Monday, March 18, 2024

Life-Minded Donors Can Still Support Scouting Organizations: American Heritage Girls Is Fully Pro-Life

 American Life League Charity Watchlist Offers Conscientious Philanthropists an Ethical Alternative to Girl Scouts

(March 18, 2024 – Fredericksburg, Virginia) Each March, Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low is regularly included among the honorees receiving accolades for Women’s History Month. Based on the overt anti-life leanings of the national Girl Scouts USA, American Life League’s Charity Watchlist recommends that pro-life donors consider turning their philanthropic attentions to the American Heritage Girls—a Christian-based scouting organization. 

“Women’s History Month is a great time to honor Patti Garibay, who founded American Heritage Girls in response to the Girl Scouts’ shocking agenda,” explained Katherine Van Dyke, American Life League’s lead researcher on the Charity Watchlist project. 

The American Heritage Girls was founded in 1995 by Garibay and other parents from West Chester, Ohio, as a Christian alternative to the Girl Scouts USA after the then 83-year-old group’s radical, anti-Christian bias came to light. 

“Life-minded donors will be happy to discover that the American Heritage Girls’ website features a prolific blog with a section dedicated to pro-life,” remarked Katie Brown, American Life League’s director of communications. “This provides a wonderful opportunity for those who retain fond memories of the scouting years to support a new generation of girls without having to endorse the objectional philosophies now espoused by the Girl Scouts USA.”

American Life League’s Charity Watchlist is an online tool using a simple stoplight green-yellow-red color coding to allow donors to know if they “go ahead” and donate to a green-coded nonprofit without reservations, “proceed with caution” after being fully informed of the potential risks of an organization assigned yellow, or “stop” any support of an organization that is designated as red because of its endorsement of abortion or other threats to life. 

The Charity Watchlist details some of the reasons that Girl Scouts USA has earned its red “stop” rating for philanthropists concerned with life issues:

  • Girl Scouts USA maintains an ongoing partnership with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, whose delegation for the Commission on the Status of Women demanded “access to comprehensive sexuality information, services and supplies for all young people.”
  • Girl Scouts USA accepts financial support from United Way and Johnson & Johnson, both of which openly fund Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion provider.
  • Girls Scouts USA promotes contraception through its “Public Health/Sexual Health” patch, where it also discusses consensual sex and encourages STD testing. 

By contrast, the Statement of Faith published on the website of the green-rated American Heritage Girls defines its value of “purity” as being called to “reserve sexual activity to the sanctity of marriage; a lifelong commitment before God between a man and a woman.” The organization’s earned awards include a Respect Life Patch, All God’s Children Badge, and a Pro-Life Kids Patch. Those factors, along with its pro-life blog entries, earn the group a thumbs up for pro-life givers, according to Van Dyke. 

“Charity Watchlist wants to highlight some of the more deceptive misunderstandings about nonprofit groups and their pro-life positions,” stated Van Dyke, “as well as affirm those organizations that are doing good and remaining true to life-affirming principles.” 

The Charity Watchlist currently profiles more than 100 tax-exempt nonprofits based on their implementation of life-affirming values or their endorsement of anti-life practices. American Life League promises that the list will continue to grow and invites charitable givers to submit nonprofit groups for Charity Watchlist review. Read the current Charity Watchlist at all.org/charity-watchlist.         

About American Life League

American Life League has been part of the pro-life abortion debate since its inception. Since 1979, American Life League has committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to death with a pro-life integrity that stands up for every innocent human being whose life is threatened by the culture of death. For more information visit all.org.

Flawed Survey Demonizes Christians

By Bill Donohue, Catholic League president

 

A new poll on LGBT rights has been published by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), a left-wing outfit with a reputation for crafting politically skewed surveys. Its most prominent researcher, sociologist Robert P. Jones, is well known for demonizing so-called Christian nationalists.

 

PRRI recently released its 2023 American Values Atlas report, “Views On LGBTQ Rights In All 50 States.” It offers more proof that the aforementioned flaws are extant. As a sociologist and a Catholic leader, I have great interest in this subject.

 

First a word about LGBT people (there is no need to add a “Q”—it stands for Queers and is therefore a redundancy).

 

The typical LGBT person is a young Democrat with no religious affiliation. This makes perfect sense.

 

Transgenderism, the ideology that falsely holds that the sexes are interchangeable, is a culturally induced phenomenon that is more attractive to young people than older Americans. Democrats are mostly liberals, and as such they have an expansive view of sexuality. Secular-minded persons reject nature, and nature’s God, and are therefore easy bait for transgender influencers.

 

To put it differently, the older a person is, the less likely he is to buy into this mad idea. Republicans tend to be conservatives and are therefore more immune to trendy fashions unhinged from reality. Religious Americans appreciate nature, and nature’s God, and are thus inhospitable to militant secular ideas.

 

There are two aspects of the survey that deserve a riposte.

 

One of the questions asked respondents was whether they supported or opposed “allowing a small business owner in your state to refuse to provide products or services to gay or lesbian people if doing so would violate their religious beliefs.”

 

This is a dishonest question. In fact, it is a red herring designed to make religious persons look intolerable.

 

It is dishonest because PRRI knows that this issue, which was broached in two similar Colorado cases that wound up in the Supreme Court, had nothing do to with denying homosexuals products or services because of their sexual orientation. It had to do with the religious rights of Christians being violated for having to affirm conduct they could not in good conscience do.

 

Neither Jack Phillips nor Lorie Smith ever denied serving a customer who was gay or lesbian. Phillips sold them cakes and Smith serviced their websites. But when Phillips was asked to personally inscribe a wedding cake for two men, he refused. Smith issued a preemptive strike by publicly stating that she would not provide web services celebrating gay weddings. The high court agreed with them, noting the obvious religious liberty issues involved.

 

PRRI, following Jones’ obsession with Christian nationalism, claims that those who believe that America was founded as a Christian nation and should return to its moorings are a threat to democracy.

 

If someone were to say that America was founded as a secular nation and should become even more secular, would it be fair to say that this person is a threat to democracy? Of course not. One may disagree, but to assert that we are on the verge of a despotic secular regime would be as irresponsible as saying that Christian nationalists are about to establish a theocracy.

 

PRRI is not simply reporting survey results—it is setting the political table for liberals.

 

For example, Politico, a mostly responsible liberal media outlet, seems to go off the rails when it comes to Christian nationalism. Last month it maintained that if Trump wins in November, his allies are ready to infuse Christian nationalism in his second administration. It claimed to have the evidence to buttress its position, yet it conceded that “The documents obtained by Politico do not outline specific Christian nationalist policies.” That’s because there are none.

 

Heidi Przybyla wrote a piece for Politico last month that set off the alarms. The issue was the conviction, shared by millions of Americans, and encoded in the Declaration of Independence, that our rights come from God, not from government (that was what Stalin, Hitler and Mao believed). This simple observation was enough to send her into orbit. Now it would have come as a shocker to Jefferson, who was not exactly a religious guy, that he was a Christian nationalist.

 

PRRI knows what it is doing. None of what they did was a mistake. Which is why they are not to be trusted.

Media hoax paints Trump as calling for insurrection

Trump over the weekend said that as president he would put a prohibitive tariff on Chinese-manufactured cars. "Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath,” he added. “That’ll be the least of it. But they're not going to sell those cars." The Biden campaign and the corporate media spread a clip of the comment, editing out the context showing that Trump was talking about car sales and depicting him as calling for a violent revolution.  READ

Tennessee senator calls for ‘riots’

Tennessee Democratic state Sen. Charlane Oliver called for riots on Friday after the Republican-controlled state Senate passed a bill preventing cities from forcing police to stop making certain traffic stops. “Dr. King said that riots are the language of the unheard. You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Oliver said. “We have had it up here. Gloves are off. Like, we gonna fight like hell.”  READ

Iowa Catholic Conference Report: Second legislative 'funnel' deadline report


Last Friday marked the second legislative “funnel” deadline, where a bill is required to have passed one chamber and through a committee in the other chamber to remain eligible for further consideration. The deadline does not apply to appropriations or tax legislation. Here’s our funnel report:

Addressing migration issues

The ICC was pleased to see that HF 2608, the “human smuggling” bill that had passed the House, was dropped from the agenda of the Senate Judiciary Committee. We appreciate the many messages sent to legislators asking them to oppose the bill.

Other immigration enforcement bills have been set aside in the Iowa Legislature as well, but a proposal that does not align with our principles remains alive for consideration.

SF 2340 has passed the Iowa Senate and been sent to the House. SF 2340 and its companion bill, HF 2567, would create a state crime of “illegal entry into the state by an alien.” We believe these bills are pre-empted by federal law and the U.S. Constitution. It is problematic that these bills would explicitly allow state officials to prosecute an individual for state immigration crimes, even if that person’s application for immigration relief is pending before federal authorities.

Catholic social teaching recognizes a country’s right and responsibility to manage its borders in accordance with the common good. At the same time, serving newcomers is compelled by Sacred Scripture and Catholic social teaching and is a core ministry of the Church. Under federal law and the U.S. Constitution, only the federal government has the authority to investigate violations of immigration policy.

The ICC encourages you to contact your member of the Iowa House in opposition to SF 2340/HF 2567.

Working on school safety

The legislature is continuing to work on proposals with a goal of making schools safer in the wake of the shootings in Perry, Iowa.

The Senate Education Committee voted to advance HF 2586, which provides a grant program to help pay for school resource officers and legal immunity for public school staff who receive a professional permit to carry weapons in school.

HF 2652 passed the Iowa House last week and was sent to the Senate. It contains a grant program for public schools to purchase weapons and for school staff to obtain a professional weapons permit. All schools, public and nonpublic, would be required to obtain a public safety radio, paid for by a separate grant program.

Technically speaking we believe it is already legal for a school to purchase weapons. That being said, the Catholic bishops do not support the initiative making it easier for schools to buy weapons. The bishops support helping public schools pay for school resource officers and having public safety radios in schools.

Other issues relating to human life and dignity

Unfortunately, HF 2575, a bill defining an unborn child as a person for the purpose of the state’s criminal code other than abortion, did not make it to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s agenda last week due to concerns about IVF. About 40 states treat the killing of an unborn child as a form of homicide, including the states bordering Iowa. Our view is the bill would not have affected the legality of IVF procedures. The Church offers pastoral care to people struggling with infertility, although IVF procedures are not supported by the Church.

The Senate Education Committee passed legislation requiring middle and high school to show a three-minute video showing fetal development. HF 2617 passed the House late last month.

The ICC supports legislation to increase the tax credit for adoptive parents to $20,000. HF 2637 passed the House last week by a unanimous vote, 99-0, and goes to the Senate.

We were also pleased to see the Senate Commerce Committee pass HF 2276 before the deadline, which would allow maternity group homes to be zoned as residential properties. This proposal will help the group homes to avoid “not in my backyard” problems when they purchase a home.

HF 2319 was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It prohibits local governments from testing universal basic income programs. The concern among legislators supporting the bill is that people will stop working if they receive money with few obligations attached to it. The ICC opposes the bill. While universal basic income (UBI) programs may not necessarily be the answer to poverty, they are being researched in different parts of the country. Catholic social thought does not exclude the possibility of UBI programs being a good idea.

During a subcommittee hearing for HF 2319, ICC staff had the opportunity to discuss the importance of work in Catholic social thought. Work does not only mean paid labor for wages. Our tradition also upholds the dignity of “caregiving” work and argues that caregiving work in the home deserves “economic compensation in keeping with that of other types of work.”

Contact your Iowa legislators on any of these issues here.

‘Civilize It’ webinar coming up

In a polarized climate that threatens the unity of the Body of Christ and distances us from our brothers and sisters, how is the Church called to respond? Join in virtually on Wednesday, March 20 at 3 p.m. to reflect on the challenge of polarization and on tools from our Catholic tradition that can help us heal Church and society.

Gloria Purvis, renowned Catholic speaker and host of The Gloria Purvis Podcast from America Magazine, will moderate the conversation. Panelists include: Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, and Rev. Aaron Wessman, G.H.M., author of The Church's Mission in a Polarized World. This virtual event is co-sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, Glenmary Home Missioners, and the Jesuit Conference.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Biden’s vice president tours abortion facility

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday visited a Planned Parenthood facility, becoming the first sitting administration official to do so in national history. “Don’t let your day go by without dwelling on the fact that the Vice President of the United States toured an abortion mill in solidarity with it,” wrote Andrew Walker. “Imagine thinking this party is a plausible option for Christians to support.”  READ

BREAKING: Supreme Court rules public can sue officials who block, mute them on social media

 On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that members of the public can, in certain cases, sue government officials who block or mute them on social media.

The justices determined that whether a lawsuit is justified will depend not only on who the blocker is, but whether they acted using an official account where government business is conducted.

According to NBC News, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the ruling that social media accounts can be viewed as official channels of communication when the user "possessed actual authority to speak on the state's behalf" and "purported to exercise that authority." 

"In some circumstances," she added, "the post's content and function might make the plaintiff's argument a slam dunk," such as when the account is marked as official.

The ruling was made in response to two cases out of California and Michigan. In the former, Poway Unified School District Board of Trustees members Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff and TJ Zane, blocked parents Christopher and Kimberly Garnier from commenting on their Facebook page and Twitter posts. Lower courts sided with the parents.


In the latter, Port Huron City Manager James Freed blocked a woman who posted criticism in response to his explanation of the city's response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lower courts sided with the official.

Democrats Refuse To Reject Non-Citizens Voting In Federal Elections

 By Graham Perdue, Freedom Press 

A parade of Democratic witnesses showed their true colors on Tuesday during a Senate Judiciary hearing on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. None were willing to take a stand and declare that only U.S. citizens should vote in federal elections.  

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) asked a straightforward and benign question of each of the witnesses. He implored them to give a basic “yes” or “no” response to questions over people who are not U.S. citizens voting.

Each was asked, “Do you believe that only citizens of the United States should be able to vote in federal elections?”

Simple enough, especially considering that the witnesses were addressing a hearing on voting rights. But one by one, each Democrat dodged the query.

President of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project Lydia Camarillo responded, “That’s a decision of the state law but I want to emphasize…” Lee interrupted her attempt to avoid answering and asked, “It’s a decision of state law as to who should vote in federal elections?”

Obviously, as she well knew, it is not. But Camarillo ultimately answered that she lacked a position on that question.

Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said, “Federal law prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections and our focus is on enabling all eligible voters to be able to vote and cast their ballot.”

Again, a slippery answer to a direct question.

There were two Republican witnesses before the panel. The Public Interest Legal Foundation’s Maureen Riordan and the Heritage Foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky asserted that non-citizens should not be permitted to vote in federal elections. 

The GOP is vigorously attempting to secure the election process to preserve its integrity and voter confidence. It was December when Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) introduced the Citizen Ballot Protection Act as a companion bill to a House proposal. 

It would establish protocols to ensure that only U.S. citizens are permitted to vote in federal elections.

But as was clearly displayed in Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Hearing, Democrats were solidly opposed to building a wall around the nation’s electoral system.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

This week on Faith On Trial

Catholic Vote on what the leaked documents from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health which show how callously children with gender dysphoria are treated; and from the Alliance Defending Freedom, how the government obtains your personal information through banking and insurance channels and how some conservative organizations are now deemed terrorists.

The program airs this weekend on all eight of our network stations, but the podcast is available now:

https://faith-on-trial.simplecast.com/episodes/logan-church-michael-ross-3-16-2024-biXPR8lG


The West and Christendom; are we losing control

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) -- Our concept of religious liberty has been long held in the Western world. It traces its history back to October 312 when Maxentius and Constantine were duking it out for control of the Roman Empire. On the eve of the deciding battle at the Bridge of Milvian, Constantine saw a large cross in the sky with the words “In hoc signo vinces” (In this sign you shall conquer).

          Constantine had the cross painted on his warriors’ shields and he defeated Maxentius the next day. Four months later the now Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan (313) which granted legal status to Christianity which ultimately led to it becoming the approved religion and its spread over the entire known world.

          Recently the Family Research Council (FRC) published a report, “Free to Believe? The Intensifying Intolerance Toward Christians in the West” which might possibly indicate that the United States and many of our Western allies are trying to turn the clock of liberty backwards.

          We recently had on our radio program Ariella Del Turco, director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the FRC, where we discuss the report.  

          The report, which can be found at frc.org., is interesting in that it reports on numerous actions taken by governmental agencies to curb religious liberty, much of it began by using the pandemic to place restrictions on public worship by closing churches, prohibiting religious services – some of which were drive-in services conducted by low power FM signals that could be heard on car radios, and the follow-up harassment of ministers and their congregants.

          I’m sure most of you remember those days: Churches closed but strip clubs left open; churches that remained open were sharply limited by impossible attendance limitations; singing of hymns prohibited, etc. All, of course, in the name of fighting the pandemic. Yet some of these prohibitions continued in other forms long after.

          The report shows an alarming number of anti-religious demands made by supposed “tolerant” government agencies whose effect was to limit liberty. It ticks off case after case of anti-liberty actions taken by government officials.  

          “I don’t think we did more than just scratch the service,” she said of the 31-page report. “After COVID we noticed more and more different religious freedoms violated across the world. We were looking at governments that were supposed to be free and democratic who were going after Christians.”

          The report covered 34 nations in which 16 were found to have a total of 160 individual violations of religious liberty. “It gives us a good picture of what’s taking place across the Western world. … When you see all these things together it paints a different picture; its looking more like a trend,” she said.

          These attacks on religious liberty can be divided into two areas. The first goes to the issue of gender, sexuality, and marriage. This includes teachers and school counselors who refuse to follow their institutions approved use of pronouns, or who ban them from discussing with parents their child’s gender transition. This also includes making public comments against such progressive rules. For example:

          In Canada a pastor was arrested twice for protesting in silent prayer outside of a public library during “drag queen story hour.” In another Canadian city a teen was arrested for protesting against biological males using the girls’ restroom. In Norway a Christian organization was denied a community grant due to its views on marriage. In Sweden a kindergarten was threatened with a fine for allowing lunchtime prayers.

          In England a priest was arrested for silently praying outside an abortion facility and a school chaplain was dismissed and blackballed for telling students they can make up their own minds about sexuality. Apparently it is against the law to pray silently in public since there are numerous reports of people arrested or harassed by police for praying silently in a public venue.

          Additionally a teacher was fired and found guilty of “unacceptable professional conduct” for presenting a Christian view of sexuality.

          A lot of the same activity is mirrored in the United States: A 14-year old high school girl was suspended for objecting to biological boys in the girls’ locker rooms, and when her father backed her up on Facebook, he was fired from his job as girls’ soccer coach. In another school a teacher was fired for speaking out against pornographic books in the library promoting same-sex relationships. Another library speaker was shut-down for voicing the Christian belief on gender. And a high school coach was fired for saying males and females are biologically different.

          Another area dealt with religious animas in general:

          Those people attending drive-in services had their license plate numbers copied by police in several countries, including the U. S. In Canada the Department of National Defense recommended that military chaplains not be hired from denominations that will not ordain women. A student was fired from a campus newspaper due to her Catholic beliefs.

          In France the government condemned a broadcast network for airing the film Unplanned because it promoted Christian values. In Sweden a 15 year-old boy was told to remove his cross necklace because it could offend, meanwhile students from other faiths were allowed to wear their religious symbols.

          In England a doctor was investigated for praying with a patient and an actress was dismissed from her leading role over her biblical Facebook post and at least one teacher was fired for the same offense. A Christian man was visited at his job by police investigating a complaint that he had posted a transphobic tweet. The police left him with a warning to “check his thinking” next time.  

          In the U. S. an Oregon city threatened a church with fines for giving free meals to the homeless. A Vermont Christian school was excluded from a state tuition program and ejected from the state’s athletics association due to its promotion of Christian beliefs. In Wyoming a Christian homeless shelter was threatened by the government for only hiring Christian applicants.

          In Oregon a woman was prevented from adopting due to her Christian beliefs, and a fire department chaplain was fired for expressing his religious beliefs on a personal blog. During COVID a Mississippi school principal ordered a third grader to remove her mask that said “Jesus loves me” while other masks with messages were allowed.

          As I indicated above, these are just a few of the incidents reported but it should give you a sense of what Arielle meant when she talked about the picture that develops once you start putting all these incidents together. Finally, as she pointed out, this is not an exhaustive list, it is only those published and known to the authors.

          Perhaps we need a modern day Constantine who can recognize and act on the sign in the sky.

-30-

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/. The episode discussed was 402)

DOJ signals prisons must adopt pro-‘trans’ policies

The Biden Justice Department said in a press release on Tuesday that the Utah Department of Corrections had “violated the Americans with Disabilities Act” when it “failed to provide” a male prisoner with “transgender” hormone therapy. The move signals the administration’s position that prisons throughout the country must obey LGBTQ ideology. READ

State Department spent $77 million on DEI

President Joe Biden’s State Department privately disclosed to Congress that it spent $77 million taxpayer dollars on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts in the last two years — and it plans to eclipse that total in the final year of Biden’s first term.  READ

New bill would stop admin forcing ‘trans’ in foster care

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-KS, this week put forward a bill to stop a proposed Biden administration rule that would force “transgender” ideology on potential foster parents and foster care organizations. Marshall’s newly proposed bill is known as the “Protecting Religious Freedom for Foster Families Act.”  READ

House Republicans will not shrink from abortion issue

House Republican leadership will stress the party’s pro-life platform in the quest to expand the party’s razor-thin majority this November. A new memo prepared by House Republicans’ campaign arm urges Congressional candidates to “confidently articulate” where they stand on abortion, noting that “being unwilling to stake out a clear position with voters is the worst possible solution.”  READ

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Archbishop of San Antonio gave Biden Communion, ignored Gov. Abbott at Uvalde Mass

 SAN ANTONIO (LifeSiteNews) — San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller’s politics could not have been clearer the day he gave Holy Communion to pro-abortion President Joe Biden and ignored pro-life Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Professor Randall B. Smith of the University of St. Thomas in Houston told the story vividly in an August 29, 2022 article for Catholic World Report:

“ … it’s odd that before the Mass for the families of those killed in Uvalde, Archbishop García-Siller had a special private meeting with President Biden and then went to the Bidens first to offer them communion at their seats before everyone else. This is a man whose support for actual murder means he shouldn’t be receiving communion at all. And Governor Greg Abbott? No special treatment there. He wheeled himself in his wheelchair to the back of the cathedral and came up the center aisle with his wife like everyone else. The Archbishop saw him but never acknowledged his presence.”

Smith reported that García-Siller did worse than ignore the governor of Texas; he maligned Abbott before the mainstream media. García-Siller told the San Antonio Express-News that since “what happened at Uvalde, there has not been word from my leader in my state of compassion, of care, of pain” and that the governor was using tragic events in Texas “for personal gain.”

The Catholic professor found this behavior unbecoming in a bishop.

Read the full story:

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archbishop-of-san-antonio-gave-biden-communion-ignored-gov-abbott-at-uvalde-mass/?utm_source=daily-usa-2024-03-12&utm_medium=email