Dallas Billboard Urges Black Women to Get an Abortion
A Texas organization is being criticized for promoting an “abortion war against black women” with a new billboard in Dallas.
The billboard shows three smiling African American women on one side with a message on the other side that reads, “Black women take care of their families by taking care of themselves. ABORTION IS SELF-CARE.” It is sponsored by The Afiya Center, which calls itself the only “reproductive justice” organization in “North Texas founded and directed by black women.”
Pro-life advocate Abby Johnson, who once worked at a Planned Parenthood clinic, posted a picture of the billboard on her Facebook page with the message: “The abortion war against black women is so real.”
Her post sparked nearly 700 comments – most of them outraged at the sign.
“This black woman right here took care of her family BY taking care of her babies,” Bethany McLachlan-Reed, who is African American, wrote. “Such ridiculousness.”
Another person, Deanna Freeman, said the phrase “self-care” should never apply to abortion.
“I’m sorry but self-care is a bubble bath. A pedicure. A hot cup of coffee,” Freeman wrote. “I don’t understand how the term ‘self-care’ can even remotely be construed as applicable in reference to abortion.”
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Shocking TEDx Talk Videos Try to Normalize Pedophilia
A number of TEDx Talks videos have been shocking people around the world. It seems that the current conversation in the culture wars is trying to redefine and accept pedophilia, which is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a psychiatric disorder in which an adult has sexual fantasies about or engages in sexual acts with a prepubescent child.”
Mirjam Heine, a medical student, presented a Tedx Talk at the University of Wurzburg in Germany on May 5, 2018. She said, “Pedophilia is an unchangeable sexual orientation. Just like, for example, heterosexuality, no one chooses to be a pedophile. No one can cease being one.”
Heine acknowledged that there is a lot of “discomfort” when talking about pedophilia. But then she stated, “Just like pedophiles, we are not responsible for our feelings. We do not choose them, but we are responsible for our actions, and we must make a decision. We should accept that pedophiles are people who have not chosen their sexuality.”
Heine continued, saying, “We must accept that pedophilia is a sexual preference.” She did draw a clear line for her opinion, saying that abusing children is wrong. She also stated that a pedophile who has not acted on their preference has done nothing wrong.
One pastor later remarked, “The culture wars are in full swing. It seems that a vocal liberal minority is trying to normalize the abnormal, celebrating the bizarre. However, if we are hearing that we must accept pedophilia repeatedly, more people will accept it. But then in time the message will be about accepting child sexual abuse. And we cannot tolerate that. The church must speak biblical truth in love.”
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Billboards Removed After Image of Pastor Holding a Bible was Called Offensive
Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California was forced to remove his billboard ads at local malls, because he was shown holding a Bible.
Each year, for nearly 30 years, SoCal Harvest hosts a crusade. And Pastor Laurie wanted to get the word out about the church’s free, 3-night event. So he contacted a local billboard company to buy some advertising space in malls around the area.
The ads were up for about two weeks when the billboard company asked Pastor Laurie to revise them. “There was nothing overtly religious about it [the billboard image],” said John Collins, Harvest executive director.
In fact, with no markings on the Bible Greg held in the ad, it could really be any book. Yet, the billboard company reportedly received multiple complaints and one “serious threat” from folks finding the Bible “offensive.”
The Harvest team wanted to be good sports, so they changed the ad. They removed the Bible completely and simplified the billboard, so it just listed the dates and musical acts appearing. However, the complaints continued. The company wound up removing the billboards completely and refunding Harvest their money.
Rather than get upset, Pastor Laurie decided to respond to the Bible billboard controversy with the two “secret weapons” of the Church — prayer and preaching.
Harvest started a campaign with a hashtag #StandForTheBible and reminded guests to be sure to bring their Bibles to the event. They added time during each night where leaders invited the crowd to hold up their Bibles and say, “We are not ashamed of the Bible, nor are we ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation.”
According to the Harvest website, 100,000 attendees turned up at the Anaheim Stadium and the event drew 9,260 professions of faith.
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NJ Teacher Suspended For Calling Homosexuality a Sin
A high school teacher in New Jersey has been suspended for three years after she called homosexuality a sin on her personal Facebook page.
LifeSiteNews.com reports that Jenye “Viki” Knox taught at Union High School since 2000. Knox, who is an ordained minister, was a teacher and faculty advisor for a student-led Bible study at the school. She also had been a teacher for handicapped students.
Back in 2011, Knox criticized the school’s promotion of the LGBTQ lifestyle. “Why parade your unnatural immoral behaviors before the rest of us?” Knox posted. “Homosexuality is a perverted spirit … I know sin and it breeds like cancer.”
She also called homosexuality “unnatural immoral behavior” that is “against the nature and character of God.”
Knox was suspended without pay and also accused of telling school officials that homosexual teachers were “targeting young and impressionable students for indoctrination into alternative sexual lifestyles.”
“We do not have to accept anything, anyone, or any behavior or any choices!” she declared. “I do not have to tolerate anything others wish to do.”
She acknowledged, however: “I do have to love and speak and do what’s right!”
Knox’s attorney in the case against the school stated, “These Facebook posts that she made were done on her time, at her home, after school hours, on her home computer, and it was addressing a matter that could arguably be of big societal concern.”
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American Biking Couple Who Believe “Humans Are Kind” Killed by ISIS Group
The Pluralist reports that a young American couple was killed last month in Tajikistan by Islamic-State terrorists. As reported by CBS News, Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, who were on a world bike trip, tragically lost their lives on July 29 when they, along with two other bicyclists – one from Switzerland and the other from the Netherlands – were struck by a car and then stabbed to death by the car’s occupants. ISIS later claimed responsibility for the murders.
Austin and Geoghean, both 29, had embarked upon on a world bicycle trip when they decided to bike in an area that, according to The Pluralist, has high volumes of terrorist activity. The idealistic couple quit their desk jobs last year in pursuit of adventure and to help other people plan their own adventures.
The couple seemed to suggest that they wanted to bike this route to show that people are not evil as “the narrative” suggests. Austin wrote in a blog post, “You watch the news and you read the papers and you’re led to believe that the world is a big, scary place. People, the narrative goes, are not to be trusted. People are bad. People are evil. People are axe murderers and monsters and worse.”
Austin continued saying, “I don’t buy it. Evil is a make-believe concept we’ve invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans holding values and beliefs and perspectives different than our own.”
On July 25, Austin shared on Instagram that the couple had just reached the one-year mark of their journey. Sadly, their journey ended only a few days later
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NEWS IN BRIEF
- Australia’s newest prime minister is a church-going evangelical Christian who isn’t afraid to stand up for his faith in a country largely viewed as secular. Scott Morrison became prime minister recently when the Liberal Party votedhim in as its leader after ousting Malcolm Turnbull, the former prime minister and party leader. Morrison is a member of Horizon Church, a Pentecostal congregation in Sydney where he and his family are involved in ministries. When Morrison was first elected to the Australian House of Representatives in 2008, he referenced his Christian faith. “My personal faith in Jesus Christ is not a political agenda,” he said. “As Lincoln said, our task is not to claim whether God is on our side but to pray earnestly that we are on His. For me, faith is personal, but the implications are social — as personal and social responsibility are at the heart of the Christian message.”
- In a move that sparked division on social media, President Trump opened his cabinet meeting August 16 by asking Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to pray. Pompeo reportedly used a “Cadet Prayer” bookletfrom his days at West Point. “O God, our Father, Thou Searcher of men’s hearts, help us to draw near to Thee in sincerity and truth. May our religion be filled with gladness and may our worship of Thee be natural,” Pompeo prayed. “Strengthen and increase our admiration for honest dealing and clean thinking, and suffer not our hatred of hypocrisy and pretense ever to diminish. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never be to content with a half truth when the whole can be won.” “Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy,” Pompeo said. “Help us to maintain the honor of the United States untarnished and unsullied and to show forth in our lives the ideals of America in doing our duty to Thee and to our nation. All of which we ask in the name of the Great Friend and Master of man. Amen.”C-SPAN posted the prayer on Twitter. Some applauded it, some criticized it. President George W. Bush, too, often began his cabinet meetings with prayer, according to S. News & World Report.