When a High School is Prohibited from a PA Booth Prayer, the Cheerleaders Led a Prayer from the Football Field

Cheerleaders at a small, northern Tennessee community spoke with a huge voice by refusing to let go of a tradition that had been a part of Oneida High School for decades – a pre-game prayer – and they got a good number of the community to join in.

 

After continued pressure from the TN chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Oneida High School dropped its practice of giving an invocation over the PA system before each game; substituting the prayer with a moment of silence … according to local NBC affiliate WBIR.

 

“[As] far as I know, we have been playing football here since 1930 and been praying ever since,” said Kevin Acres … who sits in the booth for every Oneida High School home game.

 

But the moment of silence seemed all wrong.  “I heard the moment of silence, but it was kind of a sick feeling in my stomach,” said head football coach Tony Lambert.

 

When Acres made the new announcement over the PA system at a recent game, he added, “During our moment of silence, if you want to say a prayer that would be perfectly fine.”  That’s when one member of the cheerleading squad – Asia Canada – decided to take matter in her own hands.  She loudly recited the ‘Lord’s Prayer.’

 

“He called for the moment of silence and I started off, ‘Our Father who art in heaven,’ and everyone joined in,” said Canada.  And “everyone” included the visiting fans and cheerleaders – everyone in attendance.  “It just touches my heart that so many people are [got] involved with it,” said Canada.

 

“By the time the prayer was over with, the entire stadium was saying it,” said Acres.

 

Now there’s a new tradition at Oneida: The cheerleaders begin each game with a cheer for God.

 

ACLU, how are you going to stop what is not a prayer, but a cheer?  I can’t wait to see how you’ll handle this.  It’s your move!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Silence of the Jihad Killing of Four Men in America is Deafening

A 19-year old from NJ, Brendan Tevlin, who had just finished his freshman year at the University of Richmond, like many young people his age, played sports and video games.  He liked to surf, and played the bagpipes.  He was a Eucharistic minister at his church.  But none of these things contributed to his tragic death.  What led to Brendan’s death is that he was an American.

 

Ali Muhammad Brown, 29, was charged with the murder of Brendan Tevlin on June 18th.  Brown also confessed to killing two people – Ahmed Said and Dwone Anderson-Young – in Seattle, WA on June 1st. And if that’s not enough, he was also charged with shooting another man, Leroy Henderson, in the Skyway area of Seattle, in April.  All four of the men were killed with a 9 mm handgun.

 

There is consistency in Brown’s statement to police in both King County (Seattle) and Essex County (NJ) – He told authorities that he was doing his small part as vengeance for U.S. actions in the Middle East.

 

Seattle’s Q13 FOX reported that Brown described the killing of Tevlin to authorities in NJ as a ‘just kill’ … which he defined as a targeted adult male (not a woman, child or elderly person).  Brown stated, “My mission is vengeance … for the lives … millions of lives lost every day,” he reportedly said.  “Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan: All these places where innocent lives are being taken every single day … All these lives are taken every single day by America, by this government.  So a life for a life.”

 

Todd Pettingill, radio host of The Todd Show in the Morning in New York, discussed this jihad killing on his radio show.  He said, “If there was ever a reason to riot in the streets in the name of humanity, it would be for this case.  But, has that happened?  No.  And I’m not suggesting that it should.  What did the friends of the family of Brendan Tevlin do?  They had a candlelight vigil.  What I am suggesting should happen is that this should be talked about and written about, and the American people should know.  Why is Eric Holder not visiting the Tevlin family?  Why is the President not going to mention Brendan Tevlin tonight?  He was a young boy who was killed … for being an American.”

 

In addition to calling out Holder and Obama for their failure to give any attention to these jihad killings that were done on American soil, Pettingill also said, “It was in fact an act of jihad, perpetrated by a fellow American who sympathized more with those who want to annihilate us than with his own country and its people.”

 

But, with ISIS on a bloody killing spree in the Middle East in their quest to establish a caliphate and their threats to take their attacks onto American soil, the only Brown the media wants to talk is Michael Brown (Ferguson, MO).  The mainstream media and Congress want to put more emphasis on the domestic abuse case surrounding Ray Rice than acts of jihad in America with men being killed simply for being an American.  And Barack Obama pays little attention to the killing of innocent Americans, in the name of Islam, right here in the United States.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

School Condones Condoms, but Scorns Self-restraint

Today’s blog takes us back to Arkansas … just as my last posting (Monday, September 22) on Arkansas State University.  This time we look at Ramay Junior High School in Fayetteville, AK, where Chloe Rubiano learned a lesson.  

 

Chloe is in the eighth grade; and is also a good church-going girl.  So you can imagine her mom’s surprise when she got in trouble at school.

 

Chloe showed up at school wearing a T-shirt that reads: “Virginity Rocks.”  “It’s a positive message,” said Bambi Crozier, Chloe’s mom. 

 

Apparently, the school administration at Ramay Junior High doesn’t agree.  They said the shirt could cause a classroom disruption and contained sexual content.  Is it possible that these school officials don’t understand the concept of virginity?!

 

The 13-year-old, who bought the shirt at a Christian music festival, was told she had to change shirts.  “It was so bizarre,” Mrs. Crozier told Todd Starnes of Townhall.com.  “She had the shirt for several years and wore it a number of times to school.”

 

Starnes called the school district hoping to talk to the person in charge of the ‘fashion police’ – but no one called him back.  A spokesperson told local news outlets that they have a rule banning any clothes that might cause a distraction.

 

“Why is it such a bad thing to talk about virginity when they’re handing out condoms and girls are pregnant?” Mrs. Crozier wondered.  “It blows my mind.”

 

It does make you wonder why the guidance counselors are doling out condoms to the junior high crowd.

 

“I think they’re bigger concern (is) they just don’t want to talk about virginity,” she said.  “Today, people think that virginity is a dirty word.  It’s not in our household.”  Or maybe they’re concerned the “Virginity Rocks” shirt might cut down on condom distribution?!

 

Mrs. Crozier said her daughter did as she was instructed to do and put on a gym shirt.  “We totally believe in respecting rules,” she said.  “We totally believe in listening to leadership.  If that’s what their request is – that’s okay.  There are certain battles in life you are going to choose; and whether or not you can wear a shirt is not a big deal.”

 

So being a good church-going girl, Chloe abided by the school’s orders – because heaven forbid a 21st century teenager is caught promoting abstinence.  

 

Mrs. Crozier said she was taken aback by the national attention her daughter’s shirt has received.  “All I did was post on Facebook to my friends,” she said.  “Now my daughter has gone viral.” 

 

This is just one more of the many examples of the silencing of morality in our public schools.  Theodore Roosevelt warned us, saying – “To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Football Helmet Crosses: Removed or Modified

Football players at Arkansas State University were ordered to either remove a Christian cross decal from their helmets or modify it into a mathematical sign after a Jonesboro attorney complained that the image violated the U.S. Constitution.

 

The cross decal was meant to memorialize former player Markel Owens and former equipment manager Barry Weyer, said athletic director Terry Mohajir.  Weyer was killed in a June car crash.  Owens was gunned down in Tennessee in January.

 

Barry Weyer Sr., told Todd Starnes of Breaking Christian News that the players and coaches voluntarily decided to memorialize his son and Owens.  “The players knew they were both Christians so they decided to use the cross along with their initials,” he said.  “They wanted to carry the spirits of Markel and Barry down onto the field for one more season.”

 

It was a decision that had the full support of the university’s athletic director.  “I support our students’ expression of their faith,” Mohajir said.  “I am 100% behind our students and coaches.”

 

However, the athletic director said he had no choice but to remove the crosses after he received a message from the university’s legal counsel.  “It is my opinion that the crosses must be removed from the helmets,” university counsel Lucinda McDaniel wrote to Mohajir.  “While we could argue that the cross with the initials of the fallen student and trainer merely memorialize their passing, the symbol we have authorized to convey that message is a Christian cross.”

 

According to documents provided to Todd Starnes by Arkansas State, McDaniel gave the football team a choice – they could either remove the cross or modify the decal.  And by modify she meant deface.  “If the bottom of the cross can be cut off so that the symbol is a plus sign (+) there should be no problem,” she wrote.  “It is the Christian symbol which has caused the legal objection.”

 

The team had been wearing the decals for two weeks without any complaints.  That changed after last Saturday’s nationally televised game against the Tennessee Volunteers.  Jonesboro attorney Louis Nisenbaum sent McDaniel an email complaining about the cross decal.  “That is a clear violation of the ‘establishment clause’ as a state endorsement of the Christian religion,” Nisenbaum wrote.  “Please advise whether you agree and whether ASU will continue this practice.”

 

Ironically, the university’s legal counsel admitted in a letter that there were no specific court cases that addressed crosses on football helmets. Nevertheless, she feared the possibility of a lawsuit.  “It is my opinion that we will not prevail on that challenge and must remove the crosses from the helmets or alter the symbols so that they are a (plus sign) instead of a cross,” she wrote in an email to the athletic director.

 

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) fired off a letter congratulating the university on cleansing the helmets of the Christian symbol.  “The crosses appeared to confer State’s endorsement of religion, specifically Christianity,” the FFRF wrote.  “The inclusion of the Latin cross on the helmets also excludes the 19% of the American population that is non-religious.”  FFRF co-presidents Annie Lauire Gaylor and Dan Barker went so far as to suggest alternative ways for the football players to mourn.  “Many teams around the country honor former team-mates by putting that player’s number on their helmets or jerseys, or by wearing a black armband,” they wrote.  “Either of those options, or another symbolic gesture free from religion imagery, would be appropriate.”

 

That suggestion set off the athletic director.  “I don’t even kinda-sorta care about any organization that tells our students how to grieve,” Mohajir told Todd Starnes.  “Everybody grieves differently.  I don’t think anybody has the right to tell our students how to memorialize their colleagues, their classmates or any loved ones they have.”

 

The Apostle Paul referred to “the offense of the cross” (Galatians 5:11) which he did not want removed.  This is an offense that never was intended to cease.  Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow Me.”  May the Lord help us take up the offense of the cross – gladly, courageously and joyfully – and follow after Him.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

UN Reports “Little Collateral Damage” Resulting From Israeli Airstrikes on Hamas Terrorist Targets

The U.N. Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has confirmed that Israeli airstrikes targeted the Hamas infrastructure in Gaza and that Israel demonstrated exceptional efforts to minimize collateral damage by urging civilians to evacuate ahead of bombings – thus forfeiting the surprise effect guided by security requirements and not by retaliatory or political expediency.

 

Former Israeli Ambassador to Washington, DC, Yoram Ettinger, summarized the extensive report on the U.N. findings:

 

Israel did not retaliate by rote against Hamas’ systematic attacks on civilian targets; Israel bombed areas that harbored Hamas missile-launching grounds and facilities, command posts, terrorists’ homes and hide-outs, operational bases, weapon inventory and tunnels.

 

Most of the damage was concentrated in very limited areas of 25-square meters or less; while most of Gaza was not damaged at all or in a very limited manner.  Less than 5% of Gaza was hit by the Israel Defense Forces.  The most populated areas of Gaza City (Jabaliya, Khan Yunes, Rafah and Deir el-Balah) were disproportionally undamaged; either damaged in a very limited way or not damaged at all.

 

The areas highlighted by the UN damage assessment report are compatible with the Israel Defense Forces briefings on the location of Hamas facilities, especially in the Shuja’iya area … the area of the most intense battles.

 

While Hamas concentrated its terror facilities in civilian areas of Gaza — while systematically and deliberately targeting Israeli civilians in densely populated urban areas – the vast majority of these Gaza urban areas were undamaged.

 

Israel followed surgical bombing tactic and not carpet bombing; the attacks were neither random nor indiscriminate.  Most of the areas targeted by Israeli airstrikes housed multiple tunnel entrances and shafts, as well as launching sites for mortars and missiles and other terror-related infrastructures.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Are US Christians Keepers of IS Christians?

As the ‘Islamic State’ … also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) … continues to pose a menace to religious minorities in Iraq and Syria, Christians from the region have spoken with horror about what the terrorist group is doing to their communities.

 

Auday P. Arabo, lay spokesman for the St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Diocese, told the New York Times that Iraqi’s Christians are calling it “a slow-motion genocide.”  “It’s unfortunate people don’t feel it until it hits home.  But I guess it’s human nature that you only see what’s happening in the mirror,” said Arabo.

 

Bishop Francis Y. Kalabat, who was appointed by Pope Francis to oversee a Michigan-based community, told the New York Times that recent actions by ISIS against Iraqi’s Christians was the worst yet.  “The bad things we look back at now — the Iran-Iraq War, the first Gulf War, the embargo, even six months ago. … We’d take all of that over today,” said Kalabat.  “We wish to scream, but there are no ears that wish to hear.”

 

Over the past few months, the ‘Islamic State’ has garnered international attention for both its conquest of territories in the Middle East and its strong penchant for violence against civilians and prisoners of war.  Among its victims include Christian communities in Northern Iraq … many of which date back to the earliest centuries of Christianity.

 

Earlier this month, the Christian persecution watch-dog group Open Doors reported that in territory it controlled ISIS performed “outright targeting of all non-Sunni Muslim groups.”  “This has resulted in a mass loss of life, forced conversions and seizure of homes for Iraq’s minority Christians, Shiite Muslims, Yazidis and Turkmen,” noted Open Doors.  “Since then, Islamic State has steadily moved north of Mosul into the Nineveh Plain – a predominantly Christian area.  In total, more than 100,000 people have had to flee the villages and towns of Qaraqosh, Mosul and the Nineveh plain.”  The attack on Christians in Northern Iraq represents the most recent series of violence against the Middle Eastern country’s Christian minority.

 

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Iraq’s Christian population has decreased dramatically as large numbers have fled the nation due to escalating persecution.

 

In late 2007, the Rev. Canon Andrew White, Anglican chaplain at St. George’s Church in Baghdad, told CBS that “things are the most difficult they have ever been for Christians; probably ever in history.  They’ve never known it like now,” said White.

 

Jesus said we are to be our brother’s keeper.  What does that mean for our Christian brothers and sisters halfway around the globe?  Do American Christians have a responsibility?  If so, what are we to do?

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The ISIS-US Connection

The Islamic Society of Boston, the former mosque of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev and convicted terrorist plotter Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi, is once again under scrutiny.

 

The New York Post has reported that Ahmad Abousamra was another regular worshipper at the Islamic Society mosque.  Abousamra, is the top propagandist for ISIS.  Abousamra’s father, a prominent doctor, even sat on the board of directors of the Muslim organization that runs the mosque.  He stepped down after the FBI began questioning his son.

 

The FBI suspects Abousamra now operates ISIS’s sophisticated media wing promoting the group’s beheadings and other atrocities through slick videos posted on the Internet.  The brutally effective English-language propaganda campaign has helped attract thousands of Western jihadists, including at least 300 Americans (and growing with every beheading).

 

It’s incredibly troubling that eight people from one mosque are either accused of or convicted of terrorism charges … including the founder of the said mosque.  And of course, it should not matter what their religious affiliation is or what respective houses of worship they belong to … for all of us should be concerned.

 

Those (like me) who have raised their hand and sworn to defend the U.S. against all enemies (both foreign and domestic) are coming to the realization that our enemies are both at home and abroad.  The lack of truth-telling for fear of being charged with ‘hate speech’ – coupled with concerns for ‘political correctness’ and the charge of ‘intolerance’ – are the demise to our freedom.  Get real, my fellow Americans.  If you don’t (soon), you’ll be choosing between converting to Islam or being executed.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

No More Wedding ‘I Do’ at NY Farm that says ‘We don’t’

The owners of Liberty Ridge Farm in New York State, Cynthia and Robert Gifford, used to rent out their farm so couples could get married on their grounds.  They will no longer offer such services because the state ruled they had to violate their Christian beliefs and allow same-sex weddings on their property.

 

The state had fined the Giffords $13,000 when they refused to allow a lesbian couple, Jennifer McCarthy and Melisa Erwin, to be married on their farm in 2012.  The Giffords were against a wedding ceremony for the lesbian couple, but said a wedding reception would be permissible. Wedding receptions have always been opened to any couple regardless of sexual orientation.

 

The lesbians filed a lawsuit, telling New York’s Division of Human Rights they had been discriminated against.  Judge Migdalia Pares ruled the farm was a public accommodation … because it rents the space to customers and regularly collects public fees from the public.  Judge Pares said that just because the Giffords live on the farm did not make their business private, thus fining them $10,000 and ordering them to pay each woman of the couple $1,500.

 

The Giffords said they will “no longer host any wedding ceremonies on their property.”  Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) allied attorney James Trainor told TheBlaze, “Going forward, [Cynthia and Robert Gifford] have decided to no longer host any wedding ceremonies on their property (other than the ones already under contract).  Since the order essentially compelled them to do all ceremonies or none at all, they have chosen the latter in order to stay true to their religious convictions, even though it will likely hurt their business in the short run.”

 

The ADF stated that not only were the Giffords fined, but the court forced them to “teach classes to their employees that impose the state’s view of marriage.”

 

Should the government force anyone to participate in or celebrate an event that violates their faith and beliefs?  Apparently, New York State thinks so … for that’s exactly what they have done to the Giffords.

 

The Giffords have not yet stated whether they will appeal the court’s decision.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Catholic Colleges Covering Abortion in California

Two Catholic academic institutions in California have been told by the state government that their health-care programs must cover abortions.  Loyola Marymount University and Santa Clara University were initially given reprieve from being forced to pay for abortions as part of their insurance policies; however, the earlier decision was reversed.

 

In a letter dated August 22nd, California’s Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) concluded that “it erroneously approved or did not object to such discriminatory language in some evidence of coverage filings.”  “The purpose of this letter is to remind plans that the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (Knox-Keene Act) requires the provision of basic healthcare services,” continued the DMHC letter.”  “… [T]he California Constitution prohibits health plans from discriminating against women who choose to terminate a pregnancy.  Thus, all health plans must treat maternity services and legal abortion neutrally.”

 

Before this letter, California allowed for insurance companies to provide plans to the two Catholic universities that limited the types of abortions that could be covered.  “Insurance coverage for abortion is not mandated by the federal healthcare law.  But California guarantees abortion, both by statute and by privacy protections, in the state Constitution,” reported Bob Egelko of the San Francisco Chronicle.  “Until the current controversy arose, insurers in California had treated all abortions sought by women in their health plans as medically necessary,” Egelko added.

 

The DMHC position considers all abortions, regardless of reason, to be “medically necessary” and thus a procedure that should be covered by insurance companies.

 

In response to the DMHC letter, the Life Legal Defense Foundation and the Alliance Defending Freedom (LLDF-ADF) sent a letter of protest to the change.  Sent to DMHC Director Shelley Rouillard on behalf of the Cardinal Newman Society, the LLDF-ADF letter argued that requiring the two Catholic universities to provide coverage for all abortions was contrary to federal law.  The two pro-life groups quoted from the Weldon Amendment, which allows federal funds to be deprived from a state entity that discriminates against a health plan that limits abortion coverage.  “DMHC cannot deny approval to or otherwise penalize a health insurance plan for failing to provide coverage of some or all abortions and remain in compliance with the Weldon Amendment,” read the letter.  “In its failed lawsuit against the amendment, California admitted that all of its departments are subject to the amendment due to some of those departments receiving over $40-billion in federal funds for programs in the areas of education, health, and employment.”

 

The pro-life groups added that they will file a complaint with the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Civil Rights if DMHC maintains that the universities must pay for abortions.

 

If I were a betting man [if which I am not], I’d put my money on California ensuring their $40-billion in federal funds over insuring guaranteed abortions.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

YouTube Censors a Christian Preacher

Yesterday (September 7th), I preached a 9/11 remembrance sermon that was transmitted LIVE via Livestream.  Much of the sermon focused on the sharp contrast between Christianity and Islam.  I didn’t hold back from proclaiming the truth about radical Islam being evil … as manifested daily by Muslim extremists worldwide.  You can see and hear it for yourself at [https://new.livestream.com/accounts/3709164].  It will be interesting to see if Livestream interprets it as ‘hate speech’ and removes it from the archives of sermons I’ve delivered.

 

Now you might say: Livestream shouldn’t be able to remove the sermon; you’ve paid for the Livestream account … for which you are correct.  But don’t think for a moment that the ‘PC’ police aren’t on patrol.  It’s already happening!  Read on.  

 

The pastor of the small-town First Baptist Church in Moreland, GA recently got banned from YouTube after he posted a video sermon he gave about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.  Pastor Daniel Ausbun said, “Apparently, they didn’t like me preaching on radical Islam, so I got booted and banned” from YouTube. 

 

On August 24, Pastor Ausbun delivered a sermon about ‘Islamic State’ terrorism, radical Islam and Christian persecution in the Middle East.  “So many people in the church had been asking about it,” the pastor told Todd Starnes of Townhall.com.  “This was almost more of an educational sermon,” said the pastor.  Ausbun told his congregation that Middle Eastern Christians were given a choice to convert to Islam, pay a tax, leave immediately or face death.  He also warned that ISIS is recruiting Westerners.  He encouraged his congregation to pray for the Gospel message to advance … despite terrorism and war.

 

About three-and-a-half years ago, Pastor Ausbun started a YouTube channel for church members who missed the Sunday service.  Over the years, there was never a problem.  But then on August 27, he said, “I received an email from YouTube telling me that my account had been terminated for violation of the terms of service and their community guidelines.  They actually terminated my entire account.”

 

Pastor Ausbun said he decided to read YouTube’s community guidelines, and that’s when he put two and two together.  They thought his sermon amounted to ‘hate speech.’  YouTube clearly states that it doesn’t permit “hate speech” – and that includes “speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion” and so on and so forth.  “They didn’t tell me exactly why they terminated my account, but by default there was nothing else wrong,” Ausbun said.  “It had to be hate speech.”  For the past week he’s been trying to reach someone at YouTube to explain what happened.  So far, his calls have gone unreturned.

 

I don’t know what (exactly) Pastor Ausbun said … for the obvious reason that YouTube removed his sermon.  But I do know – YouTube apparently can censor any pulpit across America that they deem as ‘hate speech.’  It makes you wonder what other messages of truth are being banned!?

 

You may recall, YouTube came under criticism after ISIS was allowed to post a video showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley.  They removed the video and explained its policy in a statement to the website Mediaite: “YouTube has clear policies that prohibit content like gratuitous violence, hate speech and incitement to commit violent acts, and we remove videos violating these policies when flagged by our users,” the statement read.  “We also terminate any account registered by a member of a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization and used in an official capacity to further its interests.”

 

To the best of anyone’s knowledge, the First Baptist Church in Moreland is not a foreign terrorist organization.  The pastor says he simply wanted to inform his church about the threat posed by Islamic terrorists and pray for the victims of their Islamic slaughter.  Is that “hate speech?”

 

“I’m literally terminated – like I’m the terrorist,” said Pastor Ausbun.  He went on to say what happened to him could happen to other American pastors under the guise of banning “hate speech.”  “Anything a pastor preaches on – whether it be radical Islam, homosexuality, the teachings of Jesus – YouTube can label that hate speech and censor their sermons,” he said.  In the meantime, Pastor Ausbun has launched a new video channel – on Vimeo.

 

Perhaps you had better quickly view/listen to my archived sermons before Livestream decides that my faithful preaching of God’s Word is ‘hate speech.’

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Here’s Something to Scream Bloody Murder About

Did you hear about it: Last week Planned Parenthood took a big hit after the District Court for Polk County, IA upheld a ban on “webcam” abortions.  Judge Jeffrey Farrell’s ruling concluded that abortions – if done at all – really should be done after a complete medical exam. Better yet, Judge Ferrell ruled that the medical exam should actually be done by a physician – in person – and not via video feed.  Imagine that!

 

Background: In an effort to increase profit margins, Planned Parenthood’s management decided that their rural clinics could save money if they did abortions without having a physician present.  To get around that ‘minor’ hurdle they shortcut the system and bypassed the requisite exam, altogether.  Then they hired abortion doctors in neighboring cities to ‘consult’ with patients via webcam.  But the Iowa Board of Medicine didn’t take too kindly to killing babies without a face-to-face consult with a physician.  So in August 2013, the Board ruled 8-2 that a physician had to be present when abortion drugs are administered.  As one would expect of this tax-funded baby-killing business, Planned Parenthood challenged the Medical Board’s ruling because apparently it just cost too much to hire physicians to travel an hour out to the rural clinics to take a life.

 

Before the Board’s ban, when a woman presented herself to an abortion clinic, she was given forms to fill out and queried about her pregnancy. Assuming the information the mother provided fit the gestational age requirement (and we all know how honest/accurate a teenage girl, a boyfriend or parent can be when desperate to ‘get rid of it’), she was taken into an examination room where she was connected to an abortion doctor via webcam.  The physician supposedly ‘consulted’ with her and then made the decision to dispense the abortion inducing drugs.  The so-called ‘doctor’ then pushed a button at his end and a little drawer containing two pills opened at the mother’s end.  The mother took one pill at the clinic and then went home.  A few days later she took the second pill, and the baby died and was expelled.

 

The problem: With abortifacient drugs there is a total lack of concern, care and/or supervision on the part of abortion providers.

 

Planned Parenthood’s main argument is that forcing women to travel 60-100 miles to reach a ‘big-city’ clinic with a real doctor, constitutes cruelty and undue hardship.  They feel that if a mother reaches the decision to have an elective abortion, she should be able to get it immediately, wherever she lives.

 

Listen: Elective abortions never constitute an emergency situation (unless it’s botched) in which case she needs to be as close to a major medical center as she can get.  Otherwise, if a mother is forced to actually plan ahead and drive an hour or two to a medical facility to kill her baby, so be it.  That’s an inconvenient sacrifice she will just have to live with.

 

Considering that you can’t even get antibiotics for a simple ear infection without first having an exam, it’s difficult to imagine a physician risking a woman’s life in order to expedite killing an innocent human being via webcam.

 

Fact: Abortion doctors and Planned Parenthood aren’t in the business of offering care and compassion – they’re in it for the money.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Where Does the U.S. Constitution Protect An Individual’s ‘Hurt Feelings?’

The American Humanist Association (AHA) is complaining about an August 12th mandatory teachers’ meeting in Jackson, MS in which a pastor offered the opening prayer, and other speakers made comments of a religious nature.

 

As usual, one teacher [merely one] contacted the AHA, which is threatening to sue the Jackson Public School District.

 

Attorney Steve Crampton, who heads the American Center for Constitutional Rights (ACCR), says the fight for religious freedom is one that won’t go away until people of faith give in.  “I for one refuse to do that,” he says, “and I hope that the community will stand up and this school board will stand up against this kind of intimidation tactic.”

 

A letter to Superintendent Cedrick Gray complained that the 3-hour program was sprinkled with references to “God” and “Lord,” and this one teacher [just one] described it as “one long church service.”

 

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a so-called ‘heckler’s veto’ in which one person can shut down the majority because they are offended. Lower courts are also ruling that “hurt feelings” aren’t enough to “constitute a constitutional injury,” says the Attorney Crampton.  “And that would be one of the first and most important arguments raised in defense in any legal action that might fall out from this situation,” he tells OneNewsNow.  The ‘left’ is “absolutely tireless” in its effort to eradicate Christianity from the public square, says Crampton; and Christians must defend religious freedom “or we’ll lose it.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel