More States Banning ‘Barbaric’ Abortions

Alabama recently became the 5th state to ban an abortion procedure that requires the unborn child to be dismembered in the womb before it is removed.  Republican Governor Robert Bentley signed the bill week before last, having Alabama join Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and West Virginia in banning dismemberment abortions.

“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it shall be unlawful for any individual to purposely perform or attempt to perform a dismemberment abortion and thereby kill an unborn child unless necessary to prevent serious health risk to the unborn child’s mother,” reads Senate Bill 363 or the “Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act.” The bill required strong support from both the chambers: the Senate approved it in a vote of 30-2 and the House of Representatives approved it 74-26.

Alabama Citizens for Life National Director Cheryl Ciamarra praised the new law.  “Governor Robert Bentley is to be commended for his action in signing into law the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act, which will prohibit this barbaric inhumanity in our state,” said Ciamarra in a statement.  She went on to say, “We appreciate the exceptional leadership of Senator Phil Williams and Representatives Mack Butler for spearheading the enactment of this landmark lifesaving legislation.”

Louisiana’s House of Representatives unanimously passed a similar legislation in late April.  “Louisiana has a long history of protecting the most vulnerable members of our society — unborn children.  HB 1081 will further advance that cherished tradition,” wrote Republican Representative Mike Johnson, who introduced Louisiana’s HB 1081.  He added, “This legislation will protect unborn babies by ending the barbaric practice of dismemberment abortion in our state.”

The Psalmist, King David, said: “For You [God] created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb … My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.” (Psalm 139:13, 15)

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Transgender Debate Among Conservative Christians

Writing on ReligionNews.com, author and blogger Jonathan Merritt offers argues three main reasons why “conservative Christians will lose the transgender debate”: 1) conservative Christians “focus on ideology while ignoring people”; 2) they “proof-text from scripture while ignoring science”; and 3) they “rely on fear while ignoring facts.”

According to Merritt [who himself is same-sex attracted, but has previously (and publicly) recognized homosexual practice as sinful], the church will lose the transgender debate the same way it lost the gay marriage debate.  He writes, “In the early 2000s I began predicting that the battle over gay marriage was already over.  My conservative friends called me crazy, but time proved who was right.  Because conservative Christians seem hell-bent on perpetually making the same mistakes ad infinitum; today I’m predicting that the transgender conversation is over.  And once again, conservative Christians will be the authors of their own demise.”

In reality, the battle over gay “marriage” is far from over (one might even argue that the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell opinion marked the real beginning of the battle rather than the end of the battle) while the debate over transgender issues has barely begun.

There is little comparison between the question of whether two people of the same sex should be allowed to “marry” and the question of whether society needs to recognize and affirm an infinite number of gender possibilities.

Dr. Michael Brown – host of the nationally syndicated ‘Line of Fire’ radio program – challenges Merritt’s three argues this way:

1) Is it true that conservative Christians “focus on ideology while ignoring people”?  Some might be guilty of doing this, just as some Christians focus on theology while ignoring people; but everyone I speak to about the transgender issues is focused on people rather than ideology.  How so?

First, they are focused on the people affected by transgender activism, such as the many schoolchildren who are being negatively affected and whose cases are now coming to public attention, or the women who have been sexually abused in the past and have now become unintended victims of transgender activism.  Do these people not matter?  Do we overlook other victims – including innocent little children – because they are not part of the LGBT spectrum?

Second, all the conservative Christians I speak to are interested in those who identify as transgender as well, and whenever I speak at churches or church conferences, I talk about the unimaginable struggles these people endure.  And the pastors and congregants want me to address these things because they are Christians and because they care.  Many times I’ve asked the hypothetical question: “What do you do when a man shows up in your church service wearing a dress and wig, carrying a Bible, and saying, ‘Amen’ during the service?”  The answer is simple: Invite him to join you for lunch after the service, build a relationship with him, and help him find wholeness and harmony between his inner being and outer being.

In short, wherever I speak, I tell these fellow-conservative Christians that we need hearts of compassion and backbones of steel and that we are to reach out to the people with compassion while we resist the agenda with courage.

2) Merritt next claims that conservative Christians “proof-text from scripture while ignoring science” … with specific reference to passages in Genesis stating that God made human beings male and female (see Genesis 1:27).  Once again, he is mistaken.

First, it is hardly proof-texting to point to a divine order in creation, one that distinguishes between male and female as well as celebrates those distinctions. In stark contrast, transgender activism often includes (or is itself part of) the larger war on gender, as if “the gender binary” was itself evil and constricting.  So, it is good to reiterate the divine order in the midst of the current debate.

Second, conservative Christians are not ignoring science when we refuse to embrace the latest LGBT scientific talking points; and just as Merritt cites several studies which apparently point to a biological or genetic component to transgender identification, there are other studies which say the opposite, while there are still others – probably representing the majority – that embrace an agnostic position.  In short, we are simply not convinced that there is clear scientific evidence for transgender identification, other than cases such as intersex individuals or those with biological or chromosomal abnormalities.

The reality is that transgender activists expect us to embrace someone’s self-identification absent any scientific evidence, meaning that Bruce Jenner is now to be recognized as Caitlyn simply because that is how he now self-identifies; and should his biology and chromosomes affirm that he is a man, we are still expected to embrace him as a woman.  In that sense, it is transgender activists who sometimes ignore science and who open the door to the very dangerous slope of “perception is reality.”

3) Finally, Merritt claims that conservative Christians “rely on fear while ignoring facts.”  Again, some may be guilty of doing this, but from my vantage point, it is the transgender activists and their allies who want to deny the facts.  How many examples do we need of men walking into ladies’ changing rooms because they now have the “right” to be there?  How many lawsuits will have to be filed on behalf of high-school and middle-school girls negatively impacted by the new bathroom/locker room policies?  And what would Merritt tell the women’s shelter worker named Candy who called my radio show to tell me how the women in her shelter in Boston have been terribly upset because the government requires that a man who identifies as a woman has to be accommodated at their shelter – meaning, given a bed next to other women and given access to the common showers. But when the women voiced their complaints when this happened, they were told nothing could be done.  (This HUD ruling even applies to men who dress as men and look like men, but who claim to identify as women … with no medical or psychiatric documentation of the alleged transgender identity required.)  Where is Merritt’s concern for all these women and children?  And what of the increasing number of cases involving heterosexual predators who are using these new laws to gain access to bathrooms and fitting rooms and locker rooms?

It appears that Merritt, in his desire to empathize with those often misunderstood and put out by the church, has now caricatured conservative Christians as uncaring ideologues.  In the process, he has mischaracterized the very group that the transgender community needs the most … since true wholeness is ultimately found in the Gospel alone.

As for the stance we must take as followers of Jesus, we can reach out with compassion to the marginalized ‘homosexual’ and ‘transgender’ people – people created in God’s image, yet fallen (like the rest of us); people for whom Jesus died, and the Church has been called to reach – without sacrificing our children on the altar of political correctness and radical LGBT activism.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Obama’s Transgender Decree

On May 9, the Obama Administration declared (in essence) that forcing people to use bathroom facilities based on their God-given plumbing was state-sponsored discrimination.  A few days later, the president issued a directive requiring every public school in the nation to accommodate transgender students – under Title IX guidelines.  Boys who identify as girls (and vice versa) must be allowed to use the bathrooms and locker rooms and shower stalls of their choosing.  They must also be allowed to play on the sports teams of their choosing.  School districts that dare defy the administration’s directives could face lawsuits and lose millions of dollars in federal funding.

“There is no room in our schools for discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.

“It’s an outrageous attack on our Creator Himself, upon human sexuality and morality and a further advancement of the flagrant attack on religious freedom in our culture,” Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd told Todd Starnes of FoxNews.  The leader of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination said the president’s decree is an extreme over-reach by the federal government and he called on Christians to speak out.  “Sooner or later we have to determine that enough is enough,” he said.  “It’s not going to change until Christians get involved in this battle.”

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to fight the Obama Administration’s decree, telling a gathering of Republicans, “Obama is turning bathrooms into courtroom issues.”  He went on to say, “Our country is in crisis and Texas must lead the way forward.”  Abbott said he is working alongside the embattled Republican Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina “and we are going to fight back.”

One of the most forceful rebukes came from Tennessee Republican Congresswoman Diane Black.  “I believe the Obama Administration is now directly responsible for endangering our students,” she said.  “It is worth nothing that this directive does not carry the force of law – and I would encourage Tennessee school officials to continue following their consciences.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins told Starnes that Congress must intervene to stop what he called an imperial president.  “If the president chooses to go forward with this outrageous order – then congress should begin impeachment proceedings,” he said.  Perkins said the decree should be “resisted with every legal and moral instrument we have available to us in this country.”  He went on to say, “Every parent, every school board in America should absolutely refuse to sacrifice the safety of their children for the threat of taking away nine federal pennies that make up every educational dollar,” he said.

“Resist!”  That’s the message from Penny Young Nance, president of Concerned Women for America.  “The left always uses children to accomplish its goals of social re-engineering,” she said.  “The adults closest to these children should decide what’s best for all the children in the school.  Safety and kindness should be the guiding principles, not threats from the bullies in Washington.”

My fellow Americans: The time has long since come for all Americans to stand up and defy this president's immoral agenda.  If losing federal funding is the price we must pay to protect women and children – then so be it.  Don’t betray what we know to be true and right for the government’s ‘30 pieces of silver.’

And to my fellow Christians: For far too long American pulpits have remained silent on controversial cultural issues.  Preachers don’t want to rock the boat and parishioners don’t want to cause trouble.  Our beloved country stands at the edge of a great moral abyss.  It is time to render to the higher authority of God what is God’s, and to defy the president (Caesar) and save the nation.  Don’t sacrifice our children on the altar of political correctness!

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Have You Taken Aim at Target?

Radio host, Glenn Beck, recently shared about an incident involving a man in the women’s restroom at a Target store which brought the entire battle a little closer to home.  Beck told about his makeup artist, Bailey, whose friend encountered the exact scenario that many are worried will become rampant if it is not stopped.  Apparently Bailey’s friend had gone into the women’s restroom at the Target she was in, and a man was inside, leaning up against the wall of the bathroom.  According to Beck, she looked at the man wondering what on earth he was doing there, when he said to her, “I have every right to be here, and you can’t do anything about it.”  She turned around and walked out, said Beck, and reported it to the manager of Target who told her there was nothing they could do.

After sharing the story, Glenn said, “Target refused to remove the creepy guy — not transgender, not dressed as a woman, not using the facilities — from the women’s restroom.”

“This is their own policy,” added Beck.  “This is not the government forcing you to do this. This is Target saying, 'I’m sorry, we can’t do anything about it because it will make him uncomfortable.’ ”

And this is precisely why over 1-million people have signed the petition and pledge to boycott Target until they change their position.  Have you signed the American Family Association petition?  Do it NOW at https://www.afa.net/action-alerts/sign-the-boycott-target-pledge/   If you care about the safety of women and children, sign the petition and cease to shop at Target until they come to their senses and reverse their policy.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Has America Declared War on Christianity? (Part 3 of 3)

This week’s 3-part blog postings are attributed to Dr. Michael Brown – host of the nationally syndicated ‘Line of Fire’ radio program.  Throughout this week, you’ll read of the increased hostility toward Christian values and religious freedoms in our country.  Dr. Brown provides representative examples … all from the month of April.  Read them, and judge for yourself.  [The first five examples were published in the May 16 & 18 blog postings.]

6. The Department of Education has decided that, “Religious schools that receive federal money yet obtain federal exemptions to [allegedly!] discriminate against LGBT students and employees will have their waivers posted online for public view.”  This means that any Christian institution receiving federal money and at the same time holding to Biblical morality and sexuality could suffer adverse consequences.  Led by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the lawmakers said in December, “We are concerned these waivers allow for discrimination under the guise of religious freedom.”  Oh, those terrible religious freedoms!

7. As reported on Breitbart News, “a federal court sided with a transgender student who insisted that the Obama Administration’s reading of federal Title IX rules would allow her to choose her own bathroom at her Virginia high school.”  According to the exultant Virginia ACLU, “With this decision, we hope that schools and legislators will finally get the message that excluding transgender kids from the restrooms is unlawful sex discrimination.”  In other words, no matter of what kind of hardship or inconvenience this puts on the rest of the students, and without any type of scientific proof that a child is actually “transgender,” the perceived needs of the one or two struggling children will be imposed on the other 1,000; and the Obama Administration will come after your school if you fail to comply.

Believers in America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and values: If somehow you are still sleeping after reading this week’s postings, it is high time you woke up.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Has America Declared War on Christianity? (Part 2 of 3)

This week’s 3-part blog postings are attributed to Dr. Michael Brown – host of the nationally syndicated ‘Line of Fire’ radio program.  Throughout this week, you’ll read of the increased hostility toward Christian values and religious freedoms in our country.  Dr. Brown provides representative examples … all from the month of April.  Read them, and judge for yourself.  [The first three examples were published in the May 16 blog posting.]

4. Several senators have introduced a bill that would deem “all efforts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity an ‘unfair or deceptive act or practice’ under the Federal Trade Commission Act.”  It would be illegal – a form of “medical malpractice” – to counsel someone struggling with same-sex attraction or gender identify confusion, but it would be perfectly legal to encourage someone to embrace those attractions or act on that confusion.

Already in 2009, conservative journalist Matthew Cullinan Hoffman wryly observed:

“A man goes to a psychologist with a problem.  ‘Doctor,’ he says, ‘I’m suffering terribly.  I feel like a woman trapped inside the body of a man. I want to become a woman.’  The psychologist responds: ‘No problem.  We can discuss this idea for a couple of years, and if you’re still sure you want to be a woman, we can have a surgeon remove your penis, give you hormones for breast enlargement and make other changes to your body.  Problem solved.’  Gratified, the first patient leaves, followed by a second. ‘Doctor,’ he says, ‘I feel terrible.  I’m a man but I feel attracted to other men.  I want to change my sexual preference.  I want to become heterosexual.’  The psychologist responds: ‘Oh no, absolutely not!  That would be unethical.  Sexual orientation is an immutable characteristic!’”

Family therapist Adam Jessel offered a similar observation:

“In today’s climate, if Bill tells me that he is attracted to his neighbor Fred’s young child and he wants to reduce these attractions, I, as a therapist, can try to help him.  If Bill has an unwanted attraction to Fred’s wife, this too is something I am permitted to help him with.  But if Bill has an unwanted attraction to Fred himself, then it’s regarded as unethical for me to help.”

If this new bill becomes law, it would not only be considered unethical to help Bill deal with his same-sex attractions, it would be illegal.  It would also be illegal to help a person get to the root of his or her gender confusion, but it would be perfectly legal for a counselor to recommend hormone blockers for a 10-year-old to stop the onset of puberty and then to prepare that child for sex-change surgery as soon as they were old enough.

5. The NBA announced that it will not hold next year’s All-Star game in Charlotte, North Carolina unless the state changes HB2, the Bathroom Privacy Act.  So, unless North Carolina agrees to let grown men use women’s locker rooms and changing facilities, and unless it removes protections for religious liberties, it will be punished.

On Friday, read two more examples of the increased hostility toward Christian values and religious freedoms in our country.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Has America Declared War on Christianity? (Part 1 of 3)

This week’s 3-part blog postings are attributed to Dr. Michael Brown – host of the nationally syndicated ‘Line of Fire’ radio program.  Throughout this week, you’ll read of the increased hostility toward Christian values and religious freedoms in our country.  Dr. Brown provides representative examples … all from the month of April.  Read them, and judge for yourself.

1. The NCAA announced that it will not hold any men’s and women’s Final Four basketball events in a city that “discriminates” against anyone based on sexual orientation or gender identity.  In its official statement, the NCAA declared that, “The board’s decision follows the recent actions of legislatures in several states, which have passed laws allowing residents to refuse to provide services to some people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.  While proponents of the laws focus on how they protect religious beliefs, critics have voiced concerns that they create an environment of sanctioned discrimination.”

Not only has the NCAA statement grossly mischaracterized these recent laws, but it is now guilty of discriminating against Biblically-based beliefs and declaring that no Final Four game will be held in any city that does not allow men to use women’s bathrooms or that protects a Christian photographer from being forced to photograph a same-sex “wedding.”

2. The Colorado Supreme Court has chosen not to hear the case of Christian baker Jack Phillips who was previously ordered by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission “to create cakes for same-sex celebrations, re-educate his staff, and file quarterly ‘compliance’ reports for two years.”  According to Jeremy Tedesco, Senior Counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, “We asked the Colorado Supreme Court to take this case to ensure that government understands that its duty is to protect the people’s freedom to follow their beliefs personally and professionally, not force them to violate those beliefs as the price of earning a living.  Jack, who has happily served people of all backgrounds for years, simply exercised the long-cherished American freedom to decline to use his artistic talents to promote a message and event with which he disagrees, and that  freedom shouldn’t be placed in jeopardy for anyone.”

The Court declined to hear the case, meaning that the state’s Civil Rights Commission not only has the power to require a bakery to make same-sex “wedding” cakes but also to require that baker to “reeducate” his staff and file regular reports proving that he is baking those cakes.  [Chairman Mao would be proud of state-mandated “reeducation” like this.]

3. Dr. Eric Walsh, the highly-qualified, newly-hired District Health Director with the Georgia Department of Public Health was fired because of the content of his sermons as a Seventh Day Adventist.  As expressed by Jeremy Dys, an attorney with First Liberty, which has taken on Walsh’s case, “No one in this country should be fired from their job for something that was said in a church or from a pulpit during a sermon.”

As noted by attorney David French: “Working for former president Bush and President Obama to combat AIDS, serving as a board member of the Latino Health Collaborative, and starting California’s first city-run dental clinic for low-income families dealing with HIV/AIDS wasn’t sufficient to overcome the horror at Walsh’s Christian views.”  How dare he preach what the Bible says and try to serve his country at the same time.

On Wednesday, read two more examples of the increased hostility toward Christian values and religious freedoms in our country.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Abortion Industry Has Blood On Its Hands

Since my blog posting of April 27 (read “Panel Proves Planned Parenthood Profited”), new evidence was disclosed last week that further proves abortion clinics have profited from the sale of aborted baby body parts.  Despite the abortion lobby’s attempts to drown out the facts with distracting and deceptive tactics, the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives uncovered hard evidence detailing a profitable relationship between abortion clinics and fetal tissue procurement companies.

Under federal law, it is unlawful to profit from the sale of fetal tissue.  Title 42 USC § 289g-2 reads, “It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any fetal tissue for valuable consideration if the transfer affects interstate commerce.”  The statute goes on to explain the only costs that may be reimbursed are costs for “transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control, or storage of human fetal tissue.”

The problem with the shocking marketplace uncovered by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) and now the House investigative panel is procurement companies covered all of the costs themselves … even going so far as sending their own technicians out to abortion clinics to harvest organs.  Thus the clinics had no costs for which they were entitled to compensation under federal law.  Yet, by their own admission, these clinics were receiving payments (often large sums) from the fetal tissue procurement companies.

The documents released by the House panel reveal that the relationship between abortion clinics and procurement companies was intentionally designed to be profitable.  Two documents entered into exhibit at the hearing, for example, were advertisements promising to make abortion clinics “financially profitable” through the harvesting of aborted baby organs and claiming a partnership with the procurement company would contribute to the “fiscal growth of your own clinic.”

Additionally, the documents showcase how the companies peddle the baby body parts from abortion clinics to the medical research community.  One exhibit includes a company’s website with a drop down menu listing the type of organs and tissues available for purchase.  The page looks similar to what you would see on any online shopping site … except that this site is trafficking baby body parts!

Think of this: A baby’s parts are greater than the whole?  Each limb and organ will sell for top dollar in the fetal tissue market; yet when the baby is whole and thriving in her mother’s womb she has no value … according to the abortion industry?

Listen: Babies are not the sum of their body parts.  Babies are not meant to be bought. Babies are not meant to be sold.  This is an issue that shouldn’t even be debated.  People shouldn’t be making money from the sale of body parts of aborted babies.  The federal law banning the sale of fetal tissue was supported with bipartisan consensus when originally passed.

In addition to the immorality and possibly illegality of the fetal tissue procurement scheme, documents released at the hearing also raised questions about the exploitation of mothers during the process.  At the House hearing, Representative Mia Love (UT-R) expressed her concern for the rights and well-being of the mothers who are targeted by the abortion industry to pad their pockets, contrasting it with the legal and transparent procedures of adult organ donation.  When it comes to fetal tissue donation, it’s different. A scared, vulnerable woman, including a minor who is underage, can come into a clinic on the morning of her surgery and first she needs to give consent to the procedure without any parental guidance or anyone there.  Then, before the event, before this invasive procedure, a tissue technician comes to her and gets her to donate her baby’s body parts instead of an unbiased counselor.  The tissue technician may be focused on making a commission rather than protecting that woman’s best interests.  Neither mothers nor their unborn children are treated with the inherent dignity they deserve in this grotesque profit scheme devised by abortion clinics and procurement companies.  While Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocates claim that they are empowering women, they continue to quietly prey upon women when they are most vulnerable, exploiting mothers and their babies for profit.

The hearing proved what the investigative journalists from the CMP have been saying all along — abortion clinics are profiting from the sale of aborted baby body parts at the expense of the rights of mothers and the dignity of their babies.

When CMP began exposing this practice, the country was shocked.  Congress is now acting and uncovering evidence implicating abortion clinics and these tissue procurement companies.

Justice must be served, not for any political points, but for our nation’s humanity and for the protection of our society’s most vulnerable.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Student Suing to Complete Counseling Degree Over Christian Beliefs

Should Christians who oppose same-sex marriage based on religious beliefs be allowed to obtain degrees in counseling?  That’s the question at the heart of a lawsuit filed in federal court by a former student at Missouri State University (MSU) who claims he was kicked out of a master’s program in counseling because of his religious beliefs.  Andrew Cash claims he was “targeted and punished for expressing his Christian worldview regarding a hypothetical situation concerning whether he would provide counseling to a gay/homosexual couple.”

MSU spokeswoman Suzanne Shaw told the News-Leader that the “university strictly prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion or any other protected class.”  She would not comment on specifics of the case.

According to the lawsuit, Dr. Kristi Perryman, the counseling department’s internship coordinator, confronted Cash about his views toward counseling gay people.  Cash told her he would counsel them individually on a variety of issues but not as a couple.  He said he would refer them elsewhere.  Cash explained to Perryman that his approach to counseling is centered on his “core beliefs, values and Christian worldview and these would not be congruent with the likely values and needs of a gay couple, who, for these reasons, would be best served by a counselor sharing their core value system and core beliefs,” the lawsuit states.  Perryman then told Cash that he “could not hold these views, which she deemed to be unethical, and which, she asserted, contradicted the American Counseling Association’s code of ethics as discriminatory toward gay persons.”

“It made me angry,” said attorney Tom Olp with the Thomas More Society – a law firm that specializes in religious liberty issues.  “She [Dr. Perryman] took offense at his religious beliefs and then essentially kept dwelling on those until he was drummed out of the program.”  Olp is suing Perryman and a host of other university officials – including Tamara Arthaud, the head of the counseling department and faculty member Angela Anderson.

“We have this very dangerous trend towards allowing the government to shut down religious expression,” Olp told Todd Starnes of FoxNews.  “That is contrary to the First Amendment.  A democracy requires vibrant expression of various points of view and it really needs robust religious expression.”

Cash’s troubles began in the spring of 2011 when he began a university-approved internship at the Springfield Marriage and Family Institute, a Christian organization.  It was during a classroom presentation that the director of the Christian group was asked about counseling gay persons.  A week later, Cash was informed he would no longer be allowed to intern at the institute.  He was also grilled about his personal views regarding counseling homosexuals, the lawsuit states.

In 2014, Cash was just a few courses shy of graduating with a M.S. in Counseling.  He had a 3.81 GPA and was a student in good-standing with the school.

Olp told Starnes it’s not the first time Christians have been thrown out of counseling program in public universities – citing cases in Michigan as well as Missouri.  “It’s an extremely intolerant and almost puritanical approach and more and more prevalent in secular universities,” he said.

Cash wants to be re-admitted to the program so he can finish his studies and obtain his degree.  That’s the least the university can do for a man who has been targeted and bullied because of his Christian faith.

It’s unfortunate that we live in a nation where one’s faith in Christ is now considered a career-killer.  As we approach the general elections in November, Christians had better be looking at candidates who have proven the defense of religious liberty.  American Christians are just that close to losing religious freedom.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Shaming of Christian Schools

The president of William Jessup University (WJU) – Dr. John Jackson – in Rocklin, California attests to the aggressive nature of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in bullying his Christian school to violate their tenets regarding human sexuality.

The federal government allows religious organizations to be exempt from Title IX mandates where they violate their religious beliefs.  However, the Obama Administration has interpreted those mandates to include transgender discrimination.  So the DOE has published (online) the name of every college in America that applied for a religious exemption to regulations elevating “gay rights” in employment and housing and other benefits.

The pro-LGBT activist group – Human Rights Campaign (HRC) – sued the DOE to “out” the colleges and publicly shame them (or try to).  HRC argued that students have a right to know which schools have been “granted the legal right to discriminate against them.”

More than 200-colleges comprise the list.  Dr. Jackson of WJU – one of those listed – is determined to use the list as a badge of honor.  “We’re committed to biblical authority and we’re committed to teaching in a God-honoring environment,” he tells OneNewsNow.  Jackson insists it’s not about discrimination – it’s about freedom of religion; and he’s been left with very little choice.  “At the federal level, the Department of Education has become increasingly aggressive in some areas of human sexuality – and then also the sanctity of life,” he shares.

Andrew Beckwith of Massachusetts Family Institute says the list is the latest in a relentless campaign by HRC and others to suppress freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of association.  “If they can find a way to eliminate federal funding of student loans, tax exemptions for property values and income by the school – any one of which would be almost a death blow to many schools – they will do that,” says Beckwith.

Jackson says he’s ready. “If it ever comes to that point,” he vows, “Jessup will not compromise our biblical convictions – and the Lord will provide a way for us to continue doing the ministry we’re called to do.”

Well-known names on the list include: Biola University, Brigham Young University, Criswell College, Liberty University, Pepperdine University, and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

So even though the 1st Amendment prohibits the government from making any laws respecting the free exercise of religious liberty, this Administration violates the Constitution for the LGBT individuals engaged in sexual perversion (according to the Creator who grants us certain unalienable rights) at the cost of religious freedom.      

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Shouldn’t Religious Liberty Mean Finding Sanctuary in the Sanctuary?

Apparently, what a preacher says from the pulpit on Sunday could get him/her fired from their public sector job on Monday.  That was the case for bi-vocational pastor Eric Walsh. 

Dr. Walsh, a renowned public health expert who also serves as a Seventh Day Adventist lay minister, has filed a federal law-suit against the Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH) alleging he was terminated for delivering sermons on issues ranging from homosexuality to evolution.  “No one in this country should be fired from their job for something that was said in a church or from a pulpit during a sermon,” said First Liberty attorney Jeremy Dys.  [First Liberty is one of the nation’s largest law firms defending religious liberty, and is representing Walsh.]  They contend that GDPH assigned workers to investigate sermons Dr. Walsh delivered on health, marriage, sexuality, world religions, science and creationism.  He also preached on what the Bible says about homosexuality.  “He was fired for something he said in a sermon,” Dys told Todd Starnes.  “If the government is allowed to fire someone over what he said in his sermons, they can come after any of us for our beliefs on anything.”  [First Liberty has accused the government agency of religious discrimination and retaliation.]

“I don’t believe I did anything wrong,” Dr. Walsh told Starnes in an exclusive interview. “This has been very painful for me.  I really am a strong believer in the Constitution.  But now I feel like maybe all these ideals and values that I was raised to believe — the ideals the country was founded upon — no longer exist.”

First Liberty said Walsh was hired as a district health director on May 7, 2014.  A few days later, GDPH officers and other government workers began investigating his religious activities.  “DPH officers and other employees spent hours reviewing these and other of Dr. Walsh’s sermons and other public addresses available online, analyzing and taking notes on his religious beliefs and viewpoints on social, cultural and other matters of public concern as expressed in the sermons and other public addresses,” the lawsuit states.

The behavior of GDPH was so egregious that its own counsel twice warned them on May 15 that “under federal law Dr. Walsh’s religious beliefs could play no role in any employment decision by DPH.”  But on May 16, the GDPH announced it had rescinded the job offer that Dr. Walsh had already accepted.  “Today’s action by the department follows a thorough examination of Dr. Walsh’s credentials and background as well as consultation with the six local boards of health which comprise the district,” spokesman Ryan Deal said in a news release.

And the GDPH wasn’t the only organization concerned about the pastor’s sermons.  The Georgia Voice reported that the Health Initiative, an Atlanta-based group committed to LGBT health issues, strongly opposed Welsh’s hiring.  “Dr. Walsh’s public displays of anti-gay propaganda and religious rhetoric will become symbols of the department and will further isolate an already vulnerable population.  We believe this hire is detrimental to the well-being of our community, as well as to the effectiveness of the Department to conduct meaningful outreach to LGBT Georgians,” Executive Director Ellis told the publication.

Based on documents First Liberty obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, it is clear there was some internal concerns about how Dr. Walsh had been treated.  In spite of GDPH’s internal ‘witch hunt’ against Dr. Walsh, at least one unnamed staffer wrote a memo warning that the entire controversy had been blown “impossibly out of proportion.”  “Not only is there no smoking gun, there is every reason to believe, even from his detractors own words, that he is the excellent health director we believed he would be,” the staffer wrote.  “If we do not hire this applicant on the basis of the evidence of job performance and disqualify him on the basis of discrimination by those who seek to advance their own agenda and do him harm, I believe we are no better than they are,” the staffer concluded.  The unnamed staffer’s concerns were ignored and Dr. Walsh was terminated.

In recent days, the state of Georgia has become a battleground over religious liberty.  Governor Nathan Deal, a Republican, vetoed legislation that would have provided protection for pastors and other faith-based organizations from attacks by LGBT activists. The veto was levied under fierce pressure from big business bullies like Disney and Coca-Cola.

“Any law a state passes that helps protect religious liberty — especially a law that allows pastors the right to preach and not lose their jobs — is a law we would certainly apply in this case,” Dys said.

First, they silenced the sheep — and now they are trying to silence the shepherds.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Take Aim at the Cultural War Target

The American Family Association (AFA) and Concerned Women for America (CWA) have allied in its national boycott of Target stores.

CWA announced its participation in North Carolina, on the steps of the state capitol in Raleigh – the state that made headlines for a law requiring men and women to use the restroom according to the gender on their birth certificate.  The conservative organization chose North Carolina because this law overturned an ordinance in Charlotte allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice.

North Carolina has since become a villain to homosexual activists and Target announced April 19 that it was restating its gender-neutral bathroom policy after the bathroom law made headlines.

