Middleton Moms vs. School Administrators Over ‘Jesus Lunch’

Middleton, Wisconsin, is in the middle of a religious liberty stand-off.  On one side is a group of Christian moms armed with Chick-fil-A sandwiches and 400 homemade brownies. On the other side are public school administrators who believe that Jesus and plump juicy chicken breasts are “divisive.”

The controversy surrounds an off-campus lunch event involving students at Middleton High School known as “Jesus Lunch.”  The high school allows students to eat lunch off-campus.  In 2014, a small group of parents began meeting with their children in a nearby park … providing home-cooked meals along with a Christian-themed, inspirational message.  The small weekly gatherings in the fall and spring eventually morphed into a popular gathering spot for hungry kids — with nearly 500 turning out for all sorts of goodies — ranging from Chick-fil-A sandwiches and fresh fruit to hundreds of homemade brownies.

“We show up every week just to show the love of Jesus,” parent Beth Williams told Todd Starnes of Breaking Christian News.  “Our mission statement for ‘Jesus Lunch’ is food for the body, nutrition for the soul.”

Superintendent Donald Johnson and Principal Stephen Plank called the off-campus religious gatherings “divisive” and they want the weekly non-denominational meetings shut down.  “We believe that religious or political events do not have a place in our school or on our campus, except when sponsored by a student group in accordance with our rules, which require prior approval,” the two wrote in an e-mail sent to parents on April 12th.

The district accused the moms of violating all sorts of rules … especially in the area of food preparation.  They implied the parents are putting their children in danger by hosting the weekly picnics.  “The policies in question include food handling, visitors to campus, and expectations around student organized events,” the administrators wrote.  “We are in no way interested in opposing religious practice in otherwise legal circumstances.”  The district said parents are ignoring ‘food handling standards.’  “Food of any kind that is served to students must be approved by the school/district to ensure food safety, cleanliness and health,” they wrote.  “In addition, many students are subject to food allergies, so additional protocols must be followed to safeguard students with these conditions.”

“These are mothers,” attorney Phillip Stamman told Starnes.  “They are spending all their time and effort to show love for these kids and now they are being attacked by a superintendent and principal — trying to intimidate them.”  [Stamman is representing the moms as they figure out how to respond to the school district’s hostility towards home-cooking and Jesus.]  “The [school district] is going after them because they are spreading a religious message,” Stamman says.  “They are upset because they are sharing Christianity.”

Question: What if it had been a gathering of gay students protected under “non-discrimination laws?”  I suspect the district would not only have approved the gathering — but also endorsed it.

Their argument over the safety of the food is inconsistent because the district doesn’t seem to have a problem with kids going to McDonalds or Taco Bell.  So why are they so bothered by youngsters gathering off campus in a public park?

Well, the district is arguing that the public park is technically off campus.  They have a lease agreement with the city that allows them to use the park during school hours.  So the district contends the moms and their offspring are technically on school property.  “The parents contend that it is their First Amendment Right to provide free food and hold a religiously oriented event on this property during school hours,” the administrators wrote. “The District believes that we have jurisdiction of this leased property, which is part of our campus.”

The moms believe that even though there is a lease agreement, that doesn’t make the public space off-limits.  “Fireman’s Park — a public park owned by the City of Middleton — remains accessible to everyone in the public for the purposes of assembly and free speech,” they wrote in a statement.  “By law, the lease agreement between the city and the School District of Middleton does not privatize the park.  The City of Middleton has sent us a letter this week and acknowledged our rental agreement of the pavilion at Fireman’s Park.”

So hence, the standoff — between the good-hearted moms and a bunch of public school administrative bullies who don’t understand the concept of free speech or religious liberty.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Panel Proves Planned Parenthood Profited

The U.S. House Select Panel on Infant Lives, a committee spearheaded by Rep. Martha Blackburn (TN-R), released a shocking report last week that confirms … what many of us suspected all along … that the Center for Medical Progress’ (CMP) investigative findings into Planned Parenthood (PP) were true; that PP (a pro-abortion non-profit organization) is profiting from fetal tissue procurement.

According to Republicans involved in the investigation, a researcher paid a middleman procurement company $3,340 for a fetal brain, $595 for a “baby skull matched to upper and lower limbs,” and $890 for “upper and lower limbs with hands and feet.”

Despite the evidence, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (NH-D) appeared to testify during last Wednesday’s hearing on the report to demand the panel’s disbandment.  “This panel was formed with political motivations,” Shaheen insisted.  Blackburn and her fellow panelists have “little interest in unbiased investigation” and are only using the committee as an opportunity to attack health care providers, she continued.  The senator wasn’t quite done, accusing the panel of “undermining women’s access to health care” and being an “inappropriate, misuse of federal resources.”

That’s funny (not really)!  If Shaheen wants to discuss a misappropriation of federal funds, let’s discuss PP.  The organization receives a half billion dollars a year and then proceeds to perform over 300,000 abortions annually.

As for that CMP investigation, Shaheen adamantly believes they relied on “deceptive, highly edited videos” to smear PP.

Sen. Ben Sasse (NE-R) followed Shaheen’s testimony and exposed her faulty accusations.  The evidence shows PP is profiting from the sale of fetal tissue and that “matters.”  He said. “We’re talking about people.  It matters because we’re talking about the tiny limbs of little babies.”  On fetal procurement websites, Sasse explained, interested parties can find just about every baby organ for sale.  “Our humanity should be repulsed,” he said.  “Here on this, we can and should agree: Babies are not the sum of their body parts,” he concluded.  “They’re meant to be welcomed and nurtured.”

Lawmakers know that the first step to stopping PP’s dangerous agenda is to strip its funding.  Thankfully, the Government Accountability Office has accepted a request to investigate how taxpayer dollars are distributed to the organization.

The CMP’s David Daleiden responded to the hearing.  Here’s his full statement:

“What we learned from today’s hearing is that Planned Parenthood and their business partners like StemExpress are engaged in a rampant, illegal, and horrific enterprise that harvests, trafficks, and sells aborted babies’ hearts, lungs, and brains for profit.  The undercover video admissions by senior level Planned Parenthood officials only scratch the surface of this barbaric trade — the financial documents uncovered by the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives prove that Planned Parenthood profited from trafficking fetal organs and tissues.  We now know the criminal trade in body parts is spread nationwide throughout the abortion industry, with nearly 1-in-5 abortion clinics selling baby parts to StemExpress. Even the pro-Planned Parenthood witnesses called by the Panel minority agreed that a robust investigation should seek testimony and accounting documents from Planned Parenthood.  We applaud the Select Investigative Panel for their excellent work on this important issue and encourage all levels of government and law enforcement to move forward quickly and decisively to ensure that those who sell aborted baby parts for profit are brought to justice under the law.”

Let me close with this obscure warning in Proverbs: “If you refrain to deliver those who are drawn unto death, and those who are ready to be slain; if you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ does not He [God] who ponders the heart consider it?  And He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?  And will He not render to every man according to his works?” (Proverbs 24:11-12)

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Win … Bigger Than Any Primary

Do you remember all the unfavorable media attention that was given to Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who made national headlines (last summer) after refusing to issue marriage licenses over her opposition to same-sex ‘marriage’?  Well, as Paul Harvey use to say – “And now you know the rest of the story.”

With little fanfare, and barely a mention, KY Governor Matt Bevin (Republican) has signed into law a bill that transforms the state’s marriage license form and removes the requirement that county clerks must sign or affix their official seal to them.  He called it a “statutory finality” to the issue of marriage licenses in his state.  “We now have a single form that accommodates all concerns,” Gov. Bevin told the media after it was announced the bill had been signed into law.  “Everyone benefits from this common sense legislation. There is no additional cost or work required by our county clerks.  They are now able to fully follow the law without being forced to compromise their religious liberty.”

That was all Davis had been asking for when she refused to comply with a court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  She was jailed for 5-days for contempt of court; but released after some of her deputies agreed to issue the licenses in her stead.

The bill that Bevin signed into law passed through both chambers of the KY legislature unanimously.  Davis has not personally responded to the news, but Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel (who represented her in her court case) issued the following statement: “The First Amendment guarantees Kim and every American the free exercise of religion, even when they are working for the government.  County clerks should not be forced to license something that is prohibited by their religious convictions.  To provide a license is to provide approval and places a legal authority behind the signature. We celebrate this legislative victory.  County clerks are now able to fully follow the law without being forced to compromise their religious liberty.”

Kim Davis won in the end.  Isn’t it funny how this outcome got little-to-no media attention.  Well, if Paul Harvey were still alive he would have said – “And now you know the rest of the story.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

“We Are From the Gov’t … Here to Help You!”

The Obama Administration is throwing the weight of the federal government against conservative causes, say right-wing activists.  Using the IRS to target conservative groups - an accusation that was first denied then admitted as a “mistake” - was only the tip of the iceberg.  In the wake of Charlotte, NC voting to protect women and girls in their bathrooms and locker rooms, no fewer than 5-federal agencies are threatening to withhold federal funds from the state.  That includes the Departments of Education and Transportation.

In the latest incident, CA Attorney General Kamala Harris ordered a raid last week on the home of pro-life activist David Deleiden of the Center for Medical Progress … who has become an enemy of abortion supporters after his videos of Planned Parenthood (PP) officials selling body parts caused an uproar nationwide.  [The Washington Post reported the video footage in question was of two Planned Parenthood officials, Dr. Deb Nucatola and Dr. Mary Gatter, secretly recorded talking about “less crunchy techniques” for obtaining intact fetal tissue.]

Daleiden is already facing questionable criminal charges in TX for altering his driver’s license to hide his identity from PP.  The irony of Daleiden being an alleged criminal is that his purpose was to gather evidence that PP is profiting from selling aborted baby organs and body parts to medical researchers – a practice that is a federal crime.  

Brad Dacus of Pacific Justice Institute says he hardly recognizes what country he lives in any more, describing the “overt public tyranny” in action.  “Whether it’s President Obama using the Department of Education to intimidate public schools, because they want to have separate restrooms for boys and girls; or California Attorney General Kamala Harris busting down the door of a journalist for doing his job and investigating Planned Parenthood atrocities,” says Dacus. 

OneNewsNow has reported on political pressure from the Department of Education to force public schools to recognize “rights” for transgender students or face lawsuits and a loss of federal funding.  Dacus says he expects as much from liberal attack groups.  “It’s one thing for the pro-abortion lobby to be doing their dirty work with regard to legislators and putting pressure,” Dacus says.  “It’s another thing when you have the state attorney general, Kamala Harris, using their public authority and pressure to intimidate.” 

Responding to the Daleiden raid, pro-life activist Lila Rose of Live Action called the raid an “unbelievable travesty of justice.”  Rose also points out that Harris has a petition on her U.S. Senate campaign website to collect signatures to defend Planned Parenthood.  “It is very clear, it is very obvious (Harris) is the handyman for Planned Parenthood and the very extreme pro-abortion agenda,” says Dacus.

Regardless of your personal position on marketing aborted baby parts or providing bathrooms for transgender youth, do you really think it is appropriate for officials of the government (… of ‘we the people’) to choose sides with such emotionally charged issues?  If so, get ready – you may be next!

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Bibles Removed From ‘Missing Man’ Tables

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, you read of something lower than whale crap!  I’m referring to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) headed up by the same Mikey Weinstein who previously had the Bible removed from a display at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.  “This is not persecution or victimization of Christianity,” Weinstein told the Air Force Times.  “This is simply an example where the Air Force should have a policy that makes it absolutely clear that nobody’s religious affiliation is on (exclusive) display.”  A base spokesperson confirmed to the newspaper that the Bible had been stripped from the display.

With that ‘victory’ MRFF has waged a campaign to have Bibles removed from “Missing Man” displays located on federal property.  They claim the inclusion of the Bible is a violation of federal law.  To date, 3-VA medical clinics and 1-Air Force base have complied with the MRFF’s demands to cleanse the displays of the Bible.

According to Todd Starnes of FoxNews, several conservative organizations are preparing to fight back against the MRFF, including: Family Research Council, American Family Association, First Liberty Institute, Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, Center for Military Readiness, Freedom Alliance, Liberty Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom, Freedom X, Judicial Watch, LION Associates, Military-Veterans Advocacy, Stand Up America US and the International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers.  Representative of these organizations wrote (in part) to Robert McDonald, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs: “The removal of the Bible not only violates the integrity of these displays, but insults those returned POWs who gained daily strength from their faith in the prisons of our enemies,” they wrote.  “When a governmental agency such as the VA removes any part of the display, it is a grave insult to the nation’s veterans who often gather together to honor those who have not returned, while also interfering with the message being expressed.”

“There is definitely an all-out assault on the Christian faith within our military today,” said Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William Boykin, Executive Vice President of the Family Research Council … and one of the signers.  Boykin accused the VA of having a “knee-jerk” reaction to MRFF.  “It’s a sad situation that a guy would actually try to destroy the traditions of our military and the basic values of our country,” he told Starnes.

The Missing Man Table was established during the Vietnam era.  It was a solemn reminder of those who were Prisoners of War (POWs) or Missing in Action (MIAs).  The tables are typically displayed on military bases and VA clinics – and they are steeped in tradition.  There are empty chairs for each of the five services, a red rose, an inverted glass, a yellow ribbon, salt sprinkled on a plate, a lemon slice, a candle – and a Bible.  “The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain us and those lost from our country, founded as one nation under God,” reads the official ceremony script. 

One can only hope and pray that Sec. McDonald follows the wise counsel of conservative leaders like Lt. Gen. Boykin and the words of people like Ann Mills-Griffiths, the Chairman of the Board for the National League of POW/MIA Families.  [Her brother, Commander James B. Mills, disappeared somewhere over North Vietnam on Sept. 21, 1966.  The 26-year-old naval aviator remains classified as missing in action.]  “The Bible kept many of our POWs alive and sustained their families through decades of uncertainty,” she told Starnes.  “The Bible has always been a part of the tradition.  Until now – no one has ever suggested the Bible should be removed from the table.”

On the POW/MIA flag it states: “You Are Not Forgotten.”  Let us not forget shameful people (Weinstein) and organizations (MRFF) who have declared war on such revered military traditions. 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Battlefront for Religious Freedom

Georgia’s Governor Nathan Deal (Republican) recently vetoed H.B. 757 – the Georgia Religious Liberty Bill.  The governor warned that he would veto any legislation that “allows discrimination in our state in order to protect people of faith.”  He went on to tell fellow Republicans, who shepherded the bill, that they should “recognize that the world is changing around us.”

Gov. Deal wasn’t alone in issuing warnings about the bill.  Large corporations with a presence in the state threatened to pull operations out of Georgia if the bill passed. [Perhaps this economic threat was more on Deal’s mind than our changing world.]

This was somewhat deja vu from an attempt in Indiana last year to pass a similar, but tougher, religious liberty bill.  The Indiana legislation was more far-reaching … because it included protections for all businesses.  The Georgia bill focused just on faith-based organizations.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence (Republican) also backed down, weakening key provisions of the Indiana law as result of pressure from businesses in his state.

These state religious liberty laws are spinoffs from the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which was signed into law by President Clinton in 1993.  The thrust of the law is to assure that government action does not unreasonably impede private citizens from practicing their faith.

The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) found that RFRA could only apply to actions by the federal government; so states must address state religious freedom individually.

As government has become increasingly aggressive and expansive in its actions on matters such as abortion, birth control and gay rights, there has been increasing concern on the part of Christian Americans to protect themselves in the workplace from forced government participation in practices that violate their religious convictions.  These concerns became more acute when SCOTUS legalized same-sex marriage in June 2015.

The tension is this: God-fearing Christians don’t want to be forced by government, in their hiring and in their religious and business practices, to be involved with what violates core principles of their faith.  On the other hand, those supporting gay marriage, for instance, claim refusal to provide religious and business services to these couples amounts to discrimination.

Maybe it’s time to recall what freedom is supposed to be about; and what it means to enhance rather than impede living in a free country.

According to the 14th Amendment, “… nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”  Our Constitution exists to protect individual freedom and define and limit the role of government.  It does not exist to use government power to force the set of values of one private citizen on other.

Gov. Deal is right that today “the world is changing.”  But he has drawn the wrong conclusion.  The fact that today many citizens embrace values that our parents and grandparents never would have dreamed of means we should be even more vigilant now in protecting individual freedom and religious liberty.  Government power should be used to ensure that citizens can follow their own consciences in conducting their religious and business affairs on their own private property.

We should also think about why things have changed so much.  A major reason is the monopoly of public schools teaching left-wing values to our children.  How can we expect a free country when there is little freedom regarding what is conveyed to young minds?  According to the Friedman Foundation, there are now almost 400,000-students in school choice programs nationwide, up from almost none 20-years ago.

I’ll yield to Gov. Deal’s reminder that “the world is changing” and challenge him with this: In a country where our values and sense of morality has become as diverse as they are today, why have a government monopoly on education?  We need school choice nationwide … just for starters.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Court Rules for Religious Liberty

A federal court has dismissed the case American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) v. Trinity Health Corporation (THC), which sought to force Catholic hospitals and staff members to perform abortions regardless of their religious beliefs or personal objections to the procedure.

The suit was filed by the ACLU in October of 2015.  [THC is one of the largest Catholic hospital systems in the country.]

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, in its dismissal order in ACLU v. THC called the ACLU’s claims of harm from the hospital system’s pro-life position “dubious” … explaining that they haven’t satisfied the legal requirements to demonstrate such harm and therefore bring a lawsuit.

The court additionally found that, for those reasons and others, the lawsuit is not “ripe for review” … meaning that nothing has happened to warrant court action: “Obviously, pregnancy alone is not a ‘particular condition’ that requires the termination of said pregnancy.  To find the claim to be ripe for review on the facts pleaded before this Court would be to grant a cause of action to every pregnant woman in the state of Michigan upon the date of conception.  Accordingly, the alleged harm has not risen beyond a speculative nature and is not ripe for review.”

Praise the Lord for a wise decision by the court.  Conscience rights need to be protected, and Catholic hospitals have a right to not be forced to violate their beliefs.  For that matter, so do wedding cake bakers and photographers; bed and breakfast owners; and clergy who will not officiate over same-sex marriages.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

If Your School Allows ‘Day of Silence’ - Keep Your Child Home this Friday

This Friday (April 15), high schools (and many middle schools) across the U.S. will be hosting the LGBT movement’s annual “Day of Silence” (DOS) as championed by the New York City based Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN). [http://www.dayofsilence.org/]

During this all-day event, student activists and even school officials will encourage students to be silent for the entire day as a sign of solidarity with the international LGBT movement.  Students are encouraged to wear special pro-homosexual badges, stickers, and bracelets - which are often handed out at the school entrances that day.  There are also pro-LGBT posters in the hallways, handouts, and even workshops.

Although the adult activists claim that DOS is put together by “students,” it is (in fact) organized behind the scenes by adults with the cooperation of school officials.  They are encouraged to use materials and instructions from GLSEN.

Question: Do you think this is the proper role of government-subsidized schools?  Should LGBT activists be able to hijack classrooms for their agenda?  Are these not the same schools that outlawed a ‘moment of silence’ (previously known as prayer) yet will sanction a “day of silence”?

Parents & Grandparents: TAKE ACTION –

1. Call your local schools and ask whether they permit students or teachers to remain silent in the classroom on “Day of Silence.”  [Do not ask any administrator, school board member, or teacher if the school sponsors, endorses, or supports DOS. Schools do not technically sponsor the Day of Silence.   Technically, it is students - often students in the gay-straight alliance - who sponsor it.  Many administrators will tell you that they do not sponsor the DOS when, in fact, they do permit students and sometimes even teachers to remain silent during instructional time.]  Also ask administrators whether they permit teachers to create lesson plans to accommodate student silence.

2. Find out what date the event is planned for your school and warn other parents.  [The national date in 2016 is Friday, April 15, but some schools observe DOS on a different date.]

3. Inform the school of your intention to keep your children home on that date and explain why.  [visit www.doswalkout.net for complete information on opposing DOS.]

The time has long since passed for Bible-believing people to say – “Enough is enough!  I will no longer tolerate lifestyles contrary to Creator’s Word.  I don’t have to compromise my religious convictions to accommodate the personal preferences of these perverted few.  I’m done traveling this slippery slope that only leads to a culture of death and destruction.  In the words of the reformer Martin Luther – ‘Here I stand.  I can do no other.’”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

So Much for our 1st Amendment Right of Religious Liberty

Today’s political correctness is ruling over that of our constitutional Bill of Rights.

In Illinois, a Christian businessman has been fined $80K for his religious convictions.  Writing for the Illinois Family Institute, Laurie Higgins explains that, “Another Christian business-owner has been persecuted for his faith.  Jim Walder, owner of an Illinois bed and breakfast, has been fined $80,000 by the Illinois Human Rights Commission for refusing to rent his facility to homosexual couple – Todd and Mark Wathen – for their civil union ceremony.”  Higgins continues, “Even more outrageous, the Illinois Human Rights Commission has ordered that Jim Walder ‘[o]ffer the Wathens access to the facility, within one year, for an event celebrating their civil union.’  You read that right.  This unelected, quasi-governmental commission has mandated that Jim Walder not only pay a fine for not accepting a request that violated his religious beliefs but also to offer to violate his religious beliefs.  Such a mandate clearly violates Mr. Walder’s constitutionally protected religious liberty.”  Not only was Walder found guilty of a punishable offense for simply practicing his faith, but he was fined the ridiculous amount of $80K … as if this couple literally experienced almost $100,000 in personal damages.  What’s more, he is now being told that he is required to violate his faith and host a homosexual civil union celebration.

In Wisconsin, a Catholic university has extended the suspension of a tenured professor for expressing his commitment to the academic freedom of students to express their Catholic moral values in class.  In November, 2014, after Cheryl Abbate, an instructor at Marquette University, informed a student that he could not express his opposition to same-sex marriage in class, encouraging him to drop the “Theory of Ethics” course.  Political science professor John McAdams, blogged his disapproval in reasonable and rational terms; and in response, rather than disciplining the instructor (Abbate), Marquette suspended McAdams … now extending his suspension until he apologizes.

Note: Apparently it is not enough to fine or suspend individuals of faith; there must be coercion.

David French, writing for the National Review, writes, “My former colleagues at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) are right to label the forced apology ‘an age-old inquisitorial tactic used to violate freedom of conscience through compelled speech.’  [Professor McAdams has refused to apologize.]  French concludes, “I would say that it’s astonishing that a Catholic university punish a professor for defending the right of students to advocate the church’s teaching on marriage, but politically correct nonsense is par for the course even (especially) at many religious colleges.  McAdams should be applauded — and supported — for his lonely, courageous stand.”

In Georgia, Governor Nathan Deal caved into political correctness when he vetoed a bill that, as explained by Ryan Anderson, “would have safeguarded clergy from having to officiate same-sex weddings, prevented faith-based organizations from being forced to hire someone who publicly undermines their mission, and prohibited the state government from discriminating against churches and their affiliated ministries because they believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.”  To add insult to injury, earlier in the month, Governor Deal pointed to the ethics of Jesus to justify his actions.

In Virginia, Governor Terry McCauliffe vetoed legislation aimed at protecting opponents of same-sex marriage, saying “it would legalize discrimination of the LGBT community and hurt the state’s economy.”  He went on to stated, “We cannot have fear and persecution, people being demonized, we’re not going to tolerate that.”  By doing so, he fosters the persecution and demonizing of Christians, bowing down at the altar of homosexual activism rather than honoring the constitutional rights of Virginians to enjoy their religious liberties, claiming that protecting those liberties would hurt the state’s economy.

In North Carolina, after the state legislature and Gov. Pat McCrory overturned Charlotte’s infamous bathroom bill, simply requiring people to use the bathroom that corresponds to their birth certificate, the ACLU launched a lawsuit in response.  Attorney General Roy Cooper, himself a gubernatorial candidate, refused to defend the law, despite his responsibilities as Attorney General to defend the laws of the state.  Cooper, claiming that the law was a “national embarrassment,” said, “We’ve got to remember here the overriding concern that this new law provides for broad-based discrimination.”

Listen: If we believe in gender distinction and want to keep men out of women’s bathrooms and locker rooms, also keeping the door closed on heterosexual predators who will use that law to their advantage, we are guilty of “broad-based discrimination.”

And we can’t forget New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, joining the mayor of San Francisco in banning non-essential state travel to North Carolina for the terrible sin of keeping men out of women’s bathrooms.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Mississippi’s Passage of Religious Freedom Bill

Earlier this week, Mississippi Governor (Republican) Phil Bryant signed a Religious Freedom Law that will protect people who believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.

The Religious Freedom Law will “protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions of individuals, organizations and private associations from discriminatory action by state government or its political subdivisions, which would include counties, cities, and institutions of higher learning.”

“This bill merely reinforces the rights which currently exist to the exercise of religious freedom as stated in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” wrote Gov. Bryant in a message posted on Twitter.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins praised Gov. Bryant “for standing up to the fundamental freedoms of the people they represent.”  “No person should be punished by the government with crippling fines or face disqualification for simply believing what President Obama believed just a few years ago — that marriage is the union of a man and a woman,” Perkins said.

Before the U.S. Supreme Court opinion (June 2015) regarding same-sex ‘marriage’ President Obama assured the nation that those who opposed same-sex marriage had nothing to fear.  He promised us that gay marriage would have no impact on our lives or our religion.  The president’s assurances turned out to be woefully wrong.  It has since become clear that such protections are necessary.  Militant LGBT activists and their supporters have waged a war on Christian business owners from coast to coast.

• ·        Grandmothers like Baronelle Stutzman, the owner of a Washington state flower shop, who declined to participate in a gay wedding.
• ·        They’ve tried to silence and intimidate the owners of bakeries in Indiana, Colorado and Oregon.
• ·        And most recently, the LGBT mob has gone after the owners of the Timbercreek Bed and Breakfast in Paxton, Illinois.
• ·        Jim and Beth Walder were fined $80,000 because they refused to hold a civil union ceremony for two homosexual men.

Thanks to Gov. Bryant, Christian business owners will be free from such bullying and intimidation.  The governor should be commended for his courage.  He signed that legislation under the threat of an economic boycott.

Hollywood and big business are threatening to punish any states that defend the rights of Christians.  Some of the most egregious anti-Christian companies are Disney, Coca-Cola, and the National Football League.

Perkins said, “Big business and Hollywood have engaged in economic blackmail in Mississippi just like they have in Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas to try to force government discrimination of those who support natural marriage.”

Oscar-winning composer Stephen Schwartz announced he will ban North Carolina theaters or any other organizations from performing his works.  His decision comes after the state banned transgender people from using the bathrooms of their choice.  Schwartz wrote, “I feel that it is very important that any state that passes such a law suffer economic and cultural consequences, partly because it is deserved and partly to discourage other states from following suit.”

Gov. Bryant did his part and now we must do ours — by standing with lawmakers and corporations who defend the 1st Amendment and turning our backs on businesses that are enemies of religious liberty.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

BTW: PayPal slams NC for refusing to allow men into women’s restrooms; yet, PayPal does business with 5-countries where LGBT individuals can be executed.  What hypocrisy! 

Giant Cross vs. Small-Minded Atheist

A longtime atheist, Patrick Greene, has a huge problem with a giant cross under construction alongside I-37 in Corpus Christi, TX (a city whose name literally means “Body of Christ”).  “It’s tacky as hell,” Greene told Todd Starnes of FoxNews.

The 230-foot tall cross is being erected on property owned by Abundant Life Fellowship Church – paid for by donations.  Pastor Rick Milby said it will be the largest cross in the western hemisphere.  So tall, in fact, that the church was required to install a lighted beacon on the top.

Greene said the cross is a safety hazard and said it should not be seen from the highway.  “I don’t think it should be within eyesight because it jeopardizes people’s safety on the road,” he said.  So the San Antonio atheist filed a lawsuit.  But Greene did not file a lawsuit because he believes the cross is tacky; nor did he file a lawsuit because of potential safety hazards.  He filed a lawsuit because the mayor and other city leaders attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the cross.  “When I saw the mayor in her official position and the council in their official positions were attending a groundbreaking ceremony for a Christian symbol – that smacked right in the face of the Constitution of the state of Texas,” he said.  And he also sued Rev. Milby.  He was accused of violating the law by inviting the mayor and the council members to the groundbreaking, the Caller-Times reports.

“It’s ridiculous,” Milby told Starnes.  “He’s attacking my rights and the rights of the mayor. The groundbreaking was on a Sunday and these are Christians and they have a right to their faith.”

Stop and think about this: The atheist sued a preacher for building a cross on church property in a city named Body of Christ.  “It’s shocking to me that we’ve gotten to a point in society where we have atheists suing pastors for crosses erected on church property,” said attorney Jeremy Dys with First Liberty (a law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases).

Rev. Milby has since been dropped from the lawsuit.  However, the mayor and council members are still facing litigation.  “No matter what belief you have, this is the name of our city and it was my constitutional right to attend, and I will never regret being there for this wonderful moment,” Mayor Nelda Martinez told the Caller-Times.

Greene said he had no problem with the mayor attending the ceremony as a private citizen; but attending in her official capacity was a violation of her oath of office.

Attorney Dys said, “You can’t ban people from going to a church.  This guy [Green] is trying to use the legal system to ban city council people from attending any type of church service.  To get the court to admonish them for daring to go to a church service is just wrong.”

Starnes reminded Greene that the church was building the cross on property they owned with money they collected.  So what right did he have to tell them what they could or could not build?  Green said, “Church property or not, the reverend showed incredibly poor judgment in putting it where everybody can see it – just because he wants to proselytize his faith and get converts.”

Though I’ve never been on I-37 in Corpus Christi, TX, I suspect this cross is one of many ‘signs’ along the highway.  So what’s the harm in adding one more – especially a sign that provides directions to the highway to Heaven!

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

What Should Happen When Big Brother Picks on Little Sister?

It was the passage of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) that launched the tea party movement in 2010 and planted seeds of resentment toward the Washington establishment that continues to rage across America to this day.  And there’s no better of example of why this movement of outrage has grown and accelerated than the case – Zubik v. Burwell (more popularly known as Obamacare v. Little Sisters of the Poor) – now before the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS).

Obamacare mandate requires employers and private insurance plans to provide cost-free coverage for contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.  These provisions arrived under the broader headline mandating that “preventative care” be provided cost-free. That is, with no copayments, deductibles or coinsurance.

Religious houses of worship – churches, synagogues – were given the option by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to opt out of providing the birth control coverage to avoid coercion against religious convictions.  But religiously affiliated nonprofits – like the Catholic charity Little Sisters of the Poor – were not … under the rationale that their employees are not necessarily of the same faith.

When these religiously affiliated groups cried foul, HHS designed what they thought was a way out.  They concocted a plan allowing the organization to sign a form passing the buck to a third-party organization (like their insurance company) to provide the free coverage of contraceptive and abortion inducing devices and drugs.

In the great religious sensitivity of the bureaucrats at HHS, they thought that if the Little Sisters object to committing what they believe to be murder them-selves, they would not object to contracting it out to someone else.

But, no, this really doesn’t work for those whose religious convictions are genuine.  So the Little Sisters and six other plaintiffs sued to protect their religious freedom.

Is it any wonder why so many feel that our government has gotten way out of hand?

Picture the wheels turning in Washington in 2009 as the governmental bureaucrats were putting together the massive legislative construct that would emerge as Obamacare.  Democrat legislators, who then controlled the Congress, under the approving eye of the Democrat president in the White House, constructed their grand vision of how to use government power to force all Americans into what they believed health care coverage should look like.  Included was the idea that preventative care was a noble idea that should get special treatment.  Mandate employers and private plans to provide it at no additional cost to the employee.

But what exactly is “preventative care?”  The Act never defines it.

Although, according to the Constitution, it is the job of Congress to legislate and the job of the Executive Branch to execute and administer, the legislative responsibility of determining what is “preventative care” was punted to HHS.  They then passed it off to their contracted friends to decide; and suddenly included in “preventive care” was contraceptives, sterilization and pills to induce abortion.  Not only did HHS and their beltway bandit friends decide the definition of “preventative care,” but also those same HHS bureaucrats decided the definition of “religion” by granting exemptions to those whom they think deserve one for religious purposes.

As an amicus brief filed by the Cato Institute and the Independent Women’s Forum asks, since when do bureaucrats at federal agencies have constitutional authority to make decisions about religious liberty?  It is crazy to think that the U.S. Constitution gives government power to force any employer to finance contraceptives and abortion pills for employees … let alone forcing Catholic charities and Catholic universities to do the same.

Is not the U.S. government supposed to be about protecting individual liberty, not about using power to ram any politician’s pet projects down our throats?

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Nomination of Garland for SCOTUS Justice: Senate Right and Obama Wrong

For the battle that’s begun over President Obama’s U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) nomination (Judge Merrick Garland), Founding Father (Alexander Hamilton) vindicates the action.

Hamilton knew that Americans would find their protection from would-be kings in the wisdom of the Senate.  He made this point in Federalist No. 69 – one of the essays he wrote in 1788 under the pen name Publius.  The topic of Federalist No. 69 is the “real character of the executive.”  It makes it clear that in filling the seat once held by Justice Antonin Scalia, President Obama is at the complete mercy of the Senate — and should be.  It was Hamilton’s aim in the Federalist columns, which he wrote with James Madison and John Jay, to convince New Yorkers to ratify the U.S. Constitution.  One of the things New Yorkers feared was that a president might take on kingly powers … like that of the tyrant King George III.  Hamilton wrote of judges that what the president had was the power “to nominate, and, WITH THE ADVICE AND CONSENT OF THE SENATE, to appoint.”  (It was Hamilton who put these words in all caps.)  He went on to contrast the powers of the presidency created in the Constitution with those of “the King of Great Britain.”  The king, Hamilton wrote, “is emphatically and truly styled the fountain of honor,” by which he meant something like the original source of power.  “He not only appoints to all offices, but can create offices.  He can confer titles of nobility at pleasure.”

What Hamilton stressed was what he called “a great inferiority in the power of the President, in this particular, to that of the British king.”  Nor, he went on, was the presidential power even “equal to that of the governor of New York.”

At the time in New York, the appointment power was held by a council that included the governor and four state senators.  Not only could New York’s governor nominate a state judge, but he was “ENTITLED to a casting vote in the appointment.”  (Again, the all-caps are Hamilton’s.)  And then the famous words: “In the national government, if the Senate should be divided, no appointment could be made.”  This is precisely what Hamilton was marking as a constitutional VIRTUE (all-caps are mine).

Hamilton went on to sharpen the contrast with New York.  In the state’s government, he warned, “if the council should be divided, the governor can turn the scale, and confirm his own nomination.”

Today, we are in precisely the circumstances in which Hamilton foresaw that no appointment could be made.  The Founders understood that the ability of the states, via their senators, to check a nomination was one of the Constitution’s attractions.  And why not?  They were revolutionary men.  They were taking down a monarchy.  They did not want to vest a president with kingly powers of appointment.  They didn’t require the Senate to hold even so much as an up-or-down-vote … as President Obama and the Democrats are calling for in the nomination of Judge Garland.

Hamilton contrasted the mode of appointment by the president and “an entire branch of the national legislature” with the “privacy in the mode of appointment by the governor of New York.”  The governor, he sneered, was “closeted in a secret apartment with at most four, and frequently with only two persons.”  So “the power of the chief magistrate of this State, in the disposition of offices, must, in practice, be greatly superior to that of the Chief Magistrate of the Union.”

With such assurance that the president could be blocked by the Senate, New York ratified the U.S. Constitution.  And that’s what Obama and Garland are up against.

No one knows it better than the justices Garland aspires to join.  They understand full well that the Founders intended there to be circumstances where, absent an intervening election, no appointment to the SCOTUS could be made.  They know that the states wouldn’t have ratified the Constitution if this had not been the case.  They know that the Founders were prepared to let the king, the president, and the Devil himself take the rear.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel