Free the States, one of the leading abortion abolitionist organizations in the country, has released a video featuring founder Russell Hunter engaging a hostile group of pro-choicers, offering a masterclass in how to engage in the space. What is notable is the number of young pre-teens and teenage girls alternately listening intently, laughing or mocking, and the calmness Hunter displays as he dismantles the angry and irrational arguments and objections.
Free the States has also started to become a presence on TikTok where they’ve posted similar interactions amassing nearly 20 million views and 1.7 million likes. Their most popular video, seen below, has over 8 million views.
After going radio silent for years, Mark Driscoll continues to dip his toe into Christian culture to see if Evangelicalism’s memory is as short as he suspects in order to wedge his way back into the conversation, announcing on Twitter that he’s been suspended from TikTok after allegedly saying ‘Men can’t have babies.”
Driscoll gained attention this year in a big way, appearing in several articles outlining a renewed pattern of bullying and abusive behavior, along with a complete repudiation of biblical elders and any sense of accountability, which can be seen at the links below:
Lila Rose, the founder of the pro-life group Live Action made famous for undercover videos of abuse and criminal activity at abortion clinics, announced on Twitter that her personal account has been banned from TikTok, as well as their company account has been banned from advertising.
BREAKING:
My account (@lilaroselife) has been BANNED from @tiktok_us and @liveaction has been BANNED from advertising.
This extreme political bias by Tiktok is a blatant double standard and places the lives of children in danger.
She points out that the ads were disallowed because they were “driven by partisan political motives” while the social media giant has no problem allowing ads for pro-murder megacorp Planned Parenthood.
Tiktok reps refuse to approve any of our ads.
Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood has active ads running on Tiktok with clear political motives.
Tiktok has allowed over $80,000 in ads in the last month to run unhindered, per @Digiday.
In a statement on their website, Lila Rose elaborated:
In yet another attempt to silence pro-life speech, Big Tech has sided with the abortion industry by banning Live Action advertisements on TikTok. Live Action is the only pro-life organization with a large following on the platform, and spreading facts about abortion is vital on that platform specifically.
In the latest attempt to silence the pro-life organization’s content, TikTok has banned Live Action from advertising on its platform. While our content is still available to those who search for it, we are blocked from expanding our reach to new viewers.
Unfortunately, censorship is nothing new to us. Large technology companies play an ever larger role in our lives, including by deciding what information we come in contact with. We must rise against this unjust censorship. While we respectfully demand the reinstatement of our ads on TikTok, we will also proactively work to expand our reach on all of our other platforms.”
Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman has responded to the coaxing of a queer “Christian” artist questioning his pro-LGBTQ+ creds, telling her that LGBTQ+ people are always welcome at his concerts and that he supports gay rights and freedoms.
This was all kicked started after musician Semler shouted “Gay rights!” at a Switchfoot concert, something she advocates doing.
Semler is a queer artist and is a newcomer to the Christian music scene, gaining some publicity after her profanity-laced album briefly the top spot on iTunes Christian and Gospel charts. Her real name is Grace Semler Baldridge, she’s a butch lesbian who’s married to a woman while purposefully altering her appearance to look like a man—giving the impression she’s about one upper chest surgery from becoming transgendered.
Explaining that “Christians are disproportionately harmful to LGBTQ people, her goal was to wear her Pride shirt and shout out “Gay rights!” in between songs and then tagging the band on TikTok, hoping that he’ll respond to her in an affirming message and not do some bait and switch like “I love you too.” (By “gay rights” she means the right to marry, the right to be free from discrimination, the right to access any bathroom they or transgendered allies choose, and a host of other ones.) According to Semler, because Christians have been specific in their hurt, they need to be specific in their affirmation.
Lead singer Jon Foeman did not disappoint, responding to her in a way that left her feeling completely affirmed.
Hey Grace. How are you doing? I’m so honored you came to your show last night. I saw your story and wanted to respond and tell you ‘Yes, I support your rights and freedoms.’
I want you to feel loved and supported. I want you to feel treasured and valued and seen. I want all love and joy and beauty and truth for you. Love and embrace have always been central to our story and our song. We need our differences. I’m so glad that you were there last night. In fact, it breaks my heart to think that you would not be accepted.
Let me correct that. You and your journey and your story are welcome at a Switchfoot show.
I said something like this last night and I TRULY meant it: if you look different than me, if you vote different than me, if you believe different than me, if you love different than me: you are beloved. You are my sister. You are my brother. I need you, like you need me, like I need you, like you need me.
Our music has always been for anyone whose open-minded enough to jump into the dialogue. Agnostic. Atheist, Consumerist. Jewish. Muslim. Doubters. Believers. Haters. Lovers. LGBTQ+ and everyone else brave enough to look for meaning and truly jump into that.
No one else is an expert on someone else’s experience. And I can’t pretend to know your pain, I can only know my own, but I know what’s like to feel like you don’t fit in…I don’t know your pain, but I know what it’s like to wrestle with depression and anxiety. I know what it’s like to feel voiceless in a hypocritical culture that feels deeply flawed. I know what that feels like.
And I’m sure you’ve received all sorts of pain and hardship along the way. I’m so sorry. May these wounds heal, may you transcend them, that these wounds would not define you but that you would define them. May you find peace and truth and love on your journey. Keep writing songs, keep creating beauty, keep reaching out, and keep being honest, chasing beauty and truth and light and love. Keep choosing to see the good in people, even folks who might be different than you.
With all love and respect, I hope to see you around sometime.
Semler took his words to heart, explaining that her takeaway is that they are affirming, a comment he later would like and give a little heart to.
I don’t know if you know how meaningful that affirmation was. I am interpreting what you said as being affirming. If I’m incorrect in that, then I really hope you would clarify. Because I think for many queer people of faith, the bait and switch of hearing such encouraging words like yours and then finding out it means something else is heartbreaking.
We have reached out to Switchfoot for comment and will update accordingly.
(Reformation Charlotte) Brandan Robertson, a homosexual and self-described “pastor” and a rising star in progressive evangelicalism says that unless you are a “gay-affirming” Christian, then your theology can only lead you to conclude one thing, that you want all gays to die.
Robertson is an advocate for sexual immorality and teaches that premarital sex is “good” and “healthy.” Of course, conservative Bible-believing Christians would never consider Robertson’s claims to Christianity valid, but the world sees things like this and brings reproach upon Christ.
Robertson said in a recent video that in Mark chapter 7, Jesus used a racial slur. In an absolutely heinous display of biblical stupidity, Robertson says that because this woman was willing to buck up to Jesus, Jesus changed his mind and repented of his racism.
Did you know that there is a part of the gospel of Mark where Jesus uses a racial slur? In Mark chapter 7 there is the account of the Syrophoenician woman–a woman who is Syrian and Greek–both of which there were strong biases against within the Jewish community.
And she comes to ask Jesus to heal her daughter who is possessed by a demon. And what is Jesus’ response? He says, “it’s not good for me to give the children’s food [meaning the children of Israel’s food] to dogs.” He calls her a dog. What’s amazing about this account is that the woman doesn’t back down. She speaks truth to power, she confronts Jesus and says “well you can think that about me but even dogs deserve the crumbs from the table.” Her boldness and bravery to speak truth to power actually changes Jesus’ mind. Jesus repents of his racism and extends healing to this woman’s…
