04a Faith

Blurb:

Officials in Austin, Texas, have reached a settlement with a former volunteer chaplain for the Austin Fire Department who sued after he was dismissed from his role following posts on his personal blog that discussed his religious views.

Andrew Fox, an ordained minister who helped launch the department’s chaplaincy program, served as the city’s lead volunteer chaplain for eight years. He filed a lawsuit in 2022 alleging that the city violated his First Amendment rights after officials demanded he apologize for blog posts stating that men and women are biologically different and expressing opposition to men competing in women’s sports.

At the time, he was one of many individuals who were fired, suspended, or otherwise cancelled for discussing their disfavored views on their personal social media platforms. At the time, his case was particularly alarming because, as the Standing for Freedom Center asked at the time, “If chaplains can’t write about or discuss their religious beliefs without fear of retribution, who can?”

Under the settlement, city officials agreed to pay Fox damages and issued a letter thanking him for his service.

“Everyone should be able to speak freely without fear of punishment just for expressing a view with which the government disagrees,” said Hal Frampton, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and director of the ADF Center for Conscience Initiatives, who represented Fox.

Blurb:

 

Hollywood is a factory of fakery. Social media accounts run by publicists. Apologies written by lawyers. Whole personalities assembled by committee.

In Hollywood, sincerity is often the most convincing special effect of all.

‘My behavior’s dirty, ugly, disgusting, so I gotta eat it.’

Which is why Shia LaBeouf has always felt like an anomaly.

Storm before the calm

LaBeouf is many things: talented, erratic, often self-destructive. His life reads less like a biography than a weather report — storms, brief calm, then another system moving in. He wears his heart on his sleeve, his wounds on his face, and his worst moments out in public.

In an industry built on careful concealment, he seems incapable of it. Most actors learn early to construct a polite distance between who they are and what the world sees. LaBeouf apparently never built that wall.

So when trouble comes — and with him it usually does — everyone gets a front-row seat.

And that’s what makes the story unmistakably Christian. The prodigal son does not return home polished and rehabilitated. He comes back hungry, broken, and not entirely sure how he got there.

Blurb:

“We want everyone here to stay in New York,” comedian and counterprotester Walter Masterson was saying at an anti-Islamification demonstration Saturday when a Muslim man who pledged allegiance to ISIS allegedly chucked a bomb over his head into the crowd.

But that close call wasn’t enough to shake Masterson’s open-borders convictions. Within hours he doubled down on the same mass-migration position that helped enable the situation he found himself in.

“As a born and raised in New Yorker, everyone is welcome,” Masterson said. “Everyone except chief goatf-cker Jake Lang.”

Blurb:

As everyone knew he would, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has appealed Marion County Judge Christina R. Klineman’s “absurd” ruling that the state’s 2022 abortion law violates the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

“We disagree with the court’s decision and have already appealed,” an offices spokesman said. “As we have with every challenge against our pro-life law, we’ll continue fighting to protect the lives of the unborn.”

Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter said, “We are encouraged by Attorney General Todd Rokita’s immediate move to appeal this injunction.” He called the 17-page decision “a perversion of the law’s intent.”

Blurb:

New York City’s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, criticized an anti-Muslim protest outside Gracie Mansion but did not mention the suspects or their alleged ISIS links in his first statement about the attack.

An anti-Islam protest led by Jake Lang, who has described himself as a “January 6 political prisoner,” drew counter-protesters outside Gracie Mansion. During the demonstration, authorities said at least one device was ignited. Two suspects, identified by authorities as Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were arrested on the scene in connection with the incident. Police revealed the device was an improvised explosive device consisting of a sports drink bottle filled with volatile explosive material known as TATP, placed inside a glass jar and surrounded by nuts and bolts.

The New York Post reported that law enforcement sources said Balat used the Arabic phrase “Allahu Akbar” after his police interview. During a brief appearance before reporters, he flashed the single-finger gesture associated with ISIS.

Blurb:

In new book, gender studies professor says it’s time to abolish these labels

“Sexual identity” labels should be abolished because they “harm trans people” in their dating and sex lives, a UC Riverside professor argues in a new book.

Brandon Robinson, a professor of sociology, gender, and sexuality studies, wrote the book “Trans Pleasure: On Gender Liberation and Sexual Freedom” based on interviews with men who identify as women (“trans women and trans femmes — trans people who identify with a feminine gender expression”) and their Reddit conversations about dating and sex.

The book documents these individuals’ experiences in “the bedroom,” “restaurants,” “dating apps,” and other typical dating spaces, and the discrimination that they often face, according to Robinson.

“… dominant understandings of sexual identities—which center desires around gender and genitals—harm trans people. They also limit how everyone can love and feel pleasure,” according to the book description.

Blurb:

I’m New York City was rocked today when two Muslim terrorists —Amir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Nick, 19— threw a homemade explosive device filled with nails, bolts, and screws toward a crowd of protesters while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” The incident has reignited concerns about Islamic violence and public safety in a city that once set the standard for law and order. For many residents, the question is no longer whether authorities are aware of the threat—but whether they are willing to confront it head-on.

NYC – earlier today Amir Balat (18) and Ibrahim Nick (19) threw a homemade explosive device filled with nuts, bolts, nails, and screws toward a crowd of protesters while shouting Allahu Akbar.

Utterly astonishing what is happening to once one of the greatest cities in the world

Blurb:

To his supporters, Donald J. Trump is the 47th president of the United States. For our enemies, he is something far more intolerable: the de facto leader of Western civilization. He is nothing less than the obstacle to a civilizational transformation they have already advanced in London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, and Ottawa.

This enemy has a name: the Red-Green alliance. It is the political covenant between the left and Islam. Its strength is precisely that it is not external. It votes. It holds our passports. It sits in our legislatures and city halls. It shouts down, as in the example of Democrat Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, our president’s State of the Union. This is the enemy within: a left who mobilizes blocs of Islamic voters whose only shared objective is the destruction of the West.

Trump is alone among Western leaders in saying this plainly. When pressed as to whether British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to assist U.S action against Iran was due to his “pandering to Muslim voters,” Trump refused to recite the ritual lie.

Blurb:

The University of Oregon’s Health Services will reportedly begin dispensing dangerous abortion pills to students this year following persistent pro-abortion activism. Oregon Right to Life has condemned the efforts to get university providers to prescribe the drugs as “deeply irresponsible.”

The University of Oregon (UO) student news site The Daily Emerald reported Monday that the institution’s University Health Services (UHS) would begin prescribing the drugs to students in the fall semester after a coalition of student groups, including the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), reportedly gathered over 2,300 petition signatures and 200 survey responses.

Activists have lobbied for abortion pills on campus for years, with a 2024 effort failing to move forward.

Blurb:

A Michigan Democrat state representative has announced she won’t run for reelection because her Christian faith is incompatible with remaining in her party, particularly considering its stances on social issues.

“For me, it is impossible to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ while remaining a member of the Democratic Party as it exists today. I cannot reconcile that platform with Scripture,” Rep. Karen Whitsett told a local news outlet on Monday.

“I will not be seeking reelection for this office, and I will not be running for any office ever again,” she added. “This is not a political calculation—it’s a spiritual decision.”

Whitsett told WDIV-TV Local 4 that she will remain civically engaged and support leaders across party lines who are committed to improving lives and strengthening families based on the Bible.

She mentioned specific social issues where she said the Democrat Party platform irreconcilably conflicts with the Bible’s teaching.

“That conviction includes the issues I cannot reconcile with Scripture: abortion, the normalization of the gay lifestyle, and the push to redefine gender,” Whitsett explained.

Blurb:

 

“I’ve dealt with a lot when it comes to the LGBTQIA+ two-spirit, whatever the hell else you want to add in there, community. … But sometimes I watch a clip of this gang, and it shocks even me,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says.

The clip Sara is referring to allegedly captures an incident from February at the California Democratic Party convention in San Francisco. The video went viral on social media earlier this month after journalist Andy Ngo published a detailed report.

In the clip, parental rights activist Beth Bourne questions a woman, who is reportedly the mother of a trans-identifying child, about medical interventions for minors. After a brief exchange where Bourne pressed the woman on topics like profits from gender-affirming surgeries on children and grotesque surgical procedures, the woman allegedly leaned in and whispered a death threat, “I’m gonna hunt you down and f**king kill you,” before walking away.

Blurb:

Conservatives: Michael Cooper, Todd Doherty, Tamara Jansen and Andrew Lawton.

Liberals: Hon Helena Jaczek, Annie Koutrakis, James Maloney, Marcus Powlowski and Kristina Tesser Derksen.

Bloc Québécois: Luc Thériault (BQ).

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond, Hon. Yonah Martin, Hon. Rosemary Moodie, Hon. Pamela Wallin, Hon Kristopher David Wells.
The committee should not derail Private Members Bill C-218, which like it’s predecessor in the last parliament (Bill C-314) would prevent euthanasia (MAiD) for mental illness alone. Bill C-218 has gained significant traction within the governing Liberal Party. This committee may move the debate into the committee rather than parliament.Get the latest pro-life news and information on X (Twitter).

Blurb:

For the second time in less than a month, Oregon Democrats have blocked consideration of a bill that would have guaranteed basic medical care to infants delivered alive after botched abortions.

“Pro-abortion lawmakers in the Oregon Senate voted against bringing a bill to the Senate floor Thursday that would require Oregon medical professionals to provide the same standards of care to babies born alive during failed abortions as newborns delivered under usual circumstances,” noted Oregon Right to Life’s Communication Director Ashley Sadler. 

All 18 Senate Democrats voted against SB 1554, the “Born Alive Infants Protection Act,” while all 12 Republicans voted in favor. 

Blurb:

The end times are not announced by earthquakes or wars alone. The greatest sign, Fr. James Altman warns, is the apostasy unfolding inside the Church itself.

Joining John-Henry Westen, Fr. Altman draws on the warnings of Our Lady’s apparitions, Quito, La Salette, Garabandal, and the testimony of exorcists like Fr. Gabriel Amorth, who witnessed Padre Pio’s anguish over the loss of faith spreading through the Church’s own leadership. The crisis is not external. It is internal. And it has now reached the papacy.

Blurb:

ABUJA, Nigeria — Conservative Anglican leaders have restructured their organization, signaling a break from the traditions of the historic Anglican Communion as they seek to reorder the 400-year-old church group.

The Global Anglican Future Conference, or Gafcon, dissolved its Gafcon Primates Council and replaced it with the Global Anglican Council.

The new council will include primates, advisers and guarantors, made up of bishops, clergy and lay members, each with full voting privileges, Gafcon general secretary The Right Reverend Paul Donison said in a statement.

Blurb:

James Talarico, a Texas lawmaker, won the Democratic race to run for U.S. Senate. As a Democrat, he strongly supports abortion. What has surprised many Texans is not just his position, but the way he defends it. He says the Bible supports his view.

Talarico grew up in a Christian Presbyterian church and often talks about his faith. But his explanation of Scripture ignores what the Bible teaches about the value of Life, especially the lives of babies in the womb.

Around the time the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing Texas to protect preborn children, Talarico preached a sermon that focused almost entirely on abortion.

Blurb:

Key Takeaways

  • Former Calvin University professor Joe Kuilema was terminated for officiating a same-sex wedding, prompting him to file a lawsuit alleging associational and retaliatory discrimination.
  • Calvin University, a private Christian institution that opposes same-sex marriage based on its doctrinal beliefs, maintains that its expectations for faculty conduct align with these religious values, asserting its right to make employment decisions consistent with its beliefs.
  • The case raises significant questions about the interpretation of civil rights laws concerning associational discrimination, as Kuilema seeks clarification from the Michigan Supreme Court.

Blurb:

(LifeSiteNews) — On this same issue of homosexuality as presented in Part 4 of this series, we must also consider what has been taking place publicly with bishops throughout the world, and with Pope Leo XIV, in recent months. Two examples follow.

First, the German bishops. On October 30, 2025, the German Bishops’ Conference released the document “Created, Redeemed and Loved: Visibility and Recognition of the Diversity of Sexual Identities in the School,” which boldly asserts that “the diversity of sexual identities is a fact,” and instructs that in Catholic schools, teachers not only must accept whatever gender with which a student identifies, but also must address students with gender-affirming pronouns. Moreover, teachers are required to present Catholic teaching on human sexuality as “disputed” and open to debate. As Dr. Steven Mosher, President of Population Research Institute, noted:

[W]hile the Vatican has, in the past, repeatedly condemned gender ideology as an attack on the God-given differences between men and women, as well as on the anthropological foundation of the family, it has taken no disciplinary action against the German episcopate for promoting it.[1]

Blurb:

SAN ANTONIO — Texas state Rep. James Talarico‘s Senate bid is offering a vision of Christianity that fits comfortably within the Left — and giving Democrats uneasy with religion permission to engage with it on their own terms.

Talarico’s campaign blended prayer, pop music, and progressive politics at a rally in San Antonio on Sunday. A maxed capacity crowd turned out to Stable Hall, a San Antonio music venue, for the event which began with 10 minutes of “community building” — where attendees were encouraged to get to know those standing to their left and right.

The socializing was followed by a pastor taking the stage to warm up the crowd.

Blurb:

CNN is known for feeding red meat — perhaps blue meat? — to their left-of-center followers by showing them “scary” content about the other side of the aisle.

From wall-to-wall Jan. 6 coverage to constant whining about President Donald Trump, CNN is one of the most notorious purveyors of leftist narrative framing.

Now the propaganda machine is churning out new content about “Christian Nationalism” — the apparently radical idea that America is a historically Christian people, and would be blessed by honoring God and His Word.

Blurb:

Urges political scientists to ‘queer’ their discipline by ‘undoing the cisheteronormative assumptions’

The University of Oxford Department of Politics & International Relations “rounded off” its celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month (February in the U.K.) by interviewing Aylon Cohen, a “departmental lecturer in feminist political theory who’s also written on “queer-feminist theory,” “affect studies,” and “non-human political theory.”

Cohen said he’s currently at work on two “interrelated projects,” one involving “how the criminalization of sodomy and the policing of men’s bodily relations shaped the emergence of fraternity as an political ideal of equality,” and the other on how alleged authoritarian governments “mobilize gender and sexuality as strategies to consolidate power.”

Blurb:

A 25-year-old man from Spring, Texas is jailed without bond, charged with aggravated assault after authorities say he secretly gave abortion medication to a pregnant woman against her will, causing the death of their unborn child.

Jon Rueben Gabriel Demeter faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury — family violence. Authorities indicated possible additional or enhanced charges pending further evidence processing.

The child, named Presley Mae by her mother, was stillborn at a hospital in The Woodlands.

Blurb:

The SSPX has announced it will proceed with episcopal consecrations on July 1, defying Vatican objections and declaring the Church in a state of emergency. Cardinal Robert Sarah and Cardinal Walter Brandmüller have issued public rebukes, demanding obedience to Pope Leo. Bishop Athanasius Schneider has offered support. The battle lines are drawn, not over rebellion, but over whether the crisis within the Church justifies extraordinary measures to preserve the priesthood and the faith.

Pope Leo’s recent episcopal appointments have placed men supportive of same-sex blessings into positions of authority, elevated figures entangled in Freemasonry controversies, and advanced leaders shaped by Germany’s Synodal Way. The pattern is not accidental. It is a deliberate reshaping of the hierarchy in Rome’s own image.

Blurb:

Abortion bans will expose women giving birth to “44 to 70 times higher than the mortality risk from abortion,” according to a new study from the University of Maryland and Brown University.

The lead author, Maria Steenland, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health, claims, “Our new analysis shows that it is far more dangerous to be pregnant than to have an abortion, and this gap in mortality risk is even larger than previously recognized.”

But what is the new evidence their analysis is based on?

Blurb:

WASHINGTON — One of the most dangerous places for Christians worldwide is Nigeria. More than a decade of deadly violence has drawn international scrutiny, prompted U.S. military action, and fueled debate over whether Africa’s most populous nation is facing genocide.

In an exclusive interview with CBN News, Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, pushed back on claims that Christians are being systematically exterminated.

“I don’t think so,” Tinubu offered repeatedly when asked whether genocide is taking place. Instead, she described the violence as rooted in long-standing regional conflicts, poverty, terrorism, and political instability — particularly as the country approaches an election year in 2027.

Blurb:

 

The state of New York is actively engaging in a rebellion.

I’m not just talking about its refusal to enforce federal immigration law, harboring and exporting violent illegal aliens to other states like Jose Ibarra, who was freed on cashless bail by the Empire State before he traveled to Georgia and killed 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley.

I’m talking about a refusal to follow the Constitution in a way that threatens to turn these United States into nation-states and warring entities, like the city-states of ancient Greece.

Blurb:

Colorado’s Democrat state legislators want to force transgenderism on parents, requiring them to affirm their child’s “gender identity” or risk losing custody.

Radical lawmakers introduced “Concerning Legal Protections for The Dignity of a Minor” (SB 26-018) on Jan. 14, and the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill, referring it to the full Senate on Feb. 18.

In its intended form, the bill requires courts to consider whether parents embrace their child’s “gender identity” when determining custody. Courts must favor parents who support their child’s “preferred name and pronouns” and push their child to receive harmful and damaging “transgender” drugs, hormones, and surgeries.