‘Intact’ Aborted Babies Are a Joke

Los Angeles District Court Judge Joanne O’Donnell lifted a temporary restraining order (TRO) that had been placed against The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) after fetal tissue procurement company StemExpress (SE) filed a lawsuit to try to block the release of any videos involving its executives.  That said, according to ABC News, “StemExpress was expected to seek a stay from an appeals court.”

Within hours after the TRO was lifted, CMP posted a 2-minute video entitled, “Human Capital Trailer,” on YouTube.  The trailer shows clips of Planned Parenthood (PP) executives we’ve already seen in previously released videos, but it includes a new small clip of SE CEO Cate Dyer joking about shipping intact fetal cadavers: “Oh, yeah, I mean if you had intact cases, which we’ve done a lot, that we sometimes ship those back to the lab in its entirety…. Tell the lab it’s coming.  You know, open the box and go, ‘Oh, God,’ ha ha ha.”

Jill Stanek of LifeSiteNews spoke with CMP’s David Daleiden, who explained the trailer was originally intended for release as a teaser before CMP’s first video was launched on July 14.  His team ultimately decided to hold things back.  Then the TRO happened, and releasing the trailer became a moot point.  “But for our purposes today,” Daleiden explained, “we wanted to get something quickly out there.”  Daleiden said they are trying to get the full video posted as soon as possible, barring another court block.  “But for now, this is a little preview,” said Daleiden.

Well, if this is just a preview of more of the same – or worse – to come, it’s no wonder Dyer wanted this video blocked.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Without Sanctity of Life, No Life Matters

They just keep coming – A new video from the Center for Medical Progress (CMP).  The video, along with the previous videos, continue to uncover Planned Parenthood’s (PP) gruesome commerce in infant body parts.  This includes commerce in intact cadavers, with an executive of one of its client firms laughing about it.

This video has provoked a new round of demonstrations by thousands across the nation to continue to raise awareness about the sickening, inhumane, and uncivilized behavior of PP … that is tolerated in our nation … and funded by our tax dollars (more than $500 million dollars annually).

How can we be expected in America to seriously consider ‘fairness’ when our tax dollars go to the nation’s largest abortion provider (327,653 abortions performed in its fiscal year 2014) which then engages in trade with the remains of these infants?  By what standard can Americans speak about social justice?  What is right?  What is wrong?

It appears to have escaped many American minds that we have two choices about where to turn to get our standards for truth: either traditional Biblical sources or popular (political) culture.

No people in America have suffered more as result of turning moral standards over to the nation’s political class than blacks – Yes, during the administration of our first black president.  Yet blacks … despite (on average) having the highest church attendance in the country … continues to allow politicians to define morality.

The ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement is supposedly about social justice.  Their supporters express outrage at the sentiment that “all lives matter” … claiming this denigrates and trivializes the unfair treatment of blacks in the criminal justice system.  But how do you define fair or unfair behavior toward particular lives in a society that politicizes the most serious questions concerning life itself?

In August 2008, when then-Senator Barack Obama, Democrat candidate for president of the United States, sat in Pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in Orange County, CA, and was asked by Pastor Warren, “At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?”  Obama replied, “Well, you know, I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective, or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my paygrade.”

A man who has no absolute standard for defining the onset of life has been elected twice as America’s president, with 95% of blacks voting for him.  And we wonder why the country is confused?  Blacks wonder why justice is politicized and unfair?  Fair based on what?  What a politician decides?

According to the Center for Disease Control, 36.2% of abortions in 2011 were performed on black women … about 3-times the percentage of black women in the female population.  Blackgenocide.org estimates that there have been 16-million black abortions since legalizing abortion in 1973.  It seems blacks themselves have decided that black life is cheap … and doesn’t matter.

In 1970, 3-years before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, around 55% of black adults were married.  By 2010, this was down to 32%.  In 1970, around 30% of black women who gave birth did so out of wedlock.  By 2010, this was up to 72.5%.

The politicization of truth … of absolutes about right and wrong … has taken a toll on all of America.  But in this regard, blacks are hit the hardest.

Republican candidate Trump is campaign to make America great again.  Well listen: Restoring our culture begins with personal responsibility, not political rhetoric.  All lives will matter when we restore our national respect for the mystery and sanctity of life.  It begins by ending taxpayer funds going to PP – to cease supporting the most degrading, dehumanizing, uncivilized activities that the human mind can imagine.  By doing so, we will demonstrate that Americans can once again respect themselves and as a result, respect each other.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

When the Oppressed Turns Into the Oppressors

Because Colorado would not grant them a license, gay couple David Mullins and Charlie Craig got married in Provincetown, MA in 2012 – some 2,000 miles away.  And because Jack Phillips would not bake them a wedding cake for their hometown reception in CO, they bought one from another bakery in the Denver area.  Many of us would say: Fine – Done deal.  Not so fast.

Mullins and Craig got married 2-years before a federal appeals court decision forced CO to lift its ban on same-sex unions.  They, therefore, had no choice but to leave the State of CO for their wedding in the State of MA.  [At the time, CO was stopping every county within its borders from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.]

Now Phillips, who owns Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, CO, has no such control over his fellow bakers.  Mullins and Craig had many choices when Phillips turned down their business, saying his religious beliefs precluded him from baking a cake on the occasion of a gay wedding.  They, nevertheless, later argued that Phillips was legally required to bake them a cake, and earlier this month a state appeals court agreed.

Upholding a 2014 decision by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the Colorado Court of Appeals said Phillips violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, which makes it illegal for a business to deny customers “full and equal enjoyment” of its goods or services “because of” their sexual orientation.  The court rejected Phillips’ argument that forcing him to bake gay wedding cakes violates his right to freedom of speech by compelling him to endorse a message with which he disagrees and his right to the free exercise of religion by requiring him to act contrary to the teachings of his faith.

The court said simply baking a wedding cake does not qualify as “expressive conduct” protected by the 1st Amendment … although it left open the possibility that inscribing the cake might.  As for the religious freedom claim, the judges noted that the U.S. Supreme Court (since 1990) has taken the position that “neutral laws of general applicability” are constitutional, even if they make it difficult or impossible for someone to practice his religion, unless there is evidence of an intent to target a particular sect.

Whatever you think of these constitutional conclusions, let’s be clear about what’s happening here: In 2012, according to the state of CO, Mullins and Craig had a “civil right” to a cake baked by Phillips, but they did not have a civil right to a marriage recognized by the State of Colorado.  The truth is precisely the opposite.  You know something has gone terribly wrong with our reasoning about rights when the same state that forced Mullins and Craig to travel so far for their nuptials insists that Phillips had a legal obligation to bake a cake in celebration of the marriage it refused to recognize.

Because of the special powers they wield, including the power to decide who qualifies for the various legal benefits of marriage, governments have an obligation to treat people equally, without regard to sexual orientation.  A private citizen (like Phillips) has no such obligation unless legislators decide to impose one.  The government is saying the freedom of some must be sacrificed for the comfort of others.

It is not hard to understand why Mullins and Craig, especially given their state’s policy of discriminating against gay couples (back in 2012), were offended by Phillips’ refusal to bake them a wedding cake (back in 2012).  But Mullins and Craig’s response to use the coercive power of that same state to make Phillips violate his deeply held beliefs in the name of tolerance – turns the oppressed into the oppressors.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

It’s Your Choice: Gay Rights or God’s Righteousness?

I’ve said it many, many times.  Gay ‘marriage’ was never about gaining “equal access” to this biologically exclusive male-female institution (as the homosexuals profess); but, rather, it’s always been about control.

While there are many layers to yet unfold, the almost instant explosion in government-sanctioned, anti-Christian extremism on display following the Obergefell v. Hodges U.S. Supreme Court decision favoring same-sex ‘marriage,’ confirms the three-fold agenda that underlies the “social justice” mob’s flowery “marriage equality” propaganda:

1) the ultimate destruction of marriage,

2) forced affirmation of sexual deviancy under penalty of law, and

3) the eventual criminalization of Christianity.

Matt Barber, founder and editor-in-chief of BarbWire.com, goes on to clarify his points:

The Destruction of Marriage

The desired end-state is not to achieve so-called “marriage equality” but, rather, to render marriage reality meaningless.  Masha Gessen, a lesbian journalist, activist and author, expressly admitted this fact in a 2012 interview with ABC Radio: “It’s a no-brainer that [homosexuals] should have the right to marry,” she said.  “But I also think equally that it’s a no-brainer that the institution of marriage should not exist. … [F]ighting for gay marriage generally involves lying about what we are going to do with marriage when we get there – because we lie that the institution of marriage is not going to change, and that is a lie.”  Homosexual activist and pornographer Clinton Fein echoes Gessen’s candid sentiments: “Demand the institution [of marriage] and then wreck it,” he once wrote.  “James Dobson was right about our evil intentions,” he quipped.  “We just plan to be quicker than he thought.”  The goal is to water down marriage until marriage is pointless.  And as evidenced by the burgeoning legal push for polygamous and incestuous ‘marriages’ – even for the “right” to ‘marry’ a robot – sexual anarchists are well on their way to achieving this goal.

Forced Affirmation of Sexual Deviancy

I’ve previously posted about Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis [read blog August 17, 2015 – “A Christian Sues KY Gov for Religious Discrimination”].  Liberty Counsel has filed a request for a stay and an appeal of U.S. District Judge David Bunning’s opinion ordering Davis to issue same-sex ‘marriage’ licenses both in violation of her 1st Amendment right to the free exercise of religion and her Christian faith conviction that she must not participate in this explicitly sinful activity.  [Davis had been sued by the American Civil Liberties Union and two lesbian political activists.]  “The plaintiffs in this case only sought licenses from Ms. Davis after learning of her religious objections to same-sex ‘marriage,’ and they refuse to obtain a license elsewhere,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel.  “Just as Justice Alito predicted in his dissent in Obergefell, secularists are trying to ‘stamp out every vestige of dissent’ by targeting people of faith who do not agree with same-sex ‘marriage.’ ”  Judge Bunning wrote, “Davis remains free to practice her Apostolic Christian beliefs.  She may continue to attend church twice a week, participate in Bible study and minister to female inmates at the Rowan County Jail.  She is even free to believe that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, as many Americans do.  However, her religious convictions cannot excuse her from performing the duties that she took an oath to perform as Rowan County Clerk,” the ruling said.  Staver responded, “Judge Bunning’s decision equated Kim’s free exercise of religion to going to church.  This is absurd!  Christianity is not a robe you take off when you leave a sanctuary.  The First Amendment guarantees Kim and every American the free exercise of religion, even when they are working for the government.  Kim Davis did not sign up as a clerk to issue same-sex ‘marriage’ licenses.  Her job duty was changed by five lawyers without any constitutional authority.  At a minimum, her religious convictions should be accommodated,” concluded Staver.  Indeed, Davis’ oath as county clerk was to defend and protect the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of Kentucky.  As Chief Justice John Roberts rightly observed in his Obergefell dissent, the activist majority’s opinion actually hijacks the democratic process and is in no way rooted in the Constitution: “[D]o not celebrate the Constitution,” he said, “It had nothing to do with it.”  The fact is that if Ms. Davis were to issue counterfeit same-sex ‘marriage’ licenses, she would not only be disobeying God and directly participating in expressly sinful activity; she would be violating her constitutional oath.

The Criminalization of Christianity

To her credit, Ms. Davis is standing her ground while the decision is appealed. Predictably, many leftists are now clamoring for her imprisonment.  They want her held in contempt of court and thrown in jail for refusing to at once affirm homosexual sin and violate God’s commands.  This is the new pagan orthodoxy.  Meanwhile, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) reports on “a Colorado Court of Appeals decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Craig, regarding a cake artist [Jack Phillips] who declined to use his artistic abilities to promote and endorse their same-sex ceremony even though other cake artists were willing to do the job.”  ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco observed, “Americans are guaranteed the freedom to live and work consistent with their faith.  Government has a duty to protect people’s freedom to follow their beliefs personally and professionally rather than force them to adopt the government’s views.  Jack simply exercised the long-cherished American freedom to decline to use his artistic talents to promote a message with which he disagrees.  The court is wrong to deny Jack his fundamental freedoms.”  The court affirmed an earlier order wherein Phillips and his Christian staff were not only ordered to bake homosexual “wedding” cakes against their will, but were additionally forced into pro-homosexual “sensitivity” propaganda classes.  And if they refuse? … then they go to jail.  That’s how it works.  Christian free exercise isn’t out-lawed all at once.  Judges across America are simply ordering from the bench that millions of Christians, just like Kim Davis and Jack Phillips, must either deny recognition of God’s natural order and Christ’s admonition to “go and sin no more,” or face prison for “contempt of court.”

What has become of America? … where evil is good, men are women, judges are tyrants, and Christians are persona non grata.  There is no more in between.  It’s either God or man.  The anti-Christ left has thrown down the ‘gay marriage’ gauntlet.

Listen: “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. … But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

The question remains: Whom will you serve?  The Lord God waits your answer!

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Latest Planned ‘Murderhood’ Video Isn’t Much Different Than ISIS Beheading Videos

In the latest video installment from the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), Holly O’Donnell struggles to tamp down her emotions as she recalls her worst experience at Planned Parenthood (PP) while working as a procurement technician for StemExpress (SE).  O’Donnell recounts a day at the PP clinic in San Jose, CA, that will forever haunt her memory.  O’Donnell was training with another SE employee identified only as ‘Jessica’ when a baby boy was delivered intact.  The baby had been selected for organ harvesting.  O’Donnell remembers the incident clearly:

“So then I hear her call my name. ‘Hey, Holly!  Come over here.  I want you to see something kinda cool.  It’s kinda neat!’  So I’m over here and – the moment I see it I’m just flabbergasted ... And she’s like, ‘Okay, I want to show you something.’  So she has one of her instruments and she just taps the heart and it starts beating.  And I’m sitting here, and I’m looking at this fetus, and its heart is beating and I don’t know what to think ... It had a face.  It wasn’t completely torn up. And its nose was very pronounced.  It had eyelids and its mouth was pronounced.  And then, since the fetus was so intact, [Jessica] said, ‘Okay, this is a really good fetus and it looks like we can procure a lot from it.  We’re going to procure a brain.’”

O’Donnell then describes how ‘Jessica’ began the harvesting process by cutting through the lower jaw and into the face with scissors, then instructed O’Donnell to finish cutting through the face so she could extract the brain.  “I’m thinking, ‘No, I don’t want to do this,’” O’Donnell recalls.

“It’s hard to imagine how anyone could even give such an order and what kind of callous and depraved subculture must exist at Planned Parenthood that this kind of horrific atrocity could be remotely considered ‘cool’ or ‘neat,’” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue and Board member for the Center for Medical Policy.  “Kermit Gosnell is serving life in prison for cutting the backs of babies’ necks with scissors.  Now, at Planned Parenthood, live babies are murdered using scissors to harvest brains for ‘research’ – as if the ‘research’ part makes it all okay.  Well, it doesn’t.  Jessica and the rest of the abortion crew at Planned Parenthood should be in a prison cell right next to Gosnell!”

The CMP video shows incriminating clips of PP and SE officials telling of intact, sometimes live births and the illegal altering of abortion procedures for the purpose of organ harvesting.  “Today’s video is evidence that babies are being born alive during abortions at Planned Parenthood and then intentionally killed for their organs.  This is no less than cold-hearted, pre-meditated murder,” said Newman.  “Furthermore, there is evidence that Planned Parenthood abortionists alter procedures to ensure the organs can be harvested.  This is also a crime.  We call on authorities in San Jose, Houston, and everywhere else that Planned Parenthood is selling baby parts to immediately open murder investigations and swiftly bring those involved in killing born-alive babies to justice.”

Meanwhile, Holly O’Donnell left us with one final thought.  “It’s just really hard knowing that you’re the only person who’s ever going to hold that baby ... I think that it’s a wasted life, and it’s sad that so many people view it as a mistake,” O’Donnell said.  “You know, ’cuz it’s not.  I mean, life isn’t a mistake.  Getting pregnant – it can be an accident, but it’s not a mistake.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Growing Support to Relieve Christian Schools of Contraceptive Mandate

Presently, some 16-states, along with several religious groups, have filed ‘friend-of-the-court’ briefs at the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) supporting Houston Baptist University (HBU), East Texas Baptist University (ETBU), and Westminster Theological Seminary in their Health and Human Services (HHS) Mandate challenge.  Last month, these three religious groups appealed to the SCOTUS for relief from the government … which is forcing them to comply with the HHS Contraceptive Mandate in violation of their faith or pay millions in IRS fines.

“This strong show of support for HBU and ETBU demonstrates just how important it is that the SCOTUS address the impact of the HHS Mandate, particularly on religious groups,” said Diana Verm, Legal Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.  “It is especially significant that 16-state governments are supporting HBU and ETBU at the Supreme Court.”

In addition to the 16-state ‘amicus’ brief, other briefs are being filed by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Christian and Missionary Alliance Foundation, the Alliance Community for Retirement Living, Simpson University, Crown College, and the 181-member Council of Christian Colleges and Universities.  Today's strong support is an indication that the High Court is likely to decide in the upcoming term whether religious ministries, like religious for-profits, will receive protection from the Mandate.

In December 2013 a Houston federal court ruled in favor of the schools, yet in June 2015 the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied relief to HBU, ETBU, and Westminster.  Westminster is separately represented by Ken Wynne of Wynne & Wynne LLP in Houston.  Last month, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and former Solicitor General and leading SCOTUS advocate Paul Clement filed the cert petition on behalf of the three religious groups.

“The Supreme Court has already granted interim relief from the HHS Mandate to religious groups five times,” said Verm.  “The government has exempted thousands of businesses from the HHS Mandate, so why is it needlessly forcing religious institutions, nuns and homeless shelters to carry out its goals?  Isn’t that what its own exchanges are meant to do?”

The Becket Fund continues to lead the charge against the unconstitutional HHS Mandate, winning a landmark victory at the SCOTUS in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.  It currently represents the Little Sisters of the Poor, Mother Angelica’s Eternal Word Television Network, and Colorado Christian University, along with many other religious ministries.  Five other petitions challenging the HHS Mandate have already been filed at the SCOTUS and more are expected.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

A Christian Sues KY Gov for Religious Discrimination

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has sued Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear (Democrat) for targeting Davis and other religious county clerks for unconstitutional discrimination.  Liberty Counsel filed the lawsuit on behalf of Davis in the current federal court case brought against her by the American Civil Liberties Union … seeking to force her to issue marriage licenses in violation of her conscience and religious freedom rights.  “Governor Beshear is unlawfully picking and choosing the conscience-based exemptions to marriage that he deems acceptable,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel.

When Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway refused to defend Kentucky’s natural marriage laws after “pray[ing] over this decision,” Governor Beshear did not command that he perform his duties, but hired private attorneys to pursue the appeal.

Conversely, when the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled in favor of same-sex ‘marriages,’ Governor Beshear commanded religious clerks to comply with new Kentucky marriage policy regardless of their personal beliefs.  In a letter to Kim Davis and other county clerks, the Governor said, “Neither your oath nor the Supreme Court dictates what you must believe. But as elected officials, they do prescribe how we must act.”

“In no uncertain terms, Governor Beshear’s policies and directives are intended to suppress religion — even worse, a particular religious belief,” Liberty Counsel’s complaint points out.  “Thus, although Attorney General Conway was given a pass for his conscience about marriage without any threats of repercussion, clerks like Davis are being repeatedly told by their Governor to abandon their religiously informed beliefs or resign.”

“Simply put, Governor Beshear is making secularism a litmus test for holding office in Kentucky,” said Mat Staver.  “The governor is forcing clerks like Davis to choose between following the precepts of her religion and forfeiting her position, on the one hand, and abandoning one of the precepts of her religion in order to keep her position, on the other,” Staver concluded.

SCOTUS Justice Alito predicted in his dissent in the Obergefell [same-sex ‘marriage’ case], secularists are trying to “stamp out every vestige of dissent” by targeting people of faith who do not agree with same-sex ‘marriage.’

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

America’s Penalty for Moral Depravity

I think most people would agree that Americans have become so “non-judgmental” that many people can no longer tell the difference between good and evil.  Many think we are more sensitive and less prejudiced than past generations of Americans.  But as John Hawkins of Right Wing News and Linkiest recently wrote, “we don’t stop to consider how much more there is to morality than that.  An America that isn’t full of good people won’t remain a good nation, nor will it remain strong and free over the long haul. Our country’s lack of morality has real consequences that are capable of eventually sinking us as a nation.”

Hawkins, writing for Townhall.com, says there are five consequences of America’s Moral Collapse:

1) The Collapse of Marriage

There used to be quite a bit of social stigma attached to getting a divorce or having a child out of wedlock.  That’s no longer true and consequences for society have been horrific.  Although there is some dispute about the numbers, roughly 40% of marriages now end in divorce and half of all children born to women under 30 in America now are illegitimate.  Three in 10 white children are born out of wedlock, as are 53% of Hispanic babies and 73% of black babies.  Why is this important? … because children raised without a mother AND a father are statistically worse off in just about every area imaginable.  Various studies have come up with slightly different numbers, but all the figures are grim.  According to the Index of Leading Cultural Indicators, children from single-parent families account for 63% of all youth suicides; 70% of all teenage pregnancies; 71% of all adolescent chemical/substance abuse; 80% of all prison inmates; and 90% of all homeless and runaway children.  Instead of trying to reverse the crippling damage being done to our country by the collapse of Biblically established marriage, we’ve chosen to degrade it even further by allowing same sex unions … soon to be followed by polygamous unions that will degrade the institution ever further.  If it’s true that marriage is the bedrock of society, then our nation’s house is built on sand.

2) Crime

Despite the fact that China and India have populations four times our size, it’s stunning that America has the largest prison population on Earth.  Not coincidentally, America’s once sky-high crime rate dropped as massive numbers of criminals were locked away.  Bizarrely, many people talk about crime as if it’s divorced from morality.  We hear about a supposed “rape culture,” school shootings, the “Knockout Game,” child abuse, etc., etc., etc. without making the obvious connection to morals.  Good kids aren’t raping anybody, assaulting strangers to prove they’re tough or shooting up movie theaters (unless they’re mentally ill).  Kids who are taught about good and evil, right and wrong, patriotism, chivalry and honor are going to make mistakes.  A few of them will even turn out to be bad apples.  However, full though our prisons may be, they are not full of God-fearing men.  They’re full of people who are morally adrift.

3) Poor Government

America seems to be becoming progressively less governable and there are many reasons for that.  Government has become too big to effectively manage; both parties have moved away from the center; gerrymandering has decreased the power of voters and increased the power of special interest groups; and we could go on and on.  Despite the fact that it’s seldom discussed, one of the biggest factors is the dishonesty of our own politicians.  How does that play a role?  Well, it’s impossible to cut any kind of meaningful long-term deal on taxes, spending, immigration or any other big issue … because neither party can be trusted to stick to a deal. Politicians lie to the voters, they lie to the other party and they even lie to their colleagues on the same side of the aisle.  It’s extraordinarily difficult to govern a nation without long term planning.  How do you plan for the future when no politician’s word means anything?

4) Dependence

Americans have traditionally been some of the most self-reliant people on the face of the earth.  People used to be ashamed to be ‘on the dole’ … even if they felt like they had no other choice.  Judging by the numbers we see today, that’s no longer true.  More than 1/3 of the population, 109-million Americans, are on welfare.  That’s more people than there are in the four most populous states in America (California, Texas, New York and Florida) COMBINED.  More than 45-million Americans are receiving food stamps. Nearly 11-million Americans, a number larger than the population of Greece, are on disability.  Does anyone care how many of these people are legitimately having hard times and need a little temporary assistance to get back on their feet versus how many are parasites who are looting the system?  It certainly doesn’t seem like it.  There doesn’t seem to be a lot of people who even feel bad about being on the dole either.  In fact, it’s probably more of a social gaffe to suggest that people should feel bad about living off other people’s labor than it is to sponge off the taxpayers without regret.  That’s why it’s not just an economic problem – It’s a moral problem … and it’s one that is likely to get larger as a smaller and smaller share of workers are asked to shoulder the load for people who don’t work for a living.

5) Lack of Civility and Manners

Founding Father, Samuel Adams, once said, “A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy.  While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.”  Between the anonymity of the Internet, the crudity of much of modern music and TV … along with our bad habit of rewarding every reality show star and jackass with 15-minutes of fame – as long as they’re willing to go to any lengths to catch our attention … we’ve become a crass, rude and obnoxious culture.  We live in a country that often rewards sarcasm instead of wisdom; rudeness instead of insight; and the squeaky wheel instead of the farsighted patriot.  You’re more likely to get your way in America if you claim to be angry, offended or can just make enough noise on social media than if you’re plain old right.  How well is that working out for our country?

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

More Videos Exposing Planned ‘Murderhood’

The California Superior Court has issued a narrow temporary restraining order preventing the pro-life group – Center for Medical Progress (CMP) – from releasing further undercover video footage taken of three top-level staff of StemExpress (SE).  The series of 3-videos released over the month exposed the alleged harvesting and sale of body parts from aborted babies by Planned Parenthood (PP) — body parts purchased by SE … which violate federal law prohibiting the sale and trafficking of human tissue.

While PP has claimed that the fees paid to them by SE merely cover their costs, and fall within the bounds of the law, the video footage released (so far) has appeared to show PP employees seeking profit as part of the transaction.  In the most recent video, a PP affiliate vice president was caught on video describing how the abortion organization can maximize profit.  “I think a per-item thing works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it,” Dr. Savita Sinde said of the aborted baby.

The Associated Press, which broke the news about the court order, reports that the undercover videos of the SE staff were filmed at a restaurant in May.

It is unclear just how significant an impact the court order will have on the release of subsequent videos in the series.  David Daleiden, the lead researcher with CMP, has said that at least nine more videos are slated for release.

The restraining order reportedly only pertains to the footage of the SE employees – meaning that any other footage, including that featuring PP employees, can still be released as planned.

In an exclusive comment to LifeSiteNews after the release of the court order, Daleiden said that, at the end of the day, what happened in the courtroom may actually be a victory for the pro-life group.  “The ruling is very narrow, concerning only one specific meeting, and it is temporary and contingent pending further litigation,” he said.  “The judge actually threw out completely the part of StemExpress' case where they were asking to suppress the documents on their baby parts sales.  It was a much better day for us than it was for them and Planned Parenthood.”

In a statement released after the ruling, SE stated that they sought the restraining order “on the grounds that CMP and Daleiden violated California’s anti-wiretapping law under Penal Code § 632 (Invasion of Privacy Act).”  The spokesman for SE said, “We will continue to pursue all available legal remedies against CMP and Daleiden.”  However, Daleiden told LifeSiteNews that SEs’ complaints are groundless.  “The recordings in California complied with the California law,” he said.  “The California law only applies to ‘confidential communications’ and does not include conversations held in public that anyone can overhear.  There is significant case law on this point as well.”

In a separate statement released after the court ruling, CMP accused SE of using “meritless litigation” to “cover-up this illegal baby parts trade, suppress free speech, and silence the citizen press reporting on issues of burning concern to the American public.”

The AP reports that the restraining order will remain in place until a hearing on August 19.

The videos released by CMP to date have amassed millions of views, and have been featured in countless media nationally and internationally.  Perhaps even more striking than the footage appearing to demonstrate that PP is profiting from the sale of the aborted baby body parts, has been the footage showing the cavalier manner in which the PP employees have spoken about the aborted babies.

In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Fr. Frank Pavone (one of the pro-life leaders behind the release of the video series) said, “When an abortionist dehumanizes the baby that he or she is about to kill, the abortionist also dehumanizes himself.  And this is what we are seeing in these people.  We see it in Deborah Nucatola sipping the wine and eating the salad and talking about the body parts.”  Pavone said one of the main objectives of the video series was to humanize the unborn baby.  “When people see and hear terms like eyes, livers, hearts it’s like – What are we talking about here?  This is ghoulish disgusting activity.”

Since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Decision in 1973, many of us have known there is blood on the hands of PP.  Now, thank God, they have been caught ‘red-handed.’  For years, the media has kept the American people from seeing the brutality of abortion.  Maybe, just maybe, this nation will come to recognize that our tax-dollars is blood money in the hands of barbaric Planned ‘Murderhood’!  This is not a war on women’s healthcare, but a rescue of innocent lives.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Woman’s Healthcare Needs Unmet by Planned ‘Murderhood’

We’ve all heard it: Planned Parenthood (PP) is providing for women’s healthcare needs.  To be opposed to PP and defunding it’s more than $500-million in annual taxpayer money would hurt women’s healthcare!  Really?!  Did you know the PP does not even provide one of the most essential health services for women— mammograms?

U.S. Sen. James Lankford (OK-R), co-author of the recent bill to defund PP, told CBN News that no PP facilities are licensed to do mammograms.  “Planned Parenthood talks about mammograms all the time; that they actually refer people to mammograms, but they don’t do any.  None of their facilities actually are licensed to do mammograms,” Lankford said.

That’s also being confirmed by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). ADF points out there are more than 8,000-licensed mammogram facilities in America, but none of them belong to PP.  ADF tweeted: “Zero facilities are licensed to do mammograms.  PP, women don’t need you!  DefundPP.”

Lankford told CBN that Republicans are not trying to cut money for women’s health; they’re just trying to send it to groups that actually do provide healthcare.  “We want to be very, very careful with this because there has been the argument that Planned Parenthood is all about women’s health. Planned Parenthood is actually the single largest provider of abortion in the entire country,” Lankford explained.  “They’re the largest abortion provider, but they’ll also say ‘we do things like referrals to women’s health,’ ” he continued.  “Now they don’t actually do the women’s health; they refer them to another clinic.”  Lankford went on to ask, “Why would we have money go to the group that refers?  Why don’t we send it to the actual caretakers? …Why don’t we send the money to the place that actually does the mammograms, the actual entity, [rather than] this clinic that’s just referring? – when really they’re an abortion clinic more than anything else.”  Lankford concluded by saying that Republicans have other bills aimed at decreasing abortions coming up in the fall as well, including a bill that targets partial-birth abortion.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Pastor Prays – School Pays – Atheists Prevail

The Rankin County School District (RCSD) in Mississippi received a $7,500 fine for allowing a prayer and permitting Bibles to be handed out on campus by local Methodist pastor Rev. Rob Gill at Brandon High School.

It wasn’t long after Gill began a districtwide honors assembly with a prayer (invocation) that the U.S. Federal District Court ruled against the RCSD – issuing it a fine for allegedly violating a 2013 court settlement ordering the district to stop “proselytizing Christianity.”

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves reminded the district that it is a repeat offender.  He is the same judge who previously banned Bibles from being distributed on all RCSD campuses.  This marks the second time he has ordered the district to cease from permitting prayer at school events.  “The district’s breach did not take very long and it occurred in a very bold way,” Reeves stated in his judgement, according to the Christian Post.  “Its conduct displays that the district did not make any effort to adhere to the agreed judgment.”

Reeves’ reproach for biblical influences in the school was emphasized in his summary, where he accused RCSD officials of attempting to indoctrinate students with Christianity through prayer.  “It deliberately went out of its way to entangle Christian indoctrination in the education process,” the district judge argued in his ruling.  “From the accounts detailed in the record, it appears that incorporating religious script and prayers with school activities has been a long-standing tradition of the district.”

The atheist group, American Humanist Association (AHA), filed the lawsuit on behalf of a student who reportedly did not attend the high school where the prayer was made.  Furthermore, the assembly was not mandatory for any students to attend.  The event was designed for all students in the school district who received higher than 22 on their ACT college test scores.

Judge Reeves ordered RCSD to pay the student $2,500 for having to listen to the invocation.  And Reeves’ penalization of the school didn’t stop there … as the suit brought to attention another RCSD “violation” that took place last year.  “The school district was additionally ordered to pay the student $5,000 because the lawsuit exposed that the school district allowed Gideons International to hand out Bibles to 5th graders at nearby Northwest Rankin Elementary School in October 2014,” explained Christian Post reporter Samuel Smith.  In addition to the two fines and courts costs, Reeves warned the district that he would issue stiffer penalties if it does not cease Christian influences from appearing on its campuses.  “Along with the $7,500 in fines, the school district will also have to pay the student’s legal fees, an amount that will be determined at a later date,” Smith continued.  “Reeves also threatened the school district with a $10,000 fine for any future infractions of the order.”

Despite arguments from RCSD attorneys contending that Gill’s prayers were not in violation of the student’s 1st Amendment rights — or the court’s orders from 2013 — because attendance was not compulsory, Judge Reeves did not acknowledge the optional nature of the event as working toward the district’s favor.

Despite Reeve’s ruling for the student and the atheist organization, RCSD Superintendent Lynn Weathersby issued a statement through school board attorney Fred Harrell that students and teachers will not cease praying. Harrell did relay, however, that RCSD staff will need to make adjustments in order to comply with Reeve’s latest decision against the district.  “As long as there is testing in schools, we believe that teachers, principals and students will continue to pray,” Weathersby announced in her statement. “That being said, the school district will certainly abide by the order of any court to the best of its ability and will take whatever action necessary to make sure that all principals and teachers are updated on the current status of the law and that order.”

Friend: Don’t think for a minute that this judgment is about the so-called ‘separation of church and state.’  If that were even a Constitutional truth [which it is not], this judge is ruling exclusively in mandatory favor of secular humanism … the religion of atheism.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Kenya Church Takes the High Moral Ground in Obama’s Gay Rights Agenda

The other week, President Obama visited East Africa – his father’s ancestral homeland … and there made the case for gay rights. Oops! that backfired!  Some pastors in socially conservative Kenya, along with the country’s president, voiced their objection to Obama’s remarks.  Kenyatta responded that although the U.S. and Kenya shared many common values and goals, gay rights was not one of them.

"The fact of the matter is Kenya and the U.S. share so many values: common love for democracy, entrepreneurship, value for families—these are some things that we share,” said Kenyatta, “but there are some things that we must admit we don’t share.  Our culture, our societies don’t accept.”  Kenyatta added that his country wanted “to focus on other areas.  It is very difficult for us to be able to impose on people that which they themselves do not accept,” Kenyatta said.  “This is why I repeatedly say for Kenyans today the (gay rights issue) is generally a non-issue.”

According to Dr. Thomas Williams of Breitbart, a series of African bishops and other religious leaders reminded Obama that the Church’s stance against homosexual acts will not change.  One of those objectors included Cardinal John Onaiyekan (Archbishop of Abuja Diocese in Nigeria).  “Unfortunately, we are living in a world where these things have now become quite acceptable; but for the fact that they are acceptable doesn’t mean that they are right,” said Onaiyekan.  Onaiyekan acknowledged that while public opinion may be trending toward accepting acts of homosexuality, he argued that public opinion and morality are not the same.  “The Catholic Church considers itself as carrying the banner of the truth in the world that has allowed itself to be so badly deceived.”

According to Breitbart, 700-Kenyan evangelical pastors wrote an open letter before Obama’s visit to Kenya, urging him not to push the LGBT agenda in their country.  Mark Kariuki, who represents an alliance of 38,000-churches and 10-million Kenyan Christians, mainly drafted the letter.  “We do not want him to come and talk on homosexuality in Kenya or push us to accepting that which is against our faith and culture,” Kariuki said, adding that while he welcomed Obama’s visit, he was not interested in “the gay talk.”

Williams reported that Obama’s views on gay rights have even riled some black Christians in the United States.  One of them included Rev. William Owens of the Coalition of African American Pastors, who argued that homosexuals have never been enslaved or oppressed.  “I marched with many people back in those days and I have reached out to some of my friends who marched with me, and all of them are shocked,” Owens said. “They never thought they would see this day that gay rights would be equated with civil rights.  Not one agreed with this comparison.”  Owens contended in fiery remarks that the president was “a disgrace to the black community” for drawing the comparison.  “He is rewriting history.  We didn’t suffer and die for gay marriage,” Owens said.  “We marched for opportunity, equality, justice, freedom from oppression.  We are the true heirs of the civil rights movement.  We have a new movement to reclaim the ‘real’ civil rights movement.”

CNN reported that besides talking about gay rights, both Obama and Kenyatta addressed Kenya’s economy, the fight against terrorism, and Obama’s personal connection to the country of his father’s birth.  Obama delivered remarks at an indoor stadium in Nairobi where he told Kenya that the U.S. was ready to work more closely in the battle against Somalia’s Islamist group al Shabaab, but chided his host on gay rights and said no African state should discriminate over sexuality.  “When you start treating people differently not because of any harm they are doing to anybody, but because they are different, that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode,” Obama said.  “And bad things happen.”  CNN reported that any sexual activity between men is illegal under Kenyan law, which is punishable by up to 14-years in prison.

While many Kenyan leaders warned Obama not to bring up the issue of gay rights, the president argued that legalized discrimination of gays was similar to racial discrimination in the United States.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel