Even without the influence of groups like 764, sowing chaos appears to be occurring on a daily basis through the insidious influence of actors manipulating bytes and bots — all to destroy our children. How do you bring down a society? You destroy its young: mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The transgender cult has been in collusion for years to destroy them through mutilating their bodies and minds. Now, we have all forms of nefarious individuals undermining them through screens. The destruction of identity and purpose is the main goal. //

Shortly before his murder, Charlie Kirk had an apt response on why a foundation of religion is a major factor in saving Western civilization.

You have to try to point them toward ultimate purposes and toward getting back to the church, getting back to faith, getting married, having children. That is the type of conservatism that I represent, and I'm trying to paint a picture of virtue, of lifting people up, not just staying angry.

Charlie Kirk ably represented this, and it is part of the reason why he was murdered. So, we must rise and be like Charlie. Wise people are recognizing this and acting accordingly. With groups like 764 and adversarial threats seemingly on every side, we need God's hand and God's help more than ever before.

The same arguments being used to shut down the Satanic Temple, “too disturbing,” “not appropriate,” and “offensive to children,” are the same ones that will be used one day to shut you down.

Do you believe marriage is between a man and a woman? That could be labeled disturbing.

Do you read the Bible in public? Someone might find that offensive.

You wear a crucifix, pray in a school lunchroom, or talk about creation? One day, that’ll be the excuse. “Not appropriate for children.”

We’re building the tools of censorship. And we’re handing them to people who think tolerance ends when their feelings get hurt.

Today, it’s Baphomet. Tomorrow, it’s Bethlehem.

If you’re cheering this, you're building your own cell.

The Capitol Isn’t a Church
The Iowa State Capitol doesn’t belong to the governor. Or the majority. It belongs to us, all of us.

If Christians can set up a nativity scene, then other groups can set up something, too, even if it’s ridiculous, even if it’s grotesque. Even if you think it’s morally bankrupt.

That’s the price of liberty.

It’s uncomfortable. //

This Isn’t Complicated
Let them put up their damn statue.

If it bothers you, look away.

Or pray harder.

Or put up a bigger, better display of your own.

Don’t ask the state to silence them for you.

Because that’s not liberty, that’s cowardice.

And deep down, I think we know that. We just don’t want to admit the uncomfortable truth:

We’re the ones failing the test.

Not them. //

The Constitution was never about safety.

It was about risk. Risking offense. Risking speech. Risking freedom.

Everybody counts.

Or nobody does. //

Brytek
11 hours ago
There are incompatible religious organizations as well as ideologies. Not all can be reconciled enough to live in the same community. Some even go to the extent to kill those they cannot convert - and that is part of their religion, in some it is a requirement. The point is not all can be peacefully brought together, not all can live side by side. Do we, in the name of "liberty" allow the extermination of one group from another to satisfy liberty? I suggest that there are limits to liberty for it to exist at all. The generalization, for liberty to exist it must exist for all, is an axiom that sounds good but it denies reality in that many religions or ideologies do not allow freedom for those not part of their religious order or community. For this axiom to be true it must by definition violate those religious precepts, liberty for all denies liberty for some, which make the statement nonsense, which invalidates the whole.

You could say that the prohibition of religious freedom for anyone would be a real knock to the health and vibrancy of the United States, but this applies to Christianity more than any other religion in the world. Without Christianity, it all falls apart. Christianity is the cornerstone from which all other religions enjoy their existence within its borders.

Historically, other religions are not so accommodating to others, especially when they become nationalistic, and that surprisingly includes Buddhism. The only other religions aside from Christianity that allow for other religions to be practiced freely are Judaism and Sikhism, but since the United States has been a Christian nation from the beginning, the freedom to practice your beliefs relies on Christian foundations.

And before someone says, "Atheism would allow it," I've already given you a few examples of atheist governments above that treat Christianity as a danger. Atheist-based states don't like it when the people hold something higher in authority than it. However, atheists also appreciate their free speech rights, and many of these rights are a thing because Christianity made it so.

Moreover, it's these Christian foundations that allow for the greatest of our God-given rights, free speech, which goes hand-in-hand with the freedom to practice religion. The freedom to voice your faith cannot be restricted, as the profession of faith requires speech. There's a reason why the left often tries to tie hate speech to Christian beliefs. //

Moreover, the entirety of our rights as citizens of the United States are the end result of Christian philosophy. No matter your belief, Christianity's moral teachings and societal influence are what keep the United States free and healthy.

If Democrats were allowed to restrict it or terminate it, the bottom would fall out of this nation. Your God-given rights would mean nothing because the people in charge wouldn't recognize any god but themselves. //

Retired Professor
6 hours ago
The first stage of this is to restrict the exercise of religion to churches and other such contained venues. That's what Obama clearly wanted to do. Street corner evangelism? Disrupts traffic and "public safety." Voluntary prayer groups in public schools? Violates the (so-called) "wall of separation." Prayer before a city council meeting? Same.

I could go on, but this has been the tactic of the Left ever since the days of Earl Warren. We won't win that battle until Jesus comes back, but meanwhile we still have to fight. //

Platypus
3 hours ago
I recommend the book, The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee... a Chinese believer that was
educated in the west but also spent decades in a Chinese prison. He also wrote several other books
all of them worth reading.

A new task force within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) convened Tuesday to rectify the “anti-Christian bias” perpetrated by the federal government under President Joe Biden. Attorney General Pam Bondi created the task force with President Donald Trump’s Feb. 6 executive order, “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias.”

“My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians,” Trump’s order stated. “The law protects the freedom of Americans and groups of Americans to practice their faith in peace, and my Administration will enforce the law and protect these freedoms. My Administration will ensure that any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified.”

Retired Professor tcgeol
3 days ago
I hope this isn't misunderstood, but sometimes Catholics who are otherwise socially conservative have what most of us would consider quite liberal views on things like immigration and welfare, arising out of a misguided notion that the government is supposed to play the same kind of role as the Church in helping those less fortunate. Of course, the only way the government can do that is by forced wealth transfers, which the Constitution never contemplated.

Scientific Reasons God Is Real: Atheism Doesn’t Add Up!

The Catholic Charities Bureau was created by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Superior in Wisconsin to serve the poor and needy. In furtherance of this mission, Catholic Charities provides a number of important social services. These services are open to any Wisconsinite in need, regardless of his religious background. One might think Wisconsin would want to incentivize such open-ended acts of charity by granting Catholic Charities the same benefits made available to other religious organizations. Alas, that is not the case.

Instead, the Wisconsin Supreme Court disregarded the undeniably religious purpose behind the creation of Catholic Charities and ruled that serving the poor and needy is not “typical” religious activity. Setting aside the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s blissful ignorance of both the role religion plays in charitable activity and the dictates of Catholic Social Teaching, such a ruling creates a narrow set of state-approved religious activities that limits religious activity to the likes of “observance of liturgical rituals,” “evangelical outreach,” “pastoral counseling,” “performance … of church ceremonies,” and “education in … doctrine.”

The court’s ruling unilaterally declares that any activity that is unorthodox or resembles secular activities cannot be motivated by a religious purpose. This means that church-run food pantries or community projects cannot be religious activities under Wisconsin’s limited understanding of religion.

The Becket Fund, which represents Catholic Charities at the Supreme Court, has rightfully argued that the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision “violates the principle of church autonomy,” “entangles church and state,” and “discriminates among religions.” While a ruling in favor of Catholic Charities on these grounds would be a win for religious liberty, it would only be a Band-Aid on a bullet hole.

Without a definition of religion, courts are forced to guess at what activities mandate protection from government interference. //

However, the definition the court should adopt is that which best reflects the original meaning and is adaptable to a changing religious landscape: namely, religion means a system of beliefs and practices derived from duties to a sacred authority, which is prior to and beyond human relations and receives allegiance and worship.

This definition recognizes that religion is not merely the product of internal contemplation but also features externally compelled duties. Such an understanding was commonplace among the founders and reflects the original meaning of religion as used in the Religion Clauses. However, this definition also provides flexibility by recognizing protections for religions with external governing authorities — such as the Great Spirit common to American Indian religions — that operate similarly to God in the Abrahamic faiths but may not be covered by an exclusively theistic definition.

Moreover, supporting a single definition respects the painfully obvious truth that the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment are complementary provisions working together to defend a preexisting sphere of authority against government capture. Similarly, this definition recognizes something that courts have so desperately tried to deny for decades: The Religion Clauses are not antagonistic to religion or even indifferent; they exist for the benefit of religion.

Citizens’ natural right to religious liberty is one of the foundational principles of American law, so much so that, according to the Supreme Court, a “religious people” enshrined in the First Amendment a guaranteed freedom to worship as one wills. A “religious people” are not a people indifferent or antagonistic to religion. Rather, they are a people who believe the dictates of religion impose superior obligations to those imposed by the state.

Boswell first confronts Johnson with Hume’s ideas in late July 1763, just a few months after his first meeting with Johnson. He spoke of the Politician and agriculturalist George Dempster whose principles had been poisoned by a ‘noted infidel writer’ that is, Hume.

Johnson’s response was that

Hume and other sceptical innovators are vain men and will gratify themselves at any expense. Truth will not afford sufficient food to their vanity; so they have betaken themselves to error. Truth is a cow which will yield such people no more milk and so they are gone to milk the bull.[4]

But what Johnson went on to say is also important:

Everything which Hume has advanced against Christianity had passed through my mind long before he wrote. Always remember this, that after a system is well settled upon positive evidence, a few partial objections ought not to shake it. The human mind is so limited that it cannot take in all the parts of a subject, so there may be objections raised against any thing [5].

What role did religion play in Johnson’s life? Boswell tried to present him as a High Anglican Tory and Christians today of a conservative inclination today see Johnson as an antidote to what they consider to be the optimistic rationalism of some enlightenment thinking. //

Nicholas Hudson, in his book Samuel Johnson and Eighteenth Century Thought, sums this up:

Few writers were so knowledgeable or sociable to combine many sides of contemporary thought into an understanding of life distinctive for its humanity and good sense. His learning and complexity make his writings especially useful as the starting point for a broader investigation of eighteenth century thought. [18]

 Earlier this month, a handful of teenagers were charged with felonies for leaving marks on an LGBT mural that was painted on the road. In fact, there's a rash of these kinds of vandalizations happening all over the nation and each one is treated like a massive hate crime by Democrats and activists.

So holy is the LGBT cause to the left that they're willing to go above and beyond to make you accept it.

So, you'll pardon me if I'm not too moved by complaints from the left, the LGBT activist community, and elected Democrats when they clutch their pearls and run to their fainting couches over the Ten Commandments being displayed in school. //

Let's be real here. These activists aren't mad about religious symbols going up in schools. They put theirs up in schools every chance they get. They preach the word of queer activism to children as young as four, and try to hide it from parents if they know there would be backlash about it. These people are zealots.

Their issue with the Ten Commandments is that these laws come from a rival religion. One they hate more than any other, despite it being a religion that allows for these people to live, work, and commit their sin without worrying about being murdered, tortured, or imprisoned for it. Hilariously, they'd much rather show their support toward religions that would do horrendous things to the LGBT community if their dominance was established here in the West, but they don't like talking about that.

After Harrison Butker’s speech, the left is targeting Latin Mass Catholics. But it will never stop until all Christian morality is banished from the public square. //

Butker’s statements in his commencement speech were no more foreign or extreme than the medieval garb that he and millions of others donned on graduation stages all over the West this spring. Indeed, the left isn’t terrified of the Latin Mass because of its medieval optics. They could not care less about the theological debates that truly divide us in our liturgical practices.

Rather, they want to destroy the family values that undergird the Judeo-Christian West in all its forms. These are not the preserve of Latin Mass Catholics or even Catholics generally. They belong to us all as decent human beings.

Portraying Latin Mass Catholics as a tiny minority diverging from the majority of Catholics glosses over the fact that we are talking about basic biblical principles here. Thou shall not kill. Male and female, He created them. Husbands, honor your wives and, wives, submit to your husbands. Comfort the dying and the sick. Walk in the light of truth.

‘Hippy’ has come to mean many things, and most people think of it as a harmless, ‘peace and love’ movement, or simply a way of dressing. In reality, my experience of hippies is one of angry doomers, and the flowery visage is a marketing ploy perpetuated by some of the most intolerant and controlling people I have ever known.

That’s the clincher. The beliefs held by my fellow hippies were at odds with their image. Today, we can see it more obviously - activists who preach peace but are the most rage-filled and violent of us all. They exist in every movement that is fighting for something good, yet they seldom represent what is good.

This entire ordeal is dumb. The statue never should have been allowed in the first place. Further, the leniency applied to those tearing down statues of Thomas Jefferson can't be ignored. Are we really a country that lets people off for destroying works of art but charges people with hate crimes for damaging a statue of satan? I guess we are.

What is Christian Nationalism besides a slur to put in scare quotes that let the left discredit an opponent without having to talk about issues? It starts with the fact that America was founded by Christians who acknowledged the role of Christ in establishing a just government. The Mayflower Compact states three reasons for founding Plymouth Colony, "the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country." Similarly, the Jamestown Charter says the goal of Virginia Colony is "the furtherance of so noble a work, which may, by the providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the glory of his divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian religion to such people, as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God, and may in time bring the infidels and savages, living in those parts, to human civility, and to a settled and quiet government."

From there, there is a straight line to the Founders. The First Amendment prohibition on the establishment of religion only applied to the federal government, with several states maintaining religious tests to hold office. Some state constitutions still require officeholders to profess a belief in God. It wasn't until Torcaso v. Watkins (1961) that religious tests were struck down. The purpose of the First Amendment was to prevent any Christian denomination — the target was explicitly the Anglican Church because of its close ties to England, which had served as a quasi-governmental agency for the Crown before independence — from achieving national church status. //

Christian liberty only happens within the context of a correctly formed conscience. Doing what you want because it feels good is not liberty; it is licentiousness and anarchy. Over the last 60 years, we've discovered that the glue holding America together was not individualism but our common Christian heritage. Without that glue, we see our culture disintegrating before our eyes. It is only by viewing the Constitution and the rights stemming from it through the lens of our Christian founding that we will survive. //

Dieter Schultz streiff
a day ago edited
I searched for the passage that they had written, I thought, in the Federalist but without a doubt, one of the Founders, that specifically addressed the Judeo-Christian teachings that allowed what they created with the USA. Noting that none of the other religions (Muslim, Hindu, or any of the others) allowed the type of government that they created, they were all missing in one way or the other what they needed when they created this country.

I didn't find it but I'm certain that the Founders knew and stated that right from the start that what they did recognized the unique Judeo-Christian tradition of what they created and none of the other religions allowed it. //

Laocoön of Troy Dieter Schultz
a day ago edited
George Washington's letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island might be interesting to you:

Gentlemen:

While I received with much satisfaction your address replete with expressions of esteem, I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you that I shall always retain grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced on my visit to Newport from all classes of citizens.

The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security.

If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good government, to become a great and happy people.

The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy—a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.

It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity.

May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.

May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy. ~ G. Washington

Not much room for being a busybody, judgemental Karen is there? Not much room for Jew hatred and bigotry is there? And how does savage lefty lawfare and compulsion square with Washington's "just administration of a good government"?

Helsinki prosecutor Anu Mantila argued Finnish courts should ban from the internet the booklet, Rasanen’s tweet, and an audio recording of Rasanen defending Christian views. Mantila also seeks punitive fines. “Male and Female He Created Them” was published in 2004, several years before Finland adopted the antiterrorism laws now being used to prosecute the two Christians for “hate speech.”

“With the right police and prosecutor, we could expect to see similar cases crop up across Europe and in fact around the world,” noted Alliance Defending Freedom International lawyer Paul Coleman, who is assisting the Christians’ legal defense. Hate crimes laws like Finland’s are on the books in many European nations and American states and cities.

Rasanen said the most difficult part of her prosecution has been the prosecutor’s false accusations against her, including that Rasanen considers homosexuals inferior. She said that is “against my conviction” as a Christian. Christianity teaches that every human is made in God’s image and so beloved by God that He sacrificed His own Son to wash away every sin ever committed.

“We represent the common traditional classical understanding of family and sexual ethics, and now this has been labeled widely in our society and also in the established Lutheran church as something which is … not only offending and extremist but it’s also criminal,” Pohjola said.

Pohjola is the bishop of a small non-state church body that adheres to the Bible’s teachings, which Finland’s state church has in large part abandoned. The Federalist interviewed Pohjola in person in 2021, and Rasanen in person in 2022.

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