Student Banned from Delivering Patriotic Speech

Jimmy Heyward is a middle schooler at Saint Bonaventure Catholic School in Huntington Beach, CA.  He decided to run for student council the other week. He had aspirations of becoming the school’s commissioner of school spirit and patriotism.  Jimmy put together one heck of a campaign strategy—one even President Trump would have admired.  The young fellow designed a banner and created embroidered red hats all adorned with his campaign message—Make Saint Bonaventure Great Again.  

Of course, part of running for office is delivering a stump speech—and Jimmy had written a terrific speech.  He wanted to encourage his classmates to respect America, to know the meaning of the pledge of allegiance and to stop eating nachos during the National Anthem.  But Jimmy never got to deliver that speech.  That’s because school leaders made him remove all the references to patriotism. When Jimmy stood his ground, the school told him he would not be allowed to speak.  The entire episode was meant to shame a little boy whose only crime is to love America—silenced because he’s a patriot.  To make matters worse—the school sent an email to parents and teachers alleging that Jimmy’s speech violated the school’s Christian Code of Conduct and insinuated he was not respectful or inclusive.  Shame on Saint Bonaventure Catholic School.  And the godless, heathen communist who wrote that email should be fired on the spot.  

Elon Musk wrote on his X Account: “Hating on America is not cool.”

Since Jimmy was banned from delivering his remarks at Saint Bonaventure, Todd Starnes’ team reached out to his mother, and she gave permission to broadcast her son’s speech on Newsmax.  “My love for America is my motivation for running for Commissioner of Patriotism and School Spirit,” the 13-year-old said.  “It is an honor to live in this country and sadly some people take their citizenship for granted.  Whether it is disrespecting the people who protect us or eating nachos during the national anthem at a sporting event.  Many people recite the Pledge of Allegiance without understanding its meaning.  If someone doesn’t truly know what they are pledging to the United States of America, we might as well be reciting the lyrics to ‘Shake It Off’ by Taylor Swift. I want to fix this so everyone understands the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance.  As the Commissioner of Patriotism, I would have the crucial task of creating ways to bring more patriotism to SBS.  I love my country and I love Saint Bonaventure, but I want to strengthen our patriotism and school spirit.  So accordingly, I, Jimmy Hayward, am running for Commissioner of Patriotism and School Spirit. I want to clarify that my ideas are not promises, but I can promise to make pep rallies great again.  I will make the school spirit great again.  I will make patriotism within SBS be great again.  And mostly I will make SBS great again. Thank you and God bless Saint Bonaventure Catholic School.”

God bless you, Jimmy!  What a terrific speech and what a great reminder of what a great nation we have.  Ronald Reagan once said that American greatness starts not in Washington, DC but around the kitchen table.  Jimmy was clearly raised right—taught to love God and Country, to respect our military and law enforcement.  Traditional Values.  American values.

I am often asked: Can America be saved?  I believe the answer to that question is yes.  With young people like Jimmy Heyward of Huntington Beach, CA—there’s no doubt in my mind that we will forever be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The War on Truth

Since January 6, 2021, the Federal Government has waged a WAR ON TRUTH.  Now the truth is fighting back in a shocking way.

Who really died on January 6th, and why is the Federal Government lying about it to this day?  Who orchestrated and benefited by breaching the Capitol Building?  Was it a Federal Government plot? Was January 6th created to simply steal an election from President Donald J. Trump?  Was it simply the excuse for a larger war on America?

A new movie was just released, demolishing the lies told by Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and the mainstream media about Donald Trump supporters who marched to the U.S. Capitol on January 6th and the vicious war launched against them by the Department of Justice.

The establishment media tells the story of January 6th as one of “domestic terrorists” threatening American democracy.  They hope you will believe them and not look at the facts behind the curtain.  It could foil their plans for America and the campaign to destroy President Trump’s legacy.  The stakes have never been higher!

Award-winning TV star and unashamed conservative Nick Searcy and filmmaker Chris Burgard set out on a deep investigation to determine what really happened on January 6th and what is still happening to the innocent Trump supporters that marched to the Capitol.  This movie will shock you!  The film WAR ON TRUTH is a riveting documentary told through the eyes of the people who were there on the ground in our nation’s capital on January 6, 2021.

January 6, 2021, was years in the making, and the threat to the survival of America as we know it has never been greater.  Learn the true conspiracy behind the WAR ON TRUTH.  This eye-opening documentary was released on May 17th.

Don’t let the establishment, the leftist media and the Biden Administration bury the truth and rewrite our history.  This in-depth documentary destroys the government’s narrative in four major ways.  Watch this must-see film, and make sure your friends know what these liars are trying to do.  Hear real accounts and watch real footage—footage you’ve never seen before—from January 6th and after. Order the DVD for $19.99 at salemnow.com  These are not the images and stories the establishment media showed in their coverage.  They’re the images and stories the establishment media hopes you never see.  America needs to know!  These stories need to be told.  The truth must get out.

BTW: Knowledge about this movie is being suppressed by Google, Facebook, and Amazon.  You won’t be able to watch it on their platforms, and they have refused to advertise the movie.  Only through word of mouth will you hear this important story.  Once you watch it, please forward this blog on to others!

Don’t let them suppress the truth.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Speech, Petitions, Post, and Letter – Will Lawsuit be Added?

Missouri’s Attorney General (AG) is demanding that Kansas City prove its local government isn’t targeting Christians.

AG Andrew Bailey (R) has told Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) to turn over all documents, records, and communications relating to his office’s X (formerly Twitter) post retaliating against Kansas City Chief’s kicker Harrison Butker for his free expression of Christian faith in his recent commencement speech at Benedictine College.  The problematic post revealed Butker’s residence. The May 16 letter to Mayor Lucas points out, among other things, that Missouri’s Human Rights Act prohibits government actors from discriminating against citizens because of their sincerely held religious beliefs. “Missourians deserve better from our elected officials,” AG Bailey states.  If he does not get the requested information, then his office will file a lawsuit.  “We are going to continue to pursue this matter and ensure that local government is not being weaponized to target Christians, bully them out of the free expression of their sincerely held religious views,” Bailey tells American Family News (AFN).  This is an issue the AG believes everyone should pay attention to, regardless of whether they agree with Butker’s pro-Christian, pro-family, pro-life speech in which the kicker talked about traditional marriage and male and female roles.  If the government is allowed to frown on or act against someone for that, Bailey warns that it will.  “Remember, the rights in the Bill of Rights come from God, not man, and our right to free expression and free exercise of our religion comes from God and is protected by the Constitution,” AG Bailey notes.  “It is intended to protect us from the government, not to allow the government to weaponize the instrumentalities of government to suppress the free expression of religion.”

Meanwhile, he says he has seen “an outpouring of support” for his defense of Missourians’ rights.  “I’m also really proud to say that several Chiefs players, to include defensive tackle Chris Jones and the owner’s wife, have stood up and said that Harrison Butker is free to say and believe as he pleases, and we should support that kind of diversity of viewpoint and certainly traditionally held Christian beliefs that have been dominate in this culture for decades, until recently,” the AG relays.

Since Butker’s speech, two online petitions respectively calling for his firing and simply voicing support have been started.  As of last Wednesday, more than 20,000 people had signed the latter.  The petition demanding the Chiefs dismiss Butker for his “discriminatory remarks” had over 223,000.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Christian Teacher in UK Appeals Ban From Profession for ‘Misgendering’ Student

A Christian teacher in the United Kingdom who has been banned from his profession for allegedly misgendering a trans-identifying student in 2017 said that God has sustained him through his ordeal and that he remains hopeful.

Joshua Sutcliffe, 32, told The Christian Post that he faced a hearing before his country’s High Court last week over his appeal of the ban that the U.K.’s Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) slapped on him in May 2023.  The Professional Conduct Panel of the TRA, which regulates the teaching profession in the U.K., recommended that Sutcliffe be banned from teaching for at least two years for “bringing the profession into disrepute,” according to his legal counsel at the Londonbased nonprofit Christian Concern, which has represented many high-profile religious liberty cases in the U.K. Sutcliffe, whose outspoken Christian beliefs include opposition to Islam, homosexuality, pornography and abortion, said a former colleague first reported him to the TRA because of his open-air street preaching, footage of which remains on his website.  When he requested a reference from his former employer, he was reportedly referred to the U.K.’s counterterrorism watchdog Prevent, which has policed similar situations such as that of the Rev. Bernard Randall, a Church of England minister and teacher who was reported to Prevent in 2022 for telling his students that they are allowed to make up their own minds about the claims of LGBT activists.  Throughout the TRA’s investigation of him last year, Sutcliffe said the focus shifted to his alleged misgendering of a trans-identifying female pupil at an Oxford school in 2017, which he said made him a “marked man.”

Sutcliffe, who explained in a video that he avoided using pronouns altogether when dealing with the pupil involved, said the incident became the major topic of discussion during his week-long hearing with the authority last year before they ultimately recommended the ban.  Sutcliffe’s lawyers argued in his appeal that compelling him to use the pupil’s self-declared pronouns was an unjustified interference with his constitutional rights under the Common Law and the European Convention of Human Rights.

Other points of contention that led to accusations of professional misconduct against Sutcliffe included his denunciation of Muhammad as a false prophet and his showing of a PragerU video titled “Make Men Masculine Again.”  “It’s just nuts the fact that they’ve taken that action,” Sutcliffe said of the government authority.  Sutcliffe said that God has sustained him and the Scriptures regarding affliction have “come to life” for him, noting that his relationship with the Lord has been “the most precious thing from the very beginning” of his ordeal.  “The thing I’ve clung on to is that God knows the beginning from the end,” he said.  “All the things that have happened couldn’t have happened by chance.  God has called me according to His purpose, and it’s such an honor. It’s the greatest honor of my life to serve God, to love Him and declare His praises.”  “And hopefully, in some small way, people have seen the hope of the Gospel and the hope of Christ through what’s happened to me.”

Sutcliffe, who expressed concern that his country has drifted from its Christian roots to become “consumed with the things of the world,” said he nonetheless remains optimistic regarding his case, which he believes could be a landmark one, especially since authorities in the U.K. are backtracking on affirming trans identities for minors in the wake of the Cass Report.

The Cass Report, which was released last month, prompted the National Health Services (NHS) to advise gender clinics to implement a pause on first appointments for those younger than 18.

“In recent months in the U.K., there’s been movements in secular and political culture toward actually [realizing] this is harmful for children and we shouldn’t be affirming them down a path of surgery and puberty blockers and all the rest of it,” Sutcliffe said.  “So I’m hoping common sense will prevail.”

The U.K. government also revised its guidance for schools in December to advise a more cautious approach toward social transitioning, affirming that “no one should be expected to use preferred pronouns and they should not be sanctioned for making honest mistakes.”  “I’m hoping my Christian freedoms will be upheld,” Sutcliffe said.  “I think it’s an important case because it doesn’t just affect Christians, it affects everyone.  In a free society, Christians should be able to express their views.  We’re not under the rule of Stalin.  It’s supposed to be a free country.”  “And for that reason, I’m happy to fight the case,” he added.  “I’m hoping that it becomes a benchmark for other people in teaching and other professions: that yes, they are free to share their convictions — and particularly Christians, because I want the Gospel to be heard.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Welcome to the Warped World of ‘Gender Affirming Care’

A journalist with a conservative news outlet attributes the lack of media coverage about individuals who regret having gone through “gender transition” to a simple factor: the establishment media isn’t interested in giving a voice to de-transitioners.

Mary Margaret Olohan is a senior reporter for the Daily Signal.  She’s also the author of the new book “Detrans: True Stories of Escaping the Gender Ideology Cult.”  Talking about the issue on American Family Radio last week, Olohan explained it has largely been up to conversative media so far to tell the stories of those who regret going through “gender-manipulation” procedures.  “[Many of] these people are … young people who don’t really have political affiliations,” she noted.  “They wouldn’t really describe themselves as Republican or Democrat, and they’re slowly realizing that some of their only allies are in conservative media.  So, we’re very grateful to them for trusting us with their stories.”

According to Olohan, it’s not just people on the right who are concerned about and opposed to transgender policies that, for example, allow boys in girls’ locker rooms.  She contends some left-leaning people also don’t support that idea. “They don’t support allowing kids to get transition surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers,” she offered. "… These kind of very far-left ideas that are being pushed on them and our kids are drawing a lot more Americans … to the right because they just don’t appreciate these types of radical things being pushed on them.”

Several states are challenging the Biden Administration’s changes to Title IX to allow for males in female bathrooms, locker rooms, and sporting events. Meanwhile, several states have taken steps to ban gendermanipulation procedures of minors, one argument being that children with gender dysphoria grow out of it.  Another stated reason is that children and families are pushed into “gender-affirming care” by medical professionals and special-interest groups.

On a recent podcast, nationally syndicated radio host Glenn Beck exposed what he calls “Frankenstein-like experiments” on minors and the mentally ill, all done with the support of the medical community in the name of science.  “It’s important to point out that ‘gender-affirming care’ is considered necessary, life-saving medical care by every major medical and mental health organization in the United States, which represents nearly two-million doctors in this country,” Beck states during the introduction of that podcast.

Beck, co-founder of Blaze Media, discussed what’s called The WPATH Files, written by Mia Hughes, which details leaked documents exposing the world of alleged “gender-affirming care.”  He called it some of the most disturbing material he has ever exposed.  The podcast host talked with many de-transitioners about their journey and experiences, one of whom was Luka Hein, a biological female who realized she’d been lied to when she was 20 years old. She recalled a “twisting of the most … basic and common teenage insecurities and the uncomfortableness of puberty into something bigger, into something that needed to be medicalized and escaped from.”

Harmeet Dhillon, founder and CEO of the Center for American Liberty, told Beck that she usually tries to discourage clients from suing because there are better methods to resolve disputes – in this case, because the medical industry is profiting greatly from such “care” and because a huge ideological bias already exists, starting in the medical schools.  “I think the only way to stop them is to make it unsafe for them to do it and make it unsafe for insurers to insure it and hold them accountable financially …. I think that will stop them in their tracks,” said the attorney.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

S Carolina Passes Ban on Transgender Surgeries for Children

South Carolina has become the latest U.S. state to crack down on mutilating transgender surgeries and hormones for children and taxpayer funding for “gender transitions.”

Last week, South Carolina’s Republican-led legislature approved House Bill 4624, which prohibits medical professionals from giving puberty-blocking drugs or cross-sex hormones to children under 18 years old or subjecting minors to “genital or non-genital gender reassignment surgery.”  “A physician, mental health provider, or other health care professional shall not knowingly provide gender transition procedures to a person under eighteen years of age,” the bill states.  Physicians who violate the bill would risk losing their licenses, and they would be “guilty of inflicting great bodily injury upon a child” if they commit transgender surgeries on children.  A person subjected to a “gender transition” while still a child would have a three-year window to bring legal action against the medical practitioners responsible for his or her mutilation.

South Carolina was one of the last Republican-led states not to have passed restrictions on transgender mutilation of children.  The bill cleared the state Senate 28-8 and the House 67-26, with the backing of only three Democrats. The bill requires minors who began using puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones before August 1 this year to be weaned off of the sterilizing drugs by no later January 31, 2025.  It also outlaws the use of public funds “directly or indirectly” for “gender transition” practices and bans Medicaid from reimbursing or covering the procedures.

Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who has a record of opposing LGBT ideology, plans to sign the measure, South Carolina Daily Gazette reported.  He previously signaled his support for the bill and denounced “transitioning” children in January, saying, “we must prevent our young people from making irreversible errors.”  House Bill 4624 would take effect immediately upon McMaster signing it.  If the governor approves the bill, South Carolina would be the 25th state to ban or limit “gender transitions” for minors.

House Bill 4624 would also strengthen parents’ rights by requiring schools to immediately notify parents in writing if their child claims to identify as something other than his or her sex or asks to be addressed by transgender pronouns.

The bill additionally prohibits school employees from withholding information about children’s gender confusion from their parents or encouraging or coercing children to do so.

Last week, South Carolina passed another bill to protect children, the “Child Online Safety Act,” which requires age verification for pornographic websites. More than 15 states have enacted similar legislation.

A large body of evidence shows that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones cause serious, even lifethreatening, injuries, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, infertility, bone density loss, emotional problems, and permanent damage to reproductive organs.

Transgender surgeries include irreversible procedures to remove sexual organs and construct synthetic genitalia and other features intended to imitate those of the opposite sex.  Research shows that people who undergo so-called “sex change” surgeries have an exponentially higher rate of suicide.

Several European countries have moved to restrict transgender mutilation of children due to the dangers posed by “gender transitions” and the lack of scientific basis for the practices, including the U.K., Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark.  In March, England’s National Health Service banned prescription of puberty blockers to minors outside of clinical trials, and Scotland followed last month with a pause on both puberty blockers and hormones for children under 18.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Core Integrity

Reprint of March 3, 2023 Posting

What is a core value?  According to Webster’s Dictionary, core refers to that which is central and foundational, distinct from the enveloping parts.  It goes on to say that core is the internal memory, such as in a computer.  It provides the common background for all that exists on the surface.

Taking these definitions and applying them to the “core values” of the United States should provide the cohesive building blocks for our nation.  If ideas, politics, actions, etc., do not fit with the original core, then they do not fit with the nation.  Both political camps claim to have the interest and security of America at the heart of their concerns regarding the other camp.  So, how do we know which side is correct in knowing what those foundational and core values are?

As in all history, it is extremely important to study original sources.  Further, it is also important to understand the perspectives and word meanings of the time that is being examined.  In other words, what was life like?  What issues, difficulties, and circumstances surrounded and contributed to the needs being addressed?

At the core of America, we find our founders and the founding documents they wrote establish the core of ideals, philosophy, and politics that make this nation function and continue. Without the core in place, the nation fails.

Today, the core of our nation is torn apart and improperly mixed in a solution of false history and misunderstood foundational values.  In our current American political arena, the core of our nation is being purposely broken down.  Philosophies like CRT (Critical Race Theory) and organizations, such as BLM (Black Lives Matter) are tearing apart our core foundations.

Psalm 102:25 and Hebrews 1:10 both remind us that, “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, the heavens are the work of Your hands.”  The more we know and understand the Creator, the more we understand what He has made.  It follows that the more we know and understand our national founders and what they produced, the more we keep our core values solid and operational.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Deceptive Ways

Reprint of March 1, 2023 Posting

There is a saying that goes, “If something is a good thing, then no one should need to be forced into it.”  We might also add, “… or apply shifty and deceptive methods to coerce others.”

The LGBTQ crowd are mastering the art of “deceptive, furtive and subversive” methods to bring their lifestyle into the public … and into our children’s lives.

Some time ago, an article by Bob Unruh documented these methods being applied to a 10-year-old girl when she went to a school counselor/therapist for help with her anxiety issues. During the “counseling” process, she was removed from her parent’s supervision to keep them from realizing what was going on.  The counseling staffer “diagnosed” her with “gender dysphoria,” changed her name to a boy’s name, and also changed her pronouns and wardrobe.  Praise God, the parents were eventually able to rescue their daughter away and bring her back home.  They were successful in defeating the “therapist’s” goals of turning this child into a transgender.  

In the article we learn of the typical 5-step process that is used:

1. Exclude parents (isolate in hospital for six days to indoctrinate).

2. Leap to gender dysphoria diagnosis.  The therapist did not listen to the parents and their knowledge of their daughter.

3. Affirm cross-identity (new name, pronouns and wardrobe).

4. Address the patient by the opposite gender name.

5. Vilify anything that challenges the “trans” agenda.

It is interesting that sinful beliefs and lifestyles always work to discredit and change God’s design.  Satan is the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).  Beware of things done in secret, of those who are deceptive, of those who call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20; Psalm 90:7-8; Ephesians 5:11-14).  

Warn parents, educate the children in God’s truth, be diligent to protect those whom God has put under your care.  Shine His light so truth is known.

“Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the Word of God.  On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

OFFENSIVE WAYS

Reprint of February 10, 2023 Posting

Christians, we will be offended in this world!  There really is no getting around it.  We live, think, and believe in ways counter to our culture.  Therefore, others are going to not like us— even hate us for who we are.  Our ”woke” generation perceives a completely different world of normal.

Definitions of words have been reversed.  The result is that we all offend each other without realizing what we said that offended.  Listen to this definition by Jim Morgan of what we face:

“ ‘Woke’ is awaking from a supposed sleep induced by parents, preachers, youth group leaders, America’s founders, and anyone else with the audacity to tell people how to live their lives.  Once ‘enlightened’ to their true identity and nature, liberated from the arcane idea that mankind is sinful and needs a Savior, society begins its regression into the division, dependence, decadence, and decline that eventually demands a (secular) savior.  The social decay precipitated by shifting trust and truth from God to self, sets the stage for submission to the authorities and structures inevitably needed to salvage the sinking ship.”

When confronting the “woke” philosophy we have a couple of problems.  First, how do we deal with the offensive action or statement leveled against us (that a Biblical worldview is oppressive)?  Secondly, how do we refrain from being equally offensive in our responses, if at all possible?

Proverbs 17:9 says, “He who covers an offense promotes love…”  Perhaps another way of thinking would be to decide ahead of time not to let an offense affect you emotionally. Let it go, give it to the Lord to deal with.  When in an honest conversation, even a debate, stick with truth and facts rather than innuendos and all the gray areas of thought. Know the subject well that you are discussing or simply state that you are not prepared to discuss it at this time. Barging ahead can often lead to all the unintended offensive remarks that shut down the conversation.  Realize ahead of time that those who are opposed to Christianity will re-define the very concepts of Christianity and turn them against us.  When this happens ask for them to further define what they are meaning and accusing us of.  Then freely defend the Biblical perspectives of each.  Help them understand they are not arguing with you, but with God— with His Holy Word.  “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense” (Proverbs 19:11).

Be open in your own short fallings in order to expose your sinfulness (Romans 3:23). We are not claiming to be perfect in ourselves, but only as we are redeemed in Christ. Eternal life is not something we made up for convenience sake, but it is a gift we accepted from God (Romans 6:23)— available to everyone (Romans 10:9-13).  Though we are indeed engaged in spiritual warfare, we do not need to utilize the same weapons as our enemies use.  See yourself, not as a soldier needing to kill and destroy.  Picture yourself, instead, as God’s vessel of love and grace seeking to save that which is lost (Luke 19:10).

Do not prepare with man’s weapons for war, but with God’s (Ephesians 6:11-18). Prepare, study, memorize, and pray that the Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance all that you will need (John 14:26).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Rise of Islamism in America; How We Can Be Praying (Part 2)

In follow up to my previous posting, let me address why we need to pray about this.  Because Islam is an openly anti-Christian and antisemitic religion.  The Koran contains several statements calling the beliefs of Jews and Christians blasphemy.  Here’s one: The Jews said, “Ezra is the son of God,” and the Christians said, “The Messiah is the son of God.”  These are their statements, out of their mouths. They emulate the statements of those who blasphemed before.  May God assail them! (Sura 9:30). The word assail means curse.  Islam curses Judaism and Christianity and considers every non-Islamic person an infidel.  Europe learned this the hard way—they found out quickly that the millions of Muslims that fled there to escape the unrest in the Middle East could not be integrated.  They do not accept other customs or laws—only what is according to the Koran.

Islamism seeks to take over society by any means possible—the most effective being gradual influence.  Once Islamists have enough power, they will turn on anything that disagrees with them to try and force Islam on society.  They will force Christianity and Judaism out.  That makes it one of the tools of Satan’s hands to try and derail the advance of God’s Kingdom in the US and around the world.

The current wave of violent anti-Israel protests on several woke universities is a sign of what is to come if Islamist influence grows.  So are the waves of violent protests that erupt every time Muslims in the West feel disadvantaged in some way, which they interpret as “Islamophobia.”

The animosity of Islam against Christianity goes all the way back to Ishmael, who was prophesied to be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers (Genesis 16:12 ESV).  That is why Islam is currently the most prolific and brutal persecutor of the Christian Church around the globe.  And that is why we must pray for God’s hand to restrain its radical elements and continue to call millions of Muslims to Himself.  Here are some prayer points:

• Pray, first of all, for Muslims in America to come to Christ as they see the increasing hostility of radical Islam overseas.

• Pray for Islamist agendas and ties to terrorism to be exposed.

• Pray for Islamist politicians to be defeated.

• Pray for the flow of funds through the Muslim Brotherhood to Islamist influencers to dry up.

• Pray for loving but bold outreach to the 3.85 million Muslims in the US.

Prayer: Father, we unite in prayer against the Islamist agenda in America.  We pray for its hidden secrets to be exposed and its funding to dry up.  Ignite a holy disenchantment against Islamic radicalism in the hearts of the millions of Muslims in our nation and call them into a relationship with You.  In Jesus’ Mighty Name.  Amen.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The Rise of Islamism in America; How We Can Be Praying (Part 1)

Most of us are familiar with Islam, especially in its radical forms.  How could we miss it when it is on the news almost every day?  Not to mention the fact that the United States and its allies have been in the crosshairs of its most violent tendencies repeatedly.

No one will dispute that Islamic aggression is a real threat, even on American soil.  However, what is less known is Islamism.  It’s also known as political Islam—a broad set of political ideologies that utilize and draw inspiration from Islamic symbols and traditions in pursuit of a sociopolitical objective. According to Newsweek:

“Islamism is the religio-political-cultural belief system that the state should have an Islamic identity and be guided only by shariah law (Islamic jurisprudence).  Islamists are part of a global political movement that ultimately seeks power and international hegemony.  Like all totalitarian systems, Islamism is not compatible with Western secular democratic ideals.  Not all Muslims are Islamists, but all Islamists are Muslims.”

It is alive and growing in America and one of the many tools Satan currently uses to destroy our nation from the inside out.  Islamism can be traced back to the Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest Islamist organization founded in Egypt in 1928.  Initially, it focused on educational and social programs but embraced violence during and after World War II.  The Egyptian government under Nasser repressed it ferociously, forcing the Brotherhood underground.  It experienced a revival in the 1980s and spread rapidly throughout the Middle East with a new approach: “Islamism-from-the-ground up.”  The goal is the same: global hegemony through Islam as an all-encompassing way of life, including Islamic law.  

The popularity of violence and terrorism as a way to accomplish this has waned because of groups such as Al-Qaida and ISIS and other violent splinter groups such as Al Shabab in East Africa and Boko Haram in Nigeria.  Instead, they favor a more insidious approach: well educated, well-funded Muslims who have taken advantage of the relative freedom of entry we offer are running for office in everything from school boards to Congress, buying up businesses large and small, and establishing social outreach programs through fronts like CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) and ISNA (Islamic Association of North America).  Those are all independent organizations but united by common sources of funding, interlocking boards, and collaboration in the same initiatives. And they are all related to the Muslim Brotherhood—the hidden driving force behind Islamism in America.

Money appears to be one of their most powerful weapons.  The Islamist Watch, which tracks Islamist money in politics, lists a number of familiar names as recipients of donations from Islamist organizations.  Among them are US Representatives Omar and Tlaib, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Jay Jalisi, a Pakistani Muslim and member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 2015-2023.

One intermediary in Maryland has had firsthand experience with Islamism-from-the-ground-up.  In her school district, she ran against an Islamist for school board and lost.  She recalled how aggressive Muslim influence led to the district incorporating Islamic holidays in its calendar.  At a higher level, she recounts how a ceremony was held at the Maryland State House under the previous governor, declaring Maryland an “interfaith, open state.”  During the ceremony, a Koran was displayed in favor of a Bible.

On the surface, these efforts may seem like Muslim immigrants protecting their right to practice Islam, build mosques, and contribute to society through social programs.  But there is more than meets the eye.  While they pretend to be on the side of persecuted minorities and the poor, they exercise more aggressive influence once in positions of leadership.  It’s an age-old tactic of totalitarian ideologies: present yourself as people of goodwill, make use of the welcoming nature of a people or country that values diversity, and then strike once you have gained political, social, and financial clout.

Proof of that exists in a document found in the home of Ismael Elbarasse, a founder of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia, in relation to the Holy Land Foundation trial in 2008. Elbarasse was a member of the Palestine Committee, which the Muslim Brotherhood had created to support Hamas in the United States.  The document was a Strategic Plan formed at a 1991 meeting in which the Muslim Brotherhood outlined its priorities for America.  The most revealing excerpt from the document reads: “The process of settlement is a ‘Civilization-Jihadist Process’ with all the word means. The Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers ...”  It also included a list of its organizations, including CAIR and ISNA.

While the trial did much to expose what was behind the façade of charitable organizations, it did not heighten awareness of or stop Islamist efforts in the US.   Nearly 20 years later, we have pro-Palestinian, Islamist representatives in Congress, Islamist politicians in city councils and on school boards, lobbying groups, and powerful business networks—all well-funded from mostly the Middle East through the Muslim Brotherhood and its fronts.  There is even a city in Michigan—Hamtramck—run entirely by Muslims.

Islam is no longer the fastest-growing religion in the US (approximately 3.85 million, according to a Pew Study of 2020).  Still, its numbers are high enough to have significant influence, especially through slow, methodical expansion of influence in all spheres of life.

In my next posting, I’ll address our need to pray about this.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Pro-Hamas Protesters Don’t Understand the Principle of Sowing vs Reaping

How ridiculously entitled are the pro-Hamas “protesters” storming college campuses and setting up illegal encampments across the country?  With numerous arrests and suspensions taking place, some are now demanding “amnesty” so that their actions don’t impact their future careers.  

Even a kindergartener knows there are consequences for what he/she does.  I mean no offense to those in kindergarten.

The terrorist supporters want to avoid the whole reaping part of sowing and reaping.  Maryam Alwan figured the worst was over after New York City police in riot gear arrested her and other protesters on the Columbia University campus, loaded them onto buses and held them in custody for hours.  But the next evening, the college junior received an email from the university.  Alwan and other students were being suspended after their arrests at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” a tactic other colleges across the country have deployed to calm growing campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war. The students’ plight has become a central part of protests, with students and a growing number of faculty demanding their amnesty.  

At issue is whether universities and law enforcement will clear the charges and withhold other consequences, or whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students into their adult lives.

Why would Maryam Alwan think the worst was over after she was taken into custody?  Did she think that being arrested was just a performative exercise to provide her with clout among the pro-Hamas contingent?  The answer is that she probably did think that.  Did Alwan foolishly expect not to be charged and for her suspension to be lifted immediately?  That didn’t happen, and now she wants “amnesty.”  Well, that’s not how it works.  In the real world, when you lash out and break the law, leading to your arrest, that record follows you.  To the extent that it prevents her from getting a good job later, those are the justified consequences of her actions.  If these terrorist didn’t want to take the ride, they shouldn’t have bought the ticket.

For international students facing suspension, there is the added fear of losing their visas, said Radhika Sainath, an attorney with Palestine Legal, which helped a group of Columbia students file a federal civil rights complaint against the school.  It accuses Columbia of not doing enough to address discrimination against Palestinian students.  “The level of punishment is not even just draconian, it feels like over-the-top callousness,” Sainath said.

Listen: Every single one of them should lose their visas.  Being in America as a foreigner is a privilege, not a right.  If you come here and break the law, you have no business remaining here.  To call that draconian is ridiculous.  If anything, the punishments doled out so far have been too lenient.  Truth be told, these students should have all been expelled, not just suspended.

More than 40 students were arrested at a Yale demonstration last week, including senior Craig Birckhead Morton.  He is due to graduate May 20 but says the university has not yet told him if his case will be submitted to a disciplinary panel.  He worries about whether he will receive a diploma and if his acceptance to Columbia graduate school could be at risk.  “The school has done its best to ignore us and not tell us what happens next,” said Birckhead-Morton, a history major.  Notice that Craig Birckhead-Morton expects the university to operate with order and fairness.  Yet, he provided none of that when he helped set up an illegal encampment that prevented Jews from entering buildings and harassed them with genocidal slogans.  He shouldn’t get his diploma, and he certainly shouldn’t be accepted into graduate school after his behavior.

All of this makes sense when you realize most of these “protesters” think like children.  Many of them are affirmative action students who got into these schools over far more qualified individuals because of the identity boxes they check.  Their entire lives, the system they detest has given them special treatment and helped them move forward.  Is it any wonder they expect that same treatment again?

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Biden Guts Trump-Era Title IX, Issues Rules to Protect LGBTQ Students, Eliminate Gender-Based Categories

Joe Biden has fulfilled another campaign promise, America.  As has been the case with most, if not all, of the controlled-by-handlers president’s actions, his latest fulfillment takes another bite out of this country as we know it.  That’s not an overstatement.

The Biden Administration has unveiled new rules to protect so-called gender identity, sexual orientation, and “sex characteristics” — not to be confused with biological gender.  The new provisions, part of a revised Title IX regulation issued by the Education Department, change how sexual harassment and assault claims are adjudicated on college campuses.  

Jennifer Sey, Founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, nailed it.  The new final rules re-write discrimination as “based on stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics.”  But not actual sex.  They are eliminating sex-based categories and distinctions.  And gaslighting us into accepting that there is no actual difference between males and females.  There is only gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex “characteristics” which are not the same as biological sex.  They are playing games with language.  And smuggling in lies.

Most of the Biden Administration’s lies are overt as hell.  Department of Education recently released changes to Title IX.  The new final rules re-write discrimination as “based on stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics.”  But not actual sex.  They are eliminating sex-based categories and distinctions.

Under the new rules, sex discrimination includes discrimination based on gender identity as well as sexual orientation.  A school must not separate or treat people differently based on sex, except in limited circumstances.  LGBTQ+ students who face discrimination will be entitled to a response from their school under Title IX, and those failed by their schools can seek recourse from the federal government.

Biden is also officially undoing sexual assault rules put in place by his predecessor and current election year opponent, former President Donald Trump.  Colleges will no longer be required to hold live hearings to allow students to cross-examine one another through representatives.  Instead, college officials will be able to interview students separately, allowing each student to suggest questions and get a recording of the responses.  

It appears that colleges will be allowed to use a lower standard to find guilt or misconduct in a sexual assault case by interviewing the accused and the accuser separately and eliminating live hearings, including cross-examinations between victims and those they accuse of sex-based misconduct.  

Riley Gaines, host of the “Gaines for Girls” podcast, ripped into Biden over the changes.  “The president and his administration can’t act like they care about women or our opportunities and then go and wipe out women’s protections under the country’s landmark sex equality law.  Title IX was passed over fifty years ago to end unjust discrimination in education, including athletics.  I experienced this law [being] undermined when female athletes like myself were told to keep quiet when a male swimmer took home a title in the women’s division and deprived female athletes of awards, honors, and the opportunity to compete.”

The non-profit group Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) and the Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC) are about to ignite a fire over the Title IX changes. The organizations are joining a coalition to sue the Biden Administration to enjoin the action.  May Mailman, the director of the IWLC, said in a statement: “Title IX was designed to give women equal opportunities in academic settings. It forbids discrimination on the basis of ‘sex,’ which it affirms throughout the statute is binary and biological.  The unlawful Omnibus Regulation re-imagines Title IX to permit the invasion of women’s spaces and the reduction of women’s rights in the name of elevating protections for ‘gender identity,’ which is contrary to the text and purpose of Title IX.  Because this is illegal, we plan to sue.”

So there it is.  Exactly where everything else is that Joe Biden has intentionally imposed on this country.  The Bottom Line Question is often asked in presidential election years, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”  The better and more ominous question is, “Where will you and this country be four years from now if Biden wins in November?”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Kirk Cameron Takes on Scholastic Books for Pushing Immoral Content to Kids

For years Kirk Cameron has made public libraries a focal point in his effort to make wholesome content available to kids.  The actor and producer is now entering a new arena by competing against Scholastic Book Fairs which is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books.  He is partnering with Sky Tree Book Fairs, a nonprofit group that aims to equip children with books that promote positive values and lifestyles all while respecting parents and guardians as the ultimate authority to determine what their child reads.

“We see that there is such an avalanche of filth and material that’s twisting the minds of children about the most basic things of reality and families, gender, faith, what is America,” Cameron said in an interview with CBN News. Scholastic Books have been a long-time staple in America’s public schools – but Cameron says the publisher has taken a turn by now pushing sexually explicit and other harmful content to kids.  

Cameron recently highlighted one example of a book called Welcome to St. Hell, which glamorizes gender transitioning to a vulnerable audience: middle schoolers.  “We all grew up with Scholastic, everyone, as the publisher of these great books, and Clifford the Big Red Dog and Stuart Little and James and The Giant Peach and all the fun little crossword puzzles.  Well, their book fairs are now filled with the kind of progressive, socialist Marxist material that is undermining God, family, and the country,” Cameron said.

Across the country the fight over such content in schools is growing.  The Virginia Beach, VA school board recently voted to put a committee in place to keep such content from elementary libraries.  “I think we should fill our limited space in our libraries with books that are uplifting, that help to develop children and that achieve our primary task which is to teach them to read, write, understand science, appreciate great literature, understand history,” said Virginia Beach School Board Member David Culpepper.  “Those books should not be harmful.”

As a counter to that move, Cameron wants to provide students with better options and schools with empowering alternatives.  “You can replace these harmful Scholastic book fairs with helpful, wholesome book fairs with 500 books that have all been vetted and screened to take out all of the nasty pornography and the critical race theory and the race stuff and they’re about wholesome good values,” Cameron said in a video posted on X.  Cameron says support from parents, teachers, and schools has been huge.  “We already have over a thousand schools, public and private that are replacing Scholastic book fairs,” he explained.  “When we first showed up at a library to read one of these books with pro-God, pro-America values, the leadership at the library said, ‘Our people wouldn’t be interested.  We’re more of a progressive community and we don’t align with your values.’”  “Well, when we showed up, we were greeted by thousands, literally two, three-thousand parents and grandparents and children coming to downtown libraries that families deserted because of all of the violence and the crime and the rioting that was going on the last few years. Why?  Because they want a resurgence of first principles and the values that lead to their children’s blessing and protection.”  

As concerned parents seek morally safe family entertainment, Cameron is also launching a new television series for kids.  “Our kids are having an identity crisis in our country,” he shared.  “They don’t know who they are.  They don’t know where they are.  They don’t understand right from wrong or even if they’re a boy or a girl.  So, we want to tell stories that are going to give kids their identity in Christ. They’re going to teach them values.  Think of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood only modernized with hilarious dialogue, beautiful animation, and it's called Adventures with Iggy and Mr. Kirk.  I’m Mr. Kirk and my little sidekick is an iguana named Iggy and he is being puppeteered by a world-renowned creator of puppets who worked with Jim Henson and the Muppets on Sesame Street.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

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