Tag: ban

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News

#BabylonBee Trends as Elon Musk Pledges to Un-ban Them

With Elon Musk now squarely at the helm of Twitter after completing his $44 billion acquisition of the social media giant, the self-described “Free Speech Absolutist” has already signaled his intention to unban many previously banned pages, including the Babylon Bee, which Musk has seemingly singled out.

In two brief missives Musk, who frequently retweeted the satire site before their suspension, wrote “anyone suspended for minor & dubious reasons will be freed from Twitter jail” and “Comedy is now legal on Twitter.”- likely referencing the banning of the Babylon Bee for this post, which many see as an inflection point for the whole debate and the straw that broke the camel’s back. Consequently, #babylonbee was trending Friday night

Having already fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal and head lawyer and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, Musk has pledged to clean house and is expected to lay off up to 75% of the workforce to purge the company of anti-free speech sentiment.

In response to the news, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon has been ebullient, and it’s only a matter of time until they are sharing the special brand of satire again.

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abortion Evangelical Stuff Featured

Texas Gov. Greg Abbot Signs Fetal Heartbeat Bill. Now Come the Lawsuits

Texas Governor Greg Abbot has signed a fetal heartbeat bill into law, making it illegal to have an abortion once the heartbeat can be detected, which can happen as early as 6 weeks.

The law, which goes into effect September 1, makes it illegal for any physician to abort a baby if he or she can detect a heartbeat, as well as bars them from engaging in their murderous practices if they haven’t performed an ultrasound first to detect that heartbeat. Any abortion provider not following these practices can be sued and subject to civil action by any interested party (The girl, her boyfriend, her husband, a friend, etc.), to be awared no less than $10,000 and all attorney fees.

Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson, who is the leader of the “apex predator” of the baby-killing world, called Senate Bill 8 “cruel and extreme” and vowed “fight back like hell” in order to get it shuttered, such as has been done with every other heartbeat bill that has ever been introduced.

While progressives and pro-abortionists are freaking out, and pro-life organizations like National Right to Life are celebrating, not all abortion dissidents are pleased.

This “half-measure” and “unrighteous decree” is a far cry from Governor Abbot’s 2018 promise to Jeremiah Thomas – the late son of Operation Save America National Director Rusty Thomas – in which he gave his word to the dying 16-year-old boy that he would abolish abortion completely in Texas, a promise he has yet to fulfill and shows so far no interest in doing.

Similarly, Indiana State Representative John Jacob, one of the first true abolitionist candidates that got on the ballot and won, explained in brief why people should not be celebrating or encouraging this sort of legislation:

The first heartbeat bill was passed in 2019 in Ohio. The bill was immediately blocked by the Courts and not one child has been saved after a detectable heartbeat was found. The same has happened in just about every other state to pass such legislation around the Country since 2019. These Heartbeat bills have not saved ONE child.

The ultimate ‘game plan’ is for one of these Heartbeat bills to make it to the Supreme Court, with hopes the Supreme Court will overturn Roe. I don’t see this happening, as the only type of legislative bill to overturn Roe, would be one that abolishes all abortion, not regulates it.

Why I believe Heartbeat bills are bad:

1. Abortion is murder. States should not regulate murder. Heartbeat bills are the regulating of murder.

2. Preborn babies are American citizens and deserve equal rights and protections. Heartbeat bills do not provide equal or Constitutional rights. Thus, Heartbeat bills are unconstitutional.

3. Pro-life abortion regulation laws actually strengthen Roe v. Wade. EVERY pro-life law that has been passed in the last 48 years, at the state level, has said to both the Supreme Court and the society at large that children in the womb do not have constitutional rights and protections, since their killing can be regulated.

Never in the history of the pro-life movement has a law been passed that has affirmed the humanity of the preborn, and has called for their complete protection. Not one! In light of all of this, pro-life regulatory laws have BACKFIRED and instead of ‘chipping away at Roe,’ these laws have actually STRENGTHENED Roe.

This is why the strategy to ‘regulate abortion’ is wrong and must be repented of and replaced with working to abolish abortion! We must pass laws at the State and Federal level calling for the protection of all preborn babies with no exceptions.

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Drive-In Church In-person Church Politics Righteous Defiance Shutdown

Supreme Court Knocks Down California’s Ban On Indoor Church Services, Allows Singing Ban to Remain

The Supreme Court ruled late Friday that the California government cannot ban and prohibit indoor church services, giving a small victory to churches that have been defying the government and staying open, while also only being a half-measure that will continue to invite persecution.

Church-hating tyrant Governor Gavin Newsom’s office issued revised guidelines for indoor church gatherings services on Saturday. The new missives allow the people to gather but continued limiting attendance at 25% capacity. It also left in place restrictions on singing, chanting and social distancing, with fines in place for those who disobey.

Newson’s office stated that they will continue to enforce the ban on worship and capacity limits, citing that it is for the church’s own protection, with press secretary Daniel Lopez, saying in a statement:

We will continue to enforce the restrictions the Supreme Court left in place and, after reviewing the decision, we will issue revised guidelines for worship services to continue to protect the lives of Californians.

The court victory, which will benefit all churches, has largely been driven by Che Ahn of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena CA, who has sustained criticism for almost a year while embroiled in on-going expensive litigation against the state in order to lift the ban. He was ebullient after the victory but said it’s not over yet.

While we have come under fire from some community members, we stand firm that the fruit of meeting in person lies in the spiritual, emotional and physical healing that worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ has brought to so many throughout the world.

Commenting on the awfulness of California blanket ban, Chief Justice John Roberts said of the case “that the maximum number of adherents who can safely worship in the most cavernous cathedral is zero—appears to reflect not expertise or discretion, but instead insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake.”

As far as the singing ban and still being in place, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas stated that they would have kept California from enforcing its singing ban, yet Justice Amy Coney Barrett disagreed, speaking on behalf of her and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

She wrote that it wasn’t clear whether or not the prohibitions on singing were being applied “across the board” and that “if a chorister can sing in a Hollywood studio but not in her church, California’s regulations cannot be viewed as neutral.” While the ban could remain, for now, she said that the churches who sued ought to “submit new evidence to a lower court that the singing ban is not being applied generally.”

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Church Drive-In Church In-person Church News Righteous Defiance

Washington’s Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee Bans Singing in Church

Democrat Governor Jay Inslee has continued his unholy quest to trample on the rights of citizens, the church, and the state by passing a new edict prohibiting singing in church, in an effort that he says will prevent the rise and spread of the novel coronavirus, saying on Sunday:

This spike puts us in a more dangerous a position as we were in March [sic]. And it means, unfortunately, the time has come to reinstate restrictions on activities statewide to preserve the public’s well-being, and to save lives. These were very difficult decisions that have very real consequences to people’s livelihoods. I recognize that and don’t take those impacts lightly, but we must act now and act quickly to slow the spread of this disease.

The ban, which will last a month, had the usual restrictions on limiting social gatherings, banning indoor sporting events, closings gyms, bars, and restaurants, implementing stricter occupancy restrictions for businesses, restricting funerals and weddings, etc.

But apart from those restrictions, he also targeted places of worship and the free exercise thereof, putting hard limits on how many people can attend church, who can and can’t sing, and who can and can’t play instruments.

Religious Services are limited to 25 percent of indoor occupancy limits, or no more than 200 people, whichever is fewer. Congregation members/attendees must wear facial coverings at all times and congregation singing is prohibited. No choir, band, or ensemble shall perform during the service. Vocal or instrumental soloists are permitted to perform, and vocal soloists may have a single accompanist. Outdoor services must follow the Outdoor Dining Guidance.

Apart from those restrictions, there are also rules on social distancing, sanitation, and mask-wearing, with no congregation member or allowed to take their mask off at any point throughout the service or while in the church building, under threat of fines or jail time.

With the season changing and outdoor church becoming more and more difficult for those congregations who were bypassing some of the more tyrannical impositions, expect more and more governors to implement similar restrictions.

It’s going to be a long winter.

Categories
Church Coronavirus Featured

California District Attorney Designates County a ‘Sanctuary County for Worship and Praise’

A California State Attorney, fed up with the unjust way the state has been treating churches by imposing restrictions on when and whether they can or cannot worship, has declared one county to be “a sanctuary county for worship and praise in church” and announced that his office will flat out refuse to prosecute any cases which may be brought up for those reasons.

Speaking at an Independence Day celebration, California District Attorney and chief prosecutor Dan Dow declared:

I’m proud that each one of us has our right to worship in the way that we want to, getting back to right being wrong and wrong being right, our state over the last few years has been letting out people out of prisons early, back into our communities, and especially right now, but yet our governor wants to make it a crime to worship and praise God in church by singing to our almighty God. And that to me is an example of where right has become wrong and wrong has become right.

And I’ll tell you right now for the first time with a microphone. By the power vested in me as District Attorney of San Luis Obispo County, I declare San Luis Obispo County a sanctuary county for worship and praise in church. When we’re releasing the real criminals into our community but we’re trying to criminalize those that are dedicated to exercising their First Amendment rights, we’ve gone wrong, and I won’t allow that to happen in San Luis Obispo County while I’m the District Attorney.

In an interview with the San Luis Obispo Tribune, Dow elaborated further and defended his comments:

I am firmly committed to the principle that it would be a severe injustice for my office to charge a person with a crime who has simply chosen to practice their faith by singing in church. Today in 2020, more than ever, we need more people attending their houses of worship and seeking help from the Almighty for an answer to the coronavirus.

Would that other magistrates could be so bold.