In just a few days, our nation will hold one of the most consequential elections in decades. Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5, to cast their ballots for the next president of the United States, as well as for many crucial congressional, state and local offices.

The future of our nation is at stake. America has drifted far from the Biblical values that once stood as our rock-solid foundation. In so many ways, we have turned our back on God, and the results have been devastating.

Progressive, liberal thought and activism have so contaminated the mainstream of American life and culture that once-unthinkable abominations such as same-sex marriage, abortion on demand and transgender advocacy have become dogma in one major party’s platform.

Our dangerous plight reminds me of Isaiah’s warning to apostate Israel, which had abandoned allegiance to Almighty God and instead adopted the godless culture of surrounding nations. “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

Be warned, if we continue down this rebellious path, our nation will reap the bitter fruit of blatant immorality that shakes its fist in the face of God. Remember, we reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow. “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction” (Galatians 6:8, NIV).

In just a few days, our nation will hold one of the most consequential elections in decades. Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5, to cast their ballots for the next president of the United States, as well as for many crucial congressional, state and local offices.

Source: As Christians Go To The Polls, We Must Remember: The Future Of Our Nation Is At Stake – Harbinger’s Daily

As many young Americans abandon a Biblical worldview in pursuit of paganism and the occult, self-proclaimed witches, as during previous election cycles, are participating in “mass rituals” against former President and current republican nominee Donald Trump.

Thousands of witches have participated online and in person to cast spells on Trump in the hopes of thwarting his bid for the White House. However, in contrast to previous years, many “Wiccans” are publically complaining that their spells have been rendered ineffective. The stated reason? According to the witches, the former President has a “shield” protecting him as a result of the “prayers” of Christians.

“I hate to say this, but don’t do magic against him,” one spell-caster wrote. “He has a form of protection surrounding him… You will have better results if you focus your magic on helping his opponent or protecting yourself and others..”

“Some other witches have mentioned that doing spells directly against Trump are not as effective as we might hope as he seems to have some kind of protection around him,” said another writing on the “WitchesVsPatriarchy” thread on Reddit.

Because so many are praying for Trump, “he has a shield, a flimsy one of course, but a shield nonetheless (I am trying to figure out a way to create spells that can bypass that, but it’s difficult),” one individual insisted, suggesting alternatively that the witch community focus on casting spells against the Christians themselves. “Most of them are just civilians and wouldn’t have the same shielding. Like in Chess, wipe out each piece to get the King.”

It is easy, and not entirely unfounded, to classify this under the banner of absurdity. However, it is worth noting that the Bible does not state that witchcraft is all make-believe. Witchcraft employs the demonic and is an abomination before the Lord. Rather than simply falling within the category of idolatry, the Word of God explicitly calls out sorcery, fortune-telling, and interpreting omens as “evil in the sight of the Lord” (Leviticus 19:31, 20:27, Exodus 22:18, Galatians 5:19-21, Revelation 21:8).

One eye-opening example surrounds Israel’s first king, Saul. Following the death of Samuel, Saul, in the heat of a fierce battle with the Philistines, came to a witch to contact Samuel from the grave. Saul successfully contacted Samuel through sorcery, but in doing so, his line was stripped of their kingship (1 Samuel 28).

1 Samuel 15:23 states, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

It could be argued that, in this example, witchcraft did indeed alter the course of a nation’s leadership—just not in the manner today’s “Wiccans” might hope. Witchcraft is a curse, not to the target of the “magic,” but to the practicer of it.

Whether the “shield” around former president Trump, brought about by the prayers of Christians, is legitimate is another topic and an interesting one to consider.

It is hard to argue that the hand of the Lord has not been involved in the protection of Donald Trump as he has miraculously survived multiple assassination attempts—a fact Trump himself has accredited to God. The day following the first attempt on his life, when the former President literally “dodged a bullet,” Trump thanked his supporters for their prayers, writing: “It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”

Furthermore, considering the demonic nature of witchcraft, there are numerous Biblical examples of God using prayers to restrain satan’s actions (see Daniel 9:20-23, 10:10-14, Revelation 8:3-5).

As for the “witches” themselves, while this craft places you in enmity with God, the Lord has not cast off His love for you, His desire for your repentance, or His yearning for you to know Him and begin a relationship with Him through the forgiveness offered by Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:9, Ephesians 2:1-5).

By God’s hand of mercy, we have a specific account recorded in the Book of Acts describing many people who took part in witchcraft, being brought out of its bondage and washed clean by the power and love of Christ: “And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed” (Acts 19:18-20).

Breanna Claussen is the Editor In Chief for Harbingers Daily News Media.

Source: Witches Complain ‘Spells’ Against Trump Aren’t Working, Insist The Prayers Of Christians ‘Shield’ Him – Harbinger’s Daily

Twenty years ago, when I lived in southern California, a guest speaker gave a sermon at the church we were attending at the time. He was describing the condition of America, the apathy of too many professing believers, and the moral decline that had been gradually increasing since the 1960s.

I thought of the reputation we used to have around the world as a great Christian nation and beacon of religious freedom. And even though our country has been tremendously blessed as God shed His grace on us for over 200 years, it did not last. It rarely does. More on this in a moment.

While churches in the West are becoming lukewarm, fading, or spiritually insignificant, there are thriving churches in countries where persecution is quite common. The speaker was discussing missions and said something I will never forget:

“There are Christians from Asia and nations where the gospel is restricted who are sending missionaries to America. They are flying into LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) with the goal of evangelizing the decadent West.”

We need to be evangelized! A recent guest on my show, Worldview Matters, also said that if you want to be a missionary, go to church, meaning – get them saved. What happened to the morality and influence of born-again believers? Where is the light of Christ and the preserving influence of Christians on American culture?

Sadly, the United States is a top exporter of abortion, demonic entertainment, pornography, the prosperity gospel, drugs, and more. We are full of pride and perversion. Abraham Lincoln, in the late 1860s, said we have become too proud to pray to the God who created us and blessed this land. We’ve become apathetic, comfortable, distracted, and divided. Tragically, the Church is no longer leading the way.

Let’s look at how Jesus rebuked the lukewarm church in Asia Minor.

Revelation 3:15-22 reads, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.Therefore be [c]zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” 

Notice that this is a message from Jesus (through the Holy Spirit) to Christians in one of the early churches in Asia Minor. He is standing outside the door of His church!

How about today? Is Jesus knocking on the door of churches claiming to worship Him?

Is the state of today’s church any indication of the morality, stability, and strength of America? There’s an expression many believe to be accurate: as the church goes so goes America.

You may have heard about the concept of a ‘Life Cycle of Nations,’ put forth by Scottish historian, Alexander Tyler at the time of the American Revolution. Nations generally follow this pattern:

From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage;

From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance.

From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy;

From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.

As we consider Bible prophecy and current events, let’s also be reminded that though the biblical worldview is on life support, God is not shocked and His sovereignty still rules over all.

Contrary to the left, the media, secular government, the K-12 education system, and Marxist universities, America’s greatness was undergirded from the beginning by our Judeo-Christian moral foundation.

In November 1620, Pilgrims and Puritans created the first social contract in the New World. The Mayflower Compact set a precedent for religious freedom and became a guide for later charters of self-government in North America. It’s vital to understand the Compact declares profound religious commitment while organizing a civil government.

The second sentence states their purpose:

“…Having undertaken for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony…”

At the time of the American Revolution, historian from France, Alexis de Tocqueville attributed America’s greatness to what he described as American pulpits “aflame with righteousness.” We would have had no American Revolution without the black robed regiment; pastors speaking the whole counsel of God’s Truth and standing up to tyranny.

In order to have a strong, stable nation, we needed a healthy, vibrant, influential church committed to preaching the gospel of repentance and being counter-culture – refusing to conform to this world.

Sadly, there are millions of people who go to church every Sunday and are not even saved. They profess to believe Jesus is the only way and claim to trust the Bible, but they are better classified as unconverted or ‘so-called Christians.’

In light of a huge national election coming up in a few weeks, how could someone claim to be a Christian and support the Democrat Party? How do they justify supporting things like abortion, homosexuality, drag queens, transgender surgeries, open borders, socialism, and do not support Israel?

They don’t know or haven’t read the Bible.

You’ve heard it said politics are downstream from culture meaning culture influences government. Ideally, as in the early church and the earliest days in America, biblical Christianity influenced the land. A vibrant faith and religion should be shaping culture and politics today but I’m afraid it’s the other way around.

George Barna was my guest on Worldview Matters a few weeks ago and shared some tragic news about the alarming decline in biblical worldview among pastors and church leaders. A majority (62%) do not even believe the Bible they preach from on Sunday mornings. How’s this possible?

It just takes one generation. Worldly pulpits have led to Syncretism; a merging of – or a combination of conflicting and differing religions, beliefs, or practices. Barna estimates that a staggering 92 percent of Americans fall into the category of syncretism!

People can’t decide on just one, so they mix a patchwork of beliefs such as Buddhism, Christianity, the New Age, works righteousness, and worldviews such as: Islam (everything must submit) Postmodernism (everything is about power) and Marxism (everything advances revolution, oppressed vs oppressor).

A weak American church combined with secularism have now produced some awful consequences. Only one percent (1%) of 18–29-year-olds have a biblical worldview today. We desperately need repentance and revival!

Barna concluded:

“It certainly seems that if America is going to experience a spiritual revival, that awakening is needed just as desperately in our pulpits as in the pews; …This [research] is another strong piece of evidence that the culture is influencing the American church more than Christian churches are influencing the culture”

Too many pastors are unwilling to teach the whole counsel of God, equip the saints, address Bible prophecy, politics, and expose darkness. They will answer to God one day.

Moreover, a Gallup Poll last year had this headline revealing a big part of the problem: “Belief in the Inerrancy of Scripture Rapidly Declining”

Just 20% – a record low of Americans think the Bible is actually and literally God’s Word. This is the first time in history more Americans do NOT view the Bible as divinely inspired. In addition, almost 30% of Americans now think the Bible is merely a collection of “fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man.”

Abandoning inerrancy is the first downward step to apostasy, accommodating sin, and post-modernism.

In his 1998 book, The God Who Is There, Dr. Francis Schaeffer warned about the danger of compromise and what happens when we stop believing in the inspiration of Scripture:

“Here is the great evangelical disaster – the failure of the evangelical world to stand for truth. There is only one word for this, namely accommodation: the evangelical church has accommodated the spirit of this age. First, there has been accommodation of Scripture, so that many who call themselves evangelicals hold a weakened view of the Bible and no longer affirm the truth of all that it teaches – truth not only in religious matters but in matters of science, history, and morality.”

He was spot on!

We need to acknowledge how we got here, understand the signs of the times, and also know how to respond. Doing nothing, not warning people, keeping our faith to ourselves must not be options. The Bible warns about falling away, heresy, and rebellion against God. Let’s see if any of these predictions sound familiar.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 states: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

Things will get worse. The question is this: What will we do about it? How are we responding today to blatant evil and perpetrators of demonic agendas? If you are a believer in Christ and you are silent in the face of evil, whose approval are you more concerned about, God’s or man’s?

2 Timothy 3:12-13 further states, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”

Those who truly believe and live out their faith will be persecuted. In other words, when people know you by your fruit and bold witness, they will hate you.

Some speculate America is ripe for judgment. Others say we’re in the early stages. Too many don’t seem to care, and many Christians seem unconvinced the time is short.

Why does all this matter?

Sadly, too many professing Christians are ineffective or unproductive as salt and light; many are clueless about how late the hour is and it seems we’d rather be busy, be entertained, and of course, comfortable. This is cruise ship Christianity.

The truth is we’re on a battleship and Satan is pulling out all the stops. We know our struggle is not against flesh and blood – but we also know the enemy uses people, flesh and blood, to do his work on the earth. We must discern and respond.

Writer of “Amazing Grace,” John Newton, once said, “If I might read only one book beside the Bible, I would choose The Christian in Complete Armour,” by William Gurnall, an English scholar, preacher, and puritan. Born in the 1600s, he wrote much about spiritual warfare and the duty of believers. He stated:

“It is the image of God reflected in you that so enrages hell; it is this at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons; …God himself underwrites your battle and has appointed His own Son ‘the captain of [your] salvation’ (Hebrews 2:10)… The soldier is summoned to a life of active duty, and so is the Christian. The very nature of the calling precludes a life of ease.”

