Loss of Trust + Loss of Faith in Government = Loss of Reliability

The other week, President Obama ironically said, “If people can't trust not only the executive branch but also don't trust congress, and don't trust federal judges, to make sure that we're abiding by the Constitution with due process and rule of law, then we're going to have some problems here.”

 

According to the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, “trust in the federal government remains mired near a historic low, while frustration with government remains high.”  In addition, a “majority of the public says that the federal government threatens their personal rights and freedoms.”

 

What has contributed to this distrust?  The Benghazi cover-up, the IRS fiasco, the Justice Department's monitoring of reporters, the commandeering of phone records of private citizens in the name of national security, “data mining,” the so-called “kill list,” drones with the power to spy and kill, the proliferation of surveillance cameras, DNA swabs after arrests, Obamacare, unrestrained spending and unending debt.  More and more people believe the federal government is encroaching on our civil liberties; they have exceeded their constitutional boundaries … reaching into our public schools, colleges and universities; our wombs and wallets.  Citizens are seeing that the government does few things well … at our expenses.

 

A loss of some privacy was supposed to be the price we had to pay for security following the events of 9-11.  In the decade that has followed, we have an “on the one hand, but on the other hand” attitude about security.  On the one hand we want to be safe; on the other hand we don't like government intruding on our rights … because once we've lost them, they will be difficult to regain.

 

One of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson said, “Freedom is lost gradually from an uninterested, uninformed, and uninvolved people.”  And the father of our Constitution, James Madison said, “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution ... are few and defined.  Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.”

 

The distrust for the federal government is undeniably on the rise … for many valid reasons.  The closer it gets to our personal rights and freedoms, the greater the disbelief will become.

 

Unless the federal government moves away from a culture of corruption to a climate of trust the ‘values gap’ will only widen and we will completely lose our core values as a nation; and further stimulate a loss of faith in the integrity of our country. 

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Religious Freedom in Bondage

Over the past few decades, attempts to limit religious freedom in the public square have expanded into what is nearing a hostile exile.  This hostility led the then-sitting U.S. Congress to overwhelmingly enact the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to further protect 1st Amendment freedoms.  And it is what has now led a much smaller number in Congress to introduce the Health Care Conscience Rights Act to further protect those freedoms against Obamacare’s abortion-pill mandate and other dictates that threaten freedom of conscience.  But the abortion-pill decree is perhaps the most serious and recent incarnation of the Obama Administration’s hostility to religion.

 

In President Obama’s weekly address of 15 Sept 12, he stated, “We stand for religious freedom.  And we reject the denigration of any religion.”  And in his proclamation (16 Jan 13) declaring “Religious Freedom Day” … Obama stated “Each of us has the right to practice our faith openly and as we choose.”  But despite this claim, throughout his Administration, countless Christians, Jews and others have become prisoners of administration policy that contradicts this proclamation.

 

With the campaign slogan ‘Forward,’ the Obama Administration has taken American liberty backward with public policy, and its limit on conscience resembles the oppressive, atheistic rule of totalitarian ages past.  The president’s policies reflect a rejection of the God-given freedoms our Founding Fathers enshrined in the U.S. Constitution — in particular, religious freedom.

 

The Obama Administration’s many attacks on religious freedom include: allowing U.S. taxpayer dollars to be transferred to non-governmental agencies that perform abortions abroad; defunding successful efforts to halt sex trafficking for advocates opposing abortion; discontinuing the White House tradition of sponsoring an event on National Prayer Day; ordering the Justice Department to stop defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act … just to name a few.

 

Just take the marriage arena.  Not too long ago, activists seeking to redefine marriage were content with branding Christians who believe in a biblical worldview regarding sexual behavior as “bigots.”  Now, advocates of the homosexual legal agenda want the courts and legislatures to make all those who dare oppose their demands to pay a price — whether it be going out of business, losing their jobs, remitting a hefty fine, or going to jail for “hate speech.”  (Refer to my previous blogs on the Christian photographer in New Mexico, the florist in Washington State, and the T-shirt manufacturer in Kentucky.)  

 

Colleges and universities have also abandoned their prestigious origins as institutions dedicated to truth, marking a dramatic shift in recent years in how they deal with religious expression on campus, by unjustly denying Christian students and groups access to the same rights, funding and privileges as other non-religious individuals and groups.  And on some campuses this attempt to limit religion on campus has turned into a full-scale expulsion of religious conviction.  Eastern Michigan University, for example, expelled a counseling student, out of its master’s program and denied her a degree simply because she followed standard procedure and referred a potential patient wanting to improve her same-sex relationship to another counselor.

 

As Charles Carroll of Maryland, the only Catholic signatory to the Declaration of Independence, wrote, “Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they, therefore, who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure … are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.”

 

President Obama’s platitudes for religious freedom appear never-ending. They cover up the stark reality of his rejection of our 1st Amendment as it was originally intended by our Founders.

 

It is time for the Obama Administration to do what it says it will do — to abandon mere rhetoric, halt the attacks and promote public policy that preserves America’s heritage and restores religious freedom to its rightful place.  It is time to set people of faith free.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

A.C.T. Needs to Result in A.C.C.C.D. (Activating Conservative Clergy Civil Disobedience)

If the Affordable Care Act (A.C.T.) … a.k.a. Obamacare … remains the law of the land, we will no doubt be reading many more reports of IRS abuses in the future.  Unfortunately, the stories may well involve reports of churches and ministries being shut down, and priests and pastors being hauled off to jail.

 

The Obama Administration has ordered American employers to provide employee health insurance that covers ‘free’ contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs — or face crippling fines.  Christian business owners like Bill Newland, president of Hercules Industries, whom Alliance Defending Freedom represents in a lawsuit against the president’s mandate, must either choose to act contrary to their religious beliefs or follow the dictates of their conscience; and, as a result, face steep fines that could put them out of business.

 

In the past, the Alliance Defending Freedom was all about how the role of religion in America is defined.  Sadly, today, they have become more about whether religion has a role at all.  The lawsuits filed against Obamacare, for example, are in sharp contrast to legal cases of the past that dealt with differences of opinion on what the state may limit when it comes to religion. With Obamacare, on the other hand, the administration is now trying to expunge religious expression altogether by arguing that Christian entrepreneurs cannot exercise their religious convictions even in running their own businesses.

 

The conservative movement has not yet seriously entertained the notion of civil disobedience.  However, some Catholic and evangelical leaders have said they will close their hospitals, schools and businesses; and go to jail … rather than comply with Obamacare's coercive mandates.

 

In a recent column, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia warns that our heritage of religious freedom is in jeopardy.  He wrote: “…the latest IRS ugliness is a hint of the treatment disfavored religious groups may face in the future, if we sleep through the national discussion of religious liberty now.  The day when Americans could take the Founders' understanding of religious freedom as a given is over.  We need to wake up.”

 

This is a message that needs to be preached from every pulpit in this nation!  And every occupant in the pew had better prepare for the infringement of their personal religious freedom as well!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

To Get Tax-Exempt Status –Stand for Nothing and Say the Same

Texas-based Pro-Life Revolution applied for 501(c)3 status with the IRS in January 2011.  They finally received that status some 900-days later, on June 6, 2013 in a letter dated May 19.  In the interim, they received letters asking for clarification and “more information.”  In March 2012, there was a telephone exchange in which IRS agent Sherry Wan told Pro-Life Revolution President Ania Joseph how the IRS expects tax-exempt groups to act, think, and speak. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has released a legally recorded telephone call 14-months into the application process that was supposed to last no more than 270 days.  In short, Wan told Joseph: You cannot force your religion or force your beliefs on somebody else … You have to know your boundaries.  You have to know your limits.  You have to respect other people’s beliefs.  The agent went on to say she stresses neutrality on issues because she works for the IRS, and therefore, has “to stick with the law.”  Wan also told Joseph she'd be allowed to reach out to women—including handing them a pro-life brochure—but, if she wants a tax exemption, she ought to play nice with abortion clinics.

 

Mind you, this is the IRS telling a private citizen how they should or shouldn't, can or can't, speak or act when it comes to exercising their First Amendment freedoms. 

 

Toward the end of the conversation, Wan told Joseph: “When you conduct religious activities, you have to respect other people's beliefs, other people's religion.  You cannot [go]...against other groups or devalue other groups, other people's beliefs.  OK?"  In other words, if you want a tax-exempt status, you need only be sure you stand for nothing and say the same.

 

Now don’t fall for any excuses that may come along about this being a “rogue” agent.  To be charitable to Wan, she’s undoubtedly following her training— training that apparently taught her to base her arguments to Pro-Life Revolution on a law overturned by a federal appeals court in D.C. during the Carter Administration.

 

Is it any wonder that IRS agents occupied the offices of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse last year?  Is this what our Founding Fathers originally had in mind in the Bill of Rights?

 

As a pastor, I find this chilling … for every church is registered as a tax-exempt organization.  Yet here is an IRS agent attempting to intimidate people of faith, strongly implying that they have no right to engage in the public square, and suggesting that doing so amounts to some kind of legal violation.

 

Of course, the IRS agent was wrong.  

 

But think about this: Soon this agency (the IRS) is going to have a critical role in the enforcement of Obamacare.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

An Admirable Athlete takes a Stand Against a Statement

Anyone who knows me is aware that I have little interest in professional athletics.  I don’t financial support athletic events with my attendance … because I think they are cost prohibitive to all Americans, and the athletes are grossly over-paid.  And because professional athletes are so idolized that kids and adults will wear their pricey jerseys, I get particularly alarmed by their less-than exemplary life as revealed by the media and photographed by the paparazzi.

 

However, once in a while, an athlete does something admirable.  Such is the case with former NFL center Matt Birk … who has never been afraid to share his political views.  He recently made a stand by declining a trip to the White House.

Birk, who played 10-years with the Minnesota Vikings and won a Super Bowl this past season with the Baltimore Ravens, skipped the customary White House invitation and meeting with President Barack Obama when the rest of his former Baltimore Ravens teammates went to the White House.

Birk said he made a stand because of recent comments made by Obama.  “I wasn't there,” Birk told KFAN radio in Minneapolis, MN.  “I would say this … I have great respect for the office of the presidency but about five or six weeks ago, our president made a comment in a speech and he said, ‘God bless Planned Parenthood.’”

Birk, a devout Christian, has taken public stances before, especially recently when it has come to gay rights issues.  Birk notably clashed publicly with former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, who has been vocal in his support for gay rights.

 

So, when Obama made his remarks about Planned Parenthood, Birk decided to protest the issue by missing out on his chance to visit the White House with the rest of the champion Ravens. “Planned Parenthood performs about 330,000 abortions a year,” Birk told the radio station. “I am Catholic, I am active in the Pro-Life movement and I just felt like I couldn't deal with that. I couldn't endorse that in any way.”  Birk added: “I'm very confused by the statement.  For God to bless a place where they're ending 330,000 lives a year?  I just chose not to attend.”

Birk, a Harvard graduate who is well respected, retired this off-season after spending 14-years in the NFL with Minnesota and Baltimore.

 

I’m impressed with Matt Birk.  I just might purchase his jersey! 

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Difference the TRUTH Makes Regarding Benghazi

We all heard it.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tells a congressional committee – “What difference does it make how these men died!” in reference to Benghazi.  To quote Jay Carney, the president's press secretary, “Benghazi happened a long time ago.” … especially for those who'd just as soon forget it.  The difference is this – We want to know the TRUTH and the pursuit of the TRUTH will not pass in time!

 

We’ve heard bits and pieces of the truth on the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in Benghazi, but not the whole truth … and nothing but the truth.  Very few have heard the story of incredible bravery, heroics, and courage that should be the top story.

 

So what actually happened at the U.S. embassy in Libya?  Ambassador Stevens and Foreign Service officer Sean Smith, along with administrative staff, were working out of temporary quarters due to the fact that in the spring of 2011 during the so-called Arab Spring, the United States cut ties with then president Moammar Gadhafi.  Our embassy was looted and ransacked, causing it to be unusable.  (It is still in a state of disrepair.)

 

Security for embassies and their personnel is to be provided by the host nation.  Since Libya has gone through a ‘civil war’ of sorts in the past 18-months, the current government is very unstable, and therefore, unreliable.  A well-organized attack by radical Muslims was planned specifically targeting the temporary U.S. embassy building.  The Libyan security force that was in place to protect our people deserted their post, or joined the attacking force.  Either way, our people were in danger.  And it should be noted that Ambassador Stevens had mentioned on more than one occasion to Secretary of State Clinton, that he was quite concerned for his personal safety and the welfare of his people.  A short distance from the American compound, two Americans were sleeping.  They were in Libya as independent contractors working an assignment totally unrelated to our embassy.  They also happened to be former Navy SEAL’s.  When they heard the noise coming from the attack on our embassy, as you would expect from highly trained warriors, they ran to the fight.  Apparently, they had no weapons, but seeing the Libyan guards dropping their guns in their haste to flee the scene, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty snatched up several of these discarded weapons and prepared to defend the American compound.  Not knowing exactly what was taking place, the two SEAL’s set up a defensive perimeter.  Unfortunately, Ambassador Stevens was already gravely injured, and Foreign Service officer, Sean Smith, was dead.  However, due to their quick action and suppressive fire, twenty administrative personnel in the embassy were able to escape to safety. Eventually, these two courageous men were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers brought against them – an enemy force numbering between 100 to 200 attackers which came in two waves.  But the stunning part of the story is that Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty killed 60 of the attacking force.  Once the compound was overrun, the attackers were incensed to discover that just two men had inflicted so much death and destruction.  As it became apparent to these selfless heroes, they were definitely going to lose their lives unless some reinforcements showed up in a hurry.  As we know now, that was not to be.

 

To understand why Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty would engage in defending the American compound knowing they were going to die in this gun fight, you need to understand the tenets of the Navy SEAL Code. 

 

Consider these tenets of the Navy SEAL Code:

1) Loyalty to Country, Team and Teammate,

2) Serve with Honor and Integrity On and Off the Battlefield,

3) Ready to Lead, Ready to Follow, Never Quit,

4) Take Responsibility for your Actions and the Actions of your Teammates,

5) Excel as Warriors through Discipline and Innovation,

6) Train for War, Fight to Win, Defeat our Nation’s Enemies, and

7) Earn your Trident every day.

 

We owe it to Tyrone and Glen to learn the TRUTH.  To the very last breath, they both lived up to the SEAL Code.  They were courageous in the face of certain death.

 

Tyrone never got to hold his newborn son.  The least we can do is to be sure his son grows up to know the character and quality of his father – a man among men who sacrificed himself defending others.  He needs to know the TRUTH!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

It’s Time to Take Back Your Country

Recently, I read a piece written by Brian Swan of PatriotUpdate.com entitled How to Take Back the Country.  I was so impressed that I’ve decided to post it here on my blog.

 

When our country was founded, its architects scoured through the various government models customarily used throughout history.  Every model had a common problem: undivided power.  The power to rule was held captive by either one individual or the majority of citizens.  The framers observed that entire nations fell because of a mismanagement of power; and mob-rule was just as problematic as a golden scepter.

 

Brilliant by even today’s standards, the balance of power was constitutionally engineered:  People held power over the government by way of the vote, and the government held power over the people by way of representative governing.  However, since the time that balance was struck a problem has arisen – a problem the founders never fathomed.  People voted with little or no information or didn’t vote at all— the sole reason we are in the state that we are.  The result is now a government, which resembles its original brilliant blueprint in form, but behaves like King George.  The very problem the country’s creators tried to curtail is now poised to destroy traditional liberty. The balance of power has shifted.

 

Let me show you something.  There are 15 departments established under the Executive Branch (e.g. Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Education, etc.).  There are 24 agencies and sub-agencies directly under the Executive Branch (e.g. Council of Economic Advisors, Council on Environmental Quality, Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, etc.).  And there is a myriad of agencies and offices within each of the 15 department (e.g. there are 22 agencies and sub-agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services alone).

 

There are 85 agencies and corporations technically deemed “independent” (e.g. National Labor Relations Board, Environmental Protection Agency, National Public Radio, etc.).  These agencies and departments have the legislative powers to create and enact rules that have the force of law.

 

For a while now (says Swan) I’ve heard conservatives yell that government is too big.  Now that the IRS scandal has surfaced, the argument has been bolstered:  “If Obama doesn’t know what is going on in his own government, then government is definitely too big.”  This claim would be absolutely correct if these bodies didn’t have the legislative powers that they do.  But because they can enact penalty-driven rules on people, the problem is actually a bit different. The problem is not just that government has become too big (although that is of course true), the problem is that government has become too powerful.

 

But a government that sets up smaller offices and departments so that power appears dispersed and not vested in just one individual is not new.  In fact, our founders wrote a document wherein they made a list of all the grievances they had with old King George. One of the listed items was, “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”  Sound familiar?  That’s right, within the Declaration of Independence the colonists declared that one of the reasons for seceding from Britain was because the King attempted to hide his power by delegating Executive offices, which through their delegated power only ended up harassing their people and depriving them of their substance.

 

Today’s number of Executive offices illustrates government’s size; the consequences those offices can inflict upon the people illustrates government’s power.  And just like in 1776, our Executive offices are directed by one man.  With a government that has become so powerful that it has disrupted the constitutional construct under which it was created and, therefore through taxes and penalties, subjugated the citizens who are supposed to rule over it, the manner in which to reign back the monstrosity becomes clear: force or infiltration.  In 1776, force was the only method because of the monarchical structure and the ocean barrier between the government and the colonists. But with us, our government is here and it’s not a monarchical framework. Therefore, force is not the only means despite the continual calls for it from understandably disgruntled patriots.

 

Three steps: (1) Speak the truth; (2) defend and fight for the reinstating of Christianity in public life; and now (3) infiltrate in the exact same manner they did.  The beauty of our Constitution is the natural tension between the states and the federal government.  The states alone can collude and call for a constitutional convention to put forth and enact certain measures.  The states have power … which is why the left has sought so earnestly to erode the states’ powers through brilliant schemes like instituting the 17th Amendment.

 

There is no such thing as a good patriot who merely sits back and criticizes while the country chokes on liberal poison.

 

George Washington set the precedent for fighting for our country and then relinquishing his power.  These are the patriots we need— those who will infiltrate the school boards, the city councils, county and state governments; and then with that new power, fight by repealing superfluous and dangerous ordinances and laws, defending the state and cities from overreaching federal leverage, letting the free market work, and letting people learn again how to be personally responsibility without ‘Big Brother’s’ oversight and hand holding. And then, relinquish the power with integrity.

 

There are over 65,000 people who follow PatriotUpdate.com alone.  Statistics dictate that if even a fraction of them ran for a state office, a great many would win because state offices are far easier to win than federal offices.  The country can be saved, but not from the top down.  Not by one George Washington but from thousands— thousands who cannot be bought and are willing and eager to become the new guardians of their state.

 

Mad at the state of our country and want to take it back?  Speak the truth, bring back Christianity, and defend the states.  The states have real power, but we must defend and keep it.  The 10th Amendment can be the greatest weapon we have against the federal arm, but only if we use it.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Student Suspended for Stepping In to Save Student

In my previous blog (10 June), I share about the students of Muldrow, OK who petitioned to keep the Ten Commandments posted in their schools.  The account is of great personal encouragement … that God may be raising up a generation willing to stand firm for their faith.

 

Here is another account of a young person who does the right thing; but he gets suspended for saving the life of another student.

 

Last week, 7th grader Briar MacLean was sitting in a morning class.  It was a study period.  While the teacher was on the far side of the classroom, one student near Briar began to bully another student.  Briar saw the bully grab his victim and place him in a headlock when he heard the distinctive click of a knife opening up.  That’s when Briar instinctively reacted and got between the two students and pushed the knife-wielding bully away, where he was quickly subdued.

 

The victim thanks Briar for stepping in to help, and then the two students went about their classes.  Later in the day, Briar was summoned to the school office where he was asked about the incident and had to give a statement as to what happened.  At that point, the police were called in, not on the knife wielding student but on Briar, where they searched Briar’s locker.  Briar MacLean ended up serving an in-school suspension for the rest of the day.

 

Briar’s mom, Leah O’Donnell was called to the school and told that her son had been involved in an incident.  When the school informed her of what had happened, she was surprised that her son was being disciplined for doing something heroic.  According to O’Donnell: “They phoned me and said, ‘Briar was involved in an incident today.’  That he decided to ‘play hero’ and jump in. I asked: ‘In the time it would have taken him to go get a teacher, could that kid’s throat have been slit?’  She said yes, but that’s beside the point.  That we ‘don’t condone heroics in this school.’”  O’Donnell went on to say that she has raised her son to stand up for himself and for others.

 

As I reported in my 31 May blog, public schools have an agenda, and it’s not based on learning objectives in keeping with the local community values.  Their agenda is to raise up a generation of leftist liberals that will help them transform this country into a socialist government.  The public schools don’t want heroic students!  Rather they want to mass produce robotic clones that carry out their progressive ideologies.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Did You Miss the Good News Coming Out of Oklahoma?

Certainly our heartfelt concern has been heightened by the reports of devastation by multiple tornadoes in Oklahoma.  These horrific “acts of God” have caused us to only hear the bad news of death and destruction in Oklahoma.  And perhaps for this reason, we may have missed a piece of good news coming from a small Oklahoma town who decided to draw a line in the sand and fight back against a national association of atheist and agnostics who want displays of the Ten Commandments removed from local schools.

 

The controversy surrounds Ten Commandment plaques that are posted in a number of classrooms at Muldrow High School.  It’s unclear when the plaques were installed. Ron Flanagan, the superintendent of the local school district, told Fox News they had received a complaint about the Ten Commandments from the Freedom From Religion Foundation – an organization that has a long history of targeting displays of the Christian faith in public schools.  The complaint was allegedly filed by an ‘anonymous’ member of the community. “If the facts are as presented to us, and the Ten Commandments are on display throughout Muldrow Public Schools, the displays must be removed immediately,” wrote FFRF attorney Patrick Elliott, in a letter to the school district.

 

The FFRF said the displays are a “flagrant violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.  Any student will view a Ten Commandments display in school as being endorsed by the school,” Elliott wrote.  “Muldrow Public Schools promotion of the Judeo-Christian Bible and religion over non-religion impermissibly turns any non-Christian or nonbelieving student, parent or staff member into an outsider.”

 

Flanagan would not say whether or not the school district would comply with their demands. He referred all questions to the district’s attorney.  Meanwhile, hundreds of students have decided to stand up and defend the plaques by launching petitions and raising awareness on social networking sites.  And lots of folks around town are wondering why a Wisconsin-based organization is concerned about the affairs of Muldrow, OK.

 

“It’s a pretty big deal,” student Chase Howard told television station KHOG. “One person kind of put it out there on Twitter.  A couple of us hash tagged it and asked people to get it trending.  After that it just caught on.”  Benjamin Hill, 18, is one of the students who signed the petition.  He said he understands why non-Christians might be upset over the display, but he said students should have the right to express their faith.  Parent Denise Armer told KHOG she supports the students’ efforts to save the Ten Commandment plaques.  “If other kids don’t want to read the Ten Commandments, then they don’t have to,” she said.  “But that doesn’t mean that they have to make everyone else do what they want.”

 

Pastor Josh Moore of the First Baptist Church of Muldrow, OK said it’s not surprising that the Christian faith is coming under such a fierce attack.  “It’s promised in Scripture,” he said.  “As believers and followers, it’s a matter of recognizing that and responding in an appropriate manner.”  The ministerial association also said they supported school leadership.  “It’s tough for them,” Moore told Fox News.  “Their hands are tied from a legal perspective.  We’re supporting them and ministering to them.  We don’t want to alienate them or throw them under the bus.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

BSA: Reality is NOT Politically Correct

Just as I did in my previous Boy Scouts of America posting (5 June 2013), I’m (again) quoting from a blog – Ponderings of a Pilgrim Pastor – written by Jason A. Van Bemmel. This pastor of Faith PCA in Cheraw, SC says all teens need to be taught by their parents, teachers, pastors and mentors that their sexual desires are not their identity, nor do they need to be controlled by them.  Who we are is so much greater than our appetites, sexual or otherwise.  And all of us can learn, by God’s grace, to master and subdue our desires.

 

Let’s think about reality: Boy Scout troops now have to welcome openly homosexual scouts as members.  This means that openly homosexual scouts will be going on camping trips with other boys, sleeping in the same tents, showering together, etc.  How is this fundamentally different from allowing a boy to go on a Girl Scout camping trip?  Imagine the uproar if an overnight high school field trip allowed boys and girls to sleep together in the same hotel room.  Imagine the uproar if high schools started allowing the boys and girls basketball teams to share the same locker room and shower and dress together.  Heads would roll and rightly so.  It would be insane.

 

So, the Boy Scouts of America have decided to welcome openly homosexual scouts. What’s the big deal?  Why would we want scouting to discriminate against teenage boys based on their sexual orientation?  This is no different than accepting racial minorities or physically challenged children, right?  At least, that’s the politically correct line we’re all supposed to repeat.

 

The problem is that reality is not quite so politically correct.  Teenagers with hormones are teenagers with hormones, homosexual or heterosexual.

 

Now someone might object and say, “Just because the homosexual scout may be sexually attracted to some of the other males in the troop doesn’t mean they’re going to be attracted to him.  So it is different.”  Maybe, as long as the scout troop has only one homosexual member; but what about when it has two or three or four?  Would they be allowed to share the same tent?  Again, I’m not accusing them of being any more sexually promiscuous than any other teen, but if we wouldn’t think of allowing a heterosexual male and female scout to share a tent on a camping trip, then why would we allow two homosexual males to share a tent?

 

Then, another question: What about all of the evangelical churches that charter (sponsor) Boy Scout troops?  Several years ago, when the Boy Scouts stood by their decision to ban homosexual scout leaders, many churches opened their doors to scout troops who were dislodged from public spaces.  Now what are those churches to do?  Can they continue, in good conscience, to sponsor Boy Scout troops, sending off openly homosexual scouts on overnight camping trips together?

 

Rev. Bemmel offers his solution … mindful we don’t have any good options, given the realities of our society.  “We cannot tell homosexual teens that they are ineligible for team sports or gym class.  If they insist on being ‘open’ about their sexuality, it creates problems for everyone, including them.  Personally, I think all teens should be sexually abstinent and should be encouraged to discuss their sexual desires and struggles privately with their parents, pastor and perhaps a counselor.  As teens struggle with desires they do not understand and cannot control (all teens do, not just homosexual-oriented teens), they should be encouraged to keep these struggles private, between them and those they can trust.  I’m not saying they should keep everything bottled up inside and tell no one.  Parents have a responsibility to so love their children and provide them with security that their children will feel comfortable opening up about their struggles and desires.  But these do not need to be broadcast to the world.  I know those are radical thoughts in our time, so ‘backward’ and ‘hateful.’  I suppose I should be ashamed of myself for wanting teens to rise above their sexual desires and see themselves not as fundamentally homosexual or heterosexual but as created in God’s image and made for a life of loving fellowship with Him.  Still, my heart breaks for the teens who have been sold a lie – that if they feel same-gender attraction, then these feelings define who they are and must be allowed to control their lives. God wants so much more for all of us.”

 

This blog is not trying to be hateful, but trying to think through practical realities.  This new world of openly homosexual teens is complicated and the problems are real.  No one should hate anyone ever.  No one should call other people names, bully them, ridicule them, intimidate them, etc.  That is wrong. Period.  Christians who bully and intimidate others – whether they are homosexuals or Muslims, atheists or Wiccans – are dishonoring Christ and disobeying Scripture, which commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The BSA Will Pay a Price for Policy Change

On 23 May, the Boy Scouts of America decided to change their long-standing youth membership policy to allow openly gay youth to become members.  This change in its moral stance towards homosexuality is a tragic failure that now calls for a response from Christians who are involved in Scouting.  I appreciate the advice given by Rick Phillips on his (26 May) blog posting entitled – “Advice to Christians and Churches Involved in Boy Scouts.”  He advises Christians with respect to two questions: (1) Can you continue involvement in and support of Boy Scouts in light of this new policy? … to which he says “No.”; (2) When should you pull out of Boy Scouts? … to which he says “By the end of the year, but not yet.”

 

Phillips goes on to explain why he believes that Christians should not remain in Boy Scouts after this new policy goes into effect 1 January 2014.  

 

• The Principle: In the Scout Oath, boys vow to be “morally straight.”  For years, Boy Scouts have asserted that this oath precludes homosexual perversion.  Now, scouts must accept homosexuality as being in line with moral straightness.  A Christian, however, can no more submit to this principle than to define adultery or drunkenness as morally straight (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).  The Bible defines homosexual behavior as “dishonorable, impure, unnatural, and shameless” (Romans 1:24-27).  Boy Scouts are now demanding that Christians tolerate not merely people who are tempted by homosexuality but also the principle of homosexuality itself.  Disciples of Christ cannot do this without compromising our faithfulness to Him (see Revelation 2:20).
• Moral Cowardice: The Scout Law calls on boys to be brave.  Yet after many years of clearly upholding their values, BSA has changed its policy in response to public pressure and, it seems, to financial interest.  Is this the message that Boy Scouts exists to convey to America's youth: be willing to change your values when they become unpopular or costly?  There is little point to a leadership-training organization that conveys this kind of message.  
• Safety: The bottom line is that starting in 2014, the BSA will send 11 year-old boys into the woods with 17 year-old boy leaders who are practicing homosexuals.  This policy is made even more alarming when one realizes that teenage boys are those most likely to molest a younger child.  Now older teens who are practicing homosexuals will be put into tents with younger boys.  This is unconscionable.  Even if local troops think themselves unlikely to experience this problem, Christians cannot remain affiliated with an organization that at the level of policy would put the young boys under its care under this kind of safety risk.

 

Phillips then goes on to address the second question of when to disaffiliate?  

 

Most Christians are so horrified and feel so betrayed by BSA that they want to act immediately.  However, I think there are some good reasons to wait at least a few months, during which the new policy will have yet to take effect:

 

• Alternative Scouting Organizations: I have no doubt that Christians in leadership positions at the regional council and national level will make arrangements for a new organization into which Christians boys and troops will be able to transfer more or less intact.  But the troops must be still intact for this to happen.  Troops can continue to meet, can pray, and can follow through with summer scouting plans in anticipation of godly alternatives to BSA.  (To this end, I would urge Christians in positions of leadership at regional councils to be busy now in forming or allying with alternative forms of scouting into which troops may transfer.)
• Plans for this Summer: I know of no reason why scouts cannot follow through with plans made for this summer, which in some cases may have involved extensive plans and financial expense.
• Boys Close to Eagle: Some troops will have scouts who are close enough to making Eagle that they may be able to wrap it up before the end of the year.  I think that this achievement is still of value prior to the policy change and that Christian boys ought to be given the chance to reach this goal.

 

Phillips conclusions, the change of moral policy by BSA involves a tragic failure at the levels of morality, character, and leadership.  No doubt, the forces of moral barbarism have succeeded here in driving the followers of Christ farther to the margins of society.  While this is lamentable, it is unavoidable, in my opinion.  But Christians in places like China and Africa have been thriving without being able to participate in secularized youth programs.  We must honor God and His Word, remember our calling, and prayerfully take action that will honor biblical principle and send a godly message to our youths.  “The Lord declares... ‘Those who honor me, I will honor’” (1 Samuel 2:30).

 

In my own posting (dated 15 April) where I urged the BSA to stand firm, I concluded by saying – If the BSA caves-in on being ‘morally straight,’ then I will personally retire my Eagle ring – never to be worn by me again!  After decades of proudly wearing it, my Eagle ring came off on 23 May.

 

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

 

 

Young People Engage in the War for America’s Heart & Soul

Late last year, a public school teacher in northern Idaho told students to write an essay titled, “I Believe …”  But there was one caveat – the students were not allowed to write anything about God in their papers.

 

That act of religious censorship prompted a group of Christian students to start asking questions – and those questions led to the creation of a video that addresses Christian bullying in public schools.  “There is a lot of bullying directed at Christian kids in public schools and the culture at large,” said Gary Brown, founder of Reach America.  “So many teenagers are being ostracized for being a Christian.”

 

Reach America is a national organized based in Coeur d’Alene, ID., that is dedicated to raising up the next generation of Christian leaders.  The group is comprised of young people from various churches around the region.  Brown said they decided to produce a video based on the debate that came about after the school teacher refused to allow students to mention God in their papers.  “One of the girls asked why,” Brown told Fox News.  “It turned into a video where Christianity is being frozen out of the American culture.  These teenagers say it’s time for a thaw.”

 

The video features teenagers asking basic questions – “Why can’t I pray in school?  Why do I have to check my religion in at the door?  Why am I called names because I believe in marriage the way God designed it?”  As one student remarked, “People who do not love our God have stolen our country.” The students proclaim they want to “make America one nation under God – again.”

 

Last April, a group of Christian teenagers was heckled and reduced to tears after they were publicly berated by “anti-bullying” expert Dan Savage.  Savage was delivering an address at a national student journalism conference when he started attacking the Bible.  As a group of Christian teens got up to leave, he called them “pansy-assed.”  “You can tell the Bible guys in the hall they can come back now because I’m done beating up the Bible,” Savage said as other students hollered and cheered.  “It’s funny as someone who is on the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the Bible how pansy-assed people react when you push back.”

 

It’s that kind of bullying that Reach America is hoping to stop.  Brown said they are genuinely shocked at how a video produced by two dozen teenagers in Idaho has reached a national audience.  “Churches have shown it in worship services and during youth group meetings,” he said.  “It strikes a chord.”

 

Brown said they’ve heard reports from across the country of Christian young people called “bigots” and “close-minded” because of their faith in God.  “If you mention anything about Christ or if people know you are a Christian – you get laughed at.”

 

Brown, a graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, has a long history of working on culture issues.  Reach America started in 2006 while he was working on abstinence education on Capitol Hill.  His goal is to create what he calls a “Christ-Centered Counter Culture” – or C4 – to impact their communities and the nation.  “They think they are in a war for the heart and soul of the nation,” Brown said.

 

I commend these young people for taking a stand on their religious convictions and boldly resisting the anti-Christian bullies that are on the rise in American society.  There remains hope for America!   

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel