Friday, April 28, 2017

The Perverted Planned Parenthood Curriculum Agenda


Did you know Planned Parenthood (PP) is attempting to reach children by infiltrating their schools, not through clubs and one-time speeches, but by taking control of the curricula from which they are being taught?

The “Get Real” series of classroom materials produced by PP is meant to teach children as young as kindergarten-age about human sexuality.  The curriculum textbook, titled Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education That Works, features a section aimed at 12-year-olds detailing how Saran Wrap can be used as a substitute for a condom in non-reproductive sex acts, or as a hygienic barrier during various oral sex acts.

So, to make his point in opposition to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s efforts to push through a new curriculum bill aimed at adding the “Get Real” series to the state’s mandatory course work, Massachusetts Family Institute President Andrew Beckwith brought along a few boxes of the plastic wrap.  He called it a “visual reminder of what this bill would force on our schools and children.”  “This bill takes control over sex education out the hands of local school districts and gives it to state bureaucrats,” said Beckwith.  “Parents and teachers should be able to decide for themselves what is best for the students in their own community.”

A version of this same bill passed the state Senate last year, but was stalled in the House of Representatives.

This year’s version, Beckwith said, contains a number of very disturbing additions, including: Local schools would be required to teach about abortion as one of the “options for pregnancy,” and teachers would be forced to give an “affirmative representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, relationships and families.”  “When I ask legislators or concerned parents how they would define a ‘bisexual relationship’ as required by these bills, I am usually met with confused looks,” Beckwith said.  “This begs the question: Exactly what type of discussion is that going to be for school children as young as kindergarten?”

Personally, I can accept schools having a role in biological sex education; but I’m absolutely opposed to schools presenting sexual perversions in lifestyle and practice as normal and tolerable.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Planned ‘Murderhood’ Can’t Claim “Privacy”


A legal expert argues that two undercover pro-life citizen reporters who are facing felony charges aren’t guilty of violating California’s privacy laws.

David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt secretly recorded ranking officials of Planned Parenthood (PP) as well as other abortion industry workers discussing selling limbs, organs, and tissue from aborted babies.  [read my previous blog postings: April 27, 2016 – “Panel Proves Planned Parenthood Profited” and February 10, 2016 – “Receipts Reveal that Planned ‘Murderhood’ Sold Baby Body Parts”]

California Attorney General Xavier Bacerra has lodged 15-felony charges against Daleiden and Merritt for violating his state’s privacy laws.  But Dr. Jenna Ellis, an assistant professor of legal studies at Colorado Christian University, tells OneNewsNow those laws state that privacy is just that.  “Many of the videos not only were recorded in public, at restaurants and so forth, but the Ninth Circuit has also said that the right to privacy is something that belongs to an individual, not a corporation,” explains this licensed attorney who specializes in constitutional law.  “And so Planned Parenthood cannot assert an invasion of privacy for their business practices.”

Ironically, she says, the right of privacy under those laws would be owned by the preborn child – and confidentiality would come into play only if the content of the conversation is private and personal to the individual being recorded.  “So this would have to be something that was private and personal to the actual abortionists themselves rather than about the business practices or anything else regarding Planned Parenthood,” the professor notes. “So this shouldn’t apply at all to David Daleiden or Sandra Merritt.”

Ellis says the charges are an over-reach on the part of the attorney general, that California is a progressive/activist state, and that the charges have been brought “more as an aggressive agenda tactic rather than actually supporting what California law says.”

If any law is going to be enforced, let it be the one that prohibits federal tax dollars being spent on abortions … the primary function of PP.  [read my blog posting of March 31, 2017 – “Planned ‘Murderhood’ and the Myth of the 3%”]

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Monday, April 24, 2017

Here is Why Words Matter: “Allahu Akbar” vs. “God is Great”


The name of the black man suspected of fatally shooting 3-white people in Fresno, California is Kori Ali Muhammad.  When the police were taking him into custody, he shouted an all-too-familiar phrase in the world of radical Islam – “Allahu Akbar.”

This is how the Associated Press (AP) described what Muhammad said: “Fresno police say suspect in triple slaying told them he hates white people, shouted ‘God is great’ before killings.”  But wait a minute.  Where is the truth in reporting?  The Fresno Police Chief actually said Muhammad yelled “Allahu Akbar” – not “God is great.”  So why would a trusted news organization like AP change what he said … but for the connotation?

Don’t we deserve the truth — not politically correct copy edits?

If a man yells “Allahu Akbar” after gunning down innocent fellow Americans, we don’t want the watered-down, fake-news version – do we?  Don’t we want the cold, hard truth?

I can assure you “Allahu Akbar” is very different from “God is great” in many ways … especially when the shooting took place outside a Catholic Charities facility.

Millions of families across America say “God is great” before they dig into their meals.  I grew up saying: “God is great, God is good; and we thank Him for our food.  By His hands we all are feed.  Thank You, Lord, for our daily bread.”

That’s not the same as an Islamic terrorists shouting “Allahu Akbar” before committing Jihad.

Context matters.  Words matter.  Get it right, AP.

Robert Spencer at Breitbart put it this way in an article from 2015 on this exact topic:
“Media outlets routinely mangle the true meaning of ‘Allahu Akbar,’ the ubiquitous battle cry of Islamic Jihadists as they commit mass murder.  The war-cry is mistranslated in the Western media as ‘God is great.’  But the actual meaning is ‘Allah is greater,’ meaning ‘Allah is greater than Your God or government.’  It is the aggressive declaration that Allah and Islam are dominant over every other form of government, religion, law or ethic, which is why Islamic Jihadists in the midst of killing infidels so often shout it.  One primary purpose of shouting is to ‘strike terror in the hearts of the enemies of Allah.”

In terms of its connotation, then, “Allahu Akbar” can mean just about anything — except the one phrase it is most often rendered as in English – “God is great.”

Let’s be clear: The Judeo-Christian command to have no other gods before Jehovah God – the One and Only True God – makes clear that the Islamic god called Mohammad is a false god … just as false as the AP’s reporting of this Fresno murder.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Friday, April 21, 2017

We Need the Promised Presidential Protection of our Religious Liberty


When Donald Trump campaigned for the White House he stated that the “first priority of my administration will be to preserve and protect our religiously liberty.”  He went on to say, “The First Amendment guarantees our right to practice our faith as we see fit … all the time, always, wherever.”  After being elected, President Trump made a promise to people of faith at the February National Prayer Breakfast.  He said, “My administration will do everything in its power to defend and protect religious liberty in our land.”  

This promise was no small measure of Trump’s garnered support among evangelical Christians.

Now House Republicans are calling on President Trump to fulfill the promise he made to Christians on the campaign trail and upon entering the office.  52-House Republicans have signed a letter urging the president to sign an executive order on religious liberty.  “We look forward to coordinating with your administration on these efforts so that critical religious liberty and conscience protections may finally be restored to millions of Americans who have been harmed and left unprotected for far too many years,” the letter states.

The executive order would ensure that Americans are not coerced to buy abortion coverage under Obamacare exchange plans – not to mention other and other health coverage that violates a person’s faith and conscience.

A handful of Republican senators also crafted a letter to the president on April 3 – warning that religious groups on college campuses are being “banned, threatened or forced to change their bylaws.”  “The free exercise of religion rings hollow if individuals do not have the ability to live out their faith without fear of repercussion from the government,” the senators wrote.  “The federal government has pushed organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor to change their health care plan to offer services that violate the Little Sisters’ deeply held religious beliefs,” the senators rightly point out.

Lawmakers also fear that Christians might face persecution as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision to redefine marriage.  They referenced comments made by then Solicitor General Donald Verrilli during oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges.  Verrilli stated that “nonprofit tax status of religious colleges could be jeopardized should they live out their traditional beliefs about marriage,” the letter read.

Listen: After years of crooked politicians we need to commend these Republican lawmakers for having the courage to put their names on to these letters.  At the same time, we need to urge President Trump to deliver on his campaign promise to protect our religious liberty.  Catholics and Evangelicals need protection from the militant secularists who have had the upper-hand over the past 8-years of the Obama Administration.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

The Defunding of Forced Abortions in China by a Pro-Life U.S. President


It should be widely known that China’s strict 2-child policy has ended countless unborn babies’ lives through forced abortions.  Now, President Trump is taking a stand against China’s forced abortions … by cutting funds to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

“This determination was made based on the fact that China’s family planning policies still involve the use of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization, and UNFPA partners on family planning activities with the Chinese government agency responsible for these coercive policies,” the State Department said.

The cuts amount to at least $32.5-million.  Instead, funds will be directed to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which provides medical care to families across the world.

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, praised the move.  “The outrage of the Obama Administration’s ‘see no evil’ policy that financed forced abortions and coerced sterilizations in China and other dictatorships is finally over,” said Fr. Pavone.  “The United Nations Population Fund is a broker of oppression.  That our country funded this organization in violation of federal law is a disgrace.”

The State Department determined that the UNFPA was illegal and in violation of the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, which was originally created by the Reagan Administration.  The amendment prohibits giving U.S. “population assistance” funds to “any organization or program which, as determined by the President of the United States, supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.”

Even though the Kemp-Kasten Amendment has been renewed each year by Congress, neither President Clinton nor President Obama enforced the law and handed over $67.88-million to UNFPA in the 2016 fiscal year.

Mat Staver, Founder and President of Liberty Counsel, also applauds the decision to stop funding forced abortions.  “We commend President Donald Trump for making it very clear the United States will not support a United Nations agency that promotes the killing of innocent babies,” Staver said.  “Obama tragically advanced a pro-abortion agenda and poured millions of dollars into UNFPA to support the death of many unborn children.  This latest action by the Trump Administration is a positive step as we strive to eliminate the funding of human genocide in America and internationally.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Monday, April 17, 2017

Previously Deported Illegal Immigrant is Charged with Sexually Abusing a 12-Year-Old Girl Multiple Times


Forty-year-old Oscar Perez-Rangel, an illegal immigrant who had been previously deported, has been charged with sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl multiple times. 

Perez-Rangel allegedly assaulted the girl 5-times at an in-house daycare in Herndon, Virginia.  Although he didn’t run the daycare, he lived in the house out of which the daycare operated, so he had access to the children.  It has been reported that the woman who ran the daycare is Perez-Rangel’s girlfriend, although police have been unable to confirm that detail.

The assaults allegedly occurred between October and December of 2016.  The girl, who has not been identified, reported the assaults to school staff on March 28, 2017; Perez-Rangel was arrested on last week.  The girl appears to have been his only victim.

Perez-Rangel faces “three counts of felony animate object sexual penetration and two counts of felony aggravated sexual battery,” according to The Daily Caller.  He is currently being held without bond, and will be transferred to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

ICE told FOX 5: “Perez-Rangel was previously removed from the U.S., and has felony convictions for attempted robbery, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony and illegal re-entry after removal.  ICE has lodged a detainer on him at Fairfax County’s Adult Detention Center.”

Investigators are requesting that people contact Detective Elizabeth Menendez at 703-246-7885 if they have any information on Perez-Rangel.  The fact that Perez-Rangel had a prior felony record and was previously deported highlights the anger surrounding the illegal immigration debate that helped propel Donald Trump to the presidency.  Had there been proper immigration enforcement, Perez-Rangel wouldn’t have been in the U.S. in the first place.  Now a 12 year-old girl has suffered as a result of lax immigration policy.

There is indeed a link between illegal immigration and crime; Perez-Rangel is the latest example of it.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Friday, April 14, 2017

Today’s PC Medical Agenda regarding Gender-Confusion among Children


Last week, The New York Times ran a piece by Jack Turban, a research fellow at the Yale School of Medicine.  Turban says that doctors should begin applying puberty blockers to children who identify as transgender … as early as possible.  That’s because, according to him, “it has become clear that if we support these children in their transgender identities instead of trying to change them, they thrive instead of struggling with anxiety and depression.”

Turban uses as his example one 14-year-old girl named Hannah – who was born a boy named Jonah.  Turban said: “Hannah is using a puberty-blocking implant and getting ready to embark on the path of developing a female body by starting estrogen.  Ten years ago most doctors would have called this malpractice.  New data has now made it the protocol for thousands of American children.”

Really?  The reality is: 10-years ago, doctors weren’t embracing political correctness as having a place in medicine.  Turban, you see, claims that by transforming children’s bodies younger, we will help them avoid societal stigma, and that it’s that stigma that’s responsible for the shockingly high rates of suicide and depression associated with gender dysphoria.  But there’s no hard data to support that notion.  

A study from professors at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, for example, found that 46% of transgender men and 42% of transgender women (in the study) had attempted suicide.  But that doesn’t necessarily mean it is due to discrimination.  The study does show high levels of discrimination against transgender people; but it also shows that the suicide rate among transgender women who say people identify them as transgender regularly is 45%.  How about those who are able to pass for the gender to which they claim membership?  Their suicide rate is still 40%.  How about the suicide rate among those transgender individuals who have had hormone treatment?  It’s 45%.  Surgery doesn’t militate against suicide either.

Listen: Turban has an agenda.  And so, he cites one study of 63-transgender children, which found that if they were allowed to “socially transition” – if people treated them as their preferred sex – then then they had indistinguishable levels of anxiety and depression from that of their peers.

Here’s the problem: This study concerns children, who have not yet experienced the rigors of sex drive and sexual dynamics; it also ignores the small sample size and the fact that a reported 8-in-10 children who experience gender confusion grow out of it.  But Turban’s notion ignores the 8 children out of 10 in order to preserve Hannah’s peace of mind – even if Hannah might have grown out of her symptoms herself … thereby lowering the risk of suicide over time.

This is science with an agenda.  I’ll grant you that adults should be free to make decisions about their sexuality and their bodies; but children should not be subjected to the whims of politically driven adults when it comes to massive bodily mutilation that impairs function for a lifetime … all before the child has experienced puberty.  And society should not be obligated to obey the nonsensical gender theory of the radical left – which seeks to confuse as many children as possible … in the name of an anti-biological program beholding to a political agenda.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Target CEO Passes the Buck on Decision for Transgender Bathrooms


Target has seen major backlash over the past year from the general public after announcing the implementation of loose bathroom policies, which allow a person of either gender to use the restroom facility of his or her choice.  Target triggered nationwide boycotts with this single blog posting published in April 2016, publicizing a policy that said transgender customers were welcome to use the bathroom or fitting room that matched their gender identity.  “Everyone deserves to feel like they belong,” the post said. “And you’ll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target.”

Now, after a year has passed and stocks have plummeted, Target CEO Brian Cornell makes known he never approved the post and found out about it only after it was published, according to The Wall Street Journal [WSJ].  He later told colleagues that he wouldn’t have approved the decision to “flaunt” the policy and that the backlash was “self-inflicted,” reports WSJ.

The boycotts of Target shortly after the announcement cost the company millions in lost sales and added expenses.  Shopper traffic and same-store sales started sliding for the first time in years after the blog post, and the company was forced to spend $20-million installing single-occupancy bathrooms in all its stores to give critics of the policy more privacy.

Critics of the policy (like myself) cautioned it would open the door for sexual predators to victimize women and children inside the retailer’s bathrooms … and it did as I’ve previously posted [Monday, July 18, 2016 – “Target is Targeted with Transgender Exploitation”].  More than 1.4 million-people signed a pledge to stop shopping at Target unless it reversed the policy.  (I, for one, have not set foot in a Target since their corporate decision.)

Sales fell nearly 6% in the three quarters after the boycotts started when comparing the same period last year; and same-store sales have dropped every quarter since the post.

In the past, even the most widespread calls for company boycotts have tended to blow over within a matter of weeks or months.  Chick-fil-A, for example, faced a nationwide boycott in 2012 after Dan Cathy, the son of Chick-fil-A’s founder, S. Truett Cathy, set off a fury among supporters of equal rights for gay people when he told Baptist Press that the company was “guilty as charged” for backing “the biblical definition of the family unit.”  Reports then emerged detailing Chick-fil-A’s many charitable donations to organizations opposed to same-sex marriage.  Despite the backlash, Chick-fil-A’s sales increased 14% in 2012.

It seems that after facing a considerable drop in sales, and continuing to experience the effects of the nationwide boycotts in Target stores, CEO Cornell has decided he must do something to try to gain the support of former shoppers.  However, it appears that he may be trying to thread a very small needle by doing so “without agreeing to demands that Target retract its policy.”

This may be rather difficult, as LifeSite Director of Public Relations, Andy Parrish, notes: “Sexual crimes are often crimes of opportunity, allowing grown men in the girls bathroom increases opportunity for sexual crimes.  I choose my daughters’ safety over convenience of shopping at Target.”

Target’s dangerous bathroom policies are the reason behind the 2Vote’s #AnywhereButTARGET campaign that thousands have supported.  Other conservatives at American Family Association, Family Research Council and more, have been able to impact the giant corporate retailer.  Let’s continue to place a boycott target on Target for their actions and radical social agenda.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Monday, April 10, 2017

FL Public School Grounds Can Now Have Religious Expression


Florida State Senators voted to approve legislation that abolishes previous rules that prevented religious services and events from being conducted on school property.

“Part of what we’re protecting is those basic rights for religious expression, which are protected free speech, and we’re letting people know it doesn’t stop at the property line of the school site,” Sen. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala) said.  “We owe our educators some clarity on this so it can be applied uniformly across the state and in a way that respects all faiths and [people of] no faith.”

The vote on the bill (SB 436) was 23-13, reports Miami Herald.  The bill was introduced by Baxley, who said the state’s lawmakers should take a stand and allow students and teachers to practice their constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion, regardless of what personal beliefs they hold.

With the new legislation in place, World Radio Network (WRN) reports Florida’s public schools are obliged to allow students to lead religious prayers during school operating hours, grant access to school facilities for student religious groups and allow students to pray at school-run events – activities that previously were strictly prohibited in the state.

Proponents of the bill indicated they thought the bill would serve an important role in reversing what they view as an overbearing crack down on free speech, such as preventing the wearing of religious-themed jewelry like a crucifix, or including references to religious figures in their school work.

The bill in its current form not only allows religious expression, but also shields students and teachers from persecution or discrimination in any form for their religious views.

The bill’s detractors said it infringes too heavily upon the separation of church and state. They also fear it could lead to students and teachers being ostracized or discriminated against if they’re of non-Christian faiths or non-religious.  “It’s religiously coercive, divisive and unconstitutional,” said Sen. Kevin Rader (D-Delray Beach).  With religious expression already protected under the State and U.S. Constitutions, Democrats said further guidance from the Legislature wasn’t necessary.

While Florida is not the only state to allow religious expression in public schools, it is in the minority, reports WRN.  The legislation in its current form appears to treat all religions with equal value.

Rep. Rene Plasencia (R-Orlando), raised concerns that the measure might give way to Satanic cults practicing in Florida’s public schools, because all religious faiths would have equal access to practice openly, according to the Miami Herald.  Rep. Kimberly Daniels (D-Jacksonville) said: “Bills like this have passed in six other states and they aren’t having these problems.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Friday, April 7, 2017

PA School Orders Boy to “Tolerate” Undressing with Girl in Boy’s Locker Room


A teenage boy was told by his principal that he had to “tolerate” undressing in front of a female student and to make it as “natural” as possible, according to a lawsuit filed in a Pennsylvania federal district court.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and Independence Law Center (ILC), alleges the Boyertown Area School District shamed the teenage boy and violated his personal privacy.  They are also alleging sexual harassment.  “No school should rob any student of this legally protected personal privacy,” ILC attorney Randall Wenger said.  “We trust that our children won’t be forced into emotionally vulnerable situations like this when they are in the care of our schools because it’s a school’s duty to protect and respect the bodily privacy and dignity of all students.”

In this case of ‘Joel Doe’ – they clearly ignored that duty.

Background: In the fall of 2016, the teen boy [Joel Doe] was standing in his underwear inside a boy’s locker room at Boyertown Area High School preparing to change for a physical education class.  “He suddenly realized there was a member of the opposite sex changing with him in the locker room, who was at the time, wearing nothing but shorts and a bra,” the lawsuit states.  The boy, along with several of his classmates reported the incident to Assistant Principal, named as a defendant.  “Dr. Foley indicated that the legality was up in the air but that students who mentally identify themselves with the opposite sex could choose the locker room and bathroom to use, and physical sex did not matter,” the lawsuit states.  The teenage boy asked the assistant principal if there was anything that could be done to protect him from the situation.  “Dr. Foley told Joel Doe to ‘tolerate’ it and to make it as ‘natural’ as he possibly can,” the lawsuit states.  As the boy got up to leave the office, the assistant principal allegedly told the youngster to again “be as natural as possible.”

Even more disturbing, parents were not told of the school district’s decision to let students of one sex use the locker rooms and bathrooms of students of the opposite sex.

“The District’s directive to Joel Doe was that he must change with students of the opposite sex, and make it as natural as possible, and that anything less would be intolerant and bullying against students who profess a gender identity with the opposite sex,” the lawsuit states.

The young man’s parents made an appointment with school leaders and were told that the district is “all-inclusive.”  The lawsuit alleges that Foley told the boy’s parents their son could use the nurse’s office to change – if he had a problem changing in front of girls.

Principal Brett Cooper, also a defendant, backed up the assistant principal’s solution. Supt. Richard Faidley suggested if “Joel Doe was uncomfortable changing with those of the opposite sex, or with using the nurse’s office, then he could just withdraw from school and be home-schooled.”

The school district has yet to respond to the lawsuit. 

If the school district be found guilty, what should they immediately do to Faidley, Cooper and Foley?  Should they keep their jobs as educators?

Clearly, this lawsuit illustrates the radical sex and gender narrative being forced on many public school locker rooms in the nation.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Muslim Agenda: Establish Shariah Law in U.S. & Fight Proposals to Ban It


Muslims are complaining of what they consider are frivolous legislative bills meant to spread fears and sow suspicion of their religion in a nation divided.  But supporters of state proposals to prevent Islamic code from being used in American courts argue they aren’t overtly anti-Muslim and are needed to safeguard constitutional rights for average Americans.

The bills, variations of which have been around for years, don’t specifically seek to ban Islamic law, known as Shariah, even though some lawmakers concede that’s their intent.  Instead, the proposals broadly call for banning the application of any foreign law, legal code or legal system that doesn’t grant the same rights and privileges as the state or U.S. Constitutions.

“I believe very strongly in the values of America to allow for religious freedom,” said Connecticut State Rep. Robert Sampson, a Republican sponsor of a bill.  “I just don’t want our court system to start using what is religious law from other countries to make decisions.  I’d like to preserve our way of life.”

Muslim leaders say the bills are among a range of proposals and decisions at all levels of government that they’re gearing up to fight this year, from President Donald Trump’s travel ban to local planning and zoning rulings against mosque projects.  “These are thinly veiled attempts to alienate Muslims in America,” said Hazem Bata, of The Islamic Society of North America, based in Indiana.

Bills have been introduced in at least 13-states – a number that will likely grow as the legislative year progresses – said Jonathan Griffin, of the National Conference of State Legislatures … who has been tracking the proposals.  Anywhere from 15 to 30-states see the proposal introduced in a given year, he said.  10-states already have some version of them on the books since they started cropping up around 2010.

While many of this year’s bills likely won’t become law, they’re gaining traction early in Montana and Arkansas, where the legislatures are poised to approve bills and send them to the governors this month.

Supporters point to a 2014 report by the Center for Security Policy (a conservative think tank) whose critics deride as anti-Muslim, cites nearly 150-cases in which it says Shariah played a role.  The cases, some of which date to the late 1970s, mostly involve divorce, child custody and other family law proceedings … where either the plaintiff or defendants invoked Islamic laws and customs … to make their case.

“Shariah should be very concerning to all of us,” said State Rep. Heidi Sampson, a Maine Republican who has proposed legislation.  “It is a way of life and a legal code which is designed to impinge on culture, family life, marriage, equality of the sexes — a whole host of areas.”  Sampson and other lawmakers say a 2010 New Jersey case highlighted prominently in the report is particularly troubling:
A Muslim woman accused her husband of sexual abuse and sought a restraining order in 2009, but the judge denied the request after the husband argued, in part, that a wife must comply with her husband’s sexual demands in Islamic custom. An appeals court ultimately overturned the ruling.

But Will Smiley, an editor at the Harvard Law School’s SHARIAsource, an online collection of academic writings on Islamic law, is skeptical the bills proposed by lawmakers would have made a difference in the initial ruling.  “These new laws don’t provide any new safeguards,” Smiley said.  “Courts can still make mistakes, like most observers agree that New Jersey court did.”

Many of the other cases cited in the center’s report don’t appear to show evidence that U.S. courts based decisions on Shariah or other foreign codes, said Jay Wexler, a professor at Boston University’s School of Law who specializes in separation of church and state issues.  “The facts of a case might require a court to consider in some way a foreign custom or law,” he said.  “But that does not mean that the court is applying foreign law.”

Opponents maintain the bills as proposed don’t serve any practical purpose.  “The U.S. legal code already states that American courts can only adhere to American laws,” said John Robbins, Executive Director of the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.  “It’s a stupid solution to a nonexistent problem.”

Supporters stress the proposals would impact all religious codes and foreign laws equally.  If parts of Jewish, Christian or other laws ran counter to fundamental constitutional rights, they too would not be applicable in U.S. courts, said Montana State Sen. Keith Regier, a Republican.  “They’re saying it’s hateful, and I have no idea where they’re getting that from,” he said of opponents.  “Read the bill and tell me what is hateful or distasteful in there.”

Sorry folks, but I (for one) don’t trust many of the judges who are legislating from the bench and not strictly following U.S. laws.  How about you?  Do you have reason to believe all judges rule exclusively by the laws of the U.S.?  If you do, I have some land that may interest you … with a bridge over it!

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Monday, April 3, 2017

Legal Protection is Needed for Christians Facing Discrimination


In a recent incident, Wyoming Judge Ruth Neely told a reporter she wouldn’t conduct unnatural marriage ceremonies, even though she is not required by law to perform such rites.  However, just telling a reporter got her in trouble, and she was censured by state legal authorities.

Barbara Weller, an attorney with the National Center for Life and Liberty, tells OneNewsNow there’s a strong need for accommodation of people with religious beliefs.  “For instance,” Weller says, “if a Muslim entertainer didn’t want to sing at an Easter sunrise service, [she] should be accommodated for that.  If a bakery was asked to bake a cake for the Ku Klux Klan, [it] ought to be able to not do that.”

But, as Weller points out, it seems that only Christians who have religious beliefs against same-sex ‘marriage’ are experiencing discrimination, which she says is unconstitutional.  The remedy could take one of two forms according to Weller:
First, President Trump could issue an executive order protecting religious freedom.
A second option, she says, would be “a federal religious liberties bill that would actually allow for Christians or other religious people who have an objection to same-sex marriage to be able to become, in a sense, conscientious objectors.

“That’s really what they are,” she continues.  “They’re just like pacifists who don’t want to go to war, and the country’s always recognized conscientious objectors.”

Weller stresses that such executive or legislative action is needed to protect people from having their religious freedom subverted by activists with social agendas.

Fact is: There are plenty of judges, bakers, photographers, clergy, entertainers more than willing to provide their services to same-sex ‘marriages’ … but the gay activist attacks (agenda) is clearly on Christians of conviction.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel