Growing Intolerance for Christianity/The coming Underground Christian Church in America

[Christian40]

"LAST DAYS ARE HERE EP.6 THIS WORLD HATES CHRISTIANS MORE THAN EVER. THEY HATE THE BIBLE AND MOCK JESUS CHRIST!!"

[Psalm 51:17]

The little girl at the 3 minute mark that was blaspheming our LORD - she's going to be caught up with us at the rapture(if it's soon that is, b/c she's under the age of accountability). But nonetheless - it's really, really sad to see these young children being indoctrinated with this anti-Christian mindset now(b/c of all of the modern-day entertainment they are bombarded with - which has really gotten to an all-time low).

[Mark]

‘They Should Be Eradicated’: Sociologists Reveal Shocking Results of ‘Christianophobia’ Research — and a Cautionary Warning for Conservative Bible-Believers

Sociologists at the University of North Texas are issuing a cautionary warning to Christians noting that, though there isn’t widespread “Christianophonia” in the U.S., the small group of those who have a strong aversion to conservative believers are among the influential and elite.

George Yancey and David Williamson shared findings corroborating this notion in their recently released book “So Many Christians, So Few Lions: Is There Christianophobia in the United States?” which promises to offer a “provocative look at anti-Christian sentiments in America.”

The sociologists, who define Christianophobia as “unreasonable hatred or fear of Christians,” argue that it’s worth exploring potential intense bias against Christians, as it helps readers understand the “social dynamics” that exist in the U.S., according to an official book description.

As far as how prevalent the problem truly is, Yancey told the Christian Post that it’s really a small group of people that hold strong hostility, though that group is comprised of elite individuals with more societal power than the average person.

Yancey said that he and his co-author were motivated to explore potential Christianophonia after they began collecting qualitative data from interviews with liberal activists and noticed a troubling trend among a certain subset of these respondents.

That in mind, a few months ago, the sociologist shared a sampling of some of the “unreasonable hatred” he said he encountered through interviews with cultural progressive activists for the purpose of his study. Here are just three of the comments that were made about the Christian right:

    “I want them all to die in a fire.” (Male, aged 26-35 with Doctorate)

    “They should be eradicated without hesitation or remorse. Their only purpose is to damage and inflict their fundamentalist virus onto everyone they come in contact with.” (Female, aged 66-75 with Master degree)

    “They make me a believer in eugenics….They pollute good air…I would be in favor of establishing a state for them… If not, then sterilize them so they can’t breed more.” (Male, aged 46-55 with Master degree)

These statements caused Yancey to look deeper at the pool of respondents — individuals who were chosen from unnamed groups that are actively opposed to sentiments held by many conservative Christians.

“We quickly saw some of the unnecessary vitriol and fears within many of our respondents. We also saw the social status of those who exhibited this hatred and many of them would be in positions that allowed them to at least subtly act on their anger and fears,” Yancey said. “That motivated us to take a more systematic look at Christianophobia and speculate on how this phenomenon influences certain social aspects in the United States.”

He said that there are important distinctions to be made when analyzing the demographics of those who have Christianophonia and who, as a result, see believers as being backward, child-like and barriers to progress, telling the Christian Post that, while there are more people who are hostile toward atheists than Christians, those who oppose the latter group tend to be highly educated.

“I have established that those with animosity towards conservative Christians tend to have more per-capita social power than those with animosity towards other religiously based groups,” Yancey wrote in a blog post last year. “They are more likely to be white, educated and wealthy. The education advantage creates a unique dimension in this group as one may contend that highly educated individuals are unlikely to engage in unreasonable level of hatred or anger.”

In the end, he said that those who oppose atheism don’t “have the level of per-capita power of those who do not like Christians.” Considering that atheist activists have argued that they are discriminated against due to their secularism — and past polls have shown, for instance, that citizens are much less likely to even vote for them in elections — an important question emerges.

“So is a group worse off if more people do not like them or if those who do not like them have a lot of social power, but there are fewer of them? Context matters to answer such a question,” Yancey told the Christian Post. “If you want to get elected to political office, then atheists are at a disadvantage since more people do not like them. But if you want to get a higher education, then you will run into a lot more people with power who hate Christians than who hate atheists.”

Yancey cited as evidence non-discrimination policies enacted in California Christian colleges that have forced some student groups out of official recognition if they refuse to allow atheists and other non-Christiand the opportunity to lead those groups — something that he said seems to show evidence of college administrators exhibiting “some degree of latent Christianophobia with a fiction of promoting equality.”

“We documented that some level of Christianophobia is present among certain powerful subcultures in our society,” he continued. “This helps us understand some actions in our society.”

Read the Christian Post interview in its entirety here and explore an in-depth explanation of Yancey’s research and data collection.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/01/29/they-should-be-eradicated-sociologists-reveal-shocking-results-of-christianophobia-research-and-a-cautionary-warning-for-conservative-bible-believers/

[SonOfYira]

Hello everyone!
Underground church is my kind of church.    If you don't have one - start one.
Whenever persecution came down on followers of Christ we found out who really, really believes and is ready to stake the life on it.
Heck of a test ain't it?

Cheers!

[Mark]

Get Ready for Persecution, Warns Moody Bible Institute President

"The culture war is over—and we lost." So says Dr. J. Paul Nyquist, president of Moody Bible Institute, in his latest book, Prepare: Living Your Faith in an Increasingly Hostile Culture (Moody Publishers).

However, this is not an alarmist rallying cry nor a white-flag opus, but rather a prophetic call for American Christians to prepare to live righteously in the face of persecution, not pining for the "good old days."

For nearly 250 years, Christians in America were able to live in relative freedom from persecution—the societal marginalization of believers with a view to eliminating their voice and influence. "We've enjoyed freedom and respect from broader society for our entire lives. With those privileges rapidly disappearing, we don't know how to respond," the author explains.

American believers expect their lives to be marked by general prosperity and societal acceptance ... persecution is strange. But biblically, it's reversed.

"The American church has missed a vital element of discipleship. Important spiritual formation cannot be realized without experiencing suffering," Dr. Nyquist says.

With America's cultural shift, the church has an opportunity to revisit the New Testament and learn how to apply the many passages on persecution in new ways, he adds: "Persecution gives us the chance to demonstrate to a watching and hostile world what true discipleship looks like. Persecution supplies the life-shaping tools God skillfully uses to mold us into Christ's image. It's the next chapter in our stories. Now's the time to prepare."

It looks like a recipe for depression. Our beloved nation wracked by cultural change, once-protected freedoms evaporating, the persecution of believers looming. Anyone with sense would either stock up on Valium or claim a cave in Montana. But as Christians we have reason to hope.

"Since before America's founding, this land has been the scene of gracious visits from God through revival," the author notes.

He concludes, "If God graciously visits this land in a powerful way, the current cultural trends will be immediately arrested, biblical values will return, and the threat of persecution will disappear. And you won't need this book. May we each fervently pray to that end."

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/48355-get-ready-for-persecution-warns-moody-bible-institute-president

[Mark]

Franklin Graham Warns Christians in America 'Persecution Is Coming'

The Rev. Franklin Graham gave an ominous warning to Christians living in the United States Sunday, as he expounded on how religious freedoms are being eroded stateside while believers are being persecuted throughout the world. Graham also expressed his concerns about the Obama administration's foreign policy, which has been to rebuke the nation's allies, such as Israel, while countries known to be hostile to the U.S. are attempting to shape policy by gaining influence in the Democratic Party and by giving large donations to entities such as The Clinton Foundation.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/franklin-graham-warns-american-christians-persecution-is-coming-135348/

[Psalm 51:17]

And Franklin Graham is pushing "religious freedom" - don't be fooled by this - he's nothing more than a Jesuit provocateur trying to stir up Christians to riot.

With that being said - yes, I believe the rapture is right around the corner - however, as much as I hate to say it, this country is following the near-exact path of Nazi Germany(ie-false flag 9/11, patriot act, 501c3, anti-semetism rising, etc).

So yes, be prepared in the word of God(at the very least)!

[Mark]

Cruz warns of 'liberal fascism' targeting Christians

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Saturday said Democrats had gone to extremes in their persecution of Christians.
 
“Today’s Democratic Party has decided there is no room for Christians in today’s Democratic Party,” he said at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition summit in Waukee, Iowa.
 
“There is a liberal fascism that is going after Christian believers,” the 2016 GOP presidential candidate continued.
 
“It is heartbreaking,” Cruz argued. “But it is so extreme, it is waking people up.”
 
ADVERTISEMENT
Cruz said same-sex marriage had produced rabid zealotry in Democratic ranks. This ideology, he argued, was excluding people of faith.
 
“Today’s Democratic Party has become so radicalized for legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states that there is no longer any room for religious liberty,” he said.
 
The Texas lawmaker said this stance was against America’s traditional values. Religious liberty, Cruz claimed, was one of the nation’s founding principles.
 
“We were founded by men and women fleeing religious persecution,” Cruz declared.
 
“We need leaders who will stand unapologetically in defense of the Judeo-Christian values upon which America was built,” he concluded.
 
Cruz, a long-time opponent of same-sex marriage, seemingly softened his tone on gay rights earlier this week.
 
The White House hopeful reportedly said Monday evening he would still accept one of his daughters if they became a lesbian.
 
The Texas lawmaker was the first official entrant into the 2016 election cycle.
 
He so far will face Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) for their party’s nomination.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/240106-cruz-warns-of-liberal-fascism-targeting-christians

[Mark]

Mike Huckabee: "We Are Moving Rapidly Toward The Criminalization Of Christianity"

Republican presidential hopefuls in Iowa and elsewhere have recently begun sounding a call to arms to Christian conservatives, describing what they say is an urgent threat to religious liberty.

Citing high-profile dust-ups over religious freedom bills in Indiana and Arkansas, the contenders are painting a vivid picture of faith under fire.

"In the past month, we have seen religious liberty under assault at an unprecedented level," Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said on Saturday at a forum sponsored by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition outside Des Moines.

In both Indiana and Arkansas, bills aimed at protecting religious liberty were modified after critics, including a number of corporations, asserted the laws would allow discrimination against lesbians and gays.

On the campaign trail, Republican hopefuls are blasting the modifications.

"Corporate America needs to be careful," Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said on Saturday.

"We've got legislation in Louisiana to protect people of faith and of conscience.  Corporate America is not going to bully the governor of Louisiana," he said, drawing loud applause.

Iowa traditionally draws early and intense campaigning by presidential aspirants because it is the first electoral contest in the long primary season. But candidates face a dilemma there: Do they emphasize the socially conservative principles that play well with Iowa's more conservative Republican electorate? Or do they stress a more mainstream conservatism that might play better later in the campaign?

Gay marriage is a particularly thorny issue, especially with the U.S. Supreme Court set to hear oral arguments this week in a legal challenge to laws prohibiting same-sex unions.

Overall, 50 percent of Americans now support gay marriage, according to data from Reuters/Ipsos, with 34 percent opposing it and 16 percent unsure. Still, according to polling from the Pew Research Center, nearly 70 percent of white evangelicals oppose gay marriage, and in 2012, about 57 percent of Republican voters in the Iowa caucuses described themselves as evangelical Christians.


COURTING CONSERVATIVES

A win in Iowa, or even a high placement, gives a candidate more visibility as the race moves on to other states, but it is no guarantee of later success. In 2008 and 2012, the top spots in the Republican contest were taken by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, respectively, neither of whom went on to get the party's nomination.

Still, Republicans hopefuls, including some familiar faces, remain eager to court Iowa conservatives.

"We are moving rapidly toward the criminalization of Christianity," Huckabee said in conference call with conservative pastors organized by the Family Research Council, a Christian public policy organization. An audio recording of the call was obtained and posted online by Right Wing Watch, a progressive group that criticizes conservatives.

Huckabee picked up the thread again on Saturday.

"Let me be clear tonight: I'm not backing off because what I'm saying is true," he said. His words were greeted with murmurs of "That's right" from the crowd, along with strong applause.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker echoed the warning. "We should be standing up for religious freedom," he said at Saturday's forum. "In America, we should be the shining star that says you should be able to practice your religion."

Two prominent potential Republican contenders were missing at the Faith and Freedom gathering: Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Both are perceived as being from the party's more moderate wing. Bush has argued for comprehensive immigration reform, and Christie, as governor of New Jersey, ultimately opted not to appeal a court decision that legalized gay marriage in his state.

A more moderate stance, especially on gay marriage, may resonate particularly with young voters. Among 18-to-29-year-olds, according to Reuters/Ipsos, 76 percent now support gay marriage. Even among Republicans in that age group, same-sex marriage enjoys 51 percent support.

Raymond Starks, a 21-year-old student at Drake University who interned on Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign, said on Saturday he favored same-sex marriage, although he also valued religious liberty.

"I would support laws allowing for conscientious objection in some circumstances," he said. (Editing by Sue Horton)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/27/republican-candidates-evangelicals_n_7148310.html

[Mark]

Emails Raise Questions of Bias in Case Against Bakers Who Denied Service for Same-Sex Wedding

The Daily Signal has exclusively learned that the government agency responsible for enforcing Oregon’s anti-discrimination law appears to be working closely with a powerful gay rights advocacy group in its case against Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa.

Communications between the agency, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, and the LGBT organization, Basic Rights Oregon, raise questions about potential bias in the state’s decision to charge the Kleins with discrimination for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.

In April, a judge for the agency recommended the Kleins be fined $135,000.

Communications obtained through a public records request show employees of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries—which pursued the case against the Kleins—participating in phone calls, texting, and attending meetings with Basic Rights Oregon, the largest LGBT advocacy group in the state.

“That’s a clear conflict of interest,” Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.

t is unclear what occurred during these meetings and phone calls, but the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries commissioner, who is in charge of determining the Kleins’ final punishment, met with Basic Rights Oregon on multiple occasions and purchased tickets costing hundreds of dollars benefiting the advocacy group.

In a statement to The Daily Signal, Charlie Burr, communications director for the Bureau of Labor and Industries, said the agency and its commissioner are “committed to fair enforcement” of the state’s anti-discrimination measure.

“We are committed to fair enforcement of the Oregon Equality Act of 2007 and other civil rights protections,” Burr said via email on Friday. “In each case, we investigate the unique set of facts to determine whether substantial evidence exists.”

But unearthed emails appear to challenge that narrative, and based on The Daily Signal’s findings, lawyers for the Kleins on Friday requested the case be re-opened for further investigation.

http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/01/emails-raise-questions-of-bias-in-case-against-bakers-who-denied-service-for-same-sex-wedding/

[Christian40]

[Mark]

Christian ‘Extremists’ Opposing Gay Marriage May Be Criminalised By Radical Islam Bill


A Christian group has warned that people opposing gay marriage could be criminalised as the government moves to redefine “non-violent Extremism” in a forthcoming bill.

The new counter extremism bill, to be presented in the Queens speech on May 18th, is said to be part of David Cameron’s “legacy programme” so he is remember for tackling the “struggle of a generation” against radical Islam.

It has been delayed, however, as legislators struggle to formulate a working definition of “extremism”.

Simon Calvert, deputy director of public affairs at The Christian Institute, has told Christian Today that an “overemphasis on what it calls non-violent extremism” could see Christians persecuted by the new law, too.

“Sadly when the government says it wants to promote British Values it seems to mean gay rights. Trying to force Christians to sign up to LGBT rights won’t do anything to stop Islamist terrorists murdering innocent civilians”, he insisted.

Explaining: “The government talks about tackling extremism and preventing people promoting hatred.

“If those words had their ordinary meaning Christians would have nothing to worry about but unfortunately they don’t. People routinely use the word ‘extremist’ to label Christians and they often falsely accuse them of hatred.

“If you put those two words into a statute how can you be sure they won’t be interpreted in that same overly broad way to capture innocent Christians simply going about the business of preaching the gospel and declaring the council of God?”

According to leaks seen by the Times, the bill will contain various measure to tackle sharia courts and radicalisation in prisons and care homes, as well as promising extra help to bring isolated British Muslims into the mainstream.

A Home Office source cited by the paper said: “Getting agreement about the thresholds for what constitutes extremism and what needs to be protected as free speech is not going to be easy or straightforward.”

The Guardian reports that the bill went through “dozens of drafts” over an eight-month period, as the government struggle to find a “legally robust” definition of extremism. The proposals were first trailed in last year’s Queen’s speech, but has still failed to appear.

Recent examples of views that the Extremism Bill would criminalise, given in an internal Home Office discussion, are said to include “hate messages” aimed at the armed forces or calls for the wholesale adoption of sharia in the UK.

According to the largest survey of British Muslims ever conducted, nearly a quarter would hold views that would be illegal. Channel 4 found that 23 per cent of Muslims support the introduction of Sharia law, rather than the laws laid down by parliament.

A smaller percentage of Christian are likely to hold views deemed illegal. But, if the bill includes opposition to same sex marriage, as the Christian Institute suggests, some will certainly be criminalised.

The finer details of the bill are not yet known, but it is understood that controversial so-called extremist disruption orders (EDOs) will be a central aspect.

Last year, the Christian Institute formed an unlikely campaign group with the National Secular Society and the Peter Tatchell Foundation to oppose EDOs, and which Mr. Calvert says would threaten free speech.

“We are united in our belief that free speech is a vital civil liberty and must be protected,” he said at the launch of their Defend Free Speech campaign group. “This legislation is badly conceived and will be bad for society.”

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/05/04/christian-extremists-opposing-gay-marriage-possibly-criminalised-by-radical-islam-bill/

[Mark]

Harvard Law Professor Says Treat Conservative Christians Like Nazis

Liberals, stop being so defensive. That’s the message of Harvard law professor Mark Tushnet in a new post at Balkinization, titled “Abandoning Defensive Crouch Liberal Constitutionalism.” The problem, according to Tushnet, is that liberals have been too defensive when it comes to advancing their agenda in the courts.

Now that President Barack Obama has reshaped the federal judiciary, liberal causes can win easily in court. And now that Justice Antonin Scalia has died, “judges no longer have to be worried about reversal by the Supreme Court if they take aggressively liberal positions.”

Tushnet blames what he calls the “culture wars” on conservatives, and he says liberals should now make conservatives pay. “The culture wars are over; they lost, we won,” he writes in italics. Tushnet claims that conservatives “had opportunities to reach a cease fire, but rejected them in favor of a scorched earth policy.”

Since when have liberals been defensive? The scorched earth policy has been theirs. They’ve been the aggressors—they’ve been offensive. Conservatives have been defensive.

It seems hard to envision how conservatives could have declared a unilateral cease fire when they weren’t the ones firing in the first place. Liberals aggressively sought in the courts an unlimited abortion license, a redefinition of marriage, and now for transgender bathroom policies throughout the nation. Liberals haven’t been bashful to use the courts to reshape social policy when they couldn’t win at the polls.

So what’s next? Tushnet explains: “the question now is how to deal with the losers in the culture wars.” And his answer isn’t comforting: “My own judgment is that taking a hard line (‘You lost, live with it’) is better than trying to accommodate the losers.”

Tushnet explains his unwillingness to respect the rights of the “losers”: “Trying to be nice to the losers didn’t work well after the Civil War, nor after Brown. (And taking a hard line seemed to work reasonably well in Germany and Japan after 1945.)”

Ah, yes, if the “losers” of the American “culture wars” are the functional equivalent of racists and Nazis, then Tushnet’s argument works wonderfully. But if Orthodox Jews, Roman Catholics, Evangelical Christians, Latter-day Saints, faithful Muslims, and other Americans who believe that marriage is the union of a man and woman are decent members of society, maybe Tushnet should reconsider his hostility.

In my new book, “Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom,” I argue that the question for people who believe marriage is the union of husband and wife is whether the government will treat us like pro-lifers or like racists. And I offer a roadmap on how to make it so that we’re recognized as people of reason and good will, like pro-lifers.

But, Tushnet makes it clear that he and his colleagues among the liberal elite want the government to treat conservative Christians worse than racists—like Nazis.

It’s our job to make sure that Tushnet doesn’t succeed. It’s what Americans did after Roe v. Wade. Congress and the states passed a variety of laws that protect pro-life conscience. In Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court invented a right to an abortion. But after Roe, legislatures made clear that government cannot require a pro-life doctor or nurse to perform an abortion—that they, too, had rights.

The same is true after the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage. Government has to treat two people of the same sex as married, but private schools, charities, businesses, and individuals should not have to abandon their beliefs.

Tushnet embodies a particularly vicious form of illiberal liberalism. But protecting the rights of a minority—his “losers”—in the wake of such change is an important feature of America’s tradition of tolerance in the midst of pluralism. It’s what real liberalism requires.

This is why federal legislation like the First Amendment Defense Act and state legislation like Mississippi’s Protecting Freedom of Conscience From Government Discrimination Act are so important. As I explain in “Truth Overruled,” good public policy is needed at the local, state, and federal levels to protect cherished American values.

When your neighbors are not in fact Nazis, you should favor public policies that help achieve civil peace amid reasonable disagreement. You should seek to protect pluralism and the rights of all Americans—including the “losers.”

http://dailysignal.com/2016/05/09/harvard-law-professor-says-treat-conservative-christians-like-nazis/

[Mark]

What Most Americans Think about Christians May Be Surprising
CBN News

Many Christians are all too familiar with real life threats to their religious liberty these days.

They range from the dilemma of Christian wedding vendors being forced to participate in gay weddings or face financial consequences to a California bill that threatens the ability of Christian colleges to operate according to their religious convictions.

Now, research shows that many Americans recognize the growing intolerance Christians face. A survey from Nashville-based Lifeway Research indicates that 63 percent of respondents say Christians face increasing intolerance, up from 50 percent in 2013.

Also, 60 percent say religious liberty is on the decline, compared with 54 percent in 2013.

Lifeway researchers interviewed 1,000 Americans in September 2015 and September 2013 and then compared the results.

"More Americans worry the U.S. has a hostile environment for religious liberty," Ed Stetzer, executive director of Lifeway Research, said.

However, the survey also showed that 43 percent say American Christians complain too much about how they are treated, compared with 34 percent in 2013.

That viewpoint creates a complicated challenge for many believers: how to help friends and the public at large understand their religious liberty concerns while avoiding coming across as disgruntled whiners.

Dr. Barry Corey, president of Biola University in La Mirada, California, recently wrote a book Love Kindness to encourage Christians to focus on kindness in their daily interactions with a society that doesn't always agree with their beliefs.

It's an approach that more Christian leaders are adopting in a time when so much of the country understands so little about the evangelical Christian faith.

Corey, one of the leaders in the effort to oppose California's anti-Christian college bill SB 1146,  wrote the book before state lawmakers introduced the measure. But he noted it applies to the battle over the proposed legislation.

"We want to lead with grace and kindness," he told CBN News.

California's Assembly Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider the bill on Tuesday, June 28. If approved it will move to the Appropriations Committee and then on to the full Assembly for a vote.

The state senate has already approved the legislation.


http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2016/june/what-most-americans-think-about-christians-may-be-surprising

[Mark]

Liberals Use Gov't Power, Intimidation to Silence Christians, Author Says

June 24, 2016|1:12 pm

WASHINGTON – Conservatives and Christians are being intimidated by the Left and an increasingly abusive government, says Kimberly Strassel, author of The Intimidation Game: How the Left is Waging War of Free Speech.

In a Thursday presentation at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., Strassel told The Christian Post that overt hostility and harassment of people of faith "is clearly a big issue."

In light of the 2013 IRS scandal where it was discovered that conservative and Christian groups were unfairly targeted, CP asked Strassel how many people she interviewed had experienced an overt assault on their faith.

While "the people that I talked to generally felt as though all their views were under attack," Strassel said, "they certainly felt as though one aspect of them, was in fact their faith."

"We are seeing this a lot, obviously, in the war on faith out there that we have had with the battles over Obamacare and contraception," she added.

In her book Strassel examines the Left's penchant, particularly in the Obama years, for bullying their opponents and their use of government agencies to silence citizens from participating in the political process.

Although she touched on several facets of the Left's intimidation game in her presentation, the core issue she covered was the right of Americans to form associations and participate in representative government. This the Left cannot abide when conservatives do it successfully, she argued.

"The reality is that money is a proxy for speech," Strassel contended, and Americans have always formed groups to get their message out. To the incredulity of the Left, she argued we we need more money, not less, in politics. More money means more speech. More free speech yields a more vigorous debate and a healthier democracy.

Strassel recounted in her remarks that in a Wednesday interview with NPR the host asked her how she could possibly oppose more regulation on these monies.

She responded by asking him if it would it work if he was to run for President but could only have $50 to do it. He begrudgingly admitted that it would not.

According to her thesis, the trend of state-sponsored bullying began on January 21, 2010 when the Supreme Court released its decision the in the Citizens United v. FEC case. The justices ruled that campaign finance laws restricting the amount of undisclosed money companies can give to non-campaign political advocacy is an affront to free speech rights guaranteed in the First Amendment.

Since then, the Left made a collective decision to not only to suppress conservative voices through limiting contributions but to actively shut down those who would dare to speak, Strassel contended.

Some of the tactics have gotten ugly. Leftists in California illicitly acquired lists of donors to Proposition 8, the state ban on same-sex marriage, and put their addresses and on a walkable map and disseminated this information online for anyone to see.

One of the most horrifying examples occurred in Wisconsin where a liberal prosecutor was unhappy with Governor Scott Walker's union reforms. Under an obscure law, he launched a practically unheard of criminal probe into campaign finance violations of several conservative groups who had supported Walker's reforms.

At the behest of this prosecutor, in one instance in a pre-dawn raid, police invaded the home of one such conservative who was away on a trip with his wife. Their teenager was home alone, the police put him in a room, refused to allow him to call an attorney or his family, and threatened him with jail time if he reported anything that happened.

Several victims of these kinds of attacks mentioned to Strassel that they would "think twice" before they would participate in a conservative political cause again.

But is not money the root of all evil; especially the "dark money," special interest, shadowy kind where the donors do not have to be disclosed?

Conservatives need to blow up the "dark money argument," Strassel said. When we hear this supposedly disgraceful figure that 7 billion dollars was spent on campaigns in the 2012 election cycle, Americans need to realize "that may sound like a great deal of money but 7 billion dollars is what Americans spend every year on Halloween." And of that 7 billion, Strassel continued, only 3-4% is "dark" or undisclosed.

Strassel is an award-winning writer who writes a weekly column called Potomac Watch which appears every Friday in the Wall Street Journal.

You can watch the full presentation at The Heritage Foundation website.
http://www.heritage.org/events/2016/06/intimidation-game

http://www.christianpost.com/news/liberal-intimidation-game-silence-christians-kimberly-strassel-165630/

[Mark]

Christian Preschool Closes Over Fear of Gov't Forcing Staff to Compromise Church Teachings

A Christian preschool in Florida that receives much of its funding from the state government will close its doors in May due to concerns that government regulations could one day force staff to compromise religious teachings or even create bathroom accommodations for transgender children.

Gateway Christian Preschool, an outreach ministry of the Gateway Church of Christ in Pensacola, will shut down after serving the local the community for over 40 years.

The preschool's Director, Barbara Deem, told The Christian Post on Wednesday that the decision was made by the church's eldership after elders came to the decision that the preschool and its involvement in the state-funded Voluntary pre-kindergarten subsidy program could one day become a "liability" to the church.

In the state of Florida, 4 year olds who qualify can receive state funding to offset the costs of pre-kindergarten classes that prepare them for kindergarten through the state's VPK program. Gateway Christian Preschool has been an active participant since the program's inception in 2005.

Deem told CP that the VPK program pays for about 60 percent of the preschool's enrollment, as the state pays the preschool roughly $2,300 per 4-year-old child, per year. The other 40 percent of the preschool's attendees are children from the ages of 1 to 3 whose families pay tuition for them to attend.

"There has always been some concern among a lot of people with taking any kind of government dollars as to whether or not the people could have a say in what you teach, your curriculum, whether or not it is a separation of church and state issue," Deem explained. "We have built in a protection in our contract with the local coalition office that provides our services for the VPK so that we have time throughout the day that the state is not paying for in order to alleviate any possibility of being challenged on teaching Christian values on the government dollar."

Deem explained that the elders became increasingly concerned about the possibility that the government would one day force the preschool to alter its curriculum or make changes that conflict with the teachings of the church. The elders had also been "investigating other churches in other states that have been threatened with political changes."

"Basically, they were asking whether or not there is separation of church and state, can your status as an independent entity be challenged because you may not want to go with what is politically correct?" Deem continued. "They cite things such as installing transgender bathrooms or teaching values that are opposed to what the church actually stands for and the values that each independent church holds high."

Deem said that many non-member families attend the church preschool. Approximately 90 children attend the preschool from throughout the entire Pensacola area.

"So, the leadership here was just investigating those things and they became concerned over the possibility of actions being taken because the school is here and maybe a possible liability because we have so many families that come in," she added. "We have not had any threats. We have not had anyone come and challenge these issues. I have had this position for nine years and I have never had anyone come and question us about our teachings. If anything, it is quite the opposite. They are happy that their children are getting some Christian education at an early age."

"This was a decision of the leadership in effort to protect the congregation as a whole against any potential threat," she continued.

The preschool employs about a dozen staff members who will now have to look for employment elsewhere, while many families will have to find new preschools to enroll their children in.

"I knew the discussions were ongoing and I had been a part of those discussions. I cannot tell you that I support the decision," Deem, who taught at the preschool for over 14 years before becoming its director nearly a decade ago, said. "I do not [support the decision] for a number of personal reasons, but to say that it was a complete shock, no it wasn't. To say that the final word that came down is that they did decide to go in this direction, honestly, as a Christian leader, I was surprised."

"We have multiple generations that have come through this school — many successful people such as doctors and lawyers and such who have started here. I feel like we have done an honorable thing here," she said. "We are blessed and we feel like God's hand has been over this. We are sad about it but we do understand that sometimes doors close in order for others to open. We are just trying to do the right thing and end with honor. My faith tells me that we have to trust what is coming next."

http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-preschool-closes-over-fear-govt-forcing-staff-compromise-church-teachings-177037/