CWA President Penny Nance says Target’s policy is “irresponsible and perhaps dangerous for women and children.”  That concern mirrors the concerns of AFA, which announced the boycott on April 21.  “Target’s policy is exactly how sexual predators get access to their victims,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon in a commentary announcing the boycott and petition drive.

Citing figures from the Department of Justice, Nance says that 33% of reported rapes take place in public places, including public restrooms.  Nance shares that she is the victim of an attempted rape and that is a reason she’s pushing for “common sense” protections for women and children.  “We have great concerns that sexual predators will use these policies to their advantage to harm innocent women and children,” she warns.

After announcing the AFA boycott, more than 1-million have signed the on-line petition.  The AFA ‘Action Alert’ also included two stories of men who have been arrested at Target stores.  One man was allegedly filming women with his camera phone in the dressing rooms at a Brentwood, Missouri store; the second man allegedly exposed himself to a 9-year-old boy in Cedar Park, Texas.

Nance adds that CWA is not joining the boycott out of “fear” of transgendered people.  “We, in fact, have great compassion for them,” she tells OneNewsNow.  Wildmon has also stated that AFA’s concern is not over transgendered people, but for men who could use the liberal restroom policy to harm women or children.

If you care about the safety of women and children, then sign the petition and cease to shop at Target until they come to their senses and reverse this policy … or go to the expense of establishing ‘unisex’ bathrooms apart from the male and female facilities.  The point of this policy ought to be the corporation’s expense, not the customer!

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Bathroom Battle is Bad Biology

Throughout my entire 40-year pastoral career (calling to Christian ministry), I’ve heard outside critics of the Church say “the church is full of hypocrites.”  To which I’ve repeatedly acknowledged by saying, “It’s a hospital for sinners, not a hotel for saints.”  Now I wonder if those same critics apply their charge of hypocrisy on society as a whole.  For today, we live in a country where people think it is okay for rock stars to cancel concerts because of their beliefs, but it’s not okay for bakers, florists and photographers to do the same.  America has become a nation of confused people who believe it’s good to reinforce the abnormal behavior of a few by altering the normal behavior of the majority.  Isn’t that insanity?

So how did we get here?  As I’ve been preaching about it for years, we no longer live in a society that filters the world through the Biblical prism of “right and wrong” or “good and evil.”  In the absence of moral absolutes, people tend to make issues over non-issues and create wars defending non-victims.  The latest is the transgender bathroom.

Laws and policies are being established that state it is okay for a male stranger to drop his pants or relieve himself in the same room as our women and kids – while the greater laws of decency and morality and common sense say the opposite.  Never mind the fact that the laws of nature remind us that we can change our appearance but we cannot change our DNA.  The fact is: The difference between men and women is in their genes (not the jeans they choose to wear).

So here we’ve got people boycotting travel to North Carolina because of their common-sense Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act – and on the other hand, we have the Minnesota-based retail giant (Target) introducing their new transgender bathroom policy emphasizing “inclusivity.”  In short, Target’s policy puts the comfort of a minuscule few above the safety of the rest.  Meanwhile, in the real world we need to lock the doors of our homes and cars.

Undeniably, this new policy has got to entice the sexual predators.  Back in 2012, Ontario, Canada amended its Human Rights Code making gender identity and expression prohibited grounds for discrimination.  Not long after, as reported by Lifesitenews.com, a male sexual predator said he was transgender so he could gain access to two Toronto women’s shelters.  Once inside, he sexually assaulted several women.  Emotion-based, poorly-reasoned policies like this are ripe for abuse.

A 30-year Swedish scientific study – “Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery” – concluded that “post-surgical transsexuals are a risk group that need long-term psychiatric and somatic follow-up” … due to higher rates of mortality, death from cardiovascular disease, suicide attempts, and psychiatric hospitalizations.

Obviously, the battle lines are being drawn and it is time for God-fearing people to stand our ground for moral decency and defend the safety of women and girls against sexual predators who might take advantage of imprudent laws and policies.  Join the boycott of Target.  [At the time of this blog posting, over 1-million have signed-on to the boycott and Target’s stock has sunk by $1.5 billion.]  And if you’ve got time to vacation this summer, consider going to beautiful North Carolina … and let them know you’re visiting because of their law that seeks to protect women and children.

Having said all this, it’s important to remember that the gender confused among us are people needing God’s love and compassion displayed to them in real ways – like getting them help.  But that much needed help can’t happen if our society fails to acknowledge it as an illness [or the Church confess it as sin].

In the meantime, bathrooms need to remain according to one’s biological plumbing … as God created them.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel