NY School Singles Out Student-led Bible Study Club

Last week, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) aided a New York high school student in starting an after-school, student-led Bible study club.  A senior at a high school in Amsterdam, NY, received approval from her principal to begin the after-school club; but on the day the club was to begin, the school superintendent informed the student that the club needed an insurance policy to use school facilities after hours.

 

However, other student-led clubs were not required to obtain an insurance policy.

 

In response to the student’s parents’ request for help, the ACLJ provided information about the relevant legal principles regarding religious clubs’ access to school facilities and that the Bible club must be given the same privileges as any other student-led club.

 

If other student-led clubs are not required to obtain insurance policies, this senior should not be required to obtain one for the Bible club.

 

Upon receiving this information, the school allowed the student to start up her after-school Bible study club.

 

Christians need always to ready for persecution.  This is the way it starts … in a localized (little unknown school district).  From there it grows into more global settings.  Thank God for such organization like ACLJ who are committed to helping protect religious liberty.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Arizona Understands Pro-Life Health Protection for Every Women and Pre-Born Child

Last week, the Arizona State legislator voted in favor of the new Women’s Health Protection Act (HB-2284), which does three basic things:

·         First, it requires abortion clinics to meet the same Department of Health Services (DHS) standards of safety and inspection as any other clinic or surgical center in the state.

·         Second, it makes it a Class 1 Misdemeanor to aid or assist a minor in receiving an abortion, without parental or guardian consent.

·         Third, it requires that abortion clinics report botched abortions whenever the child is born alive and it requires the clinic report what (if any) steps are subsequently taken to save that child’s life.

 

Regrettably, the vote was straight down party lines … making one wonder if the democrats have any moral composition at all.  For a party that touts itself as being pro-women, it sure seems odd that every one of them would vote against a law which would improve safety and equipment standards in clinics designed specifically to serve female patients.

 

Regarding the first issue: As it currently stands, county and/or state DHS inspectors are prohibited from snap or random inspections of abortion clinics (except upon obtaining a search warrant).  Inspectors are also prohibited from routine inspections except upon re-licensure (once every two years).  Out of all the other medical facilities in the state, abortion clinics are given a total pass in the area of safety and health inspection standards.  So even if the authorities receive complaints and suspect abuse of the laws, they are not allowed to inspect the clinics in a timely manner.  According to the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP), “DHS should have the authority to perform reasonable cause, unannounced inspections of abortion clinics, just as they do with every other type of health care institution.”  HB-2284 supports that view.

 

Regarding the second issue: Arizona’s Parental Consent statues require that prior to a minor having an abortion, written, notarized consent must be obtained by the provider from a parent or guardian.  However, currently if an abortion provider violates the law, there are no legal penalties which can be imposed, so there’s no risk involved in coercing a 12-year-old girl to have an abortion.  But HB-2284 would change that, even if the child is taken out of state to avoid the Parental Consent law, and make it a Class 1 Misdemeanor … which carries a maximum fine of up to $2500.00 and six months in jail.

 

Finally, regarding the botched abortion issue: In 2012, “LiveAction” television went undercover and caught Dr. Mercer, an Arizona abortion doctor, stating that at 23-week gestation (a baby) “... doesn’t even look like a baby yet ...”  According to several studies, over 50% of all babies born at 23-weeks survive and thrive.  The same undercover video also caught an abortion assistant admitting that if an infant survived an abortion, nothing would be done to try and save the child’s life.  Current Arizona Statute mandates that physicians have a duty to promote the life of any fetus delivered alive.  Yet Dr. Mercer’s flagrant lies and disregard for the Hippocratic Oath and current Arizona laws exemplify why state legislators must be more aggressive in ensuring that abortion providers adhere to the same standards of practice as any other healthcare provider.  At an absolute minimum it will require that abortion clinics report all botched abortions (live births) to the authorities, as well as what measures (if any) the medical personnel took to save the child’s life.

 

Governor Jan Brewer signed HB-2284 into law … another victory for Arizona’s thriving pro-life movement.

 

I commend the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Debbie Lesko, who championed the legislation of HB-2284, and Governor Brewer for standing up to the attacks and distortions from Planned Parenthood.

 

While I rejoice in yet another state victory for life, the work will never be done until every woman and pre-born child is protected from the dangerous and deadly practices of Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Pro-Life Centers Can Continue to Advertise in NYC

Last week, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) received a ‘stay’ from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that will protect two non-profit organizations that operate numerous pro-life crisis pregnancy centers in New York City.  ACLJ represented them in a lawsuit challenging a New York City law that imposes burdensome disclaimer and confidentiality requirements upon crisis pregnancy centers.

 

The law, enacted in March 2011, was designed by pro-abortion legislators to severely limit the ability of pro-life centers to advertise their services, and to divert the course of conversations that these centers have with women who are interested in their services … by requiring three lengthy disclaimers to be included (in English and Spanish) in any advertisements, in conversations in which a woman asks about abortion, contraception, or pre-natal care, and on signs posted at the center’s entrance and waiting area.  Non-compliance with the law is punishable by thousands of dollars of penalties.

 

The Second Circuit granted ACLJ’s motion, which means that their clients will not need to comply with the law while the appeal moves to the Supreme Court in the coming months.  This is a significant win because the law violates the clients’ constitutional 1st Amendment right to advertise their services for the reasons set forth by the trial court and Judge Wesley.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

If You Don’t Support Gay Marriage, Do You Deserve a Job?

In the midst of the chatter for ‘tolerance’ and ‘diversity’ America’s gay rights activists are warning: If you don’t support gay marriage, you don’t deserve a job.

 

Brendan Eich, the former chief executive officer at Mozilla – the technology group that gave us the Firefox Web browser – resigned under a firestorm of controversy after it was revealed he had donated $1,000 in support of California’s Proposition 8 (a ballot initiative that protected traditional marriage).  Once his donation was revealed, supporters of gay marriage launched all-out war.

 

The Wall Street Journal reported that OKCupid, the popular online dating website, asked its followers to stop using Firefox.  According to The New York Times, OKCupid posted a letter denouncing the Mozilla CEO, reporting – “Those who seek to deny love and instead enforce misery, shame and frustration are our enemies and we wish them nothing but failure.”  And the wireless company Credo Mobile gathered more than 50,000 signatures on a petition calling for Eich to resign.

 

Eich won’t say he was forced to resign, but based on the company’s press release, it’s safe to say his days were numbered.  “Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past week, we didn’t live up to it,” Mozilla Executive Chairwoman Mitchell Baker wrote in a statement.  “We know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves.”  She went on to opine about freedom of speech and equality.  In her estimation, one trumps the other.  “Equality is necessary for meaningful speech,” she wrote.  “And you need free speech to fight for equality.  Figuring out how to stand for both at the same time can be hard.”

 

Are there not rational and reasonable individuals within the gay rights community who understand the dangers of muzzling free speech and expression?  It appears that the voices that are winning the day are those who believe gay rights trump everyone else’s rights.

 

Evidently, the left does not believe people who oppose gay marriage should be allowed to engage in the democratic process.  They have a proven track record of intimidating and bullying those who do.  Just ask Angela McCaskill, the chief diversity officer at Gallaudet University.  She was suspended after she signed a petition in her church to put a gay marriage referendum on the ballot in Maryland.  Just ask Scott Eckern, the former artistic director of California Musical Theatre.  He resigned under pressure after he gave money to support Prop 8.  Just ask our nation’s top military officials.  They were called into President Obama’s office and told that if they could not support “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” they should resign their commissions.  “We were called into the Oval Office and President Obama looked at all five service chiefs in the eye and said, ‘This is what I want to do,’” said Coast Guard Adm. Robert Papp in remarks reported by Buzzfeed.

 

Todd Starnes of Fox News said it well – “The road to ‘political correctness’ is littered with the bodies of folks like Brendan Eich sideswiped by the tolerance and diversity bus.”  He goes on to ask, “Why not demand that those who oppose gay marriage relinquish the right to own property?  Why not take away their right to vote?  Why not take away their children?  Why not just throw them in jail?  Why not force them to work in chain gangs?  Why not call for public floggings?  Or better yet, let’s just strap them down on gurneys, stick a needle in their arm and rid the world of these intolerant anti-gay bigots once and for all.”

 

Definition: tol-er-ance (tŏl’ǝr-ǝns) n. is being willing to put up with, endure, bear with those whose views or lifestyles are different from others’ views without agreeing with them. 

 

Given this definition, it’s clear that those who cry the loudest for ‘tolerance’ are the most ‘intolerant.’

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Our ‘First Freedom’ of Religious Liberty Wins Again

On the heels of last month’s jury verdict for a Christian professor punished by his employer for his conservative and Christian speech (read my blog of March 28), the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) team reports yet another victory for religious liberty.

 

A former employee sued her Christian employer, a national campus ministry, claiming that its religious criteria for employment constituted “discrimination” in violation of federal law.  This is an issue that Christian employers have been fighting for years as they’ve worked to preserve the liberty to hire and fire employees (especially ministerial employees) using faith-based principles.  If federal anti-discrimination laws were applied to the hiring and firing of ministerial employees (for example, pastors and religious teachers), then no church or ministry would be able to safeguard the integrity of its message.

 

In an opinion issued last week, a federal court dismissed the plaintiff’s claims, reaffirming that the 1st Amendment protected a “ministerial exception” to federal anti-discrimination laws.  The court explained: “Moreover, allowing a ministerial employee to pursue employment claims against her supervisor would allow the state to become involved in the strictly ecclesiastic decision of who shall minister to the faithful and to impose upon a religious group an unwanted minister—the very concerns that underlie the ministerial exception.”

 

The ‘Free Exercise Clause’ provides the freedom for Christian employers to apply their faith, while the ‘Establishment Clause’ bars the government from getting entangled in religious decision-making.

 

It's a matter of common sense that Christian employers should be able to use Biblical principles when deciding who shares the Gospel; but it's also a matter of constitutional law.

 

The ACLJ are thankful for the victory and thankful for a Bill of Rights that still has legal power to protect our ‘First Freedom.’

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Is This – “The South Will Rise Again”?

Mississippi lawmakers last week passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act – a bill that says governments cannot put a substantial burden on religious practices.  It will also add “In God We Trust” to the state seal.

 

In a press release, Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, said, “This is a victory for the First Amendment and the right to live and work according to one’s conscience.  The legislature gave strong approval to a bill that declares that individuals do not have to trade their religious freedom for entrance into public commerce.”  “We commend Governor Phil Bryant, Lt. Governor Tate Reeves, House Speaker Philip Gunn, and Senator Phillip Gandy, the bill’s sponsor,” he added, “for their leadership to defend religious freedom and for refusing to cower to egregious misrepresentations of a fair and common-sense religious liberty measure.”

Time and again, I’m seeing more and more states going contrary to the national scene.  I see it happening regarding pro-life issues, the 2nd amendment right to bear arms, and in this case – protecting religious freedom.  There is ever increasing evidence that our nationally elected or appointed officials are ‘out of touch’ with the grassroots citizenry.  The time has long past for the federal branches of government to get their ‘finger on the pulse’ of “We the people.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

BSA Experiences Budget Shortfall & Membership Decline

The National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) met in February and learned that registration fees for 2013 totaled $1.76 million less than the previous year and more than $2.5 million less than was budgeted.  Despite these shortfalls, overall revenue in 2013 exceeded $115 million, with registration fees accounting for about $45 million of the total.  The Scouts last year had an “excess of revenues over expenses” of $2.986 million, according to the minutes of the meeting and other documents obtained by WORLD News Group.  This number was better than budget, but significantly less than 2012’s excess of $5.431 million.

 

Meeting documents also indicate that the Scouts plan to pay the Chief Scout Executive Wayne Brock $442,900 for the coming year.  Two other senior executives—Deputy Chief Scout Executive Gary Butler and Chief Financial Officer Michael Ashline—are in line to receive $330,000 in salary.  [In 2012, Brock’s base pay was $392,627.  Butler received $270,919 the previous year, while Ashline’s base salary was $276,460.]

 

These raises come as the BSA lost approximately 110,000 youth members in 2013.  Total membership in Scouting, including Scouts and adult leaders, fell to below 2.5 million by the end of the year … the lowest level in more than a half-century.  [I wrote of this a year ago – April 15, 2013 – “Boy Scouts Must Stand Firm.”  Go back and read that blog.]

 

Though many causes contributed to the membership losses, the most significant was a decision by the National Council in May 2013 to allow openly homosexual Scouts into the program.  [I wrote of this – June 5, 2013 – “The BSA Will Pay a Price for Policy Change.”  Go back and read it.]  Almost immediately, a new alternative group called Trail Life USA organized.  [I wrote of this – July 12, 2013 – “Scouting that is JC Focused – Rather than PC Fixated.”  Go back and read it.]  That group now has approximately 600 units of Trailmen in more than 40-states.

 

The BSA’s president-elect, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, told the BSA leadership at the February 5th meeting that he had “no intention of reopening the BSA membership standards issue” during his presidency.  “Scouting has been through a divisive ordeal,” he said.  “I fully support the decision that was made last May, but I believe strongly that we need now to focus on healing our differences, restoring our unity, and returning our full attention to growing our membership, strengthening our finances, and delivering a Scouting program of the highest quality.”

 

Gates concluded his remark by saying, “It appears the greatest challenges are behind [the BSA].  Still, it seems to me we have been, as a movement and as leaders of that movement, distracted, divided, and defensive.  Now it is time to refocus on the Scouts and on this unique program.”

 

All I can say to Mr. Gates is – Good luck with that!  You’re going to loss many more as Trail Life USA gets into more states and multiplies itself.  And the proponents of homosexual agenda have yet to aggressively pressure the BSA to permit openly gay leaders.  Your “greatest challenges” are far from over.

 

BTW: How many openly gay boys have newly enrolled into Scouting since last May’s change in policy?  And where is the new dollar support to the BSA from the homosexual activists (corporations and individuals)?

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

 

Reversing Course & Reaffirming Biblical Marriage

Last week, World Vision’s leadership reacted to the widespread concern that it was abandoning its adherence to traditional Evangelical and Christian beliefs in favor of a diluted religiosity.  This $1 billion relief group reversed its previous (recent) decision to allow same-sex unions among employees … which World Vision now calls a “mistake.”  Instead, it’s reaffirming its policy of “sexual abstinence for all single employees and faithfulness within the Biblical covenant of marriage between a man and a woman.”

 

Here’s their statement to their supporters:

 

Dear Friends,

 

Today, the World Vision U.S. board publicly reversed its recent decision to change our employment conduct policy.  The board acknowledged they made a mistake and chose to revert to our longstanding conduct policy requiring sexual abstinence for all single employees and faithfulness within the Biblical covenant of marriage between a man and a woman.

 

We are writing to you our trusted partners and Christian leaders who have come to us in the spirit of Matthew 18 to express your concern in love and conviction.  You share our desire to come together in the Body of Christ around our mission to serve the poorest of the poor.  We have listened to you and want to say thank you and to humbly ask for your forgiveness.

 

In our board’s effort to unite around the church’s shared mission to serve the poor in the name of Christ, we failed to be consistent with World Vision U.S.’s commitment to the traditional understanding of Biblical marriage and our own Statement of Faith, which says, “We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.”  And we also failed to seek enough counsel from our own Christian partners.  As a result, we made a change to our conduct policy that was not consistent with our Statement of Faith and our commitment to the sanctity of marriage.

 

We are brokenhearted over the pain and confusion we have caused many of our friends, who saw this decision as a reversal of our strong commitment to Biblical authority.  We ask that you understand that this was never the board’s intent.  We are asking for your continued support.  We commit to you that we will continue to listen to the wise counsel of Christian brothers and sisters, and we will reach out to key partners in the weeks ahead.

 

While World Vision U.S. stands firmly on the biblical view of marriage, we strongly affirm that all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, are created by God and are to be loved and treated with dignity and respect.

 

Please know that World Vision continues to serve all people in our ministry around the world.  We pray that you will continue to join with us in our mission to be “an international partnership of Christians whose mission is to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice, and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God.”

 

Sincerely in Christ,

Richard Stearns, President

Jim Beré, Chairman of the World Vision U.S. Board

 

Thank God for Christian organizations (and individuals) who come to recognize the error of their ways, and seek forgiveness.  As Christians, we must forgive them … just as we ask the Lord to forgive us our sins (re-read the Lord’s Prayer).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

What’s a ‘Missing Man Table’ Without a Bible? Incomplete!

The Patrick Air Force Base in Brevard County, FL, is currently embroiled in controversy after a Bible honoring missing soldiers and prisoners of war was removed from one of the base’s dining halls earlier this month.

 

The Bible was a part of a ‘Missing Man Table’ – a tradition in the U.S. Armed Forces meant to honor servicemen who did not return from combat, either because they are missing or prisoners of war.  The vacant table is set up in some Armed Forces' dining halls in the U.S., and includes a plain white table cloth, an inverted glass, a single red rose, a yellow ribbon, a candle, a plate with lemon and salt, and a Bible.

 

The purpose of the Bible is to “[represent] the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country, founded as one nation under God,” according to the Air Force Chiefs website.

 

The Family Research Council (FRC) pointed out the irony of the controversy.  “Of particular irony is the fact that this reversal of a long history of including such memorials in dining halls occurred at the same installation where the Department of Defense's equal opportunity agency - the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) - is housed,” FRC said. “DEOMI is tasked with training military Equal Opportunity (EO) advisers on how to instill respect and tolerance for diverse viewpoints in service members.  Apparently, that respect and tolerance isn't supposed to extend to religious speech or the ability of an organization to recognize the role religious faith has played in the lives of many service members.”

 

According to Florida Today, a dispute over the Bible’s presence at the Missing Man Table at Patrick Air Force Base's Riverside Dining Facility caused commanders to remove the table from the dining hall.  Authorities at the Air Force Base then released a statement to the local media outlet late last week saying that the table would return to the dining facility, although they were unclear if the Bible would be a part of the Missing Man display.

 

“The 45th Space Wing deeply desires to honor America’s Prisoners and War (POW) and Missing in Action (MIA) personnel.  Unfortunately, the Bible's presence or absence on the table at the Riverside Dining Facility ignited controversy and division, distracting from the table’s primary purpose of honoring POWs/MIAs,” the statement read.  “Consequently, we temporarily replaced the table with the POW/MIA flag in an effort to show our continued support of these heroes while seeking an acceptable solution to the controversy.  After consultation with several relevant organizations, we now intend to re-introduce the POW/MIA table in a manner inclusive of all POWs/MIAs as well as Americans everywhere.”

 

News of this most recent incident regarding religious freedom comes after the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO, reportedly asked a cadet to erase a Bible verse from the whiteboard that hung outside of his dorm room.  The decision prompted outrage from religious freedom groups like the Liberty Institute and the Family Research Council. Although the cadet was not punished for writing the biblical message, Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, has called for the student to be “visibly punished” so others won't follow his example.

 

I find it fascinating that we protect building structures of historic significance from being demolished, yet allow historic traditions of religious significance to be destroyed.  What good is one without the other … if you’re truly wishing to preserve an understanding of what our America heritage?  Eradicating religion from our history is to deny today’s Americans from a full understanding of who we are and where we came from … not to mention an infringement of our 1st amendment right to religious freedom.        

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

The ‘Killing Fields’ of Planned Parenthood is Losing More Ground

A United States District Court judge has refused to block the implementation of new abortion regulations in Arizona.  Judge David C. Bury decided (31 Mar) to not temporarily block new regulations for the Arizona Department of Health Services based on HB 2036, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer in 2012.

 

The regulations that took effect on (1 Apr) require abortionists to adhere to FDA guidelines for prescribing and dispensing abortion-inducing drugs, such as RU486.  Such measures ban the use of abortion-inducing drugs after the seventh week of pregnancy.

 

Attorneys for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers claim that requiring abortionists to follow the FDA’s guidelines will harm women, because they will no longer be able to prescribe these drugs through the ninth week of pregnancy.

 

“Whether or not these factors are substantial obstacles to abortion remains to be seen, but based on the limited record before the Court they do not qualify as irreparable harm,” ruled Judge Bury.

 

The Arizona chapter of Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights had sued the state over the new regulations and are planning to file an appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court.  In a statement the Center for Reproductive Rights staff attorney David Brown expressed disapproval of Bury's denial of an injunction against the regulations.  “Arizona women should not be denied their constitutional rights or their ability to get critical healthcare from the medical professionals they trust while this unconstitutional law continues to make its way through the courts,” stated Brown.

 

The Center for Arizona Policy, a pro-life organization that has supported several state-level bills to regulate or restrict abortion, approves of the new rules.  “When Planned Parenthood loses, women win,” stated Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy.  “It's common-sense regulations protecting the health and safety of women considering an abortion.”

 

Arizona is not the only state that has passed an increasingly number of pro-life legislative agenda items.  In past years, states like Kansas and Oklahoma have passed laws regulating the distribution of RU486.  They placed the limit at seven weeks, with Arizona’s 2012 law echoing that standard.

 

“Today's decision by a federal court to deny a request by Arizona’s largest abortion provider to temporarily block a common sense health and safety standard is a victory for anyone who cares for the well-being of women,” continued Herrod.  “I call on the abortion giant to drop their challenge.  It would be shameful for Planned Parenthood to continue to waste state resources by pressing on with this frivolous lawsuit.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

 

A State’s Sweeping Second Amendment Gun Bill

Last week, the legislature of the State of Georgia passed a sweeping gun bill that will allow concealed and carry in bars, airports (before TSA security checkpoints), places of worship (that ‘opt-in’), and some government buildings.

 

HB60 (formerly called the Safe Carry Protection Act) is one of the “strongest Second Amendment bills to pass the House,” bill co-sponsor Rep. Dustin Hightower said in February.  He was confident the legislation would pass the state Senate; and the 112-58 vote (March 20) proved him right.

 

The state House and Senate’s compromise on the legislation brought about the following changes:

·        Removal of fingerprinting for renewal of Weapons Carry Licenses (WCL).

·        Prohibiting the state from creating and maintaining a database of WCL holders.

·        Creation of an absolute defense for the legal use of deadly force in the face of a violent attack.

·        Removal of the sweeping restrictions on legally carrying a firearm with a WCL in churches and bars, leaving this decision to private property owners.

·        Lowering the age to obtain a concealed WCL for self-defense from 21 to 18 for active duty military, with specific training.

·        Repealing the unnecessary and duplicative state-required license for a firearms dealer, instead requiring only a Federal Firearms License (FFL).

·        Prohibiting a ban on firearms in public housing, ensuring that the right to self-defense should not be infringed based on where one calls home.

·        Codifying the ability to legally carry, with a WCL, in sterile/non-secure areas of airports.

·        Including a provision that would have the state report those persons who have been involuntarily hospitalized or have been adjudicated mentally deficient to the NICS system [National Instant Criminal Background Check System] while also providing an ability for relief through an application process to the court system for the purpose of restoration of rights.

·        Stating that under a declared state of emergency, all law-abiding gun owners will not have their Second Amendment rights restricted or infringed by executive authority through Emergency Powers protection.

·        Strengthening current firearms preemption statutes through further clarification of the regulatory authority of local governments, excluding firearm discharge ordinances.

 

The bill now heads to Gov. Nathan Deal’s desk.  He has the option to sign, veto, or let the bill sit until it becomes a law after 40-days.

 

Though there is no reference to “guns” in the Word of God, the biblical worldview is relevant to the question of self-defense.  Is it right to defend ourselves (and others) from physical attacks; and is it right ever to use a weapon in such self-defense?  If self-defense is morally right, then gun ownership is primarily a question of what kind of weapon(s) to use in defending oneself and others from physical harm when able to do so.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

 

Scoreboard: Pro-Life = 1 vs. Pro-Abortion = 0

As we begin this season of baseball, let me tell you about the ‘double-header’ going on in ‘Pro-Life Stadium.’  This isn’t a game of winners and losers, however.  It only has losers.  There are lives a stake.

 

Kansas State vs. Planned Parenthood

The State of Kansas won a federal appeals court ruling that they can implement a law that effectively strips Planned Parenthood of state taxpayer dollars.  In April 2011, Gov. Sam Brownback signed a Fiscal Year 2012 budget that restricted Planned Parenthood's access to $330,000 in Title X family planning funds.  The law redirected the monies to hospitals and public health organizations, which do not perform abortions, leaving Planned Parenthood at the bottom of the list to receive state tax revenues.

 

SBA vs. Rep. Driehaus

Three pro-family organizations … Alliance Defending Freedom, Bioethics Defense Fund, and Life Legal Defense Foundation … have filed an ‘Amicus Brief’ with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.  The brief is for the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA) … the pro-life organization being sued by former U.S. Rep Steve Driehaus (Ohio-Democrat) who lost his seat in 2010.  SBA had publicized that Driehaus's vote in favor of ObamaCare was a vote for taxpayer-funded abortion.  An Ohio federal court dismissed Driehaus’ complaint, and he appealed to the 6th Circuit.  “It’s a well-established fact in the law that truth is the defense against defamation,” says Dana Cody, president and executive director of Life Legal Defense Foundation.  “And there is no doubt about it – which is explained in our friend of the court brief – that ObamaCare funds abortion,” she adds.  Cody argues the former congressman’s lawsuit is exposed for what it really is – an attack on pro-life speech.

 

Scoreboard

Pro-Life = 1

Pro-Abortion = 0

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel