnus who donated $300 million (£237 million) to Harvard last year, is the latest in a string of wealthy donors who have halted donations amid uproar over the university’s handling of anti-Semitism on campus after the Oct 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Tech CEOs told ‘you have blood on your hands’ at US Senate child safety hearing U.S. senators on Wednesday grilled leaders of the biggest social media companies and said Congress must quickly pass legislation, as one lawmaker accused the companies of having “blood on their hands” for failing to protect children from escalating threats of sexual predation on their platforms.
DeSantis calls for Ilhan Omar’s deportation after saying she is ‘Somali First’ in speech Ilhan Omar, who has accused pro-Israel politicians of dual loyalty in the past, now faces questions of her own after remarks she made to the Somalian community have gone viral. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called for Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar to be deported from the United States on Tuesday after footage showed Omar delivering a Somali-language speech to a gathering of community leaders at a Minneapolis hotel Saturday night where she called herself “Somali First” and vowed to protect Somalian interest as long as she is a member in the US Congress.
Chaos, Culture, And Christ: Why Society Can’t Help The Hopeless Two Gospel writers, Matthew and Luke, give a graphic account of two men who had been completely taken over by the power of Satan. These men were tortured, lonely, suicidal, frightening to their neighbors, and utterly miserable. In short, they were in an absolutely hopeless situation. Hopeless, that is, until Jesus came along.
‘The flood will wash them away’: IDF’s message to Hamas in viral image A photo published on social media on Wednesday went viral after it showed suspects arrested by the IDF in Khan Yunis handcuffed and blindfolded. Behind them are the flags of Israel and the Givati Brigade, as well as a massive sign with a quote-turned-pun from the Quran. The quote in question is taken from a sura in the Quran relating to the biblical flood: “…and the flood washed away their sins.” This is a clear allusion to the name Hamas gave to the October 7 attack – “Al-Aqsa flood.” The message is clear: The action backfired on its perpetrators, who are now paying for their sins.
Explosive device found at Israeli embassy in Sweden On Wednesday, an explosive device was discovered close to Israel’s embassy in Sweden, the Swedish public broadcaster SVT reports. The device was immediately destroyed by Stockholm’s bomb squad and the incident was declared as “an attempted terror attack” by Israel’s ambassador to Sweden Ziv Nevo Kulman. the Aftonbladet Swedish daily said it was a grenade that was thrown over the embassy fence onto the grounds.
America is at war In our war with the Russia-Iran-China axis (North Korea is the junior partner), American troops are not engaged directly at this time, but those of our Ukrainian and Israeli allies experience death and destruction every day. The sooner the American people and their elected officials recognize that we are at war—by proxy, for now—the better off we’ll be. Our leadership is fearful of speaking this hard truth.
Gazans reportedly pay thousands of dollars for coveted permit to enter Egypt Some Gazans are reportedly prepared to pay thousands of dollars to acquire the highly-coveted permit to enter Egypt from the war-ridden coastal enclave, according to a new investigation conducted by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting (OCCRP). Independent brokers and travel agencies have turned Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza into a profitable business, focusing on residents of Gaza who are desperate to enter Egypt.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: We are working on hostage release deal, but not at any cost “There is a lot of noise in the media about the efforts to get more hostages released, so I want to make it clear: We are working on another plan for the release of our hostages, but I stress: Not at any cost,” Netanyahu said. He added, “I have red lines, among them: We will not end the war, we will not remove the IDF from the Strip, and we will not release thousands of terrorists.”
The US hasn’t seen syphilis numbers this high since 1950. Other STD rates are down or flat The U.S. syphilis epidemic isn’t abating, with the rate of infectious cases rising 9% in 2022, according to a new federal government report on sexually transmitted diseases in adults. They are most focused on syphilis, which is less common than gonorrhea or chlamydia but considered more dangerous. And while it continues to have a disproportionate impact on gay and bisexual men, it is expanding in heterosexual men …
Man accused of beheading his father, posting video Police said the YouTube video, which was more than 14 minutes long, showed Justin Mohn picking up his father’s decapitated head and identifying him by name. Police said it appeared Mohn was reading from a script as he railed about the government. He also complained at length about a wrongful termination lawsuit that he lost, and encouraged assassinations of family members and public officials.
Straight out of history book: NYC teachers caught using communist website to teach 3rd graders The rabid antisemitism on college campuses that has bubbled to the surface since October might have been outdone by two radical third-grade teachers in Brooklyn and a twisted version of “Wheels on the Bus” pulled from a communist website. The New York Post somehow learned two elementary school teachers are teaching an anti-Israel song, “Wheels on the Tank,” to children at Public School 705, an arts and science school located in Prospect Heights. The teachers were identified by the Post as Giuseppe Rebaudengo and Ann Battaglia.
Strong atmospheric rivers set to soak California A one-two punch of strong atmospheric rivers threatens to dump heavy rain and snow in California during the next 10 days, with flooding likely. Why it matters: The state’s mountain snowpack is running well below average for this time of year, and this wet pattern could change that.
China issues warning for strongest winter weather since 2009 during Spring Festival travel This weather event is particularly significant during the ongoing Spring Festival travel rush, known as “chunyun,” when millions travel to reunite with family. The Ministry of Emergency Management highlighted the severity of the weather pattern, stating it as the strongest winter weather since 2009.
Red warnings for extreme wind gusts and avalanches issued as Storm Ingunn approaches Norway A powerful Atlantic windstorm named Storm Ingunn by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute on January 31, 2024, is now moving over the Faroe Islands with wind gusts of up to 250 km/h (155 mph). While severe gales will affect northern Britain, in Norway, red warnings are in place for extreme wind gusts and avalanches.
Record highs in Victoria follow coldest January 12 in 55 years, Canada Victoria, the capital of the Canadian province of British Columbia, recorded its warmest January 29 ever with 15.3 °C (59.5 °F) at the Gonzales weather station, surpassing the previous record of 13.3 °C (55.9 °F) set in 1931. This record-breaking warmth follows closely on the heels of the coldest January 12 in 55 years.
Is It Just A Coincidence That The Great American Eclipse Of 2024 Will Enter The U.S. At Eagle Pass, Texas? The Great American Eclipse of 2024 is just a bit more than two months away, and amazingly, the first city the path of the eclipse crosses over when it enters the U.S. is Eagle Pass, Texas. There are over 19,000 incorporated cities, towns and villages in the U.S., and out of all of them, Eagle Pass is the first the eclipse will touch.
Hamas Returning To Northern Gaza, Reasserting Control In Some Areas Now 117 days into the Gaza war, with fighting having long been focused in the south, and there are already reports that Hamas militants are returning to the northern half of the Gaza Strip, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have for months exercised control of after pacifying it early in the ground offensive.
Homelessness In The U.S. Is Up 48 Percent Since 2015, And Americans Are Being Laid Off In Droves… How can anyone possibly believe the U.S. economy is doing well? As you will see below, the number of homeless Americans has risen to the highest level ever recorded, and large companies all over the country are laying off workers in droves. The number of Americans laid off in 2023 jumped 98% compared to the year before, and now during the first month of 2024 it feels like we’re being hit by a tsunami of layoffs. It seems like someone has turned a fire hose on, but the Biden administration continues to insist that unemployment is “low” and that the outlook for the U.S. economy is positive.
The Lying Devil’s Cult of Global Warming Woke Media Propaganda ignores God’s ‘warning shots’ across our bow: “If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20) Even among professing Christians these days, biblical discussions are difficult. A lot of folks out there carry, in their hearts and minds, pet doctrinal theories which often simply best fit their lifestyles. Or maybe it’s an unbiblical doctrine they heard from Mom and Dad, and it stuck in their repertoire of favorites.
White House admits US has troops on the ground in Yemen Troops are on the ground in Yemen, according to a report from the White House. When asked if there was a presence there, the Pentagonrefused to acknowledge the reality earlier in January.
‘No cash accepted’ signs are bad news for millions of Americans How many people don’t have a bank account? And just how difficult has it become to live without one? These questions are becoming increasingly important as more businesses refuse to take cash in cities across the U.S. People without bank accounts are shut out from stores and restaurants that refuse to accept cash.
Ukraine Corruption Continues. Five Arrested for Stealing $40M Meant for Weapons Americans who wonder how Ukraine is spending all the tax money the Deep State Uniparty has sent there just found out where some of it is going. Straight into the pockets of corrupt officials who work in the Zelensky Regime’s defense ministry. Five officials have been arrested for stealing some $40 million, and if past reports indicate anything, a lot more than $40 million has gone down the drain for the sake of the Uniparty’s latest globalist adventure.
The road to the New World Order runs through Ukraine Ukraine may be at war, writes Leo Hohmann, but that isn’t stopping it from playing a leading role in the digitization of the global economy. In a recent article, Hohmann highlighted the World Economic Forum’s (“WEF’s”) role in fully digitizing Ukraine’s citizenry and establishing a Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the country.
The Plot Thickens as Comeuppance Looms for the Unhinged Zealots of the Vax Brigade EMBALMERS REPORT BIZARRE BLOOD CLOTS. “The evidence is becoming overwhelming that the pseudo-vax rollout was a mass poisoning event inflicted on us with malice aforethought by the Covid Psyop’s duplicitous architects, aided and abetted by corrupt or simply gormless politicians. The mass poisoning has seen the injuring and killing of tens of thousands of people,” says Jon Davy.
“If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify.” —Alexander Hamilton (1788)
Fellow Patriots, on this day in 1861, Texas seceded from the Union, joining several other states that had already done so. Fast-forward to 2024, and many people are wondering if history will repeat itself due to the Biden administration’s gross dereliction of duty in enforcing immigration laws. —Mark Alexander
Republicans took control of the House more than a year ago, so why are they only now getting around to impeachment?
Douglas Andrews
We have mixed feelings about the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas.
Does he deserve it? Sure. To say that he’s the worst homeland security secretary in our nation’s history is charitable. As for the case, it’s rock-solid. Just ask Tennessee’s Mark Green.
“These articles lay out a clear, compelling, and irrefutable case for Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ impeachment,” said Green, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee. “He has willfully and systemically refused to comply with immigration laws enacted by Congress. He has breached the public trust by knowingly making false statements to Congress and the American people, and obstructing congressional oversight of his department. These facts are beyond dispute, and the results of his lawless behavior have been disastrous for our country.”
Who can argue with Green’s statement? Certainly not us. But Republicans took control of the House more than a year ago. Since then, Customs and Border Protection has logged more than 3.3 million encounters with illegals. December alone saw an all-time record 371,000 encounters. The question is: What on earth took House Republicans so long to begin impeachment hearings? We were calling for Mayorkas’s scalp more than a year ago, and the GOP should’ve been ramping up its impeachment case as soon is it became clear, in early November 2022, that Republicans had taken control of the House. Instead, they dragged their feet. And here we are.
Yes, here we are. This past Saturday night, two New York City cops were essentially curb-stomped by a mob of illegals near Times Square. As the New York Post reports: “The footage shows an NYPD officer and lieutenant initially telling the migrants to move along around 8:30 p.m. Saturday on West 42nd Street in Manhattan — before things quickly get rowdy as a scuffle breaks out between the cops and a suspect who is wrestled to the ground.”
That footage, by the way, is stunning. This wasn’t a case of some rowdy hoodlums getting into a shoving match with the cops. These were illegal immigrants alternately kicking and head-stomping the officers.
It gets worse. As The Daily Wire reports, “Four illegal immigrants were eventually apprehended and identified,” but “all four were reportedly released without bail after being charged with assault.”
That’ll teach ‘em.
The dereliction of Joe Biden and his homeland security stooge is willful. As our Nate Jackson noted 19 months ago, this is an intentional invasion. As such, it is certainly impeachable.
But, again, it was impeachable a year ago. So why now? If we didn’t know better, we’d say the timing has something to do with electoral politics.
In any case, the House Homeland Security Committee approved a resolution to impeach at around 1 a.m. Wednesday. If the time of the vote was odd, the vote itself was entirely predictable: 18-15, straight down party lines. Speaker Mike Johnson says the resolution will receive a floor vote “as soon as possible.”
Mayorkas didn’t waste any time dismissing the proceedings. “I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted,” he wrote in a letter to Green.
The lefties at The New York Times dutifully absolved Mayorkas, weakly suggesting that this was Joe Biden’s fault, but also parroting Biden’s laughable line that the Republicans “refused to provide resources, blocked efforts to update laws and openly defied federal officials charged with maintaining security and order along the 2,000-mile border.”
Got that? The guy who now blames the Republicans is the same guy who during a 2019 Democrat presidential debate invited “all those people who are seeking asylum” to “immediately surge to the border,” and the same guy who immediately upon taking office rescinded all of Donald Trump’s border-control measures, including the inarguably effective Remain in Mexico policy.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board also can’t seem to see the sense of holding government officials accountable. “As much as we share the frustration with the Biden border mess,” it writes, “impeaching Mr. Mayorkas won’t change enforcement policy and is a bad precedent that will open the gates to more cabinet impeachments by both parties.” Translation: Leave him alone. We like the cheap labor.
Finally, we consider constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley, who doesn’t think Republicans have a good case. “I don’t think they have established any of those bases for impeachment,” Turley said, referring to the constitutional threshold of “high crimes and misdemeanors” rather than mere “maladministration,” a standard that the Framers rejected. He added: “The fact is, impeachment is not for being a bad cabinet member or even a bad person. It is a very narrow standard.”
Here we’d point the good professor to the full text of Article II, Section 4, which reads, “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
If willfully refusing to protect one’s borders isn’t treasonous, we don’t know what is.
Zuckerberg apologizes, Disney lawsuit tossed, tax bill passes House, history battle in Concord, and more.
Douglas Andrews, Thomas Gallatin, & Jordan Candler
Cross-Examination
Zuckerberg apologizes to his social media victims: In what seems to be a regular feature of Beltway politics, lawmakers hauled certain Big Tech CEOs before a committee, there to harrumph about the grave damage that their social media products are doing to our nation’s children. Perversely, it’s a win-win for the interrogators and the interrogatees: The former get their seven minutes with which to grandstand and ask great “gotcha” questions, while the latter get to showcase the allure of their products while promising to do better. One of the key components of this back-and-forth is Big Tech’s desire to maintain the status quo of Section 230 protections afforded them by the relatively ancient Telecommunications Act of 1996, whereby they can continue to allow their users to post pretty much anything without fear of the legal risk that a publisher would normally assume. Such was the case yesterday, as the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X, Snap, and Discord testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the liability and responsibility that the platforms should bear for hosting content that targets or exploits minors. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg was the headliner, and he didn’t do himself any favors by opening with this whopper: “The existing body of scientific work has not shown a causal link between using social media and young people having worse mental health outcomes.” Talk about a Big Lie. Zuck went on to endure withering critiques from, among others, Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Marsha Blackburn, and Josh Hawley. Hawley, in fact, challenged him thusly: “So, you didn’t take any action, you didn’t fire anybody, you haven’t compensated a single victim. … Have you apologized to the victims? Would you like to apologize now?” Lo and behold, Zuckerberg stood up, turned and faced the families behind him, and apologized. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve all been through,” he said. “No one should have to go through the things that your families suffered.” It was quite a moment of contrition for a man who began by denying that his product causes any harm.
Private gun sale ban? In an effort to further infringe on Americans’ Second Amendment rights, the Biden administration plans to soon roll out new ATF regulations that would effectively ban private gun sales. As Tristan Leavitt, president of the whistleblower organization Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research, argues, “Such an expansive rule that treats all private citizens the same as federal firearms licensees would circumvent the separation of powers in the Constitution, which grants ‘all legislative powers’ to Congress while requiring that the president ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed.’” The new regulations wouldn’t merely require a background check for private gun sales; they also would create a new threshold for anyone selling a firearm, effectively requiring them to register as a federally licensed firearms dealer to legally sell a firearm. Of course, the question of what constitutes a firearms dealer is key, as it has previously been defined as the selling of firearms for “the principal objective of livelihood and profit.” That definition of “dealer” would exclude the vast majority of individuals who have sold a firearm. Leavitt noted that the White House directed the ATF to create this regulation and that “whistleblowers say the rule is being drafted by Senior Policy Counsel Eric Epstein, who worked as the Phoenix Field Office’s Division Counsel during Operation Wide Receiver (a precursor of Operation Fast and Furious).” Leavitt says that these ATF regulations would so blatantly infringe upon the Second Amendment that he believes the courts would quickly overturn them. Therefore, Biden’s likely motive is political, making it a disingenuous gun control issue on which to campaign.
Disney lawsuit tossed: In yet another win for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in his war against wokeness, a federal judge on Wednesday threw out Disney’s lawsuit against the governor over his decision to eliminate the company’s special self-governing district. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor dismissed the case, noting that Disney had no standing to sue over laws that were constitutionally enacted by the state. Furthermore, an audit of the Reedy Creek Improvement District released last year exposed the fact that Disney had massively abused the self-governing status to enrich itself at the expense of the community around it. DeSantis has bested Disney and has proven all the naysayers, particularly on the Right, wrong. This is a big win for DeSantis, but especially for Florida.
The price of leftist political lawfare: Donald Trump’s political action committee spent approximately $50 million in legal fees and investigation-related expenses last year, the source of which was donor money that might otherwise have been used in a presumed presidential campaign later this year. That’s just part of the price of the Left’s scummy “lawfare” strategy, which it continues to use against its political enemies with bone-crushing effectiveness. As the notoriously partisan Trump haters at The New York Times report: “It is a staggering sum. [Trump’s] lone remaining rival in the 2024 Republican primary, Nikki Haley, raised roughly the same amount of money across all her committees in the last year as Mr. Trump’s political accounts spent paying the bills stemming from his various legal defenses, including lawyers for witnesses.” Trump’s legal battles are, of course, ongoing on multiple fronts, and they paint a picture “of a former president heading toward the Republican nomination while facing enormous financial strain.”
Tax bill passes House: By a vote of 357-70, the House on Wednesday passed HR 7024, tax legislation that majorities on both sides of the political aisle supported. Dubbed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, the legislation’s key components include expanding the child tax credit and renewing tax deductions for research and development costs for businesses. Earlier in the week, New York Republicans were threatening to derail the $78 billion bill over the fact that it included no changes to the federal deductions for state and local taxes, or SALT. A compromise was reached in a commitment by House leadership to hold a future vote on a second tax bill to address that. While the bill will face challenges in the Senate, Joe Biden has voiced his support for the legislation.
Biden finally commits to visiting East Palestine: Better late than never, we suppose, but Scranton Joe Biden has, after having ignored their plight for nearly a year, finally committed to visiting the people of the largely blue-collar Ohio town of East Palestine next month. East Palestine, you’ll recall, was the site of the disastrous derailment of a train carrying toxic materials. As a White House spokesman said, Biden will “meet with residents impacted by the Norfolk Southern train derailment and assess the progress that his Administration has helped deliver in coordination with state and local leaders to protect the community and hold Norfolk Southern accountable.” So, you see, it’s a campaign event for a president who’s desperate to stanch the bleeding of blue-collar Americans from the Democrat Party to the Republican Party. As the New York Post reports, “Donald Trump, who is seeking a rematch against Biden in November, visited and ordered McDonald’s for residents the same month as the accident, while an imposing dark cloud of chemicals wafted over the Rust Belt town.” Biden’s handlers will likely shuttle in and organize a sufficient contingent of “supporters” to cheer his visit next month, but we have a hunch that his reception will be a bit chillier than the one the former president received.
How about a ceasefire in Chicago? Democrat leaders in Chicago care so much about people being shot to death in the streets that the city council passed a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire … in Gaza. Introduced weeks ago, Chicago’s official call for a Gaza ceasefire resolution was finally adopted after Mayor Brandon Johnson cast the tiebreaking vote. What got the vote finally over the hump was a walkout threat by the Chicago Teachers Union. Chicago has now become the largest U.S. city to call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas. As the resolution’s sponsor, Alderman Daniel La Spata, stated following the vote: “Do I believe that the words that we speak today, how we vote today influences directly international policy? I don’t. I don’t have those illusions. But we vote with hope, we vote with solidarity, we vote to help people feel heard in a world of silence.” In other words, the vote was little other than a political virtue signal. Meanwhile, what about tackling the rampant shootings on the streets of Chicago? The Windy City has led the country in murders for the last 12 years. In 2023 alone, Chicago had 617 homicides. Why no calls for a ceasefire in the city?
History battle in Concord: One needn’t be a historian to appreciate the significance of Concord, Massachusetts. It was there at the North Bridge on the morning of April 19, 1775, that the “Shot Heard Round the World” was fired and marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The skirmish may have lasted only a few seconds, but it forever changed world history. Today, there’s another battle brewing in Concord: the battle for America’s heritage. As the Boston Herald reports: “Historical signs commemorating the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony no longer stand in Concord because officials say they harmed Indigenous people and didn’t reflect the town’s people today. The so-called tercentenary markers had a place in town for nearly a century, but they came down this week after some officials fought for months for them to be removed, to create what they say is a more respectful community.” On the contrary, a “more respectful community” is one that respects its past rather than trying to whitewash it. The town’s communications manager said the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission, as well as the Historical Commission, found the signs “problematic and antithetical to the inclusive goals of the Town of Concord.” To which we say: The demise of these poisonous and divisive DEI policies can’t come soon enough.
Headlines
Chinese hackers ready to “wreak havoc” on critical U.S. infrastructure with 50-to-1 cyber personnel advantage, FBI director warns (New York Post)
Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib to Hamas: Come on in, guys (Townhall)
The man who beheaded a Satanic Temple statue in Iowa has been charged with a hate crime.
Nate Jackson
And just like that, it’s a hate crime to tear down a statue.
Michael Cassidy, a 35-year-old Christian Navy veteran and former congressional candidate from Mississippi, has been charged with a hate crime for beheading a Satanic statue in the Iowa Capitol building in December. The statue of Baphomet was erected by the Satanic Temple of Iowa, which gained permission from the state for its religious display. It must have been for the sake of equity that it was placed near a Nativity display.
Cassidy was unabashed in his admission and reasoning after turning himself in:
I saw this blasphemous statue and was outraged. My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so I acted. The world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimization of Satan, but none of the Founders would have considered government sanction of Satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the First Amendment. Anti-Christian values have steadily been mainstreamed more and more in recent decades, and Christians have largely acted like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water.
The Satanic Temple laughably asserted it would cost $3,000 to replace the statue. Iowa estimates $750 to $1,500, which is still probably too high.
Cassidy is charged with “violation of individual rights” under Iowa’s hate crime statute. According to Lynn Hicks, a spokesman for the Polk County Attorney’s Office, “Evidence shows the defendant made statements to law enforcement and the public indicating he destroyed the property because of the victim’s religion.”
That seems to us unequivocally true, and Cassidy understands there may be consequences for his actions in a nation that ostensibly recognizes religious liberty.
However, there’s some context that might be useful to understand.
Our Thomas Gallatin wrote today about how the Biden “Justice” Department is targeting pro-lifers for the “crime” of protesting the slaughter of innocent babies. (Child sacrifice, by the way, was a key part of worshiping Moloch, another pagan/Satanic god.)
There have been almost no consequences for the thugs who’ve vandalized pro-life centers and churches around the country, though those abortion zealots clearly acted in “violation of individual rights” and “destroyed the property because of the victim’s religion.”
There’s also the issue of iconoclastic destruction of historical statues that has taken the nation by storm in recent years. Statues of Christopher Columbus, Robert E. Lee, and an extensive list of other Confederate figures have been vandalized, toppled, or officially removed. But the hate for history extends even to figures like Francis Scott Key, author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and Ulysses S. Grant, Union general and later president, as well as Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and other Founding Fathers.
We don’t recall hate crime charges for those vandals of historically significant artwork. In fact, the Black Lives Matter riots have yielded nearly $100 million in payouts … to the rioters. Meanwhile, Cassidy faces the full force of the law for destroying the product of Satanic arts and crafts time. Seems about par for the course in America, circa 2024.
A final observation: Obviously, Cassidy isn’t God, the Iowa Nativity display isn’t the Ark of the Covenant, and America isn’t ancient Israel, but this whole story reminds us of a particular account in 1 Samuel 5. To briefly summarize, the Philistines captured the Ark and took it to their temple to Dagon, where they placed it next to a statue of their pagan deity. God responded by toppling the statue of Dagon. When the Philistines set it back up, God toppled it again, this time cutting off its hands and beheading it. He also afflicted the city’s residents with tumors until they eventually shipped the Ark somewhere else out of fear.
The one and only God, the Creator of all things, “is a jealous God.” He told humanity, “You shall have no other gods before me.” He takes that commandment seriously, and so should we.
The Justice Department has engaged in selective enforcement of the constitutionally dubious FACE Act, as it has only been used to prosecute pro-life advocates.
Thomas Gallatin
Equal justice under the law is supposed to be enshrined in our Constitution. Furthermore, Joe Biden and his administration love to prattle on about their concerns for promoting equality and equity. But, as the Good Book states, “You will know them by their fruits.”
What fruits might those be? While the Biden administration pays lip service to “equity” and “justice,” their actions belie the fact that they are motivated by no such altruistic concerns. Rather, it’s all about promoting their political agenda and selectively applying the law when it suits them. A case in point is the Biden administration’s targeting of pro-life advocates and activists with the dubious and likely unconstitutional Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
Six pro-life activists who conducted a peaceful sit-in at an abortion clinic in Nashville were prosecuted by Biden’s DOJ on charges of violating the FACE Act. They were subsequently found guilty, and they face a sentence of up to 11 years in federal prison.
But it’s not just a selective and targeted application of the FACE Act; it’s also the DOJ’s needless application of heavy-handed tactics when charging and arresting these individuals.
For example, one of the pro-life activists charged is Paul Vaughn, whom the FBI swooped down upon with guns drawn, pounding on his front door and shouting at him as if he were American gangster John Dillinger. At the time of his arrest, with which he fully cooperated, Vaughn was simply getting ready to take his kids to school. These types of dramatics and needless escalation are solely intended to bully and intimidate.
The Thomas More Society, which is representing Vaughn, has called on the DOJ to drop the case, citing unequal application of the law. The filing states, “Defendants submit that the government has engaged in selective and/or vindictive prosecution motivated by an intent to punish defendants for the content of their viewpoints and their protected expressions thus making this case an unconstitutional application of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.”
The filing also argues that “FACE is an unconstitutional content-based regulation of speech; as applied, it violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, as well as the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment; and this court lacks jurisdiction because, especially after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, FACE is an invalid exercise of Congress’ Commerce Clause authority.”
Other pro-life activists and advocates that the Biden administration has targeted using the FACE Act include the leftist group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, whom the Thomas More Society is also representing, and Mark Houck, who was acquitted by a jury after he was ridiculously charged by the DOJ of violating the FACE Act for defending his young son from an aggressive pro-abortion activist. The FBI used heavy-handed tactics against Houck as well when agents raided his home and arrested him.
Meanwhile, the FBI has hardly raised a finger to investigate — let alone prosecute — a myriad of instances of violent actions and clear violations of the FACE Act against pro-life facilities and churches. Indeed, it has been pro-life centers, facilities, and churches that have most often been the target — not to mention the threats pro-abortion activists have leveled against Supreme Court justices.
Regarding the Biden administration’s selective enforcement of the FACE Act, journalist Greg Price observes: “A grand total of zero people have ever been arrested for protesting outside the houses of Supreme Court justices after Roe was overturned, which is a federal crime. But peaceful pro-lifers now face 11 years in jail for praying outside an abortion clinic.”
This time the chief diversity officer has an accusation filed against her.
Emmy Griffin
Fresh off the Claudine Gay scandal, an even more obvious plagiarist seems to be embedded in the ranks of Harvard University. Sherri Ann Charleston is the storied university’s chief diversity officer. She was hired by the school in 2020 and was partially responsible for Gay’s ascension to the presidency. Charleston previously held a similar position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where her title was chief affirmative action officer.
So you’re starting to get a picture already of what sort of academic Charleston is. She is ideologically focused on Racial Marxism initiatives, much like Claudine Gay. The next question is, how is her body of scholarly work? Is she actually an academic, or is she riding on the coattails of other people’s work and her own intersectional status?
An anonymous complaint has been filed against her alleging 40 examples of plagiarism in her body of academic work. Her dissertation, like Gay’s, was riddled with lack of attribution or proper use of quotation marks when referencing others.
Charleston’s worst offense, though, involved a 2014 paper (her only peer-reviewed work) in which she apparently plagiarized her husband. LaVar Charleston, a fellow academic of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) infrastructure at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote a 2012 study for the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. He then teamed up with his wife and another academic, Jerlando Jackson, and basically republished the 2012 study through the Journal of Negro Education in 2014.
The 2014 study quoted the same interviewees as the original, and it even included the same findings. All in all, about 20% of the 2014 paper was ripped straight from the original 2012 study conducted by LaVar. What makes it worse is they cited the 2012 paper in the writings to undergird that paper’s main theory.
This type of academic fraud is called “duplicate publication” and is “typically a form of self-plagiarism in which authors republish old work in a bid to pad their résumés,” according to The Washington Free Beacon. “Here, though, the duplicate paper added two new authors, Sherri Ann Charleston and Jerlando Jackson, who had no involvement in the original, letting them claim credit for the research and making them party to the con.”
If these allegations are true, then not only Sherri Charleston but also her husband and Jerlando Jackson all enjoyed career boosts based on this fraudulent paper. However, holding academics to account is more than just calling out their academic malfeasance. One could perhaps start to conclude that intellectual dishonesty is rife throughout the DEI infrastructure within the higher education system.
The diversity, equity, and inclusion grift is a cancer on our academic institutions, though hardly the only one. There are several insidious aspects to DEI. First, it creates a culture within academia that lets DEI adherents get away with any and every intellectual malpractice and not be held to account. This has largely proven true until this point because DEI aligns politically with the rest of higher ed’s left-leaning agendas. Second, DEIers have a built-in get-out-of-jail-free card. If anyone calls them out, they can cry racism and accusers will usually back down. Third, and finally, DEI is a disservice to those academics of color who are in university positions because of their stellar academic work and incredible teaching.
DEI isn’t about merit but about making sure the playing field is equal. If individuals have to cheat to make the playing field “equal,” it’s justified in their minds. However, to the public at large, as well as to the scholars who didn’t take the racist DEI shortcut, this is a bad look.
Harvard is once again showing just how much it has fallen from its former academic glory by those it chooses to promote to leadership.
The unfolding scenario at the T-22 base in Jordan is more than a tactical blunder; it reflects a broader strategic myopia.
Armstrong Williams
In the shadowed corners of the Middle East, where ancient trade routes twist like serpents through the desert, lies an obscure outpost in Jordan called Tower 22 (T-22). This newly discovered outpost and the name, now a glaring testament to the convoluted and often opaque nature of modern warfare and foreign policy, became known to most Americans in the first press releases addressing the Jan. 28 attack on the base.
The retreat of U.S. forces from al-Qaim and the tiny outpost that preceded Tower 22 in 2004 marked the beginning of a tumultuous period, a prelude to the rise of al-Qaida and ISIS. Today, the vastly expanded base, reportedly home to 350 Americans and visible on Google Earth, stands not as a symbol of strength but as a poignant reminder of the vulnerabilities and contradictions inherent in America’s military engagements in the shadows and mirrors of the Middle East and Arabia at large.
The attack on T-22, a costly reminder of the perils of such exposed positions, raises fundamental questions about the transparency of the U.S. military operations. The Pentagon’s penchant for secrecy, ostensibly to protect national security, has ironically left the American public in the dark, while those with malevolent intent seem to be steps ahead, armed with meticulously assembled “target packages” on “secret” facilities throughout the region.
The root of this strategic quagmire lies in the shifting sands of international politics and economics. The U.S. government’s policy, which currently appears to lack direction, is being exploited by opportunistic global players such as Iran, China and Russia. Iran in particular has emerged flush with cash, a consequence of the U.S.‘ own faltering steps — from the Obama administration to Donald Trump’s tenure — that inadvertently bolstered Iran’s economic resilience.
Sanctions, once the sharp sword of U.S. foreign policy, have been blunted. The reliance on the U.S. dollar as the primary currency in global trade has been eroded by alternative systems such as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which challenge the dollar’s supremacy. Moreover, Iran’s deep roots in ancient trade networks and its adept use of traditional barter systems and underground financial networks like Hawala and Siraj further dilute the effectiveness of traditional economic sanctions.
As the toll of the attack in Jordan climbs, questions arise about the impact of U.S. financial policies on Iran’s military capabilities. The strategic landscape is reminiscent of a George Carlin skit — tragically comical in its absurdity where the U.S., in its bid to exert economic pressure, ends up undermining its own currency and, inadvertently, empowering its adversaries.
Meanwhile, the situation in Iraq is evolving toward “Lebanonization” of the entire nation, with Iran extending its influence through well-equipped militias and Iraq itself negotiating the departure of American troops, including from the Kurdish regions. This development, tied to a one-year ticking clock on the withdrawal decision that aligns with the U.S. presidential inauguration in January 2025, suggests that a crucial strategic decision will fall either at the twilight of a presidency or at the dawn of a new administration — a timing as precarious as it is significant.
In this complex geopolitical chess game, where ancient trade routes intersect with modern warfare and economic strategies, the U.S. finds itself at a crossroads. Its technological prowess, once a formidable advantage, now seems less decisive against the backdrop of age-old barter systems and hidden financial networks. As the U.S. grapples with these challenges, the future of its engagement in the Middle East and the safety of its personnel stationed there hangs in a delicate balance, a narrative woven with threads of irony, tragedy and the enduring complexities of global power dynamics.
The unfolding scenario at the T-22 base in Jordan is more than a tactical blunder; it reflects a broader strategic myopia. It raises critical questions about the efficacy of U.S. foreign policy and military strategy in a rapidly evolving global landscape. The ancient wisdom of the Middle East, where history is written in the sands and whispered in the winds, stands in stark contrast to the technological might and economic power of the West. Yet, in this age-old battleground of empires, it’s the unseen currents of culture, tradition and covert finance that often dictate the outcomes of conflicts. The U.S., in its pursuit of global dominance, must adapt to these realities or risk being outmaneuvered in a game where the rules are as fluid as the shifting sands of the desert.
Latest PodcastPopCon #29: Dr. K’s Piano vs. CCP in LondonYouTuber Dr. K’s run-in with a group of Chinese nationals waving communist flags has gone viral, leading to a discussion about China vs. UK law, police capitulation in the face of political correctness, and ChiCom influence across the Western world. Join Thomas, Sterling, and Andrew as they dissect the interaction and speculate about the ramifications.
Editor’s Note: Each week we receive hundreds of comments and correspondences — and we read every one of them. Click here for a few thought-provoking comments about specific articles. The views expressed therein don’t necessarily reflect those of The Patriot Post.
‘Asylum Seekers’ Attack NYC Police Officers — Six illegal aliens ganged up on and attacked two New York City police officers. They were arrested and immediately released on bail rather than deported.
Is Taylor Swift a PsyOp? — A conspiracy theory suggests that Taylor Swift is more than just a global pop sensation — some believe she’s a full-blown PsyOp.
The Virtue of Color-Blindness — Author Dr. Andre Archie discusses how the concept of race has been weaponized to demonize certain ethnicities while uplifting others in an ill-conceived effort to correct past discriminations.
Javier Milei Takes Charge — Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, understands that the government cannot create wealth.
“The existing body of scientific work has not shown a causal link between using social media and young people having worse mental health outcomes.” —Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Non Compos Mentis
“One of the highest rates of childhood homelessness and one of the highest contributors and factors is if they’re LGBT. Because if they go home to a place that will kick them out of their house because they are gay or trans or queer, how can we imagine them doing well in school?” —Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
Baghdad Bob
“For years [Republicans] have refused to heed the president’s request for action on much-needed funding for border security.” —White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
Belly Laugh of the Day
“We signal resolve pretty well.” —National Security Council spokesman John Kirby
The ChiCom Chronicles
“If you took every single one of the FBI cyber agents and intelligence analysts and focused them exclusively on the China threat, China’s hackers would still outnumber FBI cyber personnel by at least 50 to 1.” —FBI Director Christopher Wray
Observations
“The Obama administration detained 82% of illegal aliens. How do we go from detaining 82% to releasing 85%? It only happens if this is by design.” —House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA)
“Illegals can walk across the border, beat up cops in NYC and be released without bail. This is a national embarrassment.” —Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
“Joe Biden is in violation of federal law that already exists. [H]e is not living up to his duty to deny illegal entry across the border. Instead, he’s aiding that illegal entry.” —Texas Governor Greg Abbott
“One thing about that Ilhan Omar clip is that she speaks with such pride and admiration for the failed state of Somalia, a country that contributes nothing of significance to the world besides piracy and terrorism. Our representatives rarely speak that way about our own nation. Omar certainly doesn’t. But few of them do. Maybe we should ask ourselves why we keep electing people who can’t muster the same affinity for our country that Somalian refugees have for the country they fled from.” —Matt Walsh
“In light of Omar’s candidness, it’s fair to ask: Why is she allowed to serve in Congress? Why is she even allowed to remain in the United States? Omar is an immigrant and a U.S. citizen, but clearly she is not an American. She appears to have no allegiance to her adopted country — a country that took her in, sheltered and protected her, provided a safe haven from the chaos and violence of her homeland, and elevated her to a position of power and influence.” —John Daniel Davidson
“A grand total of zero people have ever been arrested for protesting outside the houses of Supreme Court justices after Roe was overturned, which is a federal crime. But peaceful pro-lifers now face 11 years in jail for praying outside an abortion clinic.” —Greg Price
“If you tear down a statue of Thomas Jefferson, you’re seen as a progressive hero and the government won’t touch you. If you tear down a satanist statue, you’ll get charged with a hate crime. Our country is ridiculous.” —Michael Seifert
“Violent activists tore down dozens of statues including Columbus, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. None were held accountable or charged with a hate crime. Michael Cassidy knocks over a Satan statue made out of household items and gets charged with a hate crime. Welcome to America’s 2-tier-justice system. The police state made it clear who they worship. Wokeness and Satanism is the new religion.” —Libs of TikTok
The government of Texas is in a standoff with the Biden administration over its border policies, and now, some Americans are heading south to show their support for the Lone Star State.
DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas – The government of Texas is in a standoff with the Biden administration over its border policies, and now, some Americans are heading south to show their support for the Lone Star State.
A convoy of truckers is demanding a change in U.S. policy. They argue the federal government is making it harder for Texas to protect its border while making it easier on migrants headed for the U.S.
In addition, the United Nations and NGOs are aiding migrants heading to the U.S. border, and that’s also causing concern with some U.S. lawmakers who argue U.S. taxpayers should not be helping to fund their journeys.
Is the UN fighting “the tyranny of poverty” or feeding the “tyranny of greed”?
Agenda 2030, the United Nation’s formal plan for the creation of a new world government, contains 91 sections. It begins with the following vacuous but revealing words:
“This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom. We recognize that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.”
This cliché-ridden pap begins the exposition of Agenda 2030, developed by the UN to introduce a world government devoid of the concepts of rights, liberty, life and happiness. Moreover, the Marxist ideal of meeting needs and the globalist ideal of “sustainability” combine as the two dominant themes of this “agenda” which should properly be called a “diabolical master plan.”
What about the need to obey the Ten Commandments to find favor with God? What about the need to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself? What about the need to stop two-bit criminals in various corrupt nations from taking food out of the mouths of children?
In its introductory statement we see that Agenda 2030 “seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom.” What does this impoverished and cliché-centered sentence even mean? A co-worker who had managed to get out of communist Romania years ago told me that it was horribly oppressive under communism because there was no freedom of choice regarding one’s job, housing, education, varieties of consumer products, etc. But, he added that one could walk through a park at night without any fear of being robbed.
If the ex-Romanian’s statement is true, and I believe it is, then it would seem that “peace” at least regarding crime was enhanced by less freedom, not more. Under Adolf Hitler, Germans experienced less of the destruction of their buying power (which is a partial measure of freedom) caused by inflation under Weimar, but at the expense of putting the country on a war footing and mobilizing to murder millions of Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, and political dissidents.
Agenda 2030 states its goal is to eradicate poverty and to also take on “extreme poverty.” The UN’s list of impoverished nations includes 45 countries, only one of which — Haiti — is not located in Africa or Asia. Their poverty is stated to be the “greatest global challenge.” But what if the greatest global challenge threatening humanity is actually the attempt by the UN, globalists, communists and Islamists to destroy Western Civilization — and the Judeo-Christian values that are the foundation of that civilization?
The tribalism and fragmentation of cultures in Asia and Africa is more extensive than in the West. That is partially why the global fanatics behind UN Agenda 2030 are trying to reproduce tribalism and disunity into the U.S. and European countries — with out-of-control immigration from Asia and Africa and, in the case of the U.S., from Central and South America.
Jesus Christ said “the poor you will always have with you.” (Mark 14: 7) This was not said to disparage the poor in any way, nor to take away from helping the poor, but to point out that following and serving God was not to be equated in a one-to-one way with helping the poor. There is more to the virtuous life than caring for the poor. Caring for the needs of the less fortunate is important but only part of a virtuous, Godly life. That is an eternal truth. The UN is, therefore, not only putting too much emphasis upon the Third World poor, but its agenda is corrupt and false and will not better the life of the poor — as it claims is its goal. Agenda 2030 stresses the “tyranny of poverty,” but what does it have to say about the corrupt leaders of those 45 countries who are practically stealing food and water out of the mouths of their own people? These tyrants are only too glad to come with delegations from their impoverished countries to enjoy the amenities of living in New York City with cocktail parties, hors d’oeuvres, modern toilets, refrigerators, and convenient public transportation and taxis. Is it possible that Agenda 2030 is actually just an expression of the greed and mendacity of less developed countries’ leaders who are seeking to feed their greed? Even more than they do already with the UN’s and the West’s largesse in providing “support” via the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank?
The world as a whole — along with the U.S. — is becoming increasingly authoritarian even as the authority of parents, teachers and criminal law is declining. In America, the reality of federalism is being superseded by the federal government monolith. If this is not corrected, then widespread violence and economic disintegration will intensify.
The United States is founded upon our Constitution. No other document or vision should be partnered with it. U.S. sovereignty must always be affirmed.
Jeffrey Ludwig is a prolific online article writer for more than 12 years. He has published four books available here, and has been a teacher at both the high school and university levels for decades. He also was editor of the International Trade Alert, a leading weekly export-import publication.
This country is such a mess under Joe Biden. It’s hard to even believe what’s happening is real. How can this many things be going wrong at once? It seems like fiction. Or a nightmare.
If you ever pitched this as a screenplay in Hollywood, they’d laugh you out of town.
The borders are open and millions of foreign migrants, murderers, terrorists, rapists, and dangerous military-age males from Hamas, Hezbollah, MS-13, and our mortal enemy China are pouring in.
Crime is out of control. In Washington DC, a former Trump administration official was just carjacked and almost killed on a busy street just blocks from the White House.
In New York City, a mob of illegal aliens beat two NYPD cops in the middle of a busy street. Then after being arrested, they were released within hours with “no bail.”
Biden says the economy is roaring, yet UPS just laid off 12,000 employees nationwide. UPS obviously knows Biden is lying.
Inflation is still raging- ask Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. She just admitted high prices are here to stay. But I didn’t need Janet Yellen to tell me. Almost everything I spend my money on is at record highs- my electric bill, car insurance, health insurance, groceries, and restaurant bills.
Even worse is the weaponization of government. It feels like we are living in prewar Nazi Germany. Just days ago, a jury convicted a group of peaceful, pro-Life, religious Americans, of “conspiracy” for praying and singing hymns at an abortion clinic. They face 11 years in prison.
And then there are wars starting around the globe under Biden.
Things are so bad, the number one question I get asked at parties is, “Wayne, tell us…what is coming first- a civil war, or World War 3? Can we fight both at the same time? Is that possible?”
Everyone is stocking up on guns in preparation for what’s coming.
It’s no wonder 4-times-indicted-President Trump is beating the pants off Joe Biden. According to the latest Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll, Trump is winning by wide margins in all seven swing states. He’s up by 10 points in North Carolina, 8 points in Nevada and Georgia.
Two things are now crystal clear…
A)Trump has the GOP nomination wrapped up. It’s over. Trump is the nominee. In the Nevada caucus coming up next week, Trump will win 100% of the delegates. That’s already guaranteed.
B)And in the general election, Biden is finished. The stink on him is so bad, nothing can turn it around at this point. The Biden brand is poison.
Democrats are like Kevin Costner in the movie “No Way Out.”
Desperate Democrats no longer have any choice- they have to rig the election. If Trump gets back in the White House, Democrats are going to prison. Some may wind up serving life in prison (or worse) for treason.
Knowing these corrupt creeps and traitors like I do, here is a list of what I believe is coming down the pike in the next nine months, courtesy of the Democrat playbook…
1.We could see more indictments of President Trump from now through the election. Maybe even a big one out of left field close to the election- a so-called “October Surprise.”
2.They will try to convict President Trump before the November election- and if possible, lead him out of the courtroom in handcuffs, straight to prison.
3. They will keep trying to disqualify President Trump- at least until they get a final ruling out of the Supreme Court.
4. If all else fails, I fear the Deep State will try to assassinate President Trump. They really are that evil.
5. And if all that fails, Biden will drop out of the race for health reasons, and Democrats will choose MICHELLE OBAMA as their 2024 Presidential nominee. I’m no Johnny-come-lately to this prediction. I made it in print a year ago- on January 30th, 2023. This election will be a heavyweight matchup of Trump vs Obama.
6. In conjunction with all of the above, Democrats will try their best to start World War 3 as both a WMD (Weapon of Mass Distraction), and to stir up patriotism for the incumbent Democrat president.
7. Democrats could cancel the election with the country paralyzed by waves of deadly terror attacks (that Biden welcomed in with his open borders)…or EMP attack that cripples our water, sewage, electric grid and infrastructure.
8. China will invade Taiwan this year. China needs to move before the election- while the brain-dead man with dementia and diapers, who is bribed and blackmailed by China, is still in control.
9. The Covid pandemic was just a trial run. Another pandemic might strike America in the runup to the election- but this one will be far deadlier. This will result in panic, hysteria and a 100% mail-in ballot election (the perfect recipe for voter fraud).
10. BLM was just a trial run. Expect mass anarchy in the runup to the election, but much larger than BLM in the summer of 2020- this time involving not just disgruntled black rioters and looters, but millions of illegal aliens, and pro-Palestinian, anti-America, anti-Israel protestors.
11. And most importantly, combine everything above with the same gameplan from 2020…
*Mail-in ballots combined with no Voter ID
*Ballot Harvesting (that is a crime everywhere else in the world, but America).
*Unsupervised Ballot drop boxes
*No signature match on ballots
*Billions of dollars spent on “election integrity” by globalist billionaires- with the real purpose to rig the turnout in favor of Democrats.
*Social media will rig the election by censoring the news feed to allow only fake positive news about Democrats and only negative stories about Trump.
And of course, the simplest scam of all…
*Keep counting votes for days after Election Night until Democrats win.
Count on much of that, or all of that happening over the next nine months.
Wanna bet?
Wayne Allyn Root is known as “the Conservative Warrior.” Watch Wayne’s TV shows- “America’s Top Ten Countdown” on Real America’s Voice TV Network on Saturdays at Noon ET…and Wayne’s daily TV show on Lindell TV 2 at 7 pm ET at FrankSpeech.com. He is also host of the nationally-syndicated “Wayne Allyn Root: Raw & Unfiltered” on USA Audio Network, daily at 6 pm ET. Wayne’s latest book is a #1 bestseller, “The Great Patriot BUY-cott Book.” You can order here:https://www.amazon.com/Great-Patriot-BUY-cott-Book-Conservative/dp/099173372X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1676215826&sr=8-1
Russell Brand flew too close to the sun, it would seem. Just as the popular British comedian was gaining massive attention for confronting global authoritarianism, he was hit with an onslaught of sexual allegations by anonymous accusers, which were amplified throughout the mainstream media.
Brand, known for his left-leaning ideology, articulate critique of the war in Ukraine, and the history of NATO leading up to said war, drew a clandestine ‘shadow campaign’ against him, which according to Tucker Carlson, “began with governments, not private organizations, but governments, their Intel services and their policy makers.” Brand was even attacked “as a Chinese propagandist” for his views on Ukraine.
Ep. 70 Governments colluded to shut down and destroy Russell Brand. This is his first interview since that happened. Watch it when you get a minute. It’s one of the most brilliant explanations of the modern world you’ll ever hear. pic.twitter.com/bCZDTYfZAZ
This past weekend, Alistair Begg responded to the backlash from his critics, expressing surprise at the intensity of the reaction he received amid giving advice to a grandmother that she should not only attend her grandson’s homosexual wedding, but also purchase them a gift, so as not to seem judgmental. He says he had hoped to convey compassion, yet found himself at the center of an unexpected controversy.
In a video message to his congregation, Begg remarked:
“I didn’t expect to address the significant discussion my previous comments sparked, especially online. My intent was to offer a compassionate perspective, yet it seems to have ignited a far-reaching debate.”
The casuistry of Begg’s position is evident and it is difficult to align the concept of compassion with actions that contradict biblical teachings. The crux of the matter lies in understanding how such a stance coexists with the decision to support actions deemed sinful, a topic that continues to stir significant dialogue and reflection. Yet, Begg not only doubled down, but tripled down on his position, leaving other Christian leaders no choice but to hold him accountable for his remarks.
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (LSB)
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