You don’t see much about pursuing comfort and leisure in the pages of the Bible.

Daily news and headlines clearly prove the dark and dramatic moral decline. Some topics include abortion, antisemitism, transgender ideology, environmental extremism, population control, AI, hyper-sexuality, LGBTQ, globalism, Marxism, medical tyranny, communist policy in America, delusion, persecution, evil called good, increasing crime, and violence.

These are just a handful of indicators that the return of the Lord must be getting close.

Judgment is coming, and it’s not going to be pretty. Do you think there’s chaos and disorder and turmoil on the earth now? We ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Imagine the darkness when the church is removed.

How many pastors today are warning people of the judgment to come and teaching about the holiness of a God who is described as a consuming fire?

Like Noah’s day, many people will not understand until it’s too late; they are busy, preoccupied, and carrying on with life. Nonetheless, we are called to share the good news because we’re messengers of a righteous, worthy, Mighty God.

The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

We represent King Jesus! Furthermore, we have the Holy Spirit in us and are not left without armor or help. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 states: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

We are overcomers, and if God is for us, who can be against us?

It’s good to be informed, encouraged, and to enjoy fellowship. For those of us who attend solid Bible-teaching churches, we’re well fed and equipped. But what about Monday through Saturday? Are we using the knowledge, gifts, and talents God gave us to bless and minister to others?

We need discernment, we need to be obedient, and we need to be ready. Preach the truth that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

Romans 10:8-10 states: “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Speak up, stand in faith, pray for wisdom, love your neighbors, and watch for our Blessed Hope. Even when things feel like they’re spinning out of control, the Lord of History has not lost His power, remains on the throne, and is faithful forever.

David Fiorazo is an author, ordained pastor, host of Worldview Matters, and media contributor for Harbinger’s Daily and Freedom Project.

Source: Have Lukewarm Churches And Secularism Created The Perfect Storm For America’s Decline? – Harbinger’s Daily

What do you do when one of the warning indicators lights up on your dashboard or your car’s computer screen? Ignoring it can be costly. In fact, I saw a survey that revealed 30% of people either overlooked or ignored the indicator altogether. Only about 50% of drivers acknowledged the warning and knew what it meant. Just like failing to heed those signs can lead to a breakdown, we, as a country, are facing cultural warning indicators that we can’t afford to ignore.

In just the past two months, there were two assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump. That alone is alarming, but even more disturbing is a recent poll conducted by Scott Rasmussen for Napolitan News. This survey of 1,000 registered voters should drive us to our knees in prayer.

Here’s what they asked: “While it is always difficult to wish ill of another human being, would America be better off if Donald Trump had been killed last weekend?” Shockingly, the results showed that only 47% of Democrats said “no,” while 28% said America would be better off, and 25% were unsure. In other words, 53% of Democrats were either comfortable with Trump being murdered or unsure how to respond to such a serious question.

But there’s more. Forty-nine percent of Democrats think it’s at least somewhat likely that Trump himself or his campaign was involved in these assassination attempts, while 52% of Republicans believe the Democratic Party or the Harris campaign had a role. This kind of political rage is a flashing warning light that many are choosing to ignore.

As Proverbs 28:2 says, “Because of the transgression of a land, many are its princes; but by a man of understanding and knowledge, right will be prolonged.” This truth is unfolding before our very eyes. Instability, violence, and policy swings with each administration have created a fragile nation and an unstable world. Proverbs also tells us that “moral rot” is the root cause of a nation’s downfall. The sin of the people is the real problem, not just politics.

So, how do we stop this moral decay? Proverbs 1:7 reminds us that the beginning of knowledge, or the pathway out, is found in the fear, or reverence, of the Lord. Only a return to God will heal our nation. This fall election is crucial, but it won’t solve our nation’s sin problem. It may even worsen it. The solution is deeper — it’s spiritual. We must restore a healthy reverence for God in our society, which will lead to respect for the lives of others and bring back the security and stability our country once knew.

We need to pray. We need to vote. We need to stand. But beyond that, we must live out our faith, engage with our communities, and be ambassadors of God’s truth. Only then can we start turning the tide and address the deeper issues plaguing our nation.

Tony Perkins is the president of the Family Research Council and executive editor of The Washington Stand. He also served two terms as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives and served as Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Source: The Warning Lights In America That We Can’t Afford To Ignore – Harbinger’s Daily

For decades, most of the media has put forth tremendous effort to destroy people they don’t like, and to protect people they support. Evidence has been irrelevant.

During the debate, the ABC moderators spent their time seeking to undermine President Trump (even though he told the truth) and protect Kamala Harris, no matter how much she lied.

On Thursday night, they repeated an unverified story from CNN about what the black Republican candidate for governor of NC supposedly said online, back around 2008.

Of course this unverified story will be repeated far and wide by all the media outlets campaigning for Harris; this is standard procedure. If the NYT, WaPo, ABC, CBS, CNN, or any one of the other Democrat networks run a story, the others will act as mockingbirds, no matter how often previous stories have been untrue.

For over thirty years, the media and other Democrats have set out to destroy Clarence Thomas for the crime of being a black conservative.

In 2004, Dan Rather set out to destroy George W. Bush with unverifiable documents about his time in the National Guard as the media supported Kerry for president. Now, the media likes Bush, as long as he doesn’t support Trump.

In 2008, the NYT endorsed McCain over Romney in the Republican primary, and after they disposed of Romney, they ran a hit piece on McCain about a supposed affair with a lobbyist years earlier with no evidence. Later in life, the media loved McCain as long as he was trashing Trump.

Meanwhile, the media was spending a lot of time protecting Obama from the scrutiny of the public eye, hiding his relationships with terrorist Bill Ayers, radical Reverend Wright, political fixer Tony Rezko, and antisemite Louis Farrakhan.

In 2012, the media set out to destroy Romney, including spreading the story, without evidence, that he didn’t pay taxes for ten years. Now they love Romney as long as he is trashing Trump.

In 2012, the media didn’t care about how much Obama had lied about Obamacare, his IRS targeting political opponents, the people left to die in Benghazi after another lie about a video, his ATF’s Fast and Furious gun-running operation, and the time he told Russia he would be flexible after he was reelected. To this day, most of the media pretends that the massively corrupt and incompetent Obama-Biden years were corruption-free and great.

And starting in 2016, the media, FBI, CIA, and other Democrats have colluded to destroy Trump with continuous lies and investigations; the most obvious ones being Russian collusion and the “insurrection” on January 6.

The media also ran pictures of kids in cages during the Obama-Biden years, but said they were Trump’s doing. To this day, they spread the lie about Trump and Charlottesville to gin up racial hate and division—ABC had Tim Walz on last night, who repeated the lie with zero media correction.

Of course the media never cared about the corruption or lawbreaking of Hillary. All the evidence suggests that her family got rich selling access, she mishandled classified documents, and obstructed justice. They also never care about all the women that Hillary and Bill mentally and physically abused and sought to destroy. The media still treats Hillary like she is an honest person.

The media, FBI, CIA, and other Democrats have also known about the Biden family corruption for years, yet continually buried (and still do) the story. When the NY Post came out with a well-sourced story regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop, they blacklisted it as they campaigned for Biden.

It is not only politicians the media sets out to destroy, they will go after anyone who threatens their agenda.

In 2014, a white cop shot a black, teenage criminal who went after his gun, and the media, along with others, started the “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” narrative. The lie was meant to gin up racial hate against white cops, and it destroyed that cop and his family. How many cops have been killed or injured because of that intentional lie?

In 2014, white Duke lacrosse players were falsely accused of raping a black woman, and the media set out to destroy them because it fit a progressive narrative.

In 2014, without evidence, Rolling Stone ran a false story about fraternity boys and rape. The story was repeated far and wide. No evidence was necessary.

When Judge Kavanaugh was nominated for the Supreme Court, the WaPo and other media outlets, along with other Democrats, set out to destroy him. They came out with a story, without evidence, of something he supposedly did to a girl decades earlier. No one cared about evidence or the truth.

CNN, Wapo, and others sought to destroy white Christian boys for the crime of being Trump supporters. They were falsely accused of being racists. The media didn’t care who they harmed with their stories—the target was Trump!

CNN also ran a story to destroy a man seeking to save people in Afghanistan. Again, it was a false story. CNN couldn’t care less about how disastrous the Biden-Harris withdrawal was but they set out to destroy someone who cared:

CNN Could Be Forced to Pay Upwards of $1 Billion from Defamation Suit from Tapper Show

The case hinged on CNN’s use of the phrases ‘black market’ and ‘exploited’ to describe [Zachary] Young’s legitimate business helping corporately sponsored Afghans escape the country as it collapsed around them and the Taliban retook control. Young’s clients included Audible and Bloomberg News – one of CNN’s industry peers, and he saved 24 people.

Freedman said CNN essentially ‘branded [Young] a human trafficker’ and a ‘war profiteer’ and broadcasted it to millions of households.

Jake Tapper, the host whose show the allegedly defamatory story ran on (The Lead), also made a point to note that people seeking escape were given ‘no guarantee of safety or success.’ Yet, at no point could CNN prove that what Young was doing was a scam. In fact, their editors admitted in messages that couldn’t find evidence of it.

The media, FBI, Biden, Harris, and others also sought to destroy border guards with the false story that they were whipping Haitians. Evidence didn’t matter.

Then they pretend to care about Iran, China, and Russia interfering in our elections with misinformation.

Most of the media are just puppets for Democrats. They are the ones who are intentionally trying to destroy America, not Trump.

Source: Bias through the years: a long list of media infractions – American Thinker

Why is the church quiet? The revolutionary pastors fought and urged congregants to be involved. Why has the church lost its zeal today?

Speaking of revolutionary pastors, back in 1776, a pastor in Woodstock, Virginia, John Peter Muhlenberg, stood up in front of his congregation and preached from Ecclesiastes chapter 3. When he got to verse 8, he talked about how there was a “time for war and a time for peace,” and he unzipped his black clerical robe to reveal an officer’s uniform in the Continental Army. He marched to the back of his church, and he called the men of his congregation to fight. They formed the 8th Virginia Brigade, which is still in active duty today.

James Madison, one of the great founding fathers in Virginia, was running for the first Congress in 1789. While he was running for the fifth district to sit in Congress, he met with the Virginia Baptists in Richmond. They told him that he wouldn’t get their support unless he wrote a Bill of Rights for the First Amendment protecting religious Liberties. Madison did just that, and he won that seat in Congress.

My point is that the church has always been involved in the past, so why be silent today? I think there are a few reasons.

Some have misinterpreted the First Amendment—the idea of a separation of church and state. The First Amendment was intended to keep government out of the church, not the church out of government.

When Thomas Jefferson wrote his letter in 1802 to the Danbury Baptists in Connecticut, he was interpreting the constitutional rights that churches had to be involved in politics. The separation of church and state was intended to help churches and Christians realize that the government can’t intrude, not the other way around.

Then, in 1959, the Johnson Amendment came into law. It muzzled Pastors in the Pulpit from endorsing candidates.

Today, you have pastors who just don’t want to be controversial. Let me tell you something: anytime you step into the arena of truth, it will sound controversial to some people. As pastors, we must continue to urge our congregations. And as Christians, you must be active, not silent, in the pews. Get out and make your voices heard and your values known.

Be involved in the political process today. We’re called to be salt and light. Get out there, please, and be salt and light to this world.

Gary Hamrick is the senior pastor of Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, VA. Pastor Gary is also on the Advisory Board for The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., and serves as the Chief Chaplain for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

Source: Don’t Be Silent: The 1st Amendment Was To Keep Government Out Of The Church, Not The Church Out Of Government – Harbinger’s Daily

Tectonic shifts are taking place in the Middle East. We see tectonic shifts politically, certainly militarily, but now we’re seeing tectonic shifts literally. An earthquake in Syria this last week has profoundly affected Hezbollah and could be one of the reasons why Iran and the terror organization have delayed their invasion of Israel.

The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, who was the leader of Hamas, took place in Tehran over two weeks ago on July 31. Iran is insisting that they are going to retaliate against Israel. However, Tehran added that one thing could prevent their attack: a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.

The problem is it appears everybody wants the ceasefire except Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Israel intends to prosecute this war to the end, which I believe they should. If they don’t, they’ll just be delaying the inevitable. I don’t think the Hamas leaders in Gaza and surrounding arab nations want this war to end either; they would much prefer to continue using it as leverage and a tool to stoke even more global hatred for Israel.

The United States is currently accelerating its deployment of a carrier strike group to the Middle East, even sending a nuclear submarine to this area. Interestingly, the United States doesn’t normally announce the whereabouts of our nuclear sub’s location—that’s a top secret.

I think all of this is happening not because the US wants to escalate but because the US wants to de-escalate. We want the world to see that we have Israel’s back, and hopefully, this will cause Iran to stand down.

A Wall Street Journal headline reads, “In Israel, Support Grows for Offensive Against Hezbollah.” There is increased support in Israel to get this thing started and neutralize Hezbollah. There’s also growing fear that Iran and Israel could attack each other’s nuclear facilities—that would, of course, be an apocalyptic scenario if that were to happen. Time will tell how extreme and extensive the war and the destruction will be.

The main story I would like to highlight surrounds the earthquake that took place recently in Syria. There’s an article in the Jerusalem Post about this fascinating development. The headline of the article says, “Heaven sent: Is Lebanon’s earthquake a testament to divine protection?“

Here is some intriguing information the article included:

Hezbollah’s underground ambitions may now lie buried, turned to ashes before they had any chance to harm us.

In our collective memory, Tisha B’Av has always been a solemn day, marked by the destruction of the First and Second Temples.

To provide further context, Tisha B’Av is a day of sorrow and reflection, which usually falls on our calendar in early August. It marks the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in 586 BC and the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70. Those events happened on the same day. That’s not an accident—that’s divine providence. It was the hand of God showing the Jewish people that He was behind these destructions that took place because of their disobedience to Him.

The article continues:

This year, however, the day bore witness to what many of us view as a modern-day miracle—a testament to divine intervention that could not have come at a more crucial time.

Reports confirmed a 5.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Syria and Lebanon, profoundly impacting the region. This was not just any seismic event; it may have served as an unanticipated yet divine act that thwarted a grave threat against the Jewish nation. Hezbollah, an established proxy of Iran, had been preparing to launch an attack on Israel—a direct affront planned deliberately for Tisha B’Av. Many of the group’s underground tunnels, teeming with armaments, may have been reduced to rubble by an act of God to protect His children, which could effectively halt Hezbollah’s nefarious plan before it could materialize.

It is hard to perceive it as mere coincidence that the earth shook on the very day Hezbollah had intended to send Israel into mourning once more. With tunnels collapsing and their arsenals buried, what could have been a devastating assault turned into a day of bewildering relief and gratitude.

Throughout history, Jews have faced adversaries who sought to dismantle our spirit and our faith. This recent event is yet another example that, irrespective of the gathered forces against us, divine protection remains steadfast. Tisha B’Av, usually a day of sorrow and reflection, was transformed into a moment where we could see the hand of God in action, turning our potential despair into potential reassurance.

It is possible that say that Iran and Hezbollah must now be reeling from this unforeseen disruption. 

We have previously discussed a number of reasons why Iran may be delaying this invasion. They may be trying to get more concessions out of the West. They may be waiting for air defense systems to come in from Russia. They may just be afraid. They don’t really want to escalate as the US is moving more assets into the area.

There is a multitude of reasons why they might be delaying, but one thing that has yet to be accounted for is that Iran may have had a plan for Tisha B’Av. This earthquake collapsed many Hezbollah tunnels, which may account for this further delay.

One thing is sure in all of this: God is in control of the timetable and the scope of any attack by Iran and Hezbollah against Israel. God controls the time, and God controls the extent of that attack.

Daniel 1:1-2, at the beginning of the book of Daniel in 605 BC, describes the Babylonians coming against Judah and Jerusalem. It reads: “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.”

It’s interesting to note all these verbs in these verses have to do with Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar came, besieged, carried away, and put these articles in the temple in Babylonia. But in the middle of all the actions of King Nebuchadnezzar, it says, “the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand.” Nebuchadnezzar thought he was in total control of what was happening, but God was behind the scenes working, and it was God who delivered a Jehoiakim into his hand.

God delivers into the enemy’s hand, and God delivers out of the enemy’s hand. We need to remember that with all that is happening in the world today. Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Riverside shared a story from history that aptly displays God’s ultimate hand of control over the affairs and wars of nations:

History tells us that on the morning of the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon stood gazing on the field of battle and described to his commanding officer the strategy for that day’s campaign. Then he declared that at the end of the day, England would be at the feet of France, and the Duke of Wellington, who was leading the British forces, would be the prisoner of Napoleon.

After a pause, Napoleon’s commanding officer boldly said, “We must not forget that man proposes, but God disposes.”

With arrogant pride, Napoleon shot back, “I want you to understand, sir, that Napoleon proposes and Napoleon disposes.”

Commenting on that statement, Victor Hugo said, “After that moment, Waterloo was lost, for God sent rain and hail so that the troops could not be maneuvered as he had planned, and on the night of the battle it was Napoleon who was prisoner of Wellington, and France was at the feet of England.”

It’s a great and true statement: “man proposes, but God disposes.” And I think we saw that statement play out with the earthquake in the Middle East on Monday. That may have been the day (Tisha B’Av) that Hezbollah intended to attack, rubbing salt on their wound during their day of sorrow and reflection—But God had other plans. God’s hand sent this 5.4 magnitude earthquake, literally shifting the tectonic plates to cause this plan to be thwarted.

Now, that doesn’t mean that Hezbollah will not attack sometime in the future, but I think it was a message to the Jewish people. It was also a subtle message, I’m sure, that wasn’t lost on Hezbollah. They saw these tunnels cave in, wondering, “Here we are making all these plans, and look what’s happening!” It had to give them pause.

We need to remember that whatever happens in the Middle East, in fact, whatever happens in our lives, God always has the last word. People are proposing, they do what they want to do, but God is disposing. God’s will will be done in His time and His way. God is working behind the scenes in His providence, ordering, orchestrating, and overseeing the events of history.

Sometimes, God steps in a more open way, like this earthquake, and shows His Hand. This is just one little kind of glimmer of light, if you will, in this dark situation, to show us that God is present and God is at work. I hope you’ll see that and look for that in your own life as well.

Mark Hitchcock is an author, associate professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, Senior Pastor of Faith Bible Church in Oklahoma, and hosts the weekly program “Marking The End Times.”

Source: Tectonic Shifts: Did God Use An Earthquake In The Middle East To Thwart An Attack On Israel? – Harbinger’s Daily

A worldview is the lens through which we interpret the world and live our daily lives. If our worldview is based on the Bible, we hold a biblical view of marriage, family, society, law, justice, morality, and basic right and wrong. God said … the end. His word is eternal, unchangeable, and absolute because God is eternal, unchanging, and rules over all things.

If we hold a biblical Christian worldview, we know God ordained marriage for life as a covenant between one man and one woman. We know this because God said so in Genesis 1:27, and Jesus confirmed and repeated it in Mark 10:6-8, “From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” God left no room for compromise, caveats, nuances, or “social norms.”

Christians understand most unsaved people hold a secular, humanist, self-centered, relativist, or evolutionary worldview. Their beliefs may be sincerely held and ardently supported, but it doesn’t matter how many people are for or against something when they’re wrong. Truth is not decided by a show of hands or headcount. God does not rule by consensus. The only opinion that matters in all endeavors of human existence is “What does God think?”

How can I say dogmatically that only God’s opinion matters? Because my Christian worldview is rooted in the Scripture that says, “Declare among the nations: ‘The Lord reigns!’ The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity” (Psalm 96:10). If that’s not clear enough, we have Paul’s testimony repeating Psalm 24, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness” (1 Corinthians 10:26). God has the divine right to rule over all humanity because He is Lord.

Why Does A Worldview Matter?

A Christian biblical worldview is essential in a world that is constantly morphing into whatever is popular, gratifying, or legal. That is one of many reasons our Founding Fathers did not establish a Democracy (That’s a common lie we are being fed on purpose. Just because we hear it often doesn’t make it true).

America is a Constitutional Representative Republic. In a pure democracy, the majority rules. Whatever many want, everyone gets. What happens when the majority is wrong, biased, selfish, immoral, or addicted? We get a mess, like when the majority votes that drug addiction should be legalized or mothers should be legally allowed to kill their babies even after they are fully born, breathing, and out of the womb, as in California, Michigan, and New York.

If we hold a biblical Christian worldview, we know this is wrong because murder is written into the Decalogue (Ex. 20:13). It’s murder to kill a living human being, preborn, newborn, or octogenarian. Our 14th Amendment protections apply to us all. Just because abortion is legal or euthanasia becomes socially acceptable doesn’t make them right, only harder to prosecute.

Why do some Christians accept cultural shifts and try to fit in? Fear, faithlessness, and ignorance. If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. People with no biblical Christian worldview often follow the crowd, some out of a desire to fit in, others out of ignorance that there’s another option. Both have nothing on which to depend when questions arise that they don’t understand or have never faced. What should I do if…?

As Christians with a biblical worldview, our automatic response should be, “What does the Bible say? What is God’s perspective?” We know what is right because the Bible addresses right and wrong in every possible context: religious, societal, interpersonal, and governmental.

Why A Biblical Worldview?

How could one 2000-year-old book possibly address every matter of human behavior and thought? The answer to that also arises from a biblical worldview: Only an eternal God could have known what would happen in advance. Only a Master Creator would have anticipated everything humanity would face over our existence and made preparations for our salvation and everyday lives. Only a loving Father would have written it down and preserved it for us to reference thousands of years later.

If humanity and the universe are products of luck, chance, chaos, and evolution, then we have the right to be and conduct ourselves according to our whims and desires. Instead of what is right, we default to what feels good, what we want, what benefits us most, or what advances our agenda. That’s the natural outcome of a me-based evolutionary belief system. I’m the final authority. It puts “me” in God’s place.

Our modern society believes it can do whatever it wants because they’re more evolved, more advanced, and more open-minded. I love the phrase that defines that attitude: “Don’t be so open-minded, your brains fall out.” Too many people have tried to be open-minded, tolerant, and inclusive because they’ve been force-fed that nonsense and told it’s what we must do in this highly evolved social paradigm.

Well, guess what? Our society isn’t new. “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Abortion was legal and common in ancient Rome. Pagan temple prostitutes gave birth all the time. When they became pregnant, they would give birth, then put the babies out in the street and leave them to die or worse—offer them as sacrifices to pagan deities. Like modern abortions, where 97% of all abortions are elective – the baby was ‘sacrificed’ because it was inconvenient – these babies were disposable outcomes of illicit sexual activity.

The early Christians understood this was wrong because God values life, so they began rescuing those infants. The First Century Church became known for rescuing these uncared-for and unseen babies. The idea of an orphanage as we know it was born in the early Church. Historians Josephus and Tacitus noted the practice of Christians saving babies because it was so unusual. They had only the Old Testament then, but by comparing the teachings of Christ to the Mosaic Law, the young Church understood allowing babies to die was inhumane and abhorrent.

Practical Applications of A Biblical Worldview

What of the other social issues of our time, like homosexual marriage and legalized drug use? How could the Bible possibly address modern society and the problems and questions we face? That’s the easiest question to answer if you hold a biblical worldview. Because God created everything and everyone, God would know everything we would ever face because He knows what is in the hearts of men and women.

How do we know sexual perversion is wrong? Because the Bible says so in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Why is 1 Corinthians chapter 6 in your Bible? Simple, because that letter was written to the Church of Corinth, where it was already happening. Paul based his answer on Leviticus 18 and Deuteronomy 22 because sexual perversion was common in Canaan before Israel inhabited the Promised Land. All the gender nonsense we face is not new, evolved, or a newfound freedom of expression; it was happening in 2000 BC!

Because God is the Author of the Bible, He addressed all the concerns, behaviors, ideas, and situations we would ever face. Even when no verse says, “Thou shalt not…” we have God’s eternal promises and timeless principles that apply to any generation or question. Only an all-knowing God could do that, and He did! Now, more than ever, the world is looking for answers. They don’t need compliant, complacent, tolerant, make-no-waves Christians; they need the truth from the Bible.

Unsaved people can see that the world is a mess, and they are desperately seeking answers. We have them. They don’t fit the politically or socially accepted narrative because the current culture is godless, anti-Christian, immoral, and wicked. Our biblical Christian worldview will stand in stark contrast to the world’s viewpoint, but we were never meant to fit in; we were meant to stand out, to “shine as lights in the darkness”(Philippians 2:15).

Never be afraid to stand for the truth and against the lies. Stand on the truths of the Bible. Speak for God unapologetically, “The Bible says…” God was right the first time. His word still applies. His answers are still true. His way works because humans will always repeat the processes and practices of those before them. When societies have been out of step with God’s word, they have always failed and fallen. Pray that does not happen to America. Speak up in the places God has given you influence.

Let Ephesians 6:13 be your guide. Reject what the liberal, godless, mainstream media is selling. Never be ashamed to be salt and light to a world that is spiritually dead in sin, morally decaying in filth, and blinded by the thick darkness of Satanic deception.

Watchmen, fill your mind with things of Christ—think Christianly. Be a fountain of His words—speak biblically. Be a beacon in the town square, at home, online, and in public. Pray, Vote, Stand, and Finish well.

Source: Holding To A Biblical Worldview Has Never Been More Critical – Harbinger’s Daily

BUTLER, Pennsylvania — The drive between Butler, Pennsylvania, and the Ohio village of East Palestine is less than 42 miles long. In between are the villages and boroughs of Lyndora, Connoquenessing and Evans City on the Pennsylvania side before you cross the state line directly into the village of East Palestine.

It is what is often referenced to by coastal elites who have never driven through this very Americana scenery as “flyover country” or “the middle of nowhere.”

It is filled with people who work hard and stay because there is value to them to be intertwined with the lives that made them. Living not far from family was good for their future children. They could not justify moving away from that sense of community and belonging, so they stayed to make their hometowns better.

The region also is filled with people who have given up hope. This is where opportunity left when automation and trade deals left them behind with skills and work ethic that had no place to go. Once upon a time, they were the votes Democrats coveted, union men and women who were used as backdrops for the labor movement until climate change and international deals became more important and Democratic leaders stopped showing up.

Their despair is often chronicled as bitter or angry. It is not. It is the despair of the unseen. The unheard. The disrespected. They don’t want power. They want to be seen.

For decades, presidential candidates from either party have rarely shown up in places like East Palestine and Butler. The political calculation was simple: There seemed to be no political power here, the population is small, their industries are gone, and the pols really don’t know how to connect with their lives.

What they missed is what the people here represent, explained Youngstown State University’s Paul Sracic, who said there are many thousands of 42-mile stretches just like this one all across this country — forgotten blue lines on U.S. maps that look just like this one and have people just like the people here.

“This is not a place where presidential candidates go, but it is where presidents can be elected or defeated,” said Sracic, who lives right in the thick of it.

“Politicians on both sides of the aisle for the longest time did not understand that this 42-mile stretch and all of the other ones in this country that it represents was becoming ground zero in American politics,” Sracic said.

On the eve of the 2020 election, then-President Donald Trump showed up here in Butler for a rally that was one for the ages. People wondered why.

Seventeen months ago, he showed up in East Palestine after the devastating train derailment spewed deadly toxic chemicals throughout the village and the region. It was a visit President Joe Biden failed to make.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), then newly sworn into office and a son of Appalachia who grew up in a town very similar to East Palestine, was with Trump that day.

It shows, said Sracic, an expert on the shifts in American politics, how much we’ve really gone through a political realignment.

“The old Republican Party was an uncritical partner with big business such as Norfolk Southern,” he said. “But this new party is not reflexively pro-business. It understands business. It wants to do deregulation to help business, but when business does the wrong thing or isn’t accountable, it is much more willing to hold them accountable.”

“We talked about first responders, but they were political first responders representing the larger country, the larger political world that was going to pay attention to these people who feel ignored,” he said.

“These 42 miles represents a broad swath of the country, one could argue most of the country that basically feels ignored and by the media centers on the coasts and the power elite on the coasts, and now with Trump and Vance, they’re finally kind of being spoken to,” he explained.

In our interview on July 14, Trump told me repeatedly that the people at the Butler rally and the people in East Palestine were “his people, the greatest people in the country.”

Sracic said corporate media still fail to understand that despite the fact that Trump won in 2016 and narrowly lost in 2020, he had been mounting a campaign that was expanding, not subtracting, his universe long before Biden’s debate performance or the attempted assassination of Trump.

“They see it as tribal, and a lot of us, including me, kind of misunderstood at the beginning with the rallies. My own students who supported Trump in 2016 telling me the importance of the rallies, feeling once again that they’re part of the whole,” he said.

“You have to remember that the people in these stretches of the country are not, as the book says, ‘bowling alone.’ They are joiners. They come from parents who join the Rotary Clubs and Elks, who coach Little League and are ushers at their church and, yes, bowling leagues,” he said. “They are the very essence of the Alexis de Tocqueville observation that Americans thrive in associations that bring them into shared concerns with their neighbors to give them voice to influence public opinion.”

Vance, he said, is one of them. Born in Appalachian Ohio to a mother addicted to prescription drugs and a father absent from his life, and raised by his grandparents, he enlisted in the Marines and attended, as they say around here, “THE” Ohio State University, then Yale Law School.

Vance’s life story shows the value of meritocracy, Sracic said.

“He rises up not because of the privilege that he was born in but because this is a country that gave him the opportunity to prove his worth, to prove his merit,” he said.

In short, none of us would’ve ever heard of Vance if he hadn’t tested well enough to get into law school through these largely neutral testing regimes.

Vance, like Trump, understands the importance of showing up.

This past February, on the one-year anniversary of the train derailment in East Palestine, Vance pulled up to a local church in his pickup truck and stepped out of the driver’s side, juggling two boxes of Oram’s donuts that he had picked across the state line in Pennsylvania. This was just one of many meetings he has held with locals since the train derailment that set off a massive fire and a billowing cloud of toxic smoke rolling over this community — followed days later by a toxic “controlled burn” meant to prevent an even larger explosion.

He greeted everyone there by their first name, grabbed a glazed bear claw from one of the donut boxes, sat down with his constituents and asked them for an update, spending 90 minutes taking questions, pressing them for details, telling them what he believes the Environmental Protection Agency has gotten right and what it’s gotten wrong, and talking candidly about how sick he felt after his first visits here.

At the end of the meeting, he held a grief-stricken Lonnie Miller, who has lost her home and her small business and has barely held on to her marriage since the derailment.

Sracic said he is stunned the media still do not get this.

“They still will as they continue to parachute in here and try to see America from their worldview, not the 42-mile people who decide elections,” he said.

Sracic said here is the genius about understanding the importance of showing up where there is seemingly no capital: “Right? There are no centers of power or influence here, no Wall Street, no big corporate headquarters, yet coming to places like here or Ashtabula, Ohio, or Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, or the Jersey Shore or the South Bronx is symbolic. People ‘see’ themselves there.”

East Palestine or Youngstown, Ohio, or Butler, Pennsylvania, are symbols, he said. “They are not just a place. After all, we know it’s like declining in population, not that important politically anymore, but the type of people that are there — what happened there is the story of what happened in most of deindustrialized America.”

This is the center of the political earthquake where we have seen what on paper shouldn’t have happened. These voters changed American politics. Trump intuitively understood that, and Vance is part of that evolution.

“For any political scientist to say that we don’t have a realignment, they’re not seeing what’s right before them,” Sracic said. “All they have to do is drive these 42 miles.”

Source: The Most Important 42 Miles in American Politics

In all the brouhaha the Friday after the disastrous debate between Trump and POTATUS, a pretty important Supreme Court decision came down. SCOTUS overturned the long-time deference to what was called “The Chevron Doctrine.” The ruling cheered the hearts of so many freedom lovers who had watched in horror as bureaucratic tyrants took over the administration of law, regulatory power, and punishment that are constitutionally the purview of Congress alone.

The US Supreme Court’s ruling on the Chevron doctrine in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (Loper), will profoundly impact multiple industries regulated by federal agencies that have grown accustomed to being the ultimate arbiter of ambiguous language in their applicable laws, rules and regulations. Those days are over—courts no longer have to defer to federal agencies when resolving such ambiguities.

Originally decided in 1984, Chevron became a watershed decision in which courts used its two-part test as the standard for interpreting when a statute is ambiguous or silent, deferring to the administrative agency’s reasonable interpretation of the statutory language. Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 US 837 (1984)…

No longer do politically appointed federal bureaucrats have the power to make rules as they go along.

…The theory underlying the deference afforded agencies in Chevron is that experts who work within federal agencies are often better attuned to the impact of new laws and how they should be implemented within the context of specific industry practices, policies and trends. For example, Judge Friendly once noted that Medicaid law is “almost unintelligible to the uninitiated.” For heavily regulated industries like healthcare and securities, in the wake of Loper, judges across the US, many of whom are unfamiliar with the complexity of the relevant regulatory schemes, may offer potentially conflicting interpretations of the same statute, rule or regulation, thereby creating challenges for industry participants who need to conduct business throughout the country. Of course, the theory underpinning Chevron has its limitations as regulators’ views can change over time. Afterall, the heads of federal agencies promulgating and enforcing their rules and regulations are political appointees who are not necessarily constrained by prior agency practice.

As Ilya Shapiro said (well, sort of), “Whoda thunk it?”

Whoever thought that an obscure case about fishing regulations would bring down a core part of modern administrative law, the rules that govern the executive-branch agencies that write the rules by which we live our lives? In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court has overturned the 1984 case Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which told judges to defer to “reasonable” agency interpretations of their operative statutes. Originally meant to streamline the Reagan administration’s deregulatory agenda in the face of judicial obstruction, the doctrine wound up enabling a ratcheting up of bureaucratic bloat.

Good for the Court to recognize that its 40-year-old experiment in rebalancing the relationship between administration and judicial review has failed. And indeed, the Court itself hasn’t used the doctrine in nearly a decade. As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion (joined by five colleagues): “At this point all that remains of Chevron is a decaying husk with false pretensions.”

It’s been a couple of weeks now, and there is an idea of what size tsunami of change, thanks to this decision, might actually wash through the office buildings in D.C.

For example, the Food and Drug Administration has wide latitude to set its own rules, as does the Security and Exchange Commission. Both have been under increasing scrutiny and incurring broader legal action against certain of their dictates. But now, with Chevron gone, do the lawsuits about their rules become a deluge? What about the climate-related disclosure requirements that the SEC has set up? Both agencies are ripe for a litigation explosion.

I hadn’t thought about the impact on American agriculture, either, until I got one of my little newsletters this morning. Farmers are hoping this decision will get a number of government monkeys off their backs and are thanking the menhaden fishermen for going the SCOTUS distance.

…This ruling by the Supreme Court throws a wet blanket on how government agencies have operated for the past 40 years.

Predictably, bureaucrats are now playing the Chicken Little card saying the sky will fall, rivers will turn red, and the skies will turn black. Meanwhile, businesses and many average joes are celebrating the ruling saying maybe – just maybe –a little common sense has been restored in how our lives and businesses are regulated on a daily basis.

The Ripple Effect
Could this be the nudge needed so we can start to have some truly honest two-sided discussions about things like gas stoves, gasoline cars, and burping cows before we hastily put everything we know out to pasture? Maybe the world, in which every day is a new day with another new regulation, will finally stop spinning or at least slow down.

There is no doubt the overturning of the Chevron Doctrine will certainly clip the powers of federal agencies to issue regulations. This will most heavily impact agriculture when it comes to federal regulations surrounding food and drug safety, environmental and welfare standards. The real world impact at the agency level is that these regulations will be harder to create and enforce, affecting progressive efforts in specific areas like agriculture runoff, wetland protection, climate, and animal treatment guidelines.

…For example, this could thwart the Biden Administration’s EPA’s unwavering push to regulate the waters of the U.S — down to the sometimes dry creek running through your back 40. This ruling essentially puts the EPA up a creek without a paddle.

…Here’s a tip of the cap, to some scrappy East Coast fishermen. Well done!

Republicans are also determined to look into any actions implemented because of the Chevron deference and “rollback” the executive overreach when they find it.

…The conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) said House committees “have an opportunity to review any regulatory action that was justified by Chevron deference toward agency interpretation.” The RSC views the overturning of Chevron as a way to “reclaim congressional authority” and roll back what they see as executive overreach. The committee’s memo encouraged its members to “scour Biden-era regulatory actions and highlight any that should be considered for judicial review post-Chevron.” This indicates a specific focus on reviewing and potentially challenging regulations implemented during the Biden administration.

That’s the way to do it.

And not a minute too soon.

This is a whale of a good fish story with what could be a really happy ending.

BEEGE WELBORN 7:00 PM | July 12, 2024

Source: American Farmers Are Pretty Happy With That SCOTUS Fish Decision – HotAir

Only 6% of adults in the United Kingdom identify as practicing Christians, while 42% say they are non-practicing Christians, and one in three non-Christians say they want to know more about Jesus Christ, according to the findings of a recent survey, Talking Jesus.

As many as 70% of those who identify as Christians are white Brits, who represent 83% of the U.K.’s adult population, says the survey, adding that 25% of those who identify as Christians are ethnic minorities, although they represent only 12% of the U.K.’s adult population.

The survey of more than 3,000 U.K. adults, commissioned by five Christian organizations, also found that 4% identify as agnostics, and 12% as atheists.

“It’s a significant drop that shows that our reach has diminished, and we’ve got less contact,” Rachel Jordan-Wolf, executive director of Hope Together, a group involved in the research, was quoted as saying.

She added, “There are more non-Christians who don’t know an active or practicing Christian. So that’s something really to watch. It could be because of the pandemic, as we’ve all not been out and about as much. But these are often significant relationships, so someone they call a friend or family member.

The study also showed that a quarter of Brits describe Jesus as a “normal human being,” and 33% as a prophet or spiritual leader, and not God.

However, while only 6% of Brits identify as Christian, the survey revealed that 45% of people believe in the Resurrection of Jesus, and 20% believe He is the Son of God.

Asked where would people go to find out about the Christian faith, 26% said they would search on Google, 22% said they would go to a local church, 22% said they would read the Bible, and 15% said they would talk to a friend or a family member who is Christian.

The survey, which was also featured by the Church of England on its website, further showed that 62% of non-Christians describe the Christians they know as friendly, 50% as caring, 33% as good-humored, 32% as generous, 19% as authentic.

The groups that commissioned the survey included Alpha, Evangelical Alliance, Luis Palau Association and Kingsgate Community Church.

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Monday, May 02, 2022

Source: Only 6% of UK adults identify as practicing Christians: survey | World

As pro-Hamas protests sweep U.S. campuses across our nation, a curious phenomenon has surfaced: a large number of the protesters are wearing not only the keffiyeh, but also the COVID mask.  Why is this, exactly?

The keffiyeh-wearing is not much of a mystery.  The protesters are clearly making a statement of solidarity with Islamic jihad in general and with Hamas terror in particular.  But the COVID masks add an intriguing twist.  Some of the mask-wearers themselves maintain that they are trying to “stay safe” — in what they believe is the ongoing COVID “pandemic.”  Other observers have postulated, however, that this is an effort by the protesters to hide their identity.

There are possible elements of truth in both of these reasons, but beneath these layers, something much deeper is going on — and it involves a powerful impulse that serves as the foundation of leftist utopianism itself.

We would do well to reflect upon the manner in which the Maoist Cultural Revolution in China imposed unisex desexualized dress on its citizens.  The tyranny perpetrated this as a ruthless war on gender differences and individuality in the name of “equity.”  And this war involved a calculated assault on the possibilities of private attractions, affections, and desires.

The central reality to gauge here is that unisex/desexualized dress satisfies leftists’ morbid pining for enforced sameness.  It is crucial, in their world, to erase physical as well as emotional differences and attractions between people.  In the utopian endgame, humans must all be replicas of one another and be devoted to the cause, the revolutionary state, and to its all-knowing administering of “equality” and “social justice.”

It is no surprise, therefore, that Western leftists were enthralled with the Maoist social engineering experiment.  I have documented this in my book United in Hate, where I show how fellow travelers who journeyed to worship at the altar of the Maoist killing fields flew into ecstasy upon witnessing the unisex clothing.

Let’s recall a few examples:

American leftist academic Orville Schell adored China’s enforced mode of dress the moment he witnessed it. In his book, In the People’s Republic, he praised the “baggy uniformlike tunics” and wrote admiringly how “the question of the shape of a person’s body is a moot one in China.”

Schell was excited that physical attributes were subordinated in intimate relationships. He wrote that the Chinese had

succeeded in fundamentally altering the notion of attractiveness by simply substituting some of these revolutionary attributes for the physical ones which play such an important role in Western courtship.

Schell also noted approvingly that “the notion of ‘playing hard to get’ or exacerbating “jealousies in order to win someone’s love does not appear to assume such a prominent role.”  American actress Shirley MacLaine joined Schell in being deeply enamored with China’s totalitarian puritanism. Like all leftists, she would have surely viewed any restriction on women’s attire or sexual impulses in her own society as patriarchal and capitalist oppression, but for the Chinese people, the suffocation of unregulated love and sex was a magnificent thing in her eyes. In her book, You Can Get There, she wrote:

I could see for myself that in China you were able to forget about sex. There was no commercial exploitation of sex in order to sell soap, perfume, soft drinks, soda pop, or cars. The unisex uniforms also de-emphasized sexuality, and in an interesting way made you concentrate more on the individual character of the Chinese, regardless of his or her physical assets, or lack of them. . . . Women had little need or even desire for such superficial things as frilly clothes and make-up, children loved work and were self-reliant. Relationships seemed free of jealousy and infidelity because monogamy was the law of the land and hardly anyone strayed. . . . It was a quantum leap into the future.

For French leftist Claudie Broyelle, meanwhile, one of the key accomplishments of the Maoist revolution was the cancellation of the “privatization of love.” In her book, Women’s Liberation in China, she gleefully stressed how love in China was now to be expressed not through personal and selfish capitalist avenues, but only through “revolutionary commitment.”

Broyelle noted with profound satisfaction that good looks were no longer important for Chinese women. Unlike the sexualized image of women in Western advertising, she boasted how, in China, there was a different image:

On wall posters, in newspapers, on the stage, everywhere. It is the picture of a worker or a peasant, with a determined expression and dressed very simply. … You can see her working, studying, taking part in a demonstration.

Schell, MacLaine, and Broyelle never, of course, spoke of the brutal truths that stared them right in the face. They didn’t dare to ask: How could jealousy possibly arise, or infidelity be practiced, in a society where privacy did not exist and infidelity would land you in a concentration camp at best, and get you executed at worst? What if a Chinese citizen chose not to forget about sex and made his lack of forgetfulness evident? And what if a man or a woman wore clothes that did not deemphasize his or her sexuality? What would happen to them? It is clear, of course, why these leftists never asked these questions — and why they also never visited a Chinese concentration camp to investigate who was imprisoned there, how they were suffering, and why.

The yearning for totalitarian puritanism that was witnessed among leftists in Maoist China does not mean, of course, that leftists are non-sexual. To the contrary, many of them are highly sexually promiscuous and also passionately active in promoting promiscuity. The issue here is what cause is being served. Women’s “sexual self-determination” is, for instance, adamantly supported by leftists if it enables their war against their own host democratic-capitalist societies — and if it can hurt the Judeo-Christian tradition. But if a totalitarian adversarial society is stifling women’s rights in this context, then leftists vehemently support that oppression, since they typically worship the particular tyranny in question, and gleefully welcome the threat it poses to their own host society — which they hate and want to destroy.

It is important to remember how, some fifty years ago, the terrorist group Weather Underground not only waged war against American society through violence and mayhem, but also encouraged promiscuity — while forbidding private love — within its own ranks. This constituted an eerie replay of the sexual promiscuity that was enforced (while private love was outlawed) in dystopian novels such as We, 1984, and Brave New World. All of this is precisely why the radical left and Sharia supporters detest Valentine’s Day — since it is a day devoted to the love between a man and a woman, a bond that dangerously threatens the totality.

And so we begin to understand why, just as the devotion to totalitarian puritanism played a central role in the left’s solidarity with Maoist China (and with other vicious Communist regimes), so too it serves as a core component of the left’s current romance with Islam — which at this very moment involves campus pro-Hamas protesters bowing to Allah.

Indeed, Maoists’ unisex clothing rules find their parallel in Islam’s mandate for shapeless coverings — to be worn by both males and females. The collective “uniform” symbolizes submission to a “higher entity” and cancels out individual expression, mutual physical attraction, and private connection and affection. And it becomes obvious how the COVID face-coverings fit this totalitarian matrix perfectly.

Thus, just as Orville Schell, Claudie Broyelle, and Shirley MacLaine were enchanted with the enforced Maoist dress that attempted to desexualize Chinese citizens, so, too, the new generation of leftists solemnly genuflect before the Islamic hijab, niqab and burqa — and also before the “pandemic mask.” The Islamic and COVID coverings, like the Maoist uniform, attract leftists by virtue of not only how they negate individuality and personal connection, but also how they reflect humans being mandated to wear them in a tyrannical setting. Longing to submerge themselves into a totality where even their own choices will be negated, leftists are always drawn to a totalitarian entity within which they can lose themselves. And it is in this twisted paradigm that these lost individuals — who suffer from an immense feeling of alienation — finally feel connected to something. They finally belong.

As I document in United in Hate — and in my work Jihadist Psychopath — all of these forces explain why leftists today are on the side of the Sharia-enforcers who persecute and kill women who dare to not wear hijab. To be sure, it is transparently evident why leftist feminists in particular callously turn their backs on murdered Muslim girls such as Aqsa Parvez and Mahsa Amini — and heartlessly ignore, for instance, the suffering Iranian women and girls who are today imprisoned, raped, and killed for Islamically covering themselves.

And so, there is no real mystery about what is transpiring on U.S. campuses today.  The left is simply continuing its Maoist cultural revolution and, therefore, just dutifully obeying the rules of Sharia and “pandemic safety” that it cherishes with such sacred devotion.

Thus, the pro-Hamas protesters on campus today are not really wearing masks because they want to “stay safe.” It is, and always was, about something much deeper than that. They are bowing to the totality. Worshiping at the altars of Sharia and of the COVID cult is a magnificent blend for these true believers; it’s a delicacy to be savored. In their seething hatred for humans, and in their unquenchable lust to control who and what humans are, the self-appointed social redeemers of our time are waging war on what makes us human — and on their own self-hating and self-reviling selves.

The leftist enterprise has always been a death wish — a suicidal odyssey to shed oneself of one’s own unwanted self and in that process to blur oneself into a collective totalitarian whole. And it is in this despotic swamp that they find their purpose, meaning and sense of belonging.

Today, what we are witnessing on university campuses is just the next logical chapter of the harrowing progressive tale. The pro-Hamas protesters are simply just fine-tuning their leftist journey, and their masks simply represent how successfully — and hauntingly — they are achieving their self-abhorring goal of self-annihilation.

Jamie Glazov holds a Ph.D. in History with a specialty in Russian, U.S., and Canadian foreign policy. He is the editor of Frontpage Magazine, the author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling, United in Hate and Jihadist Psychopath, and the host of the web TV show The Glazov Gang.  His new book is Barack Obama’s True Legacy: How He Transformed America. Follow him on Twitter: @JamieGlazov and GETTR: @JGlazov – and contact him at jamieglazov11@gmail.com.

Source: The Real Reason Pro-Hamas Protesters Wear Masks – American Thinker

My wife tells wonderful stories of being raised on a steady diet of simple Sunday School songs that were not only doctrinally rich, they also stuck in your mind like glue.  I didn’t encounter such songs until I was in my early 20’s but their simple message and catchy tune can bring a smile to a believer of any age.  One of my early favourites was called “The Countdown Song”.  In one of the verses, it reads: “Soon will the trumpet sound, and we’ll rise off the ground; with Christ forever will we be.  Children, where will you be, throughout eternity? The countdown’s getting lower every day!”

That song sums up a simple truth: the countdown is indeed getting lower every day.  For believers, that is exciting.  However, this leads (or should lead) to believers asking themselves a question.  If the Lord will indeed catch His bride away soon, how should I be spending my days?  Ephesians 5 leaves us in no doubt because verses 15 to 17 say this:  “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”  A similar admonition is given in Colossians 4:5: “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.”  In both passages, we see reference to a “walk”.  In other words, how we live.

In the Ephesians passage, the word “circumspect” comes from two Latin words that mean “looking around”.  The term carries with it the idea of precision and accuracy.  The opposite of that would be to walk carelessly and without proper forethought.  In Australia, there is an expression we use that characterises the laid-back nature of the country – “she’ll be right, mate”.  In other words, somehow, somewhere, everything will work out and I won’t need to lift a finger to do anything.  Perhaps that attitude may work for some people, but Paul would contend otherwise.  If we are to walk earnestly in this Christian life, it must be with our eyes fixed on Jesus and our heart attuned to the will of God.  Sadly though, we see many believers who drift through life, never really making the most of opportunities to live for Christ.

I mention the word “opportunity” for good reason.  Do you notice the word “port” in the middle?  That should give you a clue as to its origins.  The word “opportunity” comes from an old Middle French term (“opportune”) which hails from a Latin word (“opportunus”) which literally means: “toward the port”.  It was a term used by sailors to describe that time when the wind changed its direction and started to blow towards the port.  This was the time when it was most favourable to steer the ship into the harbour.  The ship’s captain would have needed to develop the skills of navigation, vision, communication and leadership in order to take full advantage of the winds of opportunity.

Today, spiritually speaking, we also see winds blowing.  However, they are not necessarily refreshing winds, but harsh winds of evil that are blowing across our nations.  Perhaps we feel victimised by them, particularly if those winds are blowing believers into the fires of persecution, suffering and evil.  But just as the ancient sailor waited for his “opportunity”, what if this is ours?  Because of the prevalence of evil in Paul’s day (and ours) the danger is that the sight of evil may cool the love and diminish the zeal of the believer to contend for the faith and proclaim the gospel.  Hence the need for a determined eagerness in the face of such winds.  You see, the Greek word for “time” is referring to opportunities.  In other words, be alert to God’s will and be ready to grab those opportunities when presented.  Think of a shrewd merchant who sees opportunity for a profit and grabs hold of it.  As C T Studd once said, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”

But as the days roll on, I am sensitive to the fact that many are growing weary.  We lift our eyes to the sky and wonder aloud, “How long, o Lord, how long?”  In October 1968, the Olympic Games were staged in Latin America.  It was one of the hottest afternoons of Mexico City when the men’s marathon started at 3pm.  Out of the 74 participants, 17 could not finish the race.  At 7pm that evening, almost an hour since all marathon runners had crossed the finish line of the 26-mile marathon, a lone runner emerged through the stadium gate.  This man could no longer run, so he hobbled.  Many spectators had since gone home, but some remained to witness Tanzanian runner John Stephen Akhwari cross the finish line in bad shape.  Earlier in the race, he had fallen and hurt himself badly.  He was bruised, bleeding and in significant pain from a knee injury.  Considering the severity of his injuries, Akhwari was repeatedly asked to quit the race, but he rejected those pleas.  When asked what on earth compelled him to continue even though he was in no condition to race, he replied: “My country did not send me 5,000 miles just to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”

Dear believer, you were born for such a time as this.  You may feel like that runner – alone, bruised, hurt, defeated, not knowing how on earth you are going to make it across that finish line.  But God did not send you to this age so you could simply start the race and then quit.  He sent you here so you could run the race He set for you and grab hold of the prize.  So, the message is clear: fix your eyes on Jesus, take the opportunities presented and run, dear Christian, run.  The finish line is just ahead.

Dean Dwyer has served for over 20 years as Pastor and President of Eiser Street Baptist Church in Queensland, Australia.

Source: Harsh Winds Of Evil Are Blowing Across Our Nations… Don’t Miss Any Opportunity – Harbingers Daily

By the first century, Rome had conquered a vast region of the known world, from modern-day Portugal on the west, to what we now call Iran and Iraq on the east. Rome controlled the largest portion of what would become Great Britain at the northern tip of the empire and portions of modern Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Egypt on the southern edge. At its peak, 60 to 70 million people lived under Roman rule, and they worshiped a vast array of mythical gods.

Rome’s early governing strategy was simple: allow each conquered people group to retain their gods so long as these deities were assimilated into the pantheon of Roman gods. Mythical deities were popular at this point in history, including Mithras, Osiris, Attis, Adonis, Heracles, Dionysus and Serapis. You might have read about some of these gods in an ancient history class, but none of these relics are worshiped today.

Yet, duly noted on the timeline of world history, first-century Rome also ushered in an unlikely candidate for global transformation. To paraphrase the famous poem “One Solitary Life,” He was born in a tiny, irrelevant town and raised in an insignificant village. Jesus walked from one place to the next, and as an adult, never traveled more than 200 miles from the town where He was born. The locals suspected He was an illegitimate son, and His mother and father were poor peasants. He didn’t receive an expensive education, never married, never had children and never owned a home of His own. He only appeared for a short time before public opinion turned against Him and most of His followers abandoned, betrayed or denied Him. He was rejected by the religious, hunted by the powerful, mocked and unjustly persecuted by His enemies. He suffered an unfair trial, was publicly humiliated, brutally beaten and unduly executed in the most horrific way. Even then, the few followers who remained had to borrow a grave to bury Him.

Yet this man—Jesus of Nazareth—changed history, introduced a whole new calendaring system, and forever transformed the most important and revered aspects of human culture. He is still worshiped today, while the vast majority of first-century gods are long forgotten. How is this possible? What differentiated Jesus from all the other gods worshiped in the Roman Empire? It’s simple: Jesus rose from the grave and was observed by eyewitnesses following His resurrection.

The resurrection of Jesus is true. It can be confirmed by direct evidence: the testimony of eyewitnesses. The worshipers of Mithras, Osiris, Attis and others placed their trust in ancient mythologies based on folklores rather than verifiable, recorded history. Those who observed the resurrection of Jesus, on the other hand, testified about Jesus based on their own firsthand observations. More than 100 of His followers gathered following His ascension. On another occasion, He appeared to more than 500 at one time, most of whom were still available to the readers of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:6).

The evidential nature of Christianity provided it with a unique advantage. The resurrection, locked in the timeline of history and documented by eyewitnesses, distinguished Christianity from every first-century religious claim in the Roman Empire, and continues to do so today.

Fast forward to 1996. Jesus was still being worshiped across the region of the now fallen ancient Roman Empire, and He was also being celebrated as far away as Southern California. That’s where I learned about Him. I was 35 at the time, a committed atheist and a homicide detective. I found myself in a church service, sitting dutifully with my wife. The pastor that day described Jesus as “the smartest man who ever lived.” I was provoked enough to buy a Bible to see what was so smart about this ancient sage. That led me to the Gospels. As I read them, I began to recognize characteristics of eyewitness testimony, given that I had interviewed hundreds of witnesses by that time in my law enforcement career.

Was the story about Jesus true? I decided to test the Gospel authors by asking the same four questions I would typically ask of any eyewitness in a criminal investigation.

• Were these authors really present to see what they said they saw?
• Could their claims be corroborated in some way?
• Were they consistent, or did their story about Jesus change over time?
• Were they motivated to lie?

For the next six to eight months, I investigated the death and resurrection of Jesus like the many cold cases I’ve solved over the years.

I discovered that the Gospels were written early enough to have been penned by authors who had access to true eyewitnesses. Luke’s Book of Acts, for example, lacks any description of the destruction of the Jewish Temple (in A.D. 70); the Roman siege of Jerusalem (in the late 60s); the death of Peter or Paul (between A.D. 64 and 65); or the death of James, the brother of Jesus (in A.D. 62). These omissions are reasonable if Luke wrote this New Testament book prior to A.D. 62, and if so, he would already have completed the Gospel bearing his name. Paul must have had access to this Gospel written by his friend, as he quoted from it in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), written in the mid-50s. That places the authorship of Luke between A.D. 50 and 55.

Mark’s Gospel (quoted repeatedly by Luke) was clearly written earlier and available to Luke as a resource. Both Gospels were penned early enough to have been constructed from true eyewitness accounts (as Luke declares in the opening lines of his Gospel) and “fact-checked” by those who were living at the time.

I also discovered that the Gospel accounts could be corroborated in several ways, including archaeology. Historical figures such as Pontius Pilate (Matthews 27:2); Erastus (Romans 16:23); Sergius Paulus (Acts 13); and many more have been verified and confirmed by archaeological discoveries. The Gospel authors also accurately described the cities and geography of the region, the popular names for men and women at the time, and the correct governmental processes and procedures employed by the Jews and the Romans. The authors even documented these truths using a form of Greek that was popular in the region in the first century.

The claims of the Gospel authors were also preserved over time. My experience documenting the “chain of custody” for any piece of evidence in a criminal trial helped me to trace the claims of the New Testament authors over the centuries. The students of the Apostle John, for example (Ignatius, Papias and Polycarp), reiterate John’s claims without any modification. Ignatius and Polycarp then repeated the Gospel claims faithfully to their student, Irenaeus, without altering them. As I examined the ancient letters of these Church Fathers, I discovered that the truth about Jesus could be reconstructed from their letters to one another and to local congregations. The facts about Jesus were never altered along the way.

Finally, I investigated the motives of the Gospel authors. My experience investigating homicides taught me that there are only three reasons why anyone commits a murder, and these are the same three reasons why people lie: financial greed, sexual desire and the pursuit of power. As I examined the lives of the Gospel authors, I found that none of them had anything to gain in any of these areas. Christians in the first three centuries (prior to the Roman Edict of Milan), suffered for their commitment to Jesus. Christians were persecuted during this time. Many lost their possessions, their standing within their family and community, even their lives. If the claims related to Jesus were untrue, they would have been the most dangerous and consequential untruths anyone could utter.

The Gospel authors passed the four-part test I typically applied to eyewitnesses in my criminal cases. Their written accounts reliably and accurately described the resurrection of Jesus without ulterior motive. When I realized this was the case, everything changed for me. I’m inclined to assign a higher level of authority to someone who has demonstrated His divinity by rising from the grave. I reread the words of Jesus from a new perspective, and once I realized the New Testament was telling the truth about Him, I started to pay close attention to what it was saying about my predicament. It accurately described Jesus as God incarnate with the power to forgive sins and shoulder the cost of human rebellion. It accurately described me as a fallen, defiant sinner in need of that kind of Savior.

Jesus still answers that need today. Our sinful imperfection separates us from a perfect and Holy God, but our remedy can be found only in Jesus, if we profess Him as Savior and Lord. Jesus is the uniquely sinless, perfect Man who proved His deity, confirmed His authority and changed human history by rising from the grave. He’s changed the eternal fate of millions of lives along the way. If you’re ready to surrender your life to Christ, He can change yours as well.

J. Warner Wallace is a Christian apologist and former Los Angeles cold-case homicide detective who has been featured numerous times on NBC’s “Dateline” program for his crime scene expertise.

Source: Former Cold-Case Homicide Detective: Christ’s Victory Over Death Is Indisputable – Harbingers Daily

Source: We Are To Reach Today’s Culture… Not Compromise To It – Harbingers Daily

The Greatest Scam in All of Human History

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.  — Ephesians 5: 11

The left-over expression vectors used to manufacture the mRNAs are at contamination levels 100-fold higher than originally proposed and imply trillions of DNA molecules per dose. This has implications for integration into our genome. — Jessica Rose

The old saw tells us it takes only one bad apple to spoil the barrel. Unfortunately, one good apple in a barrel of bad apples does not have a corresponding positive effect. There are, be it said, a small number of good apples in a vast Covid-scam barrel of absolutely horrendous and rotting bad apples, but it has taken an inordinately long time for the better influence to be felt.

Quantitative biologist Alex Washburne, an extremely good apple, has posted a major essay, “Scientists For Science – the “boys will be boys” of science,” in which the tactics, strategies, intentions, and deceptions of the globoid villains are laid out plain to see. The con they have promoted is almost beyond belief, both in its scope and its success. Almost every country in the world, the financial elite, corporate Pharma, and the political class as a whole are implicated, with only a few exceptions like Sweden and Belarus. Professors Fredrik Andersson and Lars Jonung revel in the fact that Sweden, almost unique among nations in its pandemic policy, recognized that “China’s authoritarian government should not have served as a guide for a liberal democracy.” Belarussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko claims that the World Bank and the IMF offered him $940 million to impose “extreme lockdown on his people,” force them to wear face masks, decree strict curfews, establish a police state, and ultimately crash the economy.

The sordid affair begins with bum science. A group called Scientists For Science, which Washburne dubs the “pathogenic academic lobby,” includes such prestigious figures, among others, as National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Francis Collins, Peter Daszak at EcoHealth Alliance and Jeremy Farrar, head of the Wellcome Trust. All have “financial conflicts of interest connecting [them[ to the Wuhan labs” and “ties directly to the researchers of concern [who] may have caused the pandemic.” Washburne is being ginger here, relying on a modal rather than a declarative, but the purport of his 16-page thesis leaves no doubt that such was the case.

In 2018, Washburne writes, Daszak raised the ante “by inserting a furin cleavage site in a bat SARSr-COV infectious clone.” In 2019, he continues, “a bat-related SARSr-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, emerged in Wuhan, walking distance from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, containing a furin cleavage site never before seen in a SARS-CoV, leaving no trace in animal trade networks, emerging with remarkably high affinity for human receptors, and containing unusual stitches in its genome consistent with an infectious clone.” The damage had been done. Despite the standard run of bastard fact-checks to the contrary, something was created not found in nature, which no vaccine could effectively combat.

These scientists insisted they were not practicing gain-of-function research, that is, deliberately enhancing a pathogen, and that the virus was of zoonotic origin and not a bioengineered phenomenon. But they lied. “Scientists For Science corrupted scientific power,” Washburne laments, “and used their positions in unethical ways such as prompting, ghostwriting, and promoting the false claim that a lab origin is ‘implausible.’” Fauci brought a network of highly conflicted funders and scientists together “and surgically excluded experts without these conflicts of interest.” These actors “formed research cartels defined by shared beliefs, and they despised the people who tried to regulate them.”

What is actually terrifying is that they “engaged in unfathomable risk-taking and likely caused a pandemic resulting in 20 million deaths without adding anything of industrial value to the world. They admitted there was nothing of known industrial value down this path, but they went down that path anyways…They just wanted to enhance the pathogenicity of pathogens for papers, grants, fame, and an esoteric understanding on the mechanisms of disease without direct application to industry or biodefense.”

Accordingly, they proceeded to mobilize an extensive media and iatric campaign to promote the claim that lab origin theories were conspiracy theories and to denounce their critics as charlatans. They represented themselves as “the science” and their adversaries as “anti-science” when the opposite was the case. They used their “official positions of power to overturn [an earlier] moratorium on this risky research.” History, Washburne concludes, “could even hold Fauci, Collins, and Farrar responsible for this outbreak through a mix of their funding for Daszak and their support of Scientists For Science.”

As noted, Washburne accuses these faux scientists of taking so massive a risk under the pretext of discovering antidotes, none of which even remotely existed or were hypothesized. But there is clearly a political aspect to this confidence game as well. As Jeffrey Tucker writes, the Covid virus and the associated pandemic was “an industrial plot to impose a vast censorship regime on the planet.” Tucker’s devastating critique of pandemic science should be studied by everyone with a functioning mind and a responsible stake in the culture. The regulations the authorities imposed on a fearful, ignorant and compliant public were insane and contra real science. “Finally, they said they had a magic potion that would fix the problem. It’s a new thing, a gene therapy that comes wrapped in little capsules that we inject into your skin. It’s been tested as 95 percent effective, and you know that’s true because it is a number with a percent. There are no side effects even though there was no way they could know that regardless.”

Similarly, in the words of Dr. Toby Rogers, the biowarfare industry has captured capital itself. Pandemics, chronic disease, and response is a growth industry—one of the only growth industries on Earth at this point. DNA is the new terra nullius to be conquered and colonized.” What is striking about Covid, he continues, “is that every step was designed to inflict maximum harm. Actual science was always ignored. Every action by government for four years degraded the health of the public.”

The partial list he provides of such venal and internecine measures is sobering: Blocking access to hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. Respirators that kill 90% of patients. Seeding nursing homes with Covid+ patients. Closing schools for two years. Masks that reduce oxygen. Keeping liquor stores open while closing the churches. Closing hiking trails, beaches, and parks, thus preventing people from getting vitamin D. The application of useless and deadly drugs like Remdesivir and Paxlovid. Firings, censorship, and blacklisting of critical thinkers. And what we might regard as the follow-up strategy to the lab-generated virus, i.e., the most toxic and deadly “vaccines” in history—which are not vaccines but gene therapy substances intromitted by an mRNA lipid shell delivery system.

“A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land,” thunders the prophet Jeremiah, when leaders and priests speak falsely, enrich themselves and lead people astray. So it is today. Spurious science, political motives, and vaccine treachery obviously go together in a composite bundle of extortionate artifice: reputations were to be made, increasing control over the public arena to be secured, and immense fortunes to be amassed. The pandemic itself was not what it was made out to be. One wonders how long it will take, if ever, for the public to shed their masks, refuse the boosters, and demand that the bad apples who inflicted this unnecessary catastrophe upon us be brought to justice.

By DAVID SOLWAY

Source: The Greatest Scam in All of Human History – PJ Media

Some four years ago, the radical left staged what amounted to a coup d’état and took control of the United States government.  The events surrounding that coup — and the horrific policies that followed — have been described many times: the COVID “vaccine” hoax, rigged elections, imprisoning dissenters, weaponizing the Judiciary, open borders, the pointless killing in Ukraine.  Yet no one has explained why all this happened or how to stop it.

The fact that no scholars or media have even attempted to explain this power-grab itself partly reveals the explanation.  If we ask why people on the left took power, then eventually someone will ask why people on the right allowed it to.  The next logical question then arises: why should we continue listening to them, following them, giving them money…?

Preaching to the converted and hurling anathemas at the left can accomplish only so much, and yet this is what we the politicians, pundits, and parlor intellectuals of the professional right mostly do.  If we want to extricate ourselves from this debacle, we must start examining what the right — and the rest of us — are doing wrong.

Failure of the Right

The conservatives’ defeat is so glaring that some are finally acknowledging what to everyone else is obvious.  “The establishment Right’s failures over the last generations have been manifold,” writes one, belatedly:

Since the end of the Cold War, what trajectory-altering successes or victories can the Right cite to demonstrate its worth? … Despite spending billions of dollars supporting its infrastructure … the establishment Right has registered no clear gains and many clear losses.

“You could even argue that it abetted most of it[s defeats],” another suggests.  “Where official conservatism’s opposition hasn’t been ineffectual, it’s been collaborationist.”^[1]

So they admit to squandering our trust (and donations) as pointlessly as the government they criticize squanders our taxes.  Isn’t it time we start asking why?

None of this excuses the rest of us.  If the establishment right allowed the left to win, we all allowed the right to lose.  Excoriating “RINOs” and neocons can become as unconstructive as inveighing against leftists.  The only remedy lies in re-examining serious mistakes we would all rather just forget.

The Rise of the Politicos

The first stage in the coup was when Americans abdicated control over their civic life to paid professionals.  Instinctively, we blame elected “politicians” for our ills, but their puppet-masters in the larger political class may pose the greater danger.

This innovation came from the left, with the invention of “public interest” lobbying firms (today’s almighty “NGOs”).  Corporate lobbyists have a bad name because their money buys politicians and legislation on behalf of wealthy interests, but in the long run, those who claim to speak for us and the “public interest” may do more to undermine our freedom.

So effective were they at imposing elitist, leftist agendas on the population that they were quickly imitated by rightist versions.  Thus was born the Washington political class: professional surrogate citizens we pay to perform the duties of citizenship for us.

These firms do not “empower” citizens; citizenship is precisely what they eclipse and muzzle.  Like courtroom lawyers advising their clients, the message of the lawyer-lobbyists to the citizenry is, “Be quiet and let me do the talking,” as if we are accused criminals on trial.  Small wonder that that is precisely what we are becoming.

Nothing did more to decimate America’s civic culture; transfer power to a judicial priesthood; and entrench an ideological duopoly operated not simply by Democrat and Republican politicians, but by the larger political classes of left and right.  Media, universities, “think-tanks,” and other cultural institutions abandoned their detachment and joined the ranks of professional advocates and activists.

Eclipsing the Churches

The professional pressure groups also displaced the civic organizations that traditionally provided moral leadership and channeled citizens’ voices in opposition to governments’ abuses of power: churches.  Since long before the American Republic was even founded, churches served vital civic functions without which the United States as we know it would never have come to exist and for which no substitute is possible.

Professional conservatives complain endlessly that the left hates religion and seeks to have it “banished from the public square.”  But it is the professional conservatives themselves, with their lobbies and law firms (ostensibly “Christian” or not), that pushed the churches out of active public engagement — or gave them the excuse to run away.

Unlike citizens and churches, whose interest lies in resolving public problems so they can return to the business of life (earning a living, spending time with the family, saving souls), professional operatives on both left and right have a vested interest in perpetuating the problems they are paid to solve.

This principle lies behind all our ills.

Blueprint for the “Deep State”

When explaining the tyranny closing in around us, we naturally blame centers of hidden and unaccountable power: rogue security services, health authorities spreading illness, plutocrats re-engineering the planet.

But these are not where it began.  Like many good intentions gone awry, it all began with how we addressed the most basic problem of modern industrial society: the problem of the poor.  If the “Deep State” is defined as powerful people using impersonal bureaucracies to forcibly control the private lives of millions of non-criminal citizens, the original “Deep State” is the welfare state.

The 2020 coup began with George Floyd’s death in a Minneapolis ghetto — that is, within dysfunctional and violent welfare communities.  Welfare also provides the political base for groups like Black Lives Matter and elevates mediocrities like Kamala Harris to office, starting usually as prosecutors before becoming politicians.

Welfare accomplished what slavery and segregation could not: it destabilized the African-American family and created a permanent underclass of impoverished single mothers, fatherless children, and criminalized fathers.  Because every social pathology is directly attributable to fatherless homes, the result was a self-destructive horde of criminals, delinquents, truants, addicts, prostitutes, and derelicts that proceeded to tear down their own communities and quickly populated the world’s most massive prison system.  It also created armies of functionaries to administer their lives, with a self-interest in perpetuating their dependency and expanding the havoc.  It also bred an angry subculture of victimization, entitlement, and resentment.

The Canary in the Mineshaft

But the welfare state’s pivotal achievement was the degradation of a figure whom everyone, left and right, now loves to hate: the young, low-income black male.  Conservatives cite wasteful social programs as proof that America is not racist and even expect gratitude, but none of the programs benefited black men in any way.  All served to marginalize and emasculate the black male: state officials usurping his provider role with numerous handouts to single mothers, along with the acquisition of quasi–police powers by social workers that not only usurped his protector role, but then targeted him as the foremost threat to his own women and children, with measures ostensibly against “child abuse” and “domestic violence” and enforcing “child support.”

The resulting tidal wave of both real criminality and concocted criminalization, parallelling similar trends elsewhere, rationalized the criminal justice system abolishing civil liberties and due process protections.  “Assembly-line” hearings (lasting a minute or two), eliminating jury trials, extortionate plea bargaining, fabricated evidence, framing defendants, “crimes” for which acquittal is not possible — all this was pioneered for young black men before being expanded to the rest of us.  It provided the rehearsal for today’s weaponized “lawfare” operations against Donald Trump, the January 6 defendants, and anyone else who resists the leftist takeover.

The military was likewise transformed into a gargantuan welfare state, catering to single mothers and expelling servicemen for “sexual harassment.”  Welfare policies even became part of military operations themselves.  Universities followed, abandoning both education and scholarship in favor of activism, reinforced with similarly trumped up accusations of sexual something-or-other.  Most devastating of all, the welfare machinery and the underclass it bred expanded throughout middle-class society, using “no-fault” divorce, accompanied by more sexual accusations, producing more dysfunctional fatherless adolescents and “empowered” functionaries.

So successful was this mass feminization that #MeToo expanded operations still more by targeting celebrities and political opponents.  The contempt for black men was extended to all men.  This furnished the radical left with the weapons and machinery to stage its coup.

As all this overwhelms us, the professional right-wing establishment averts its eyes, holds its tongue, buries its head, and looks for excuses to do nothing or even to abet the left.  Its foolish, too-often-repeated insistence that this is all simply “cultural Marxism” serves as an excuse to avoid these issues, ignore the dynamics that brought the left to power, preserve its own privileges and fiefdoms, and run away from danger.  We defeated communism, after all, so if we just continue fighting the Cold War and extolling the virtues of private ownership and free markets, we will stop the left from mutilating children, starting wars, and imprisoning its opponents, and it will relinquish power.

In short, professional conservatism tries to extricate us from the fiasco it permitted by continuing more of the foolishness that permitted the fiasco in the first place.

Waking, Not Woking, the Few

Today’s best commentators on these horrors speak and write from frustration.  Because they do not see where this came from, they cannot offer a way out.

Our habitual assumption, as we call on Americans to “wake up,” is that once awakened (awoken?), they will vote for the right candidates, support the right parties, and donate to the right “nonprofit” groups, who will do battle for the right solutions.  In short, they will build a new political class and hope it is somehow better than the previous one.  But it does not work that way.

The only way to loosen the politicos’ grip is to restore the sovereignty of the unpaid citizen.  This is feasible.  Enough citizens will spontaneously rise to the occasion (and are already doing so).  The trick is to ensure that they are not obstructed and sabotaged by a political class that postures as their friends, stabs them in the back, and imposes a tyranny that is less physical than mental.  That means bypassing the political class of the right more than the left.  It is they whose fecklessness enables the tyranny.  As long as we defer to them, rather than seizing the initiative, we enable it, too.

By Stephen Baskerville

Stephen Baskerville is Professor of Political Studies at the Collegium Intermarium in Warsaw.  His latest book, Why Did It Happen? Why America Went “Communist” and How to Undo It, where points in this article are documented and specific remedies suggested, will be published by Amsterdam Books.  His other books can be found on http://www.StephenBaskerville.com.

In a smackdown of gun control crusaders, six of Ohio’s eight largest cities experienced a drop in gun crime after the state allowed its citizens to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

That’s the finding of a study by the Center for Justice Research, a partnership between the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Bowling Green State University.

In June 2022, Ohio’s constitutional carry law went into effect.

“In the year following, crime involving guns dropped across Ohio’s eight largest cities as a whole and in six of the eight individually,” the state attorney general’s office said in a Jan. 3 news release.

“Researchers analyzed data spanning from June 2021 to June 2023 — a year before and a year after the law took effect — focusing on crimes involving firearms, verified gunshot-detection alerts and the number of officers struck by gunfire,” the office said.

“The study showed significant decreases in the number of crimes involving firearms in Akron, Columbus and Toledo, and across all eight cities combined,” it said.

Parma had the largest drop in gun crime at 22 percent. The total decrease across the eight cities was 8 percent.

Yost said he commissioned the study after the mayors of several large cities claimed the constitutional carry law caused more crime in their communities.

“I genuinely did not know what the study would find,” he said. “I thought it would be useful either way.”

However, the research refutes the argument of anti-Second Amendment zealots that guns are the problem.

“This is not to downplay the very real problem of crime in many neighborhoods in our cities — you don’t need a research team to see that gun violence destroys lives, families and opportunity,” Yost said.

“The key takeaway from this study is that we have to keep the pressure on the criminals who shoot people, rather than Ohioans who responsibly exercise their Second Amendment rights,” he underscored.

If gun control laws worked, shootings would not be so common in left-wing cities, such as Chicago and Philadelphia, that have strict gun laws.

Essentially, gun control laws abridge the self-defense rights of law-abiding Americans while doing little to deter lawless thugs from terrorizing the public.

Criminals always manage to get their hands on guns illegally.

What’s especially chilling is that left-wing activists are rabidly trying to erode Americans’ constitutional right to self-defense after they disempowered the police and incentivized lawlessness with their soft-on-crime policies.

Crime has become so rampant in Democrat-run cities that many people feel they have no choice but to defend themselves.

Blocking legal gun ownership does nothing but embolden criminals.

 By Samantha Chang  February 16, 2024 at 5:46am

Source: Swing State That Passed Constitutional Carry Sees Decrease in Gun Crime, Dealing Blow to Gun Control Claims

Defenestrating the Deep State

By Kevin Mason

Source: Defenestrating the Deep State – American Thinker

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. These three words have been given new meanings and have become weaponized. Once we understand what’s driving the DEI movement, we will want to raise awareness, push back, and resist it. But it won’t be easy. This ideology has become deeply entrenched in academia, government, Hollywood, the media, and the corporate world, for starters.

Too many people have been hoodwinked. Americans are generally respectful, kind, tolerant, and generous. Despite real issues and tensions, racial and otherwise, most U.S. citizens are family-oriented, hard-working, and colorblind. This country is blessed to be a multicultural haven for people of every ethnicity, nationality, culture, race, and religion.

We have allowed other languages, religions, and traditions to be practiced. And yet, the left has programmed generations to think America was built on discrimination, is hopelessly evil, systemically racist, anti-immigrant, greedy, capitalistic, anti-gay, and anti-woman, for starters.

This is their narrative. These are their talking points. It is another manufactured crisis. Their solution?

In the United States in 2020, over $8 billion has been spent on Diversity training alone. This is a huge business. DEI ideology has firmly planted itself in major institutions. Practically every Fortune 100 company has adopted “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programming and has created an executive position for its implementation.

An expert on Marxism, Dr. James Lindsay, said DEI is a vehicle to move communism into the corporate world. Too many of us have little idea how serious this is and how long it has been percolating. DEI has paved the way for the radical left in the U.S. and their cult of “woke.”

The godless and their useful idiots have been using DEI to mask tyranny in order to perpetrate this religious cult of diversity, equity, and inclusion. University and corporate offices have become weapons to intimidate and limit speech. It has become a totalitarian movement.

If DEI is so dangerous, wouldn’t it have been exposed and shut down years ago? Writer Christopher Rufo, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, states that the left has for years insulated the DEI bureaucracy from criticism, “creating the false impression that these programs were nonideological, nonpartisan, and noncontroversial.” They’ve had the protection of school administrators, faculty, and the leftist media.

A recent example, now famous for plagiarism, is Claudine Gay, Harvard University’s entitled president that finally resigned due to public pressure. She had quietly built “diversity” ideology into every facet of campus life and blames racism for her exit.

Most of us are familiar with the issues caused by progressive power and ruling elites at Ivy League schools, but the cancer of DEI has metastasized to astounding levels. Let’s look at a handful of examples in “higher” education.

According to the College Fix,

The University of Michigan continues to exponentially grow the number of staffers dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, with at least 241 paid employees now focused on DEI and payroll costs exceeding $30 million annually. The payroll costs are $23.24 million for salaries and $7.44 million for benefits, or $30.68 million, an amount that would cover in-state tuition and fees for 1,781 undergraduate students.

Thirteen DEI staff members earn more than $200,000 and 66 earn more than $100,000 when factoring in benefits. The number of positions at Michigan’s flagship university advancing DEI exceeds more than 500 when including those who work full-time or part-time on DEI and factoring in open and unfilled positions.

What are the qualifications for one of these positions and would a white Christian heterosexual male, for example, be considered a candidate for hire? I think you know the answer to this simple question.

The average DEI salary at UM is $96,400; factoring in fringe benefits, 144 DEI employees receive more than $100,000 a year.

Not far behind is Ohio State University (OSU), who employs 189 diversity-related staffers and costs Ohio taxpayers $20.38 million a year. That’s right, over twenty million dollars! OSU has more than doubled its diversity staff in just five years, hiring more than 100 new DEI-related employees between 2018 and 2023, swelling the headcount from 88 to 189.

In 2018, they employed 88 diversity-related staffers at a cost of a mere $7.3 million annually, so you can see how the bureaucracy is ballooning.

Chris Rufo explains how the University of Florida (UF) was also captured by DEI. He says it follows “racial and political preferences in faculty hiring, encourages white employees to engage with a twelve-step program called Racists Anonymous, and maintains racially segregated scholarship programs that violate federal civil rights law.”

UF hosts 31 DEI initiatives at a cost of $5 million per year. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is not a series of standalone programs but an ideology that has been embedded in virtually every department on campus. UF has created over a thousand (1,018) separate DEI initiatives, and among these:

· 73 percent “have a DEI committee” and “DEI officer”;

· 70 percent “espoused commitment to DEI”;

· 53 percent “have a DEI strategic plan”; and

· 30 percent have “DEI in annual reports” and use “DEI in performance review.”

The problem is that these initiatives are entrenched within academia. From community colleges to major universities, the organizational aspect of the DEI agenda has been impressive. The focus is laser-like, and the message from top to bottom is clear: campus groups and departments are required to “stack the deck in favor of racial minorities.” They must use racial and sexual identity “qualifications” when it comes to hiring faculty candidates rather than experience or academic merit.

DEI is being used to discriminate, to enforce what they consider to be fairness, “ideological conformity,” and to silence dissent across America. To the left, diversity means looking different but thinking the same. Critical thinking is a thing of the past.

Two years ago, an extensive report was done by Heritage Foundation’s Jay P. Greene and education reformer, James D. Paul. They listed total DEI personnel at America’s colleges and found the average university has 45 people tasked with promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion! Some have many more.

The University of Michigan has 163 DEI personnel. Its central office had 19 people, including these job titles: “Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion & Chief Diversity Officer,” and three people who are each “Assistant Vice Provost for Equity, Inclusion & Academic Affairs.”

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) had 13.3 times as many people devoted to DEI than to providing services to people with disabilities, for example. Georgia Tech had 3.2 times as many DEI staffers than history professors. The University of Louisville’s ratio of DEI personnel to history faculty was 2:9.

The University of Virginia had 6.5 DEI staff for every 100 professors. Again, this was in 2021. According to Jay Greene and Mike Gonzales’ report, the billions spent on DEI programs fail to contribute positively to the well-being of students on campus. They suggest that,

“Rather than being an effective tool for welcoming students from different backgrounds, DEI personnel may be better understood as a signal of adherence to ideological, political, and activist goals. In light of these findings, state legislators and donors who fund these institutions may wish to examine DEI efforts more closely to ensure that university resources are used effectively.”

The government education establishment claims theywant a level playing field, but equal rights were never the ultimate goal. Under the Constitution, every citizen in the U.S. already has equal rights. Just ask the LGBTQ lobby who has capitalized on equal rights propaganda.

What is meant today by equality regarding sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), for example, is “special” rights for LGBTQ individuals. Once equal rights were demanded and achieved legislatively for sexual orientation, however, religious freedom came under assault. Now, someone else’s rights had to be infringed upon.

DEI is a clever-sounding solution to a problem created by Marxists and globalists. It is a perversion of the truth and a distortion of reality that causes tribalism. It is also revealing that promoters of DEI have summarized the definition and the goals of equity as: disrupt, dismantle, re-envision, and rebuild.

What we’re witnessing are indirect attacks on the biblical worldview and America’s founding. The radical left Democrats would rather invent or exaggerate problems than deal with mankind’s overarching problem of sin.

The ground is level at the foot of the cross, and all are welcome to believe Jesus, confess their sins, and be saved.

The Bible condemns racism, victimhood, and favoritism. The language of social justice warriors is foreign to the New Testament. Moreover, because America was established on the principles and teachings of the Bible, it compelled the push for the abolition of slavery. This nation offers more opportunities to black people and has stronger legal protections for minorities than any other society, including black nations such as Africa. But this doesn’t fit the liberal narrative.

Christians, beware of these lies and false ideologies that have crept into many churches. The Apostle Paul wrote to Christians in Rome, urging them to take note of “those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them” (Romans 16:17). This doesn’t mean we don’t love them. It means we elevate truth over error. We must call out radical attempts to push Marxist agendas.

When you hear words like social justice, environmental justice, racial justice, reproductive justice, restorative justice, trans justice, and more, understand these are not biblical. It is not true justice they are demanding. Be reminded again, the issue is never the issue. The issue is the revolution.

Many ideologies that attack or oppose the biblical worldview are interconnected and are used on multiple fronts in the battle for the West and for the church in America. DEI is just one of many within the playbook of the radical left falling under the umbrella of “social justice.” Cultural Marxists want to disrupt the American way of life, distort our history, disciple generations of youth, and dismantle the nation’s very foundations.

It is so very important today to define terms. One thing to remember is the fact that God is the original just and true source of love, diversity, equity, inclusion, and of course, salvation. Jesus said everyone “who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day (John 6:40).”

Finally, Revelation 7:9-10 declares God’s perspective of diversity, equity, and inclusion: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 

By
David Fiorazo

To read more about the DEI movement, see chapter 12 in David’s new book, Assault on the Image of God.

David Fiorazo is an author, ordained pastor, host of Worldview Matters, and media contributor for Harbinger’s Daily and Freedom Project. 

Source: Critical Thinking Is A Thing Of The Past: Is DEI Another Manufactured Crisis? – Harbingers Daily