Is ‘Freedom of Religion’ merely code for hate and anti-LGBT rights? Are organizations which support religious liberties really ‘hate groups’? Are folks who want to live according to traditional Biblical beliefs nothing more than bigots and haters?

No! Certainly not.

This week I saw more articles than I can number that agreed with the ABC News assessment of the ADF (Alliance Defending Freedom) as nothing more than an anti-LGBT ‘Hate group.’ What did the ADF do to deserve that designation? It defended freedom of religion and in particular Christians who want to continue to live according to Biblical teaching. Which is supposedly guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

This is not the first time that I saw the main stream media down playing religious liberty as a legal excuse for hate and actually code for opposing LGBT civil rights. A couple of years ago when the state of Indiana passed the ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act’ it was assailed on the left as nothing more than a legal excuse for discrimination against LGBT folks. Ditto for every state law protecting the freedom of religion passed since then.  Continued—>

(Read the whole article on our APOLOGETICA page)               *Top

ABC News recently referred to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) as a ‘hate group.’ The ADF is actually one of the most successful legal groups defending Christians and religious liberty. Here’s the story from Townhall:

Alliance Defending Freedom is demanding a retraction and apology from ABC News after reporters smeared one of the nation’s most respected religious liberty law firms as a ‘hate group.’

ABC News reporters Pete Madden and Erin Galloway wrote a scathing report on a speech Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered behind closed doors at the Summit on Religious Liberty at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point, California.

“Jeff Sessions addresses ‘anti-LGBT hate group,’ but DOJ won’t release his remarks,” read the headline.

“Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered a speech to an alleged hate group at an event closed to reporters on Tuesday night, but the Department of Justice is refusing to reveal what he said,” read the lead paragraph of the Madden-Galloway hit piece.  …

For the record, Alliance Defending Freedom has a stellar record of defending religious liberty before the Supreme Court – seven victories at the high court in the last seven years. 

<Read the whole article>

Response: Just when you think that the MSM (main stream media) can’t get any worse or more biased against Christians then they have been recently; stuff like this comes along to prove you wrong. Remember ABC News is owned by Disney which is no longer family friendly.

Better get use to the ‘hate group’ designation if you are a conservative Christian who still believes in the Bible and traditional Christian teaching. Anyone or any group which takes a Biblical stand or supports Christians in anyway when it comes to same-sex marriage or LGBT issues is now considered to be a ‘hate group’ by those on the progressive left.

The ADF supports Christians and the freedom of religion so they qualify. Your church and your pastor and your denomination would also make the ‘hate group’ list if you guys are still following Biblical teaching.  Just saying.                *Top

                        (Image: Belle Plaine Website)

The city council of a small town in Minnesota has approved the installation of a monument to Satan in its veterans park. Here’s the story from CBS Local:

The monument going up for The Satanic Temple — which features an upturned helmet atop a black cube — will soon be at the site of the Veterans Memorial Park in Belle Plaine.

It is being built by a group of Satanists out of Massachusetts, and it will be the first Satanic monument on public property in United States history.

The city is allowing the monument to be built after a religious freedom group threatened to sue over another statue, which features a soldier praying over a grave marked with a cross.

<Read the whole article>

Response: Actually the ‘group of Satanists’ are really atheists trying to prove a point and further their cause of removing all vestiges of Christianity and religion out of the public square and off of public properties all across America.

The same activist atheist strategy has created the public school ‘Satan clubs.’  Their hope is to present a horrifying alternative that will get city and school administrators to outlaw all expressions of religion.

Atheist organizations started implementing similar tactics a number of years ago when they insisted that atheist signs, scenes, and displays needed to be allowed on public land or in government buildings wherever religious monuments and Christmas displays or nativities were allowed.

The ‘Satan’ strategy is meant to be ‘offensive’ and to cause a backlash. Again the real game plan is to get rid of all ‘offensive’ religious displays or reference of any kind on public property. If atheists are successful in this campaign around the country their next battle will be against ‘offensive’ religious symbols that can be seen in public even if it is on private land.

Already many cities are regulating the size of crosses that can be seen even on church properties.  Also, in the last several years we have written a number posts about atheists complaining about prominent crosses on private lands. So this is not really a stretch. Atheists are already working behind the scenes in many cities and government jurisdictions to regulate religious displays even on church and private school properties through zoning and building regulations.               *Top

Doctors in the UK say that womb transplants may soon be available for men and transgender folks that want to have babies. Not only that, they might be paid for by the government? Here’s the story from the Christian Post:

Fertility doctors in the U.K. are reportedly working on womb transplant procedures that would allow transgender people born as males, and also other men, to have babies.

Moreover, National Health Service doctors told The Mail on Sunday that taxpayers should fund such transplants, citing "equality enshrined in law."

Dr. Amel Alghrani of Liverpool University said that such a transplant procedure is a real possibility, and explained that it could help not only transgender women have children, but also gay and straight men who "wanted to experience the joys of carrying a child."

<Read the whole article>

Response: I guess that in the future the goal is for original biological gender to be rendered totally meaningless? Last week I saw a story that a baby was born in Canada and the parent requested that the child receive no gender designation on his/her birth certificate and health card.  She wants her child to decide for ‘itself’ later? Now wombs for sale to anyone who wants a child? So if a ‘man’ has a baby is ‘he’ the mother or do words like father and mother also become meaningless? Lately trangenderism seems to be replacing common sense.

I can accept that transplants for women who need them would be a blessing. Otherwise file this under-’just because it can be done doesn’t mean it should.’

This is what happens when a culture disregards God the Creator and his Word. One’s whole identity is under a cloud of confusion. I guess the human race becomes like the angels without sexual designation? Sounds like a plan hatched by the fallen angels (called demons) who are in rebellion against God and his order and authority over creation. Regardless, Jesus Christ wins in the end.               *Top

Interesting! Several Muslim groups in Indonesia and Malaysia are calling for the boycott of Starbucks because of the coffee giant’s support for LGBT rights. Here’s the story from the Chicago Tribune:

Muslim groups in Malaysia and Indonesia have called for a boycott of Starbucks because of the coffee chain’s support for LGBT rights.

Malaysian group Perkasa, which supports a hard-line form of Islam and nationalism, this week called on its more than 500,000 members to stay away from Starbucks coffee shops. This week and last, leaders of Indonesia’s second largest mainstream Muslim group, Muhammadiyah, with an estimated 29 million members, denounced the chain.

The groups were apparently reacting to comments made several years ago by former CEO Howard Schultz in support of gay rights that drew renewed attention amid an increasingly anti-LGBT climate in both of the predominantly Muslim countries.

<Read the whole article>

Response: You can bet that not one Muslim group in America is going to touch this with a ten foot pole since much of their political support comes from the same leftists that support LGBT rights in this country.

The fact is, the teaching and beliefs of Muslims in America are no different than those in Indonesia or Malaysia when it comes to a basic opposition to homosexuality and LGBT issues. Nevertheless, political expediency will cause most Muslim leaders to be publically silent. At the same time, do not look for same-sex marriages to ever be performed in mosques or any kind of transgender accommodation in their schools or organizations.

There is a double standard being applied in the USA when it comes to trying to force Christian organizations and businesses to comply and recognize LGBT rights and same-sex marriage. Meanwhile Muslims apparently are not expected to change nor have they even been challenged. Currently they are a protected PC class in America. One wonders what would happen if American Muslims were ever attacked and denounced for their beliefs by LGBT activists?              *Top

What is Western civilization coming to? Two private elementary schools in London face government closure because they have violated the law by not completely teaching their students, all girls under the age of 9, about different sexual preferences and LGBT issues.  Here’s the story from PJ Media:

At least two private all-girls Jewish schools in London are facing closure after a government agency discovered that they do not teach young girls about sexual orientation and transgender identity.

A government report explained that girls "are not explicitly taught about issues such as sexual orientation. This restricts pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and does not promote equality of opportunity in ways that take account of differing lifestyles."

This report from the Office of Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Schools (Ofsted) said the Vishnitz Girls School in the north London borough of Hackney did not provide children "a full understanding of fundamental British values," Heat Street reported. The school teaches 212 children between the ages of three and eight.

<Read the whole article>

Response: Note that this is a ‘private’ religious school and students are between the ages of 3 and 8 years of age. Note also that the government agency doesn’t even care whether the parents even consider it appropriate that their young children be taught any of these issues at that young age.

The religious convictions of the school’s supporters don’t even seem to be considered in this case. My question is this- are the many Muslim schools in London also expected to teach about these same ‘sexual preferences’ and issues? If not then religious discrimination and persecution is at work regardless of the law if it is unequally enforced.

This is where we are today in the West. Sexual preferences and transgender issues are trumping not only religious liberty but common sense. Particularly in the UK where street preachers have been arrested for teaching the ‘wrong’ passages in the Bible.

In the USA private schools now seem to have freedom to teach religious values but those days may be numbered. Already in California private schools must try to accommodate transgender students according to the law.  Also, recent legislation is in the works to eliminate religious schools from requiring their employees to adhere to any kind of Biblical life style standards. We have already seen in the last several years the accreditation of Christian colleges being challenged over these same issues.

Fact is, we may have a Constitution that supports religious freedom and liberty but that doesn’t mean that the government has to continue to recognize our schools and institutions, or provide any kind of funding to support them in the future including student loans. That will be the next area of contention once the LGBT activists have obtained full government recognition as on par with race when it comes to civil rights in every state and government jurisdiction.

Here’s another question I see being pushed all over the internet. Should the government continue to pay for chaplains in the military that are sponsored by churches and religious institutions that continue to ‘discriminate’ against LGBT folks and refuse to even accept federal law when it comes to same-sex marriage? Substitute schools or non-profits for chaplains and the ‘war’ continues as the First Amendment is reinterpreted to the point that it only includes those who are fully accepting of all sexual practices and preferences.                *Top