Scoreboard: Pro-Life = 1 vs. Pro-Abortion = 0

As we begin this season of baseball, let me tell you about the ‘double-header’ going on in ‘Pro-Life Stadium.’  This isn’t a game of winners and losers, however.  It only has losers.  There are lives a stake.

 

Kansas State vs. Planned Parenthood

The State of Kansas won a federal appeals court ruling that they can implement a law that effectively strips Planned Parenthood of state taxpayer dollars.  In April 2011, Gov. Sam Brownback signed a Fiscal Year 2012 budget that restricted Planned Parenthood's access to $330,000 in Title X family planning funds.  The law redirected the monies to hospitals and public health organizations, which do not perform abortions, leaving Planned Parenthood at the bottom of the list to receive state tax revenues.

 

SBA vs. Rep. Driehaus

Three pro-family organizations … Alliance Defending Freedom, Bioethics Defense Fund, and Life Legal Defense Foundation … have filed an ‘Amicus Brief’ with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.  The brief is for the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA) … the pro-life organization being sued by former U.S. Rep Steve Driehaus (Ohio-Democrat) who lost his seat in 2010.  SBA had publicized that Driehaus's vote in favor of ObamaCare was a vote for taxpayer-funded abortion.  An Ohio federal court dismissed Driehaus’ complaint, and he appealed to the 6th Circuit.  “It’s a well-established fact in the law that truth is the defense against defamation,” says Dana Cody, president and executive director of Life Legal Defense Foundation.  “And there is no doubt about it – which is explained in our friend of the court brief – that ObamaCare funds abortion,” she adds.  Cody argues the former congressman’s lawsuit is exposed for what it really is – an attack on pro-life speech.

 

Scoreboard

Pro-Life = 1

Pro-Abortion = 0

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

 

Jury Rules in Favor of Former Atheist Professor Turned Christian Prophet

I wrote about it at the outset of this week (blog posting - 24 March).  The trial, Adams v. The Trustees of the University of North Carolina–Wilmington, began Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Southern Division.  Well, the jury issued a verdict – they found the University of North Carolina–Wilmington retaliated against one of its professors … formerly an atheist now converted to Christianity … for his religious and political views.  Last year, a federal court found sufficient evidence to warrant a trial after an appeals court determined that the 1st Amendment protects the views criminology professor Dr. Mike Adams published in opinion columns with which university officials disagreed.

 

Adams’ conversion to Christianity in 2000 impacted his views on political and social issues.  Subsequently, the university subjected Adams to a campaign of academic persecution that culminated in his denial of promotion to full professor, despite an award-winning record of teaching, research, and service.

 

“We are grateful that the jury reaffirmed the fundamental principle that universities are a market-place of ideas, not a place where professors face retaliation for having a different view than university officials,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Litigation Staff Counsel Travis Barham … who participated in the trial this week.  “As the jury decided, disagreeing with an accomplished professor's religious and political views is no grounds for denying him a promotion.”

 

“The jury saw what we have long known to be true about the wrong done to Dr. Adams” said Senior Legal Counsel David Hacker.  “The verdict is a powerful message for academic freedom and free speech at America's public universities.”

 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit wrote in 2011 that “no individual loses his ability to speak as a private citizen by virtue of public employment … Adams’ columns addressed topics such as academic freedom, civil rights, campus culture, sex, feminism, abortion, homosexuality, religion, and morality.  Such topics plainly touched on issues of public, rather than private, concern.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

 

Join in ‘Hobby Lobby Day’ – March 29th

I have devoted several past blog postings (2 Dec, 13 Nov, 6 Nov, 25 Sep, 5 Aug, 2 Aug) in 2013 to the plight of Hobby Lobby Stores  whose case appeared (yesterday – 25 Mar) before the U.S. Supreme Court.  The case, filed as Sebelius vs. Hobby Lobby, is about defending the right of private corporate owners to conduct their business in accordance with their faith and conscience.  It is all about the freedom of religious liberty verses Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate to provide employer funding for abortion-inducing drugs … or pay exorbitant fines. 

 

While you cannot testify in the courtroom, you can make known your sentiments in support of Hobby Lobby’s 1st Amendment rights by joining thousands upon thousands of just persons around the country participating in ‘Hobby Lobby Day’ this Saturday March 29th.  Do you remember what happened when the call went out to support Chick-fil-A on a particular day … to show support for their stance on traditional marriage (one man – one woman)?  It was their best single day of business in history!

 

Beyond their pro-life stance, Hobby Lobby is strong in other conservative positions, including: traditional marriage, 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, and in Godly dominion over the environment.

 

Consider shopping with a multitude of other conservatives across the U.S. on March 29th at your nearby Hobby Lobby. Take a stand for religious freedom.  Declare in numbers that no family business should have to compromise their religious convictions. Make known that we don’t surrender our 1st Amendment rights when we step into the market place.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

 

What Do You Get When a Professor Converts to Christianity?

In a trial that began last week, a jury is considering whether the University of North Carolina-Wilmington retaliated against one of its professors for his views.  Last year, a federal court found sufficient evidence to warrant a trial after an appeals court determined that the 1st Amendment protects the views criminology professor Dr. Mike Adams published in opinion columns with which university officials disagreed.

 

Alliance Defending Freedom Litigation Staff Counsel Travis Barham said, “Universities are supposed to be a marketplace of ideas, not a place where professors face retaliation for having a different view than university officials.  Disagreeing with an accomplished professor's religious and political views is no grounds for denying him a promotion. As the 4th Circuit affirmed, protecting academic freedom for university professors is critical, and opinion columns are among the purest examples of free speech that the First Amendment protects.”

 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit wrote in 2011 that “no individual loses his ability to speak as a private citizen by virtue of public employment … Adams' columns addressed topics such as academic freedom, civil rights, campus culture, sex, feminism, abortion, homosexuality, religion, and morality.  Such topics plainly touched on issues of public, rather than private, concern.”

 

Interestingly, Dr. Adams – a former atheist – frequently received accolades from his colleagues after the university hired him as an assistant professor in 1993 and promoted him to associate professor in 1998.  His conversion to Christianity in 2000 impacted his views on political and social issues.  Subsequently, the university subjected Adams to a campaign of academic persecution that culminated in his denial of promotion to full professor, despite an award-winning record of teaching, research, and service.

 

What an interesting scenario – a formerly ‘lost’ atheist, finds Jesus, and therefore is denied a promotion to full professor.  I hope he wins his lawsuit, gets promoted, and tithes any monetary compensation.  You just can’t make this stuff up!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

 

UN Attacks US Over 2nd Amendment

The ‘Father of our Country’ advised – “A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.” – George Washington

 

According to Infowars.com, a United Nations committee charged with enforcing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has come down hard on the United States for “gun violence.”  Walter Kälin, a Swiss international human rights lawyer who sits on the committee, criticized the “extreme domestic habits” of Americans, including the upholding the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.  Kälin cited a “staggering figure” to argue in favor of eliminating the right to own guns – claiming there are 470,000 crimes committed with firearms each year, including about 11,000 homicides.  “We appreciate the position taken by President Obama on these issues.  Nevertheless, much more needs to be done to curb gun violence,” he said.

 

Obama and the Democrats tried unsuccessfully to outlaw entire classifications of firearms following Sandy Hook.  The 112th Congress considered an inordinately large number of bills designed to chip away the right to own firearms.

 

Kälin and critics of the Second Amendment “right to bear arms” routinely ignore data showing how guns save lives and prevent violence.  A Gun Owners of America factsheet shows law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves against criminals as many as 2.5 million times every year — or about 6,850 times a day, according to research conducted by Dr. Gary Kleck … who was awarded the prestigious American Society of Criminology Michael J. Hindelang Award for his research into guns and violence.  “Most uses of guns for either criminal or defensive purposes are less dramatic or consequential than one might think,” Kleck writes. “Only 3% of criminal gun assaults involve anyone actually being wounded, even non-fatally, and the same is true of defensive gun uses.  More commonly, guns are merely pointed at another person, or perhaps only referred to (‘I’ve got a gun’) or displayed, and this is sufficient to accomplish the ends of the user, whether criminal or non- criminal.”

 

Even the government admits guns deter crime and violence.  “Studies that directly assessed the effect of actual defensive uses of guns (i.e., incidents in which a gun was ‘used’ by the crime victim in the sense of attacking or threatening an offender) have found consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies,” a report commissioned by the Obama Administration and issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states.

 

Moreover, most deaths by guns resulted from suicide, not homicide … a fact ignored by the United Nations.  “Between the years 2000 and 2010, firearm-related suicides significantly out-numbered homicides for all age groups, annually accounting for 61% of the more than 335,600 people who died from firearm-related violence in the United States,” the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council noted in the CDC report.

 

The CDC report also doubts the effectiveness of gun control in reducing violence.  It questions “whether gun restrictions reduce firearm-related violence” and characterizes the dubious efficacy of such laws as “an unresolved issue.”  The report expresses uncertainty “that passage of right-to-carry laws decrease or increase violence crime” and admits that “gun turn-in programs are ineffective.”

 

The United Nations call to disarm and render Americans defenseless is contradicted by police.  Earlier this month Detroit Police Chief James Craig told residents to arm themselves and shoot to kill assailants and robbers.  “A lot of Detroiters are fed up,” he told WDIV-TV.  “They’re tired and they’ve been dealing with this epidemic of violence.  They’re afraid and they have a right to protect themselves.”

 

The United Nations, on the other hand, does not believe citizens should be empowered to protect themselves, either from criminals or government.

 

Though there is no reference to “guns” in the Word of God, the biblical worldview is relevant to the question of self-defense.  It is right to defend ourselves (and others) from physical attacks.  So, if self-defense is morally right, then gun ownership is primarily a question of what kind of weapon(s) to use in defending oneself and others from physical harm when able to do so.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

 

A Democrat-controlled State Senate Bans Late-term Abortions

The West Virginia State Senate – comprised of 24 Democrats and 10 Republicans – recently passed legislation (HB4588) banning abortions after 20-weeks gestation.  The Washington Post also notes that West Virginia is the first state in the nation (controlled by Democrats) to do so … citing fetal pain as a reason.  It cleared the Senate with a tally of 25-9.  The House still has to give the bill final approval.

 

The bill would make West Virginia one of 10-states that asserts a fetus can feel pain at 20-weeks.  “We were an outlier state in that we didn’t have any regulations,” said Sen. Evan Jenkins (R-Cabell).  “Now we’re part of this growing movement.”

 

Legal challenges, however, are expected … even though it’s up in the air if the state’s Democratic governor, Earl Ray Tomblin, will sign the bill.  Last week, The Associated Press asked Gov. Tomblin if he would sign the abortion bill.  He said he would take a look at it if it passed the Senate floor.  The House passed the bill in February.

 

This legislation does pose problems for national Democrats (in general), and the DNC (in particular).  Will they endorse this life-giving measure passed by both chambers – or will they decide to go on-the-record … criticizing their own party in the process for taking steps to ensure that viable, unborn babies are protected in the womb?  There’s no easy choice here for a party that emphatically and unequivocally supports abortion rights. Remember, the bill could not have passed without supportive Democrats, as they control the state legislature.  And while West Virginia is turning into a red state, watching Democrats pass this initiative is significant.

 

Here’s an excerpt from the statement West Virginians for Life (WVFL) blasted out over the weekend: The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act will protect West Virginia’s unborn babies, who can feel pain, and asserts a compelling state interest in protecting the unborn child from pain.  Scientific research demonstrates that unborn babies can feel pain beginning by at least 20-weeks after conception.  “It is important that West Virginia has asserted its legitimate concern for the well-being of these innocent babies by protecting them from pain,” said Wanda Franz, President of WVFL.

 

I’ve said it many times, and will say it yet again: The sanctity of human life is the one social issue that defines the morality of this nation, and each and every elected or appointed public official.  If you are a professing Christian, then you must vote Pro-Life.  Why? … because God is Pro-Life, and you are privileged to bear His name as a Christian!  Any denial of His sovereign rule in your life or lack of conviction to stand firmly on the uncompromising Word of God is to not be a Christian.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

 

They Say Abortion Is About the “Safety” of Women – An Unsubstantiated Argument

In my February 28th blog, I shared an encouraging report on the younger generation – students standing up for traditional marriage.  Now I want to tell you about some Students for Life of America who are launching a ground-breaking new touring campaign that asks – “What has Roe done for us?”  They will reach 26-campuses, in 20-states breaking down the abortion industry's fear tactic and that old stand-by argument they bust out whenever the pro-abortionists begin to lose a debate on abortion.  The goal of these young people is to not just make abortion an unthinkable option in the mind of every American nor to dramatically reduce the number of abortions, but to make abortion illegal.

 

Many pro-life Americans have trouble envisioning such a future where every American, born or preborn, is welcomed in life and protected by law; a future where we go back to an America where preborn children are protected members of our society.  These students urge us to move forward into an America that seeks to really help those women facing an unplanned, crisis pregnancy … ensuring she has the support and resources she needs to parent or place her child with an adoptive family.  Their campaign longs to paint this vision, so that others will see the possibility of what is to come and join their human rights campaign.

 

They appear to be well aware of the initial need to dispel the 41-year old fear tactic that Planned Parenthood and their allies love to propagate - that abortion must be legal, in order to be “safe” for women; to protect women from dying in back alleys.  Even though the majority of Americas now reject abortion, many have been sold the bill-of-goods that we must accept abortion in order to protect women.  The students argue that simply is not the case; it's time we stop backing away from the fear tactic and engage in the debate.

 

Part of their campaign is 13-billboards focusing not on the preborn baby who dies in every abortion; but on the mother.  Their wall of victims doesn't list the name of every baby killed by legal abortion; instead, it lists the name of every mother.  The tour walks women through a conversation about abortion.  They show her what Roe v. Wade has given us, pointing out that suicide rates among aborting women are 6-times higher than those who give birth; showing her that 53 out of 68 worldwide studies have proven that abortion increases a woman's risk for breast cancer; and highlighting the undisputed fact that abortion significantly increases her risk for pre-term delivery in future pregnancies. They ask her to consider who is really profiting from her crisis by showing off Planned Parenthood's own 2011-2012 Annual Report … where they boasted they had received over $542,000,000 in taxpayer funds, committing over 333,964 abortions for a profit of over $150,600,000.

 

They dispel the myth of the back-alley abortion and the myth that tens of thousands of women were dying from illegal abortion before Roe v. Wade … by showing her the real stats.  They list the Center for Disease Control's own 1972 report which tracked 39-deaths from illegal abortions and 24-deaths from legal abortion, a year before Roe v. Wade; and Planned Parenthood former director's, Mary Calderon, statement in 1960 remarking that 90% of illegal abortions were being performed by licensed physicians.

 

They break down the common argument that abortion is needed to make pregnancy safe by pointing out that despite having the world's most liberal abortion laws, America has the highest maternal death rate for any industrialized nation; and those nations like Chile, which ban abortion, have the lowest maternal mortality in the Americas.

 

They ask her if she thinks abortion exploits women, showing her the studies that found that 64% of women who had abortions felt pressured or forced by others, and that proved that murder is the leading cause of death among pregnant women.  They introduce her to Dr. Kermit Gosnell and his Philadelphia ‘House of Horrors,’ and other celebrated abortionists with a history of killing women and profiting from their crisis.  And finally, they memorialize women killed by legal abortion.

 

So the next time you are in a discussion about ending abortion, remember that tired, old argument that abortion must be legal to be “safe” is nothing more than a fear tactic.  Abortion is never safe, legal or illegal.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Pro-Choice Advocates – More Interested in Access to Abortion Clinics than Protecting Women

In November 2013, the Texas legislature passed restrictions that have since led to the closure of ten clinics, and two more are reportedly closing very soon.

 

The restrictions on abortion clinics—such as requiring a surgical center, and requiring all physicians conducting abortions to have hospital admitting privileges within a 30-mile radius—are measures of protection for women … as the abysmal practices and conditions of many clinics have come into question of late.

 

A National Journal report notes that in 2011, there were 44 abortion clinics in Texas. Now 20 remain; and only six of those are likely to meet the new standards and stay open.

 

Upon signing the bill into law last year, Gov. Rick Perry said, “This is an important day for those who support life and for those who support the health of Texas women.”

 

Opponents argue that “the need is still there” and that the restrictions will cause “clandestine” operations to “come up.”

 

How can the abortion advocates be opposed to requirements that protect women?  If they really cared about women, they should be glad to see these restrictions made into law.  This doesn’t necessarily lessen the number of abortions, but puts clinics out-of-business that endanger women.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

God’s Equation – Where Sin Increases, Grace Increases All the More

Abortion advocates at the Guttmacher Institute and other pro-abortion institutions say they are “fighting back” – introducing more legislation to expand access to abortion than in any year in recent memory.  But pro-life advocates say that public opinion, and the tide of history, is turning decisively against abortion-on-demand.

 

Elizabeth Nash, state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, announced that more pro-abortion legislation has been introduced this year than any time in the last 20-years.  So far, 14-states have introduced 51-pieces of legislation to expand and strengthen women's access to abortion, she said, up from 32-bills in 6-states in 2013.

 

Amanda Allen of the Center for Reproductive Rights told Bloomberg News that 2014 is a “tipping point” in American legislative history.  But “there is a significant difference between bills introduced and those enacted,” said Denise Burke, vice president of legal affairs at Americans United for Life.  She told LifeSiteNews.com, “Last year, for example, more than 350-bills related to abortion were introduced in state legislatures,” but only about 20% became law … most of them pro-life.

 

The Guttmacher Institute told LifeSiteNews that, while dozens of new abortion-expanding bills had been offered, “thus far this year none have been enacted.”  “Last year two proactive bills in California were enacted,” said Rebecca Wind, senior communications associate at the Guttmacher Institute to LifeSiteNews.  Last October, Gov. Jerry Brown (CA) signed a bill allowing non-physicians—including midwives, nurse practitioners, and physicians' assistants—to perform abortions during the first-trimester by suction aspiration.  The same day, he signed a bill exempting abortion facilities from more stringent health codes required for other ambulatory surgical centers.  “Between 2010-2012 there was not much in the way of proactive legislation,” Wind told LifeSiteNews.  “We have started to see much more in 2013 and 2014.”

 

On the other hand, more pro-life laws have become law in the last 3-years than in the previous decade combined.  States passed 205 pro-life laws from 2011-2013, and only 189 between 2001-2010.  The largest number, 82, passed in 2011.

 

In 2013, governors signed 70 new laws that “sought to restrict access to abortion services,” according to the Guttmacher Institute.  Much of that model legislation was crafted by American United for Life … often by Burke herself.  “Pro-life legislation is more in tune with the views of the vast majority of the American public who do not approve of the unlimited and unregulated abortion license sought by abortion advocacy groups,” she told LifeSiteNews.

 

Just last week, Alabama lawmakers passed a bill in the House banning abortions after a heartbeat has been detected.  The bill, if it becomes law, would make it the strictest abortion law in the U.S., and critics are already decrying it.  The bill, HB 490, was passed in the House with a 73-29 vote.  The measure severely punishes doctors who would go against the legislation by making it a class C felony for doctors who abort a baby with a heartbeat … as defined by the bill … and promises to revoke the licenses of doctors who go against it.  “This bill would make it unlawful for a physician to perform an abortion on a pregnant woman after a heartbeat has been detected from the unborn child in accordance with the applicable standards of medical care for determining heartbeats of unborn children,” explains a synopsis of the bill HB 490.  “This bill would further require a physician to check for a detectable heartbeat prior to performing an abortion.”  The term ‘abortion’ as defined by the bill does not include pregnancies terminated due to the unborn child having a “lethal anomaly” meaning it would die at childbirth or be stillborn.  The bill also allows for the termination of ectopic pregnancies as well as others medically determined to be life-threatening for the mother.

 

Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project called the bill “blatantly” unconstitutional.  A fetal heartbeat, say critics, can be detected as early as 5-6-weeks into a pregnancy when many women don't even realize they are pregnant.

 

Republican state Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, who sponsored the bill, said it was needed to protect the lives of unborn children.  “If your heart is beating that means you are alive,” she explained during a committee hearing.  The bill, along with three other abortion restriction bills, now goes to the Senate, notes Reuters, which highlights that similar efforts in North Dakota and Arkansas have been blocked by courts pending lawsuits.

 

The Apostle Paul said, where sin increases, grace increases all the more (Romans 5:20).  He tells us that sin is all about death, while grace is all about life.  God is all about life; He is pro-life!  Those who are truly of God can only be on that side of the equation.  You can’t calculate it any other way.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Get Ready to Rumble! God’s Prophets vs. Cooperate Profits

You may recall the controversy surrounding the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in the summer of 2013.  [I wrote several blogs in reference to it – April 15, June 5, June 7, and July 12.]  The BSA wrestled with its membership policy due to constant pressure from the militant homosexual movement.

 

Well, last year the BSA foolishly decided to allow openly homosexual boys to be part of its program.  At the time they wisely maintained the prohibition on homosexual adults serving as leaders and counselors.

 

Just as I had ‘prophesied,’ the BSA's compromise is not good enough for the corporate ‘tolerance’ autocratic heads.  The Disney Corporation has announced that it will no longer support local Boy Scout troops.  A spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest homosexual rights lobbying group, applauded Disney's decision, saying, “When you think about brands that exemplify childhood, you think of Disney, and with them dissociating with BSA, it speaks volumes of where we are with the views we want to send to young people.”

 

Last year, I disassociated myself with today’s BSA … removing my long-wearing Eagle Scout ring … for their decision.  Now I find the need to let Disney Corporation know that I will not contribute to their coffers … that I am “dissociating” with them [Disney]; not that I agree with today’s BSA, but that a for-profit corporation would withhold its support to local Boy Scouts as a social statement to push a cultural agenda on a non-profit, private organization [BSA] is corporately irresponsible.   

 

I encourage every God-fearing person who believes homosexuality to be incompatible with Holy Scripture to “speak volumes” to such profit-making corporations … who blatantly choose to align themselves with the homosexual movement … that they aren’t going to get your money.  Let those who ignore God’s prophets, feel it in their profits!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Tinsel Town has a Moment that’s Not Focused on Self

As homosexuals have been coming out of the closet all over America, a few high-profile Christians evidently decided to come of the closet as well … and of all places – in Hollywood.  And they chose ‘tinsel town’s’ largest event of the year to do it – the Oscars.

 

After winning the Oscar for Best Actor, Matthew McConaughey took to the microphone and thanked God for his success.  McConaughey said, “First off, I want to thank God, because that's who I look up to.  He's graced my life with opportunities that I know are not of my hand or any other human hand.”

 

And if that wasn’t enough, when Darlene Love accepted the Oscar for Best Documentary, she burst out singing, “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.”

 

Meanwhile, the movie “Son of God” has shattered expectations, bringing in more than $25.5 million to finish second on the box office charts this past weekend.

 

Maybe these are among the ‘righteous’ that keeps the full wrath of God from destroying Hollywood … as He did Sodom and Gomorrah. (read Genesis 18:16-19:29) 

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

When the Left See the Light

Andrew Sullivan, a writer and strong supporter of President Obama, has reportedly denounced the “general liberal contempt” for the sincere objections religious organizations have against the contraceptive mandate and gay marriage.  Sullivan, a proponent of same-sex marriage, uses “a rather aggressive column” by Linda Greenhouse in The New York Times as a recent example of how liberals dismiss the genuine worries of religious groups, such as the Colorado based Little Sisters of the Poor.  “All the government is asking the order (the Little Sisters) to do is sign the standard one-page form that sets the exemption machinery in motion,” wrote Greenhouse, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer on law.  “That's it.  There is no government investigation of the merits of the religious claim – or of the unfounded belief that some of the contraceptives to which the nuns object can actually terminate what the medical profession regards as an existing pregnancy.”

 

Still, the justices gave the Little Sisters what they wanted, Greenhouse added, referring to the Supreme Court’s temporary exemption of the Catholic nuns from Obama's Affordable Care Act.  She said, “The Obama Administration has offered the churches an ever more generous set of accommodations, but each has only led to a demand for more.”

 

A senior editor for National Review magazine, Ramesh Ponnuru, helped Sullivan (a Roman Catholic) to understand religious groups’ objections to the mandate that employers provide coverage for contraception … including abortifacients … in their employees’ healthcare plans.  The exemption form, wrote Ponnuru, is the “instrument” that triggers the requirement that a third-party administrator provide contraceptive coverage.  “The nuns don't want to take any action that (they believe) involves them in facilitating immoral acts, which includes causing other people to perform immoral acts.  Signing the form would (in their view) do that,” he pointed out.  “… Houses of worship, which are truly exempt from the administration's contraceptive mandate, do not have to sign any such form to get that exemption,” he explained.  “That fact makes a hash both of Greenhouse's claim that the Little Sisters of the Poor are ‘exempt from the mandate’ and her claim (and the Administration's) that certification is the only way to prevent the exemption process from sliding into ‘chaos.’”

 

Sullivan, who was born and grew up in Britain, confesses in his blog post on The Dish, “I hadn't seen it that way before.”  Delegating the authority to approve of contraceptive coverage to a third party is itself “an act of complicity” in something the nuns oppose for religious reasons.

 

In its ruling last month, the Court said the Little Sisters simply need to inform the Secretary of Health and Human Services in writing about its objection to the contraceptive coverage, without having to fill out the form.

 

“If the key is signing a form that requires active complicity in a system the Little Sisters object to, and if a letter merely stating their objection to the contraceptive coverage can suffice, then this seems like more than a temporary solution.  This may be splitting hairs – but allowing for religious freedom in a secular society can often come down to splitting hairs,” Sullivan wrote.  “And what concerns me is less the details of this particular case than the general liberal contempt for the genuine moral quandaries religious organizations may face.”

 

Sullivan then deals with “the brusque and smug liberal assumption” that religious objections to marriage equality are somehow as illegitimate as defenses of slavery, referring to an article, “Secularism Is Good for America-Especially Christians,” in the New Republic.  The “anathematization” of homosexuality in Christianity, Judaism and Islam is rooted in “a deep theological narrative and argument” that cannot be reduced to bigotry, Sullivan argued.  “I think it's mistaken, but I sure don't think it's mere prejudice.”  Sullivan said while he doesn't agree with the Catholic tradition Humanae Vitae [Latin: of human life], it is a “coherent view of the role of sex and procreation in human life,” and not bigotry.  “And many of us have grounded our own defense of civil gay equality without the need to disqualify large swathes of conscientious religious folks from polite company.”  What actually borders on bigotry “is the kind of casual dismissal of sincerely held religious beliefs,” he concluded.  “You can [be] pro-gay and for religious freedom; and it is vital that the gay rights movement is not co-opted once again by the illiberal left's contempt for people of faith.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Survey Says: Most Christians Believe They’ve Lost the Culture War … Really?

According to a new survey from LifeWay Research, the ‘culture war’ may well be lost, and ‘religious liberty’ might not be far behind.  The survey revealed that 70% of senior pastors at Protestant churches say religious liberty is on the decline in the U.S., and 59% of Christians believe they are losing the culture war.  As many as 11% consider the culture war is already lost.

 

The survey results are staggering – indicating grave concerns about the moral direction of the nation … from both the pulpit and the pew.  Ed Stetzer, the president of LifeWay Research said, “Ten years ago we were talking about who would win the culture war and now we’re talking about how will Christian rights be protected after the culture war.  We’ve lost our home field advantage.  There are going to be some things that are different.”  Stetzer said it’s a big shift.  “And it’s a shift I would not have guessed,” said Stetzer.

 

Over the past year, I’ve posted numerous blogs documenting dozens of instances of religious persecution in the U.S. … primarily waged against Christians.  The attacks on Christians go from students ordered to stop praying in front of the Supreme Court to military chaplains being told they could no longer pray in the name of Jesus.

 

I’ve written several entrees on gay rights activists against Christian-owned businesses who cater to the wedding industry.  Christian bakers, florists and photographers have been hauled into court and brought up on state discrimination charges for declining to participate in same-sex weddings.  And in every instance – lower courts have ruled that ‘gay rights’ trump ‘religious rights.’  So perhaps the survey results should not be a surprise.

 

Robert Jeffress, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, TX, says, “The primary reason Christians are losing the culture wars is that pastors are AWOL when it comes to informing and energizing their congregations.”  Unless Christians stand up and engage the political process, Jeffress said he fears there may come a day when religious liberty is extremely curtailed.  “A religious leader once said, ‘my successor will see the tax exempt status removed from churches and his successor will go to jail,’” Jeffress said.  “That is probably on the horizon.”  Jeffress said the church must involve itself in the political process.  “There are 50-80 million evangelicals in America,” he said. “Only half are registered to vote and only half of those voted in the last election.”  Jeffress said it’s imperative for people of faith to engage the culture.  “Every time we go to the voting booth we are casting a vote for righteousness or unrighteousness,” he said.

 

Stetzer said he hopes the survey will spark a “fruitful national conversation about religious liberty concerns.”  “The perception was that the culture war was once a winnable war,” Stetzer said.  “But it’s switched from an offensive battle to a defensive battle.”

 

President Ronald Reagan once said, “If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”

 

Listen my Christian brothers and sisters: Remember again that portion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount when He said – “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12)

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel