Religious Rights On Campus Threatened

By Catholic League president Bill Donohue 

Freedom of speech should be honored on the college campuses more than any place in the nation, but, alas, that is not true. Indeed, the campuses are hotbeds of censorship. 

Freedom to speak one’s mind about religion, and to establish religious clubs on campus, should also be a slam dunk. But again, owing to the prevailing left-wing hatred of western civilization, and its Judeo-Christian roots, that is definitely not the case. 

The Trump administration sought to do something about this condition by prohibiting federal funding of colleges and universities that restricted religious student group activities. Now the Biden administration is seeking to overturn this rule, allowing institutions of higher education to return to their censorial ways. 

The Department of Education (DOE), under Secretary Miguel Cardona, announced last week that starting on February 22, the public would have 30 days to comment on the proposal to nix the Trump initiative. The DOE says that “it is not necessary in order to protect the First Amendment right to free speech and free exercise of religion given existing legal protections.” It also says the policy is “unduly burdensome.” 

Both of these statements are manifestly false. It was precisely because the religious rights of students were not protected on campus that the previous administration was beckoned to act. Moreover, it is risible for an administration that is regulation-happy to start worrying about rules that are “unduly burdensome.” 

When it comes to the rights of LGBT students, the Biden administration says we can’t have enough protections. Why, then, when it comes to the rights of religious students is it deemed they have enough rights?

Before providing data that undercut what the DOE is saying, consider what prominent academics have been saying about this subject. 

“On America’s elite campuses, today, it is perfectly acceptable for professors to use their classrooms to attack religion, to mock it, to trivialize it, and to refer to those whom faith truly matters as dupes, and dangerous on top of it.” That’s how Yale law professor Stephen Carter put it over two decades ago. The African American author concluded that if similar things were said about other groups, it would be called “bigotry.” 

The situation on campus has only gotten worse over the past two decades. Alan Levinovitz teaches at James Madison University. He notes that many campuses have trigger warnings and safe spaces to alert students about potentially challenging material. He says that “as a professor of religious studies, I know firsthand how debates about trigger warnings and safe spaces can have a chilling effect on classroom discussions.” He specifically names discussion about religious beliefs as among the most likely to be stifled.

Levinovitz observes that according to anonymous in-class surveys, “about one-third of my students believe in the exclusive salvific truth of Christianity. But rarely do these students defend their beliefs in class. In private, they have told me that they believe doing so could be construed as hateful, hostile, intolerant, and disrespectful….” 

A few years ago, Princeton professor Robert P. George and Orthodox Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, one of his former students, spoke about this issue at a forum on the subject. 

According to George, who is a former chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, “There is an antipathy, sometimes an open hostility to religion” on campus. Soloveichik, who teaches at Yeshiva University, spoke about bigoted attacks on Israel, noting, “The truest threat to people of faith in the modern university, from my perspective … is the culture of hedonism as part of student life.” 

In 2019, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities’ Presidents Conference, a network of over 180 Christian colleges worldwide, registered their concerns about the religious rights of students. Shirley Mullen, president of Houghton College, a Christian liberal arts college, said, “The standard western narrative of progress has assumed that deeply held religious beliefs, especially when there is diversity in those beliefs, result in intolerance, conflict, violence, oppression.” 

There certainly is no shortage of examples of religious students being badgered on campus. Courses, lectures and workshops abound on the prevalence of alleged “Christian privilege,” a term used to bash Christians, especially male heterosexuals. As I pointed out recently, in other words, “the Hispanic Catholics who clean the toilets of filthy-rich atheist students and their pampered professors are the ‘privileged’ ones.” 

It is because of this poisonous milieu, where religious students are treated as outcasts, if not the enemy, that their rights on campus merited protections from the previous administration. The Biden administration, heavily staffed by militant secularists, wants to eviscerate those rights. We can’t let that happen. 

To read our report on the plight of religious students on campus, click here.

FBI’s Target In War Against Religion: The Latin Mass

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) – Through the years we have often reported on efforts by government officials to tap-down the influence of religion in the public square. We can go to the Obama administration to see the beginning of the efforts to “fundamentally change America.” This ranges from declaring that the United States is no longer “just a Christian nation” to undermining the tenets of our faith. See www.catholicleague.org/obamas-catholic-problem-2.

The pandemic became just the most recent excuse for the Progressive Left to continue its assault on Christianity: forcible closings of churches, occupancy rules enforced, arrest and jailing of ministers who refused to buckle under the anti-God policies of the intelligentsia that populates the controlling faction in the Democratic Party.

But now, thanks to an FBI whistleblower, Kyle Seraphin, we can see clearly just how far the current administration is willing to take its war against conservative Christians and especially Catholics. Kyle was a guest on my Faith On Trial program and he explained how he views what is happening.

As a devout Catholic and active FBI agent there were two warning signs that pushed Kyle into the role of whistleblower. The first was the government’s vaccine mandate. He, like many conservative pro-lifers, refused on religious grounds to take the jab; that coupled with the government’s denial of nearly all applications for a religious exemption heightened his concern that the mandate and exemption denials were being used to identify and separate, and ultimately punish those folks who held contrarian beliefs and would stand on their faith to refuse unlawful orders.

The second matter was the FBI’s investigation of parents who were objecting to the direction of their children’s schools. When the first information about these investigations was being mentioned — and usually denied by officials — he found out through FBI sources that there were over a dozen such investigations against parents in progress.

Turning to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and its attendees, he characterized the report as drawing a circle around what its author saw as “fringe Catholics,” which opened the door for the FBI to look into those the report described as “racially motivated violent extremists” (RMVE), or simply, white supremacists, and their common cause with “radical traditional Catholics” (RTC), borrowing that term from the Southern Poverty Law Center, a formerly legitimate civil rights organization which has been turned into a radical hate group.

That led to identifying supporters of the Latin Mass as potential comrades-in-arms by these violent extremists groups since they perceived them as ideological brothers since they have mutual beliefs on issues as abortion, the vax mandate, the anti-LBGT agenda, and illegal immigration, etc., in an attempt to make common cause with them. In other words, since the two groups shared several political-religious views, the report suggested that the TLM followers were ripe for the pickings by violent radical groups for some type of partial take-over.

Thus the FBI should be allowed to infiltrate the TLM movement to catch these radical white supremacists fiends.

But according to Kyle this is an overreaction. There are not that many violent white supremacists out there and most are either not violent or pose no real threat to those who don’t support their ugly agenda. But the FBI needs the lurking image of white supremacists, not because they are a major threat, but because the FBI says they are and they need to keep up the charade to prove that it does exist.

While the FBI has done a good job taking down several violent groups, the claims of potential violence are exaggerated. “The demand for white supremacy in the country vastly outstrips the supply of white supremacy. It’s just not a thing you can easily find,” he said. “And attaching this to Christians and Catholics is nonsensical. These are antithetical positions, you cannot be a white supremacist and a Christian of any variety, and certainly not a Catholic. The people we see attending a Latin Mass are not the people we worry about.”

The report then provides a basis for the bureau as “source mitigation,” meaning authorizing FBI infiltration of TLM attendees to investigate the inter-action between the RMVEs and the Latin attending suspected RTCs, he said.

Reviewing the report, whistleblowers were concerned about several things. The primary one was the sourcing of the report, which leaned heavily from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Atlantic magazine, and Salon.com, all of which he described as left-leaning sources and inappropriate as bases for an investigation such as this. He also noted that the author of the report showed his bias by using such terms as “abortion rights” rather than just the word abortion, and the use of the term “pregnant persons,” both of which display a leftward bias.

To understand where much of this is coming from, he noted that the Department of Homeland Security claims that the real threats to our security are anti-government, anti-authority, violent extremists, which is a required threat in all FBI offices. “Overall the government’s position is very left leaning and antithetical to Christian beliefs,” he said.

Many, he suggests, are being investigated for things that are not crimes but simply wrong thoughts, by the federal “thought police,” who are targeting conservatives, Catholics and others who simply cannot accept the prevailing view of government officials. And since this is the current government ideology, many bureaucrats simply follow along in order to keep their jobs, and outside the government, many others follow for fear of legal retribution.

The FBI report and Kyle’s comments can be found at Uncoverdc.com where you can also find links to his podcasts.

Following Kyle we turned to another action by the Biden administration against Catholics, Christians, and other conservatives. Hans von Spakovsky from the Heritage Foundation warned us of some tinkering the administration is trying to make in the rules governing federal hiring.

When the federal government reviews applicants for employment it does a “suitability and fitness review, in other words, do you have the character to be a federal employee,” he said. Currently the suitability factor is whether or not the applicant has engaged in “activities with the purpose of overthrowing the U. S. government.”

Under the new rules, the administration wants to add three new criteria which would disqualify one for employment:

“Acts of force, violence, intimidation, or coercion with the purpose of denying others the free exercise of their rights under the U.S. Constitution or any state constitution;

“Attempting to indoctrinate others or to incite them to action in furtherance of illegal acts, and

“Active membership or leadership in a group with knowledge of its unlawful aims, or participation in such a group with specific intent to further its unlawful aims.”

“The vague, nebulous language of the proposed changes in existing government hiring regulations could be exploited and allow biased government managers to put up a virtual ‘Conservatives Need Not Apply’ sign when it comes to the federal civil service, leaving rejected applicants with little recourse,” he wrote.

Violators of these rules could easily include pro-life protesters, sidewalk counselors, or anyone found to express incorrect views, he said.

It doesn’t take a legal expert to see how the liberals in government could play with this rule. Under the law, before it can be adopted the agency must solicit comments. The comment period ends April 3. Comments can be made online at 88 FR 6192.

Of course, he notes, the agency can adopt the rule anyway, but a decision to do so against the comments is more easily challenged in court if adopted and he noted several examples of cases that did just that. The dangers of this proposal are almost obvious and if you have a chance you might want to follow that link and register your opposition to the proposal. It doesn’t have to be long.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to this episode of his program at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/ it is episode 351.)

This week on Faith On Trial

 Podcast #352 posted at  https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/

20 States Condemn FBI Memo Targeting Pro-Life Catholics

State attorneys general of 20 states have written a seven-page letter of complaint addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray about a recent memo targeting pro-life Catholics.

As LifeNews.com has reported, he FBI Richmond bureau issued a recent memo on “radical-traditional Catholic ideology” that cited the leftist Southern Poverty Law Center. The FBI memo 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  Listen to our interview with the FBI whistleblower in this case at:  https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/ -- Look for Episode 351 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++

urged agents to probe the supposed nexus between “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” and “radical-traditional Catholics,” citing the SPLC and including a list of SPLC-designated “hate groups” for agents to target.

The federal agency quickly retracted the memo after massive criticism, but pro-life groups and pro-life elected officials wan an investigation and accountability.

Missouri Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey and 19 other attorneys general have now issued a letter of condemnation.

“As Attorney General, I will protect the Constitution, which includes the basic right to religious liberty enshrined in the First Amendment,” said Attorney General Bailey. “We already knew that President Biden was launching an attack on the First Amendment rights of Americans, as evidenced by our landmark free speech case Missouri v. Biden, but now it’s clear that he’ll weaponize unelected federal bureaucrats to go after any American who doesn’t worship the ‘right way.’ The First Amendment includes both the right to free speech and religious liberty for a reason, and my office will use any tool necessary to defend the rights of all Missourians to worship as they please.”

The memorandum distinguishes between what the FBI deems acceptable and unacceptable Catholic beliefs and practices. The memorandum suggests that there are “radical traditionalists” who could be “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.”

The letter states the FBI memo “identifies ‘radical-traditionalist Catholics’ as a potential ‘racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.’ … Among those beliefs which distinguish the bad Catholics from the good ones are a preference for ‘the Traditional Latin Mass and pre-Vatican II teachings,’ and adherence to traditional Catholic teachings on sex and marriage (which the memorandum describes as ‘anti-LGBTQ’).”

Bailey said the FBI action was another attack on the First Amendment by Joe Biden, who is supposedly a practicing Catholic.

Bailey and the other attorneys general assert that the FBI memorandum “even appears to accuse the Supreme Court and the Governor of Virginia of ‘[c]atalyzing’ the bad Catholics through ‘legislation or judicial decisions in areas such as abortion rights, immigration, affirmative action, and LGBTQ protections,’ singling out the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and Governor Youngkin’s support for sensible abortion regulations as examples.”

In the letter, General Bailey and the other states demand that the FBI and DOJ “desist from investigating and surveilling Americans who have done nothing more than exercise their natural and constitutional right to practice their religion in a manner of their choosing” and asked that the FBI “reveal to the American public the extent to which they have engaged in such activities.”

“We are the chief legal officers of our respective States charged not only with enforcing the law but also with securing the civil rights of our citizens,” the attorneys general continues. “The FBI must immediately and unequivocally order agency personnel not to target Americans based on their religious beliefs and practices.”

The attorneys general request a full explanation of the document’s origins, documents related to its implementation, information regarding how this document has already affected Virginia’s Catholic population, and information on whether the FBI has begun infiltrating houses of worship in conflict with the FBI’s internal guidelines.

Joining Bailey were AGs from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The full letter can be read by clicking here.

First: Do Ho Harm… An Insider’s View Of Trans Treatment For Kids

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) – A brave gender clinician recently published an article that exposes the lie promoted by the Progressive Left, the Biden administration, and trans activists wherever they may be located, many of whom are teachers and staff of our public school system.

Jamie Reed didn’t necessarily target those progressive groups in her article published in The Free Press February 9. She began:

“I am a 42-year-old St. Louis native, a queer woman, and politically to the left of Bernie Sanders. My worldview has deeply shaped my career. I have spent my professional life providing counseling to vulnerable populations: children in foster care, sexual minorities, the poor.”

She went on to explain that for the past few years she worked for the Washington University School of Medicine where she worked with teens and young adults who were HIV positive, noting that many of them were either trans or gender nonconforming. She served as case manager for the then recently established transgender center in the university’s children’s hospital. There she oversaw about a thousand “distressed young people,” the majority of which received hormone prescriptions which “can have life-altering consequences.”

She left the clinic last November “because I could no longer participate in what was happening there. By the time I departed, I was certain that the way the American medical system is treating these patients is the opposite of the promise we make to ‘do no harm.’ Instead, we are permanently harming the vulnerable patients in our care.”

In describing some of the patients, she wrote: “The girls who came to us had many co-morbidities: depression, anxiety, ADHD, eating disorders, obesity. Many were diagnosed with autism, or had autism-like symptoms. . . . Frequently, our patients declared they had disorders that no one believed they had. We had patients who said they had Tourette syndrome (but they didn’t); that they had tic disorders (but they didn’t); that they had multiple personalities (but they didn’t)….The doctors privately recognized these false self-diagnoses as a manifestation of social contagion. They even acknowledged that suicide has an element of social contagion. But when I said the clusters of girls streaming into our service looked as if their gender issues might be a manifestation of social contagion, the doctors said gender identity reflected something innate.”

She noted that to begin the transition process the girls needed a letter of support from a therapist, usually the one that the hospital recommended. They then had a meeting or two with the therapist who would then “green light” the process.

“When a female takes testosterone, the profound and permanent effects of the hormone can be seen in a matter of months. Voices drop, beards sprout, body fat is redistributed. Sexual interest explodes, aggression increases, and mood can be unpredictable. Our patients were told about some side effects, including sterility. But after working at the center, I came to believe that teenagers are simply not capable of fully grasping what it means to make the decision to become infertile while still a minor.”

But, she reported, the center downplayed the negative consequence and emphasized the need for transition. She quoted the center’s website as telling potential patients: “Left untreated, gender dysphoria has any number of consequences, from self-harm to suicide. But when you take away the gender dysphoria by allowing a child to be who he or she is, we’re noticing that goes away. The studies we have show these kids often wind up functioning psychosocially as well as or better than their peers.” 

In reference, she wrote that there are no reliable studies showing same.
Then she turned to several cases that she had handled in which the child-patient was harmed. She obviously holds the hospital, doctors, and staff responsible for what was happening, but spared no criticism for parents, some of whom were almost aggressively supporting transition of their children, and others who did not understand the science and simply took the word of the doctors. One case was particularly interesting.

One mother brought in her 11-year-old daughter for puberty blockers. During intake the mom described her girl as being “kind of a tomboy.” When asked if the girl had ever used a boy’s name or said she felt like a boy, the mother said no. Ms. Reed then told the mom that her daughter really didn’t meet the criteria for evaluation.

About a month later the mother called back and said her daughter was now using a boy’s name, was distressed over her body, and wanted treatment. The girl met with a doctor who approved her for trans treatment and prescribed puberty blockers. Now at the time the mother and father were engaged in a custody dispute and the father was against the trans treatment while mother was pushing forward. At a hearing on the matter a doctor from the hospital testified that the girl recently described as a tomboy was in need of the puberty blockers.

The judge ruled in favor of the mother who quickly signed the permission forms and the 11-year-old got the puberty blockers against her father’s wishes.

As we all know from public reporting, there are numerous trangendered persons who seek to detransition. Unfortunately, many despair after transition, finding the medical treatment is not what they had expected and many of those people eventually commit suicide.

Ms. Reed and a colleague began to track those who were attempting to return to their birth gender and why.

“We thought the doctors would want to collect and understand this data in order to figure out what they had missed. We were wrong. One doctor wondered aloud why he would spend time on someone who was no longer his patient.”

As she began to raise concerns about the treatment kids were receiving, she noted that for the first time in her career she was getting lower marks on her performance evaluations. She was told, “Get on board, or get out.” Ultimately, she got out.

Currently there are more than one hundred such clinics in the United States that Dr. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman and assistant secretary for the U. S. Department of Human Services, says are proceeding carefully and that no American children are receiving drugs or hormones for gender dysphoria who should not receive them.

Nonetheless, Ms. Reed disagrees, “Given the secrecy and lack of rigorous standards that characterize youth gender transition across the country, I believe that to ensure the safety of American children, we need a moratorium on the hormonal and surgical treatment of young people with gender dysphoria.”

She mentioned three nations, Great Britain, Sweden, and Finland, who have investigated and curbed some of the practices of children in these clinics, calling the treatment for youngsters “experimental.”

“Experiments are supposed to be carefully designed,” she concluded. “Hypotheses are supposed to be tested ethically. The doctors I worked alongside at the Transgender Center said frequently about the treatment of our patients: ‘We are building the plane while we are flying it.’ No one should be a passenger on that kind of aircraft.”

She has taken her notes and views to the office of the Missouri attorney general whom she is now working with on remedies.

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

White supremacy and the Latin Mass?

 

The big school choice turnaround in Iowa that more states should follow

The Student First Act will provide Iowa families education saving accounts (ESAs) that they can use for private school tuition, tutoring, textbooks, curricular materials, and a variety of other education expenses. The ESAs, funded with a portion of the state's per-pupil spending, are worth about $7,600 annually. That more than covers the average private elementary school tuition in Iowa (about $5,400) and nearly covers the average private high school tuition (about $9,200). Heritage Expert: Jason Bedrick

 

Protecting Parents’ Rights with the Given Name Act

K–12 schools across the country, including in deeply conservative areas, have started addressing children by names that are not theirs, and using pronouns that differ from their sex—without their parents’ knowledge or consent. Parents know their children best, and their authority should not be superseded by teachers and school administrators. Schools should not make potentially life-altering decisions for a child behind parents’ backs. Lawmakers can support parental rights by enacting legislation, such as the Given Name Act, proposed by The Heritage Foundation. Heritage Expert: Jason Bedrick and Jonathan Butcher

Georgia Police Officer Forced Out of Job For Posting Religious Message Online

Port Wentworth, GA—First Liberty Institute today sent a letter to the city of Port Wentworth (GA) explaining how city officials blatantly discriminated against former city police officer Jacob Kersey after Kersey was forced out of his job for refusing to delete a Facebook post expressing his personal religious beliefs.  The letter also urges officials to create policies that protect the First Amendment rights of city employees. 

You can read the letter here.

“It is a blatant violation of state and federal civil rights laws to discriminate against someone for expressing their religious beliefs,” said Stephanie Taub, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute. “The city owes Jacob a public apology.  And it needs to adopt policies that recognize the free speech and free exercise rights of its employees.  Forcing Jacob to choose to either censor his private religious speech or remain employed as a police officer is simply unconstitutional.” 

Kersey was a police officer with the Port Wentworth (GA) police department since May 2022.  In January, he shared his beliefs about marriage on his private Facebook page.  The following day, his supervisor told him to take down the post told him that he could be terminated if he did not delete it.  He was given a letter of notification that warned him that he could be fired if he posted any more “offensive” content on social media.  After the meetings with leadership, he realized that he faced a choice between compromising his deeply held religious beliefs or continuing as a police officer with the department. Forced to leave the job he loved, Kersey resigned on January 17th. 

The letter states, “The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment protects Mr. Kersey’s right to express his Christian beliefs in his personal life and discuss his faith while off duty. See Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist., 142 S. Ct. 2407, 2421 (2022) (finding the Clause protects ‘the ability of those who hold religious beliefs of all kinds to live out their faiths in daily life’). ‘The Free Exercise Clause does not permit the State to confine religious speech to whispers or banish it to broom closets. If it did, the exercise of one’s religion would not be free at all.’ Chandler v. Siegelman, 230 F.3d 1313, 1316 (11th Cir. 2000). . . . The Department’s actions send a message to Christians who hold traditional biblical beliefs about marriage that they are unwelcome as police officers or city employees.”

Religion Clause: Denial of NYPD Officer's Religious Objection to Va...

In Grullon v. City of New York, (NY County Sup. Ct., Feb. 3, 2023), a New York state trial court held that the New York Police Department's denial in internal appeals of a police officer's religious objections to the Department's Covid vaccine mandate was arbitrary and capricious. The court said in part:

“[D]espite Petitioner's detailed submission, the Appeals Panel failed to even mention any of Petitioner's arguments, let alone refute them as being non-religious in nature or not sincerely held beliefs. The decision also failed to mention NYPD's underlying decision denying Petitioner's application or the basis of the decision including the reasons listed on the checked boxes. The decision also failed to mention that it was affirming NYPD's denial and that it agreed with any of the reasons for which the underlying denial was based. Simply, the denial of the appeal is devoid of any explanation, reasoning, or support for its determination that Petitioner's request for a reasonable accommodation did not meet criteria. The Appeals Panel failed to state what the criteria was for obtaining a reasonable accommodation, it failed to include which criteria Petitioner's request failed to satisfy, or any details or support for its determination. Without any explanation or details, the purported reason provided that it did not meet criteria is tantamount to no reason at all.”

The court concluded that the officer is entitled to employment with a reasonable accommodation of weekly Covid testing.

Religion Clause: South Dakota Passes Law Banning All Gender-Affirmi...

The South Dakota legislature last week gave final passage to House Bill 1080 (full text) which prohibits healthcare professionals from providing either drug, hormonal or surgical treatments to minors for the purpose of altering the appearance of the minor's sex or validating a minor's perception of their sex that is inconsistent with the biological indication of their gender. The bill specifically includes a ban on administering drugs that delay puberty for minors. Minors currently receiving drug or hormonal treatments for gender dysphoria must be weaned off their medication by Dec. 31, 2023.  According to CNN, Gov. Noem will sign the bill into law.

Who Was St. Valentine?

By Catholic League president Bill Donohue

The first thing to know about St. Valentine is that he is no longer recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. A martyr, yes, but a saint, no.

He was canonized in 496 AD, over 200 years after he died, which was sometime around 270 AD and 280 AD. In 1969, Pope Paul VI removed him from the General Roman Calendar, concluding that there wasn’t enough reliable evidence to maintain his sainthood.

There are different historical accounts of St. Valentine. According to one legend, he was a priest in Rome who was martyred during the Christian persecution; he was beheaded under the reign of Emperor Claudius II for defying his orders.

The Emperor wanted single men to fight his wars, knowing they would be less distracted with family duties. Fr. Valentine, wanting to subvert his efforts, continued to perform marriage ceremonies so the husbands wouldn’t have to go to war. Allegedly, it was his refusal to deny Christ that was the final straw.

Another story says he was beheaded under Claudius II when he became a bishop. Others say that Valentine the priest and Valentine the bishop were two different persons. 

It was Chaucer, the English poet, who first declared St. Valentine’s Day a day of romantic celebration. He did so in a 1375 poem. In other words, Valentine’s celebrations extend as far back as the Middle Ages. It was another poet, Charles, Duke of Orleans, who is responsible for the first “modern” valentine—he extended it to his wife while in prison in 1415. 

The first valentine was supposedly sent by Valentine himself. He fell in love with the daughter of the man who jailed him—she liked to visit him in jail. It is said that on the day of his execution he wrote her a letter, signed, appropriately, “Your Valentine.” 

No one doubts that Valentine was a priest and a martyr. It is apropos to note his martyrdom today because Christian martyrdom is raging out of control. 

Open Doors does a great job tracking Christian persecution worldwide; it is known for its accuracy and its conservative estimates. 

Its 2023 World Watch List details 50 countries where Christian persecution is the worst. “Last year,” its report said, “for the first time in 29 years of tracking, all 50 nations scored high enough to register ‘very high’ persecution levels on Open Doors’ 84-question matrix.” 

Here are some of its other findings:

 

• A thousand more Christians were killed for their faith last year than the year before
• A thousand more Christians were detained
• Six hundred more churches were attacked or closed 

No place on earth is it “harder to follow Jesus” than in Afghanistan. It replaced North Korea from the top spot. Somalia ranked third worst. 

The most violent nations for Christians to live in are, from top to bottom, Nigeria, Pakistan and India. Nigeria and Pakistan are also one-two in countries where the most Christians were martyred. When it comes to churches being attacked or closed, China and Nigeria lead the way. The biggest threat to Christians, the study found, is coming from Islamic extremists. 

This is sobering news. But it is not healthy to live in darkness, so to all of those who are going to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day—have a good time! Fr. Valentine, saint or no, wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

'First Major Whistleblower' From a Children's Gender Clinic Exposes 'Appalling' Practices - The Stream

'First Major Whistleblower' From a Children's Gender Clinic Exposes 'Appalling' Practices - The Stream: Jamie Reed, 42, is 'blowing the whistle' on the children's gender clinic where she worked, The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital. She authored an article, published Thursday at The Free Press, titled 'I Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I’m Blowing the Whistle.' She's also written a letter to her state's attorney general complaining about the gender clinic's 'questionable medical practices and treatment of minors.'

Daddy, Save The Last Dance For Me

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) – I was saddened last week when the parks and recreation department, apparently bowing to pressure from those opposed to traditional families, renamed the annual “Father Daughter Dance” as the “Snow Ball Dance.”

Spokesman for the change told Axios Des Moines that it was made because the city wants to avoid “situations where children — such as those with single, LGBTQ+ or gender nonconforming parents — are uncomfortable attending.” He also announced that next month’s “Mother/Son fun Night” would be renamed “Family Fun Night.”

Now I don’t have problems with family fun nights or anything similar, but I do have problems with recasting Daddy-Daughter nights as something other than a bonding experience between men and their daughters, something that has been under a leftist attack for over a decade.

First let me state my belief that the most important person in a girl’s life is her father. This has not only been borne out by research, but my own personal experience. Briefly said, I spent many years in juvenile and mental health courtrooms where family wreckages found themselves, and that was bolstered by nearly six years as chaplain at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center.

In nearly every case, especially in the rehabilitation center, the lack of a strong male role model was a contributing factor to a girl’s or woman’s later inability to deal with the vexations of life. Instead, they turned to substitutes: drugs, sex and prostitution, theft, and other unhealthy choices, including suicide, which gave respite from the real life that seemed too horrible to face.

Before I get off on the woke idealism that attacks daddy-daughter dances, let me provide some general information about what and why studies have shown how well girls with involved fathers have done.

First is the “why.” Simply put, the male role and perspective that girls see in their fathers balances the female role mothers and daughters share, giving the daughter a broader perspective of life than just that of her mother’s and her own.

Now, here is the “what” as found by numerous studies:

Girls with engaged fathers are more intellectually developed, from IQ to better grades in school; they are more confident and assertive, and more likely to feel better about themselves; more likely to pursue higher education and have higher career achievement; more likely to become better emotionally and have better mental health; and more likely to have healthy romantic relationships up to, and including, marriage.

And, they are less likely to develop eating disorders and a poor self-image; engage in delinquent behavior; become pregnant as a teen; experience dating violence or coerced sex; become less resilient, unable to navigate obstacles and stressful situations; be more inclined to drug and alcohol usage.

This really isn’t difficult stuff to master, but it is universally ignored by the “wokesters” who can’t see through their ideology.

“Many women underestimate the importance their father has in their lives. For the most part, a good relationship with an intimate partner is strongly tied to a woman’s relationship with her dad. A father’s presence (or lack of presence) in his daughter’s life will affect how she will relate to all men who come after him and can impact her view of herself and psychological well-being,” said clinical counselor Terry Gaspard, MSW in a 2013 article she wrote for the Huffington Post.

“Not only does a girl’s relationship with her father shape her childhood experience, but it will also influence how she interacts with men in her adult years. If a father is absent or erratic in his behavior, this sets his daughter up for feelings of low self-esteem and trouble with trusting men in general,” wrote columnist Jay Hill, citing numerous psychological journals.

“Research has shown that women who enjoy more supportive, close relationships with their fathers tend to be less stressed and to view themselves in a more positive light compared with those who have more conflicted or toxic bonds,” Hill reported.

In law we have a doctrine that some facts are so well established that it is unnecessary to prove them in court. The same could be said about the proposition that fathers play a pivotal role in their daughters’ lives; in fact, a whole library could be filled with books and research proving same.

However, giving the “woke” their due, they have their own experts who claim otherwise. For example, some schools and municipalities cite findings from legislative studies that require them to ban any activity that is characterized by a reference or preference for any gender identity.

The basis for such regulation is some people may be hurt or offended, thus eliminate the whole thing without regard for the good it might do society. Just a quick note here: If you watch closely, you’ll note that the progressive wokesters are so controlled by their ideology that they will follow that ideology even when it hurts their own people.

Anyway, schools in Staten Island did follow this logic based on a state rule prohibiting any such preference. As one local report in 2018 put it: “Such gendered events can be exclusionary — not only for those who don’t identify with their biological gender, but for families with different structures, such as families with two moms or single mom-led households.”

Get the picture? Sound anything like the Virginia schools that withheld students’ receipt of National Merit Awards?

Apparently trying to shore-up the “con” argument, Caroline Kitchener, a staff writer for something called The Lily, which is part of The Washington Post family, wrote back in 2019:

“While the origins of the father-daughter dance are hard to pin down, many of the father-daughter-centric wedding traditions emerged after World War II, when big weddings — with dancing and speeches — became popular. By that time, middle- and upper-class men and women were living in ‘separate spheres,’ said Stephanie Coontz, a professor of marriage history at Evergreen State University in Olympia, Wash. As women began taking charge of everything that went on inside the home, including relationships with children, Coontz said, ‘there was a sense that men needed to find their way back to the family.’

“The idea was, ‘Well, men aren’t in charge anymore at home, and they’re a little bumbling in the domestic sphere, so we need to give them special rituals and opportunities’. . . . The father-daughter dance and the father’s speech are good examples of this trend. . . .”

So, if the daddy-daughter dance makes some uncomfortable, what’s the big deal? Just rename it and move on, right?

No, wrong. It continues a trend to downplay all we have held as valuable. It continues the ongoing degradation of men in society as irrelevant to the “modern” family. Thus, it plays on the ultra-feminist position that men aren’t needed for anything; after all, a woman who wants can always become pregnant by artificial insemination.

The daddy-daughter dance symbolizes something that, as a society, we are forgetting: Dads function as a critical balance in the life of a family. That’s the way God created it, and that’s the way we should recognize it. While not all families, for many reasons, are perfect, that is not a reason avoid instilling to that goal in our own.

Finally, just a quick reminder I received from a Christian counselor: Moms teach little girls how to be ladies; dads teach them to demand treatment in accordance.

Now men, go stand up for your girls!

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him on the Faith on Trial podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial.)

DOJ and pro-lifers; Iowa Attorney General this week on FOT

Podcast #350 posted, listen now: https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/

FBI whistleblower releases docs showing agency is surveilling ‘Radical’ LATIN MASS CATHOLICS

The memo cited a study from the anti-Catholic Southern Poverty Law Center 

to justify the FBI's monitoring efforts.

RICHMOND, Virginia (LifeSiteNews) — A document released by an FBI whistleblower indicates the agency plans to intensify its “assessment” and “mitigation” of “Radical Traditionalist Catholics” over the next 12 to 24 months due to alleged concerns that “white nationalists” are increasingly making common cause online with attendees of the Latin Mass.

The bombshell 8-page memo was released by former FBI agent turned whistleblower Kyle Seraphin on UncoveredDC Wednesday. The report, written by an FBI analyst in Richmond, Virginia, was published for internal agency use only on January 23, is titled, “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.”

Seraphin describes the briefing as an “intelligence product” that, though not being exhaustive, can be used as an initial reference point for the agency to “prop up” future investigations on the subject. He says he obtained the document from an anonymous Baptist employee for the agency.

“This is the first FBI Richmond domain product to focus on the interest of racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists in the Radical Traditional Catholic movement,” the document states. “A search of FBI databases indicates this is also the first FBI finished intelligence product to specifically address this environmental variable.”

Among the most controversial aspects of the memo is that it directly cites a defamatory study conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on the subject “Radical Traditional Catholicism.” The SPLC has long been rejected as a legitimate resource for the FBI, Seraphin says, but in this instance, it is being relied on as a primary source to justify its efforts. The memo also references three anti-Catholic smear articles (here, here, and here) published by leftwing websites Salon and The Atlantic to defend its monitoring.

Bottom of Form

In general, the report shows an above average understanding of the various pro-Latin Mass communities in the church, including the Fraternal Society of St. Peter, the Priestly Society of St. Pius X, the SSPX “Resistance” as well as sedevacantist groups. It notes that the FSSP and SSPX have “houses of worship” in the Richmond area. It also says other FBI investigations, local law enforcement reports, and un-named liaisons have helped compile its findings – an indication that persons familiar with these communities have been in touch with intelligence officials.

“FBI Richmond relied on the key assumption that racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists will continue to find Radical Traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology attractive and will continue to attempt to connect with RTC adherents, both via social media and in-person at places of worship” it reads. It also mentions the influence of commentator Nick Fuentes, who is highly popular among young Traditional Catholic men.

The report further states that there now exists “new opportunities for threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development.”

The report alleges that its real motivation is a concern that “Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology” possesses an “anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, and white supremacy” outlook, and that this presents a threat to the US’s domestic well-being. The report further claims that adherents to RTC ideology “frequently share language and symbolism, such as crusader references or anti-Semitic discourses” online that pro-life white nationalists also support.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

The document then compares followers of RTC ideology to ordinary “traditional Catholics” who simply “prefer the Latin Mass and pre-Vatican II teachings and traditions, but without the more extremist ideological beliefs and violent rhetoric.”

The memo identifies nine Traditional Catholic organizations allegedly guilty of promoting RTC ideology: Catholic Family News, The Remnant, The Fatima Center, Tradition in Action, Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Culture Wars, In the Spirit of Chartres, Christ or Chaos, and Catholic Apologetics International. These groups were all listed in the SPLC report.

Democrats Wear “Love Abortion” Pins Showing How Much They Love Killing Babies

At least two Democrat lawmakers wore “abortion” pins to display their support for killing unborn babies during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.

Ahead of the speech, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, and U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pennsylvania, both posted photos of themselves on social media wearing golden lapel pins that read “ABORTION” with a stylized O with a heart inside.

“I say the word, I wear the word,” Dean wrote on Twitter. “Abortion care is health care. Abortion care saves lives.”

Markey said the pins were a gift from Planned Parenthood. The abortion chain spends massive amounts of money to elect pro-abortion Democrats every year while reporting billion-dollar revenues and aborting more than 383,000 unborn babies annually.

 “I’m wearing my abortion pin from [Planned Parenthood] to tonight’s State of the Union address,” Markey wrote on Twitter. “Abortion is essential healthcare and we need to codify this right.”

Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that aborting unborn babies is not a constitutional right in the Dobbs v. Jackson case. Now, states may protect unborn babies’ right to life again, and 14 currently are enforcing laws that prohibit killing unborn babies in abortions.

However, Democrat leaders want to end these life-saving laws with a bill to “codify Roe” nationwide — something Biden called for in his speech Tuesday evening.

Nicknamed the Abortion Without Limits Up to Birth Act, the bill would force states to legalize abortions for basically any reason up to birth and force taxpayers to pay for them. It also would end parental consent for minors and jeopardize conscience protections for doctors and nurses who refuse to abort unborn babies.

Dean and Markey both support the bill, as do almost all Democrats in Congress.

Judgment Against Boca Raton Counseling Ban

BOCA RATON, FL – After losing on appeal, the City of Boca Raton will have a judgment entered against it regarding the unconstitutional ordinance that prevented counselors from providing minor clients with help to reduce or eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, or gender confusion. 

According to the judgment, Boca Raton will pay Dr. Robert Otto, LMFT and Dr. Julie Hamilton, LMFT, $50,000 and $25,000 respectively. While Dr. Otto maintained a counseling office in Boca Raton, Dr. Hamilton did not have an ongoing practice but planned on conducting counseling in the city. Under the judgement, Boca Raton has also agreed that Liberty Counsel is entitled to attorney’s fees and costs, the amount of which will be determined later. 

The case against Palm Beach County, whose ordinance was also struck down, is ongoing. 

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals previously struck down City Ordinance 5407 in Otto, et al v. City of Boca Raton, FL et al, and found that this law, and the ban in Palm Beach County, were both content and viewpoint based and violate the First Amendment right to free speech. Liberty Counsel will now pursue litigation against Palm Beach County. 

Liberty Counsel represents Dr. Robert Otto, LMFT and Dr. Julie Hamilton, LMFT and their minor clients who challenged the constitutionality of ordinances enacted by the City of Boca Raton and Palm Beach County which prohibit minors from voluntary counseling from licensed professionals. These licensed therapists provide life-saving counseling to minors who desperately desire to conform their attractions, behaviors, and gender identities to their sincerely held religious beliefs. 

Under the laws that were struck down, a counselor could encourage a client to take life-altering hormone drugs or even undergo invasive surgery to remove healthy body parts, but could not help a client who seeks to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions, behavior, or confusion. 

As a result of the Eleventh Circuit ruling in Otto v. City of Boca Raton, that Court also recently ruled that a Tampa ordinance that prohibited licensed counselors from providing voluntary talk therapy to minors seeking help to reduce or eliminate their unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, or identity, is also unconstitutional under the First Amendment. In Vazzo v. City of Tampa, Liberty Counsel represents marriage and family therapist Robert Vazzo and his minor clients, as well as the Christian ministry, New Hearts Outreach Tampa Bay.

Wisconsin parents ask court to affirm their freedom to direct care, education of children

MILWAUKEE – Attorneys with Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and Alliance Defending Freedom representing two sets of Wisconsin parents filed a motion Friday asking a state court to rule in favor of their parental rights. The parents filed a lawsuit in November 2021 against the Kettle Moraine School District to challenge its policy that encourages minor students to change their name and gender pronouns at school without parental consent.

In the case, B.F. v. Kettle Moraine School District, the Waukesha County Circuit Court ruled in June that the school district policy potentially violated parents’ rights and denied the school district’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

“Parents’ rights to direct the upbringing, education, and mental health treatment of their children is one of the most basic constitutional rights every parent holds dear,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson, director of the ADF Center for Parental Rights. “Yet we are seeing more and more school districts across the country not only ignoring parents’ concerns, but actively working against them. We are asking the court to respect the serious concerns of these parents by ensuring Kettle Moraine School District swiftly changes its policy that is undermining parents and harming children.”

One of the Wisconsin couples suing the school district was forced to withdraw their 12-year-old daughter from the district to protect her mental health and preserve their parental role. The school district violated their constitutionally protected freedoms by insisting that school staff use a male name and male pronouns to address their daughter at school without their consent and over their objections. Additionally, another couple has joined the lawsuit against the district to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to their children.

ADF attorneys serve as co-counsel for the two families along with WILL Deputy Counsel Luke Berg, who is lead counsel in the case.

“The Kettle Moraine School District’s policy defies common sense, medical expertise, and plainly violates the constitutionally recognized rights of parents to raise their children,” said Berg. “Schools do not have this legal authority, and we are supporting parents who are rightfully fighting back.”

“The Kettle Moraine School District…has an unwritten policy requiring school personnel to address and treat children as though they were of the opposite sex without parental consent and even over a parent’s objection, violating parents’ constitutional right to raise their children,” the brief in support of the motion for summary judgment explains. “Not only is this policy unconstitutional, but many experts believe that consistent ‘affirmation’ by respected adults that a child is really the opposite sex can have profound long-term effects on the child and even do serious harm…. This position, even if unwritten, violates the rights of parents under the Constitution. School districts must defer to parents about decisions involving their own children.”

LGBT activists swarm Oklahoma Capitol to protest ban on genital mutilation of children

Woke neo-Marxist mobs often use swarming tactics to overrun public buildings in order to express their displeasure with pro-life, pro-child politicians and policies. 

 (LifeSiteNews) – An angry group of trans activists swarmed the Oklahoma State Capitol to protest a bill that would ban mutilating gender surgeries for children.    

“Transgender activists swarmed the Oklahoma State Capitol Monday to protest proposed bills that would prohibit gender reassignment surgeries for minors,” the Washington Free Beacon reported. 

Videos show the group shouting “Trans lives matter!” and claiming “This is our house!” and “We are Oklahoma!” 

Senate Bill 129, known as the Millstone Act, would “prohibit Oklahoma doctors from providing gender transition procedures or referral services relating to such procedures to anyone under the age of 26.” 

Fed’s Effort To Criminalize Pro-Lifers Fizzles In Philly

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) – As I write this, we are receiving news that the pro-life sidewalk counselor, Mark Houck, was acquitted of all charges by a federal jury in Philadelphia, on charges that he was attempting to block access to an abortion facility.

To bring you up to date, the case started in October of 2021 when the father of seven was taking his usual place in front of a Planned Parenthood clinic. Mr. Houck was there praying and available to anyone who wished to visit. It was a routine, scheduled visit. That day an aggressive abortion escort, Bruce Love, was present and as usual hurled insults and other vulgarities at the pro-life counselors present.

That day Mark had his then 12-year-old son with him. At one point Mark and his son left the area and traversed some distance from the clinic while visiting with someone. He was approached by Mr. Love who was aggressively trying to bait Mark. Love temporarily left where Mark and his son were, but shortly came back and started to verbally harass the son, who tried to hide behind his father. Houck tried to protect his son from the abusive vitriol Love was spewing at the boy. As Love moved closer, Mark turned, bumped Love who fell to the ground. Remember, this all occurred several yards from the clinic entrance.

Philadelphia police refused to arrest Mark, so Love filed a citizen’s criminal complaint against him. Three times the case was called for trial and while Mark, his lawyers, and witnesses were present, Mr. Love never appeared. Once after such an incident, Mark returned to his position as a sidewalk counselor and was taunted by Love for having had to go to court. Finally, after his third no-show, the judge threw out Love’s complaint.

Then on September 23, 2022, almost a full year after the incident with Mr. Love, almost two dozen armed FBI agents, with long guns and a battering ram, pulled a pre-dawn raid at Houck’s home and, in front of his children and wife, took him into custody. Peter Breen, vice president, senior counsel, and head of litigation of the St. Thomas More Society, told my radio listeners that before the raid Houck and his legal team were in contact with the Justice Department and had offered to voluntarily turn him in if the DOJ wanted to pursue charges.

However, as in many such recent cases, the Biden administration ignored the offer and staged the raid anyway, likely in an effort to dissuade other pro-lifers from sidewalk counseling, much as the DOJ was used to intimidate parents from attending school board meetings.

Interestingly, on December 6, Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, in remarks to an audience celebrating the 65th anniversary of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, told those assembled that the administration was planning raids on pro-lifers as a response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. As she spoke 98 Catholic churches (it’s over 200 now) and another 77 pro-life pregnancy resource centers (and counting) had been vandalized by pro-abortion gangs.

Now, of course, one of the problems with the case against Houck was that he was charged with violating a federal law that prohibited blocking, or interfering with, clinic access. Since the episode between Mark and Love occurred at least half a Philadelphia city block from the clinic entrance it plainly had nothing to do with clinic access. Yet the DOJ, knowing that, and having witness’ statements in hand, ignored the facts and refused to reveal any of this information to the grand jury, according to Breen.

In fact, the administration actually sent in from Washington their key prosecutor in clinic access cases to prosecute Mark. The case opened Tuesday, January 24. On the morning of Monday, January 30 the jury returned a not guilty verdict on both counts. Had Mark been convicted he would have faced eleven years in prison.

Breen called the trial an attempt by the Biden administration to intimidate pro-lifers. After the verdict he said:

“This was a test case by the Biden Department of Justice to try to use and extend the Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances Act to sidewalk counselors in altercations with aggressive abortion escorts. If Mark had been convicted today you would expect the Biden Administration to be coming after sidewalk counselors all over the country, and giving free license to abortion escorts to try to provoke confrontation with those sidewalk counselors…. It cannot be overstated how important this victory was today. . . .

“Now, with this not guilty verdict we clear the way for Congress to investigate more deeply what happened here and why is it that the Biden Administration is so hell-bent on going after the nation’s sidewalk counselors, who are providing such a valuable service to our country and especially to those who are seeking abortions or contemplating abortion?”

So, what should we make of this? After all, it wasn’t very long ago that Biden surrogates would apologetically refer to the president as a “devout Catholic.” That was the constant drumbeat anytime the issue of abortion came up. But note that lately no one uses that descriptive any longer. Ya think that folks are seeing the truth?

The other day the media were reporting on an episode on the White House lawn between a reporter and the president. The reporter noted that Catholic bishops were demanding that public tax dollars did not fund abortion. According to the account by Catholic League President Bill Donohue:

“In an angry reply, Biden pointed his finger and said, ‘No, they are not all doing that, nor is the Pope doing that.’ Biden’s monumental ignorance of basic Catholic teachings on abortion is startling.”

It is startling. And now his attack on pro-lifers, his promotion of abortion at any time for any reason, and now his advocating for “gender affirming” treatment for young people to include life-altering drugs, sometimes given without the knowledge of parents, as well as condoning transition surgery which mutilates, and ruins young bodies, gives the lie to where his head truly is.

By his actions, the president is telling us that he really does not understand the faith. Should he still claim to be Catholic? That’s not up to me to decide. But what I do know is that the Church hierarchy ought to step up to the plate and take on the bastardization of our faith that the president and his allies promote.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him on the Iowa Catholic Radio podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/)

Molech and Baal in America - The Stream

Molech and Baal in America - The Stream: Unfathomable Molech and Baal child sacrifices are “ancient history,” right? Not so! Unfathomable child sacrifices continue unabated!

Biblical and ancient history describes abominable practices and unfathomable rituals that were dedicated to the idol gods Molech and Baal. Rituals to these gods required live sacrifices of children. Innocent, defenseless children were put into fiery furnaces and burned to death as a sacrifice to the gods. Any moral person would view these grotesque ancient rituals as savage and inhumane. Regrettably, monstrous forms of child sacrifice continue to this very day. Read more click above. 

War On Religion Spiking In U.S. And U.K.

By Catholic League president Bill Donohue

People of faith, mostly Christian, in the United States and the United Kingdom, are being harassed and arrested by government agents at an alarming rate. The most common reason why these non-violent persons are being bullied is their biblical objection to the radical LGBT agenda. Their freedom of speech and freedom of religion are being trounced, and most civil libertarians are cheering it on, so far gone are they from their founding principles. 

Here are a few examples of this war on religion. 

United States: 

• In January, 2023, a dozen Catholic students and their chaperons from a Greenville, South Carolina Catholic high school were ordered out of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. because they wore beanies with pro-life messages. In town for the annual March for Life, they were allegedly mocked and cursed at by the museum staff.
• In January, 2023, Ivan Provorov, a hockey player for the Philadelphia Flyers, skipped the warmups on Pride Night because he was expected to wear a pro-Pride jersey. A member of the Russian Orthodox Church, he was subjected to hate speech by some fans and commentators. “I respect everybody’s choices,” he said. “My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion.”
• In January, 2023, Paul Shoro, a black Christian, walked into the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, wearing a T-shirt that said, “Jesus Is The Only Way.” Security officers, responding to complaints, said to him, “If you want to shop here you need to take off that shirt.” He was explicitly told that “Jesus is associated with religion and it is offending people.”
• In August, 2022, on the first day of class at George Washington University, a female psychology professor, Lara Sheehi, berated a Jewish female student in class because she said she was born in Israel. The professor continued to harass Jewish students throughout the semester, smearing their reputations and using bigoted and obscene language to describe Israel on Twitter.
• In April, 2022, three students at the University of Idaho were asked by a fellow student why the Christian Legal Society (to which they belonged) required its members to believe in the Christian understanding of marriage. After they gave a biblical answer, they were reported to school officials, and three days later the university’s Office of Civil Rights and Investigation censored their speech, ordering the Christian students to stop all communication between them and the complaining student.  
• In January, 2022, a Michigan junior high school student filed suit in U.S. District Court against his high school district because he was suspended for three days the previous fall for stating his Christian beliefs in a private text conversation in a hallway at Plainwell High School.
• In January 2022, a U.S. Army veteran was arrested for holding a sign that said “God bless the homeless vets.” He was standing on the sidewalk in front of Alpharetta City Hall, a town in Georgia. He was handcuffed by police and charged with “panhandling,” though all he did was to hold the sign. He sued a year later.
• In October 2021, a scholar-in-residence at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, who “proudly and openly identified as a Christian woman of color,” was condemned for criticizing DC Comics for making Superman’s son bisexual. Students protested and wanted her removed from the campus, despite the fact that she deleted her tweet. 

United Kingdom: 

• In December, 2022, a Christian English woman, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, was arrested for silently praying outside an abortion clinic. She faces two years behind bars.
• In December 2022, a Christian English man, Adam Smith-Connor, was accosted by the police for silently praying outside an abortion clinic. The British army veteran was asked, “Can I ask what is the nature of your prayer today?” He was fined 100-pounds (roughly $123.65).
• In April, 2022, Pastor John Sherwood was arrested by London police for causing “alarm and distress” to pedestrians. His crime was publicly quoting from Genesis about God’s design for mankind.
• In April, 2022, a 76-year-old grandmother in Liverpool, England was questioned by the police, and then fined, for praying silently on a public street. 

Notice that in every one of these cases it was militant secularists who complained about, or bullied, people of faith, most of whom are Christians. It is not the latter who are seeking to deny the rights of secularists; no, it is secularists who are punishing people of faith. 

While all of these incidents are horrific, none smacks of totalitarianism more than the English cop who asked the army veteran, “Can I ask what is the nature of your prayer today?” That is right out of Stalin’s Russia, Hitler’s Germany and Mao’s China. If they can find the technology to read your mind, some will demand that Christians caught praying in public be shot. That’s where we’re headed.