A recent incident in the UK serves as a warning of the dangers that Britain’s censorious state poses to the right to free speech.
Isabel-Vaughan-Spruce, a charity volunteer, was arrested and charged for a silent prayer “thought crime” near an abortion facility
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) released a video on Thursday showing police confronting Spruce, who was arrested for violating a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) after she was seen praying silently near an abortion facility four times in Kings Norton, Birmingham.
Spruce, a longtime charity worker for vulnerable women and children, was praying in silence when police officers approached her and inquired about what she was doing outside the abortion clinic. She said that she “might be praying in my head, not out loud.”
Police: I’ll ask you once more. Will you voluntarily come with us now to the police station for me to ask you some questions about today and other days where there are allegations that you’ve broken public spaces protection?
Spruce: If I’ve got a choice, then no.
Police: Okay, well, then you’re under arrest. Suspicion of failing to comply with a public space protection order which is under the Anti-Social Behavior Crime and Policing Act of 2014.
Watch the video below:
WATCH: British Police Officers arrest a woman for praying outside an abortion clinic. pic.twitter.com/JlozDcICX5
“No citizen should be criminalised for legitimate, peaceful activity, even prayer. Isabel’s case demonstrates just how far the state can go if we do not vigilantly guard fundamental rights and freedoms. Politicians in Westminster and Holyrood should take note as they consider rolling out this censorial measure nationwide – if we truly value civil liberties and fundamental rights it should unfathomable for the law to permit a repeat of Isabel’s experience, let alone endorsed by our elected representatives and rolled out nationally”,” said Lois McLatchie, from Scotland, communications officer for ADF UK.
“The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 permits a constable to search an arrested person “for anything he might use to assist him to escape lawful custody” or “which might be evidence relating to an offence”. Such searches must be “reasonably required”. We can safely conclude that our fundamental rights and freedoms are in jeopardy if a search of hair is considered “reasonably required” for a suspected crime of praying, even silent prayer. As the Public Order Bill goes through Parliament, it’s crucial that Isabel’s experience is kept firmly in the mind of MPs. No one should be criminalised for the peaceful, harmless practice of their faith, let alone thoughts,” added Jeremiah Igunnubole, Legal Counsel for ADF UK.
As part of a larger effort to overturn censorship zone laws, ADF UK is offering its support to Isabel. Visit www.adf.uk/support-Isabel to donate.
The censorship zone measure introduced by Birmingham authorities via a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) criminalises individuals percieved to be “engaging in any act of approval or disapproval or attempted act of approval or disapproval” in relation to abortion, including through “verbal or written means, prayer or counselling…”.
“It’s abhorrently wrong that I was searched, arrested, interrogated by police and charged simply for praying in the privacy of my own mind. Censorship zones purport to ban harassment, which is already illegal. Nobody should ever be subject to harassment. But what I did was the furthest thing from harmful – I was exercising my freedom of thought, my freedom of religion, inside the privacy of my own mind. Nobody should be criminalised for thinking and for praying, in a public space in the UK,” said Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, following her arrest for silent prayer.
Westminster, Holyrood weigh up nationalising censorship zones in light of human rights concerns
In Westminster, parliamentarians are considering legislation to introduce censorship zones around abortion facilities across England and Wales. Clause 9 of the Public Order Bill, currently under parliamentary debate, would prohibit pro-life volunteers from “influencing”, “advising”, “persuading”, “informing”, “occupying space” or even “expressing opinion” within the vicinity of an abortion facility.
Those who breach the rules could face up to two years in prison.
Mrs Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, aged 45, was not doing anything except standing inside an area under what local officials call a “Public Spaces Protection Order.” [Birmingham, UK, News Link] Within these designated areas protest is not permitted. Prayer is considered an act of protesting.
Mrs. Vaughan-Spruce was standing alone, in silence. However, she was thinking prayerful thoughts without speaking. As a consequence, her cognitive state -thinking about prayer- was in violation of the protection order.
A police officer arrived and questioned Mrs. Vaughan-Spruce about her thoughts. Mrs. Vaughan-Spruce told the police officer the truth, she was thinking about prayers. The police officer arrested Mrs. Vaughan-Spruce for violating the Public Spaces Protection Order with her thoughts.
Mrs. Vaughan-Spruce appeared on the Tucker Carlson show to explain what happened. {Direct Rumble link} – WATCH:
Kanye West BLASTS Hollywood & Leftism On Tucker Carlson
The Most Interesting Things Kanye Said
(Paul Joseph Watson) The most interesting thing Kanye said was about how celebrities and influencers are manipulated and controlled by handlers to amplify regime narratives.
During his interview with Tucker Carlson last night, Kanye West also savaged the Kushner family, accusing former White House advisor Jared Kushner of sabotaging Trump.
Kanye West on the Kushner family: “They are all about making money, I don’t think they have the ability to make anything on their own, they were born into money” pic.twitter.com/Va3BgzJhkw
Tucker Carlson Exclusive With Kanye West – Full Interview – Part 2
October 7, 2022 | Ad rem
Tucker had originally scheduled a 30 min. interviewed with Kanye West, however, it quickly morphed into a 2 hr. interview. Here is the second hour of that interview.
Tucker Carlson Exclusive With Kanye West – “The majority of the media has a godless agenda.”
October 6, 2022 | Ad rem
Rapper Kanye West joins Tucker Carlson Tonight and discusses blowback over the controversial shirt, his father, and the history of racial discrimination in America.
From the moment the DHS disinformation governance board was discovered it was obvious the agency was created in order for Homeland Security to partner with social media platforms to control, monitor and track the speech of American citizens. DHS denied that was the intent; however, Senator Josh Hawley has discovered emails showing all suspicions were accurate.
Senator Hawley appeared on Tucker Carlson Wednesday night to discuss. WATCH:
Twitter Reverses Position, Will Allow Elon Musk Access to Background Data
June 8, 2022 Sundance
I think most people agree, the request from Elon Musk to see the background data from Twitter, used to evaluate bots and fake accounts, was entirely reasonable.
Twitter’s prior position that they would not permit Musk’s team to see the data stream was in ordinary violation of the terms of purchase. It would seem to be commonsense that Musk has every right to inspect the data and evaluate Twitter’s prior assertions.
WASHINGTON POST – After a weeks-long impasse, Twitter’s board plans to comply with Elon Musk’s demands for internal data by offering access to its full “firehose,” the massive stream of data comprising more than 500 million tweets posted each day, according to a person familiar with the company’s thinking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the state of negotiations.
The move aims to end a standoff with the billionaire, who has threatened to pull out of his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter unless the company provides access to data he says is necessary to evaluate the number of fake users on the platform.
The firehose could be provided as soon as this week, the person said. Currently some two dozen companies pay for access to the trove, which comprises not only a real-time record of tweets but the devices they tweet from, as well as information about the accounts that tweet.
[…] Twitter’s leaders are skeptical of Musk’s ability to use the fire hose to find previously undetected information: The data stream has been available for years to some two dozen companies, which pay Twitter for the ability to analyze it to find patterns and insights in the daily conversation. They, along with some analysts and Silicon Valley insiders, say that Musk is using the data requests as a pretext to wiggle out of the deal or to negotiate a lower price. (read more)
Another radical leftist masquerading as an educator has been exposed after she brazenly bragged about ignoring a new state law that bans teaching radical anti-American lies like Critical Race Theory (CRT).
In June, the state of Iowa passed a law – House File 802 – prohibiting subjects related to racism or sexism training and diversity and inclusion efforts at governmental agencies and entities – Including school districts and public postsecondary educational institutions. In short, CRT has been essentially outlawed from public schools.
Petra Lange, an Iowa schoolteacher at West Des Moines’ Valley High School, appeared on a zoom call to discuss “urban anti-racism education” and happily shared what she thinks is a “clever workaround” to the state’s new law with the group.
Her solution? Explain to her students, in great detail, what concepts are illegal to teach, then encourage them to ask as many questions about the subjects as possible. That way, she can discuss CRT without actually ‘teaching’ it, according to her.
“I literally put the law in front of them, gave them access with a link, and I said I need to just let you know there are now concepts that it is illegal for me to teach you about according to the state of Iowa.
So I went through those ten defined concepts with them, um, so that they could see what the law was – and they immediately, by the time I think we were on the second or third one, they’re like ‘but is it legal for me to ask questions?’
I was like ‘this is only for me, you can ask as many questions as you like;’ and then i took him to the part of the law that said this law doesn’t prohibit me from answering questions.
I said ‘so if there is any question that you have about these defined concepts, you can ask them and then I can answer them.‘*outburst of laughter*”
Truly sick… This teacher has no regard for her responsibility as a public educator and thinks that she, and her colleagues that she is encouraging, are above the law and can do whatever they please with the children in their care.
The wording in the new law does not prohibit questions from being answered about the ban, but it is entirely different for her to walk through each topic in an effort to prompt her students into asking questions.
In reality, Lange is openly defying the ban and continuing to teach her students the poisonous CRT doctrine. The state should set an example with her and show that the new law isn’t just for show. At the very least, she needs to be investigated and, if what she is bragging about is true, fired.
It’s clear that she views her loophole as a long-term solution and has no plans to cease teaching these unamerican lies. Lange even asked her students to think about what questions they can come up with so she can build their course for the upcoming semester.
“So I said let’s just take another minute – what questions do you have that you want me to build this course around and take some time to answer.
The questions after going through HF-802 were so much more pointed. Like one of them straight up was a sticky note that says ‘is the United States systemically racist?’ – and i was like well that would be a fascinating conversation that now we can have because you’ve asked.”
Here is the full clip:
Iowa teacher proudly explains how she is circumventing the Critical Race Theory ban.
Instead of teaching CRT, she reviews the CRT concepts that are called out in the law, and encourages her kids to ask questions about the concepts.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) The Supreme Court of Virginia has upheld a lower court ruling that ordered the reinstatement of a northern Virginia gym teacher who said he won’t refer to transgender students by their preferred pronouns.
Loudoun County Public Schools appealed to the state Supreme Court after a judge ruled that the school system violated the free speech rights of teacher Tanner Cross by suspending him after he spoke up at a school board meeting.
Cross, a teacher at Leesburg Elementary, cited his religious convictions at a May board meeting in which the school board debated proposed changes to its policies in treatment of transgender students. Cross said he would not use transgender students’ preferred pronouns.
School boards across the state have been revising their policies to be more inclusive of transgender students in accordance with a new state law. But Loudoun County, outside the nation’s capital, has been a particular flashpoint in the debate over not just transgender students but also how students learn about racism and race relations.
The school system said it suspended Cross in part because his comments caused a disruption at the school. But the lower court judge, James Plowman, and the state Supreme Court agreed that the handful of calls fielded by school administrators did not cause the type of disruption that warranted a suspension.
Tuesday’s ruling leaves in place a temporary injunction that bars the school system from suspending Cross. A trial is scheduled for next week in Loudoun County to settle the issue permanently.
Since Cross filed his lawsuit in May, two additional teachers in Loudoun County have joined him as plaintiffs.
White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki Makes Jaw-Dropping Announcement, There are Only Two Genders
September 2, 2021 Sundance
In order for left-wing ideologues to continue advancing their ideological belief system, a system built upon intentional fraud, they must pretend not to know things. This truism is the inherent core of their hypocrisy.
For the past several years the ultra-progressive left have been selling a ridiculous narrative that multiple genders exist. Within that multi-gender worldview, men can get to compete in women’s sports and also get pregnant. They even changed the language of mother and father to “birthing person”. Wokeism and cultural Marxism are deployed against anyone who does not accept this assertion in society. When you challenge the progressive orthodoxy with intellectual argument, the response is always an emotional attack in defense of their unsustainable position. A case study in this exact outcome happened today during Jen Psaki’s press briefing.
The White House spokesperson accidentally (and very forcefully) took the public position today, that only two genders exist.
WATCH:
Other revelations today include:
“My body my choice,” except forced vaccinations against you are okay.
Also, “my health status is dependent on your medical condition,” so, it’s okay to slap the cheeseburger out of your vaccinated hand – right?
Fear is at the core of modern liberalism, and love/trust is at the core of conservatism. Modern liberalism, most commonly evolved to leftism, is about control. Conservatism is about self-empowerment.
Control is a reaction to fear. Think in terms or politics and society – the fear behind liberalism is the fear that someone might withhold things (opportunities, money, whatever) from me, fear that if you live your life in a way I dislike that it might affect my life, fear that if you get that job, there will be nothing left for me. Fear that if you make tons of money, it’s means there’s less money out there for me. So people who believe in leftist ideologies seek control as a means of trying to create guarantees and safeguards against those circumstances they fear.
Modern “liberals”, leftists, try to control the world and people to enable their comfort and happiness. Which, as we know, is an endless quest. Trying to control others does nothing in the way of making oneself happy. By extension, voting in this mindset so that government can try to control others will also – shocking – not lead to a happier, more comfortable life.
The conservative (and moderate, independent, but for the sake of expediency, the conservative), on the other hand, relies on himself to meet his own needs. And the trade off of being free to live his life as he wishes is also understanding that he has to make peace with how you live yours. By extension, aware that he wants to be able to hold onto this liberty and freedom forever, the conservative votes accordingly, so that everyone can remain free and in charge of his or her own life.
But here’s the crucial difference, perhaps, particularly where misery on the left stems: The conservative does not worry, so to speak, about you. The conservative knows that you were born with the same access to self-love, self-empowerment, self-determination and self-reliance that we all were, no matter the circumstances into which you were born. (Think about the millions of people this country has allowed to crawl up from poverty into prosperity – the conservative KNOWS this is possible.) And the conservative believes that if you want prosperity, or a good job, or a good education, you can make it happen – but you have to work hard.
The conservative hopes and intends that the free markets bring you all of the affordable and positive opportunities and resources that you need. The conservative also knows that on the other side of that hard work is great reward – material and, more importantly, emotional, spiritual and mental.
The conservative understands that not only is it a waste of time to try to control you, it’s actually impossible. Humans were born to be free. And if we put a roadblock in front of you, you’ll find another way around it. So, we see attempts at control as a waste of resources, energy and time at best, and at worst, creating detrimental results that serve to hinder people’s upward mobility or teach dependence. We see much more efficiency, as well as endless opportunity, in leaving you to your own devices. And we want the same in return.
This is where modern democrats mis-view conservatives as heartless. But really, the conservative believes that there is one and one path only to sustainable success and independence – and that is self-empowerment. All other avenues – welfare, affirmative action, housing loans you can’t actually afford – ultimately risk doing a disservice to people as they teach dependence on special circumstances, the govt, or arbitrary assistance (that can disappear tomorrow). And the real danger – they will ALWAYS backfire, and leave the recipient in equally or more dire circumstances. Any false improvement will always expire.
The conservative believes in abundance. The liberal believes in scarcity.
The conservative believes man is born free and will be who he is, no matter what arbitrary limitations or rules are put on him. The leftist believes man is perfectible, and by extension, believes a society at large is perfectible, and command and control is justified in the quest to a “perfect” utopian society. (Sounds familiar!)
The conservative tends to be more faithful – and not necessarily in God, but in the ability of the individual to find great strength in himself (or from his God) to get what he needs and to be successful. Therefore, the conservative has an outlet for his fear and disappointment – trust and faith in something bigger.
The leftist believes the system must be perfected in order to enable success. Therefore, disappointment is channeled as anger and blame at the system. Voids are left to be filled by faith in the govt, which they surely then want to come in and “fix” things.
And therein lies the roots of love and fear respectively. For the conservative, when life presents great struggles, he knows he has the power to surmount them. Happiness stems from internal strength and perseverance. For the modern leftist, when life presents great struggles, the system failed, therefore they were at the mercy of a faulty system, and they believe that only when the system is fixed can their life improve. Happiness is built on systemic contingencies, which they will then seek to control or expect someone else to.
One blames himself. The other blames anyone and everyone but himself.
And there it is. There’s where the meanness comes from. The leftist ideology causes that person to cast anger at the world when things go wrong or appear “unfair.” He constantly chooses only to see the “injustices” – and that makes for a very miserable, mean, blame-casting existence.
One last point that we have seen over and over and over with many (not all) of our leftist friends: Extreme stinginess and cheapness.
In our conservative community growing up, we were always taught that you give when people are in need – make donations to the Red Cross when there’s an earthquake, donate to charity when you can afford it, etc. Even if it’s just $50 here and there – it’s the right thing to do. Conservatives see this as the responsibility that comes with gaining from the capitalistic system; if you happen to benefit greatly from the system, it’s your duty to give back.
The liberal, on the other hand, does not seem to share this same viewpoint, at least not in my experience. And perhaps I think this is linked to believing in scarcity, and that your dollar comes at the cost of mine. So it seems that liberals, on some level of consciousness, feel guilty about not being voluntarily charitable. Therefore, to write off their guilt, they outsource their “generosity” to the government by voting for wealth re-distributive policies. Thus, the liberal cheats himself of the joy and addictiveness of direct generosity. (Not to mention – re distributive policies ALWAYS end up dis-empowering those who they’re meant to help.)
However each of us got here, it’s probably a fact that we have the turmoil of those storms in common, perhaps some unease that we could share and always, we also find fresh ground to cover from day to day. We’re developing valuable relationships as we trust one another in our community in the woods. The chatting in the branches encourages, strengthens and equips for some serious walking.
We think the Treehouse is a good armory for those who doing long distance walking for the sake of our nation. We hope you’ll think so, too. Find yourself a good branch….or just pull up a rock to the campfire.
As a candidate, Joe Biden’s number one promise was to “unite” America. Yet in his first months as president, his number one priority has been to divide our country by race and gender at every turn.
There is no clearer example than the Biden administration’s new effort aimed at indoctrinating America’s schoolchildren with some of the most toxic and anti-American theories ever conceived. It is vital for Americans to understand what this initiative would do, what drives it and, most importantly, how we can stop it.
For decades, the America-blaming left has been relentlessly pushing a vision of America that casts our history, culture, traditions, and founding documents in the most negative possible light. Yet in recent years, this deeply unnatural effort has progressed from telling children that their history is evil to telling Americans that they are evil.
In classrooms across the nation, students are being subjected to a new curriculum designed to brainwash them with the ridiculous left-wing dogma known as “critical race theory.” The key fact about this twisted doctrine is that it is completely antithetical to everything that normal Americans of any color would wish to teach their children.
Instead of helping young people discover that America is the greatest, most tolerant, and most generous nation in history, it teaches them that America is systemically evil and that the hearts of our people are full of hatred and malice. Far from advancing the beautiful dream of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — that our children should “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” — the left’s vile new theory preaches that judging people by the color of their skin is actually a good idea.
Teaching even one child these divisive messages would verge on psychological abuse. Indoctrinating generations of children with these extreme ideas is not just immoral — it is a program for national suicide. Yet that is exactly what the Biden administration endorsed recently in a rule published in the Federal Register aimed at inflicting a critical race theory-inspired curriculum on American schoolchildren.
The rule explicitly cites the New York Times’ discredited “1619 Project” as a motivation. The Times has described the goal of its endeavor as the “re-education” of the American people, and the project even includes a lesson plan that encourages students to practice “erasing” parts of the Declaration of Independence. The Biden rule also directly cites a left-wing activist and leading proponent of critical race theory whose textbook states, “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”
This is what the Biden administration wants to teach America’s children.
The Department of Education rule stems from an executive order Biden signed on his first day in office. Biden’s order abolished the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission I created to honor America’s founding principles, and reversed an executive action I took to stop these depraved theories from being imposed upon federal employees in workforce training sessions.
Thankfully, most Americans oppose this insanity. The left has only gotten away with it until this point because not enough parents have been paying attention and speaking up. But that is quickly changing. From Loudoun County, Va., to Cupertino, Calif., parents are beginning to make their voices heard against the left-wing cultural revolution. What they need now is a plan to actually stop it.
Here are the reforms that every concerned parent in America should be demanding.
First, every state legislature should pass a ban on taxpayer dollars going to any school district or workplace that teaches critical race theory, which inherently violates existing anti-discrimination laws. Inspired by my executive order last year, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and other states have already taken steps to pass such laws. It needs to happen everywhere — and Congress should seek to institute a federal ban through legislation as well.
Second, each state should create its own 1776 Commission to examine the public school curriculum and ensure that students are receiving a patriotic, pro-American education — not being taught that the United States is an evil nation.
Third, parents have a right to know exactly what is being taught to their children. Last year, many parents had the chance to routinely listen in on classes for the first time because of remote learning. As students return to the classroom, states need to pass laws requiring that all lesson plans have to be made available to parents — every handout, article, and reading should be posted on an online portal that allows parents to see what their kids are being taught. Furthermore, in many places, there are rules preventing students from recording what teachers say in class. States and school boards should establish a “Right to Record.”
Fourth, parents need to organize locally — in every school district in America — to eliminate “Action Civics” and other versions of the effort to contort traditional civics education into a vehicle for political indoctrination. The left’s new argument is that our “divisions” stem from a lack of “civics education” — a problem they intend to “fix” with lots of new taxpayer money and a redefinition of “civics” in schools, just as they are trying to redefine the meaning of “infrastructure.” Right now, Congress is working on a $1 billion bill known as the Civics Secures Democracy Act. No Republican should trust the Biden administration with a billion dollars to spend on such programs. Even worse, the legislation threatens to establish a de facto national curriculum for history and civics, effectively bribing states into adopting the left’s anti-American curriculum. It is Common Core all over again — but much more extreme. And like Common Core, parents must unite to stop this new federal power grab.
Fifth, any parent who objects to the material being taught to their child in public school should get an automatic voucher, empowering them to pick another school of their choice. The government has no right to brainwash students with controversial ideologies against their parents’ will.
Sixth, states need to take back control of their schools of education and credentialing bodies to ensure they are not churning out radicalized teachers. To be clear, the overwhelming majority of our nation’s teachers are some of the most selfless and wonderful people there are — but regrettably, many have graduated from extremely biased education schools and may not even be aware of the degree to which leftist ideology has permeated their curriculum. States should set up alternative credentialing bodies that can certify great teachers who know how to instill a sense of love for America. School districts can then make it a priority to hire teachers with these certifications, especially for English, history, and social studies roles. States could even set up their own versions of Teach for America to get passionate and patriotic young people into the classroom.
Finally, states need to break the tenure monopoly in public K-12 schools. Tenure was originally supposed to protect competent teachers from being subjected to undue political influence; it has turned into a mechanism to protect incompetent teachers who themselves wield undue political influence over our children. Educators who are alienating children from their own country should not be protected with lifelong tenure; they should be liberated to pursue a career as a political activist.
Make no mistake: The motive behind all of this left-wing lunacy is to discredit and eliminate the greatest obstacles to the fundamental transformation of America. To succeed with their extreme agenda, radicals know they must abolish our attachment to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and most of all, Americans’ very identity as a free, proud, and self-governing people. The left knows that if they can dissolve our national memory and identity, they can gain the total political control they crave.
A nation is only as strong as its spirit. For our children, we must act before it is too late.
Donald Trump is the 45th president of the United States.
A young mother born and raised in the Soviet Union blasted critical race theory during a Bedford Central, New York school board meeting — arguing that it is “actually a tyrannical Soviet ideology” that results in mass starvation and has killed millions of people worldwide.
Under the guise of good intentions, compassion and love for minorities and those discriminated against, the Critical Race Theory and “equity for all” curriculum is marching society towards communism, the mother of three argued in a scathing 3-minute rebuke of the school board on Wednesday.
“The proposed ‘anti-racist program’ is just a prettier name for racial Marxist teaching. You don’t need to sugarcoat it for me. I lived it. Same methods, same vocabulary, same preferential treatment to certain groups,” she lamented. “That’s why equity is packed with good causes like ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion,’ so nobody can challenge it. But, I know.”
When socialists refer to “equity for all” what they actually mean is equal impoverishment for all, the woman explained.
“Ask me how I know? I was born in Soviet Union and my family has seen it all. Suffering first from Nazi and then from tyrannical Soviet ideology. Back there, what started was ‘equity for all,’ quickly ended with nothing to eat for my people. And now my family is here because of it — because ‘equity’ does not work,” she said. “We did not come here for a blanketed synthetic equity. We had enough of that one. We came here for equal opportunity under the law and freedoms in this country. Soviets extinguished all the excellence and opportunity.”
The woman excoriated the board and student committee for their proposal to lower standards for students by assigning less homework and dismantling AP classes in the name of “fairness.”
“Equity” is code for communism and “mindboggling sameness,” she doubled down.
“They told us they were advocates for equity and enemies of privilege, people believed this, and we paid the awful price. This ideology killed millions of people worldwide. And now you’re bringing it here to indoctrinate our own children,” she said. “Equity was just a tool used by communists to make sure everyone was equally poorly educated so people didn’t question authority. While in definition it was about fairness, in reality, it means same outcome – nobody excels, mind-boggling sameness. The key tactic is to remove all the incentives and motivation to succeed for all the students.
“Is this why the Student Committee is proposing less homework and audit of AP classes? Why are you trying to demotivate students and lower the standards instead of directly helping underperforming students? That’s exactly what ‘equity’ means – in reality, making everyone mediocre.”
Switch the school district, but “never switch on the American dream,” she concluded.
“This is not a Bolshevik Central School district in Soviet Union. This is Bedford Central school district in the United States of America. I lived in Siberia. I switched continents because of equity. I can and I will switch the school district if the equity gets pushed,” she proclaimed. “But I will never switch on the American dream and equal opportunity, the only system in the world, that lifts people up, gives second chances to people like me, motivates and brings the best in the people regardless of race and ethnicity. I lived it and you don’t need to tell me what is equity.”
The anti-Western civilization “Critical Race Theory,” a “multicultural” curriculum that alleges white people are oppressors and to blame in perpetuity for racism, sexism, homophobia, environmental destruction, and segregation, has been taught in classrooms for a long time.
But now, as debilitating “woke” political correctness sweeps the nation, teachers are more forthright about what is being taught, rather than subtly indoctrinating the kids with communist propaganda.
A growing number of parents, like the Siberia-born mother in New York, are banding together to finally put stop to it. The woman’s comments came just days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis successfully lobbied the board to block critical race theory from schools.
North Korean defector Yeonmi Park, who attended Columbia University after she escaped North Korea where she was sold into sex slavery, warned on Monday the communist indoctrination transpiring within the Ivy League university is worse than the anti-American, communist propaganda she heard in North Korea.
Hundreds of military whistleblowers say they are being forced to receive “anti-American indoctrination” training, including critical race theory. Last month, a U.S. Space Force commanding officer was removed from his post after publishing a book that warned of the spread of Marxism and critical race theory in the military
A 9-year-old elementary student absolutely obliterated her local school board over Black Lives Matter posters that were placed around her campus.
In Lakeville, Minnesota there has been a heated debate about Black Lives Matter posters in the schools for months.
The board initially ruled that BLM posters were political and said that they must be removed after students and parents complained. However, the board ended up not complying with their own determination and placed two posters up in Lakeview Elementary School as part of an “Inclusive Poster Series.”
“The poster series includes two that say ‘Black lives matter,’ which the district has said stands for the social justice movement, but those in opposition say it reflects the views of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, which they said stands for political positions. Opponents maintain any poster with that name on it should be banned by policy,” the local news reported.
The BLM posters with a black background and white block lettering were banned in September 2020, but the school board simply created new ones with different colors. None of the other posters mention any race or political group.
During a school board meeting on June 8, a student at the school went off on the members for their dishonest actions.
You’ve got to check out this 9 year old elementary school girl SMOKE THE SCHOOL BOARD😲! You know it’s bad when kids have morals and call you a lier, TO YOUR FACE😳. You go girl👊 pic.twitter.com/36Tl96h9s0
— Late Night with Bobby D (@LateNightBobbyD) June 18, 2021
“The other day I was walking down the hallway at Lakeview Elementary School to give a teacher a retiring gift. I looked up on to the wall and saw a BLM poster and an Amanda Gorman poster. In case you don’t know who that chick is, she’s some girl who did a poem for Biden’s so-called inauguration. I was so mad,” the child began. “I was told two weeks ago at this very meeting spot, no politics in school. I believed what you said at this meeting, so at lunch I went up to the principal to tell him about the BLM poster and that I wanted it down.”
The fiery little girl went on to say that the principal told her they would not be coming down and that the school board are the ones who made them.
“I was stunned. When I was here two weeks ago, you told us to report any BLM in our schools. Apparently, you know they’re in our schools because you made the signs.”
The brave little girl went on to demand that she doesn’t see people’s skin colors and has friends of all shades, before blasting the heck out of the board once again.
“You have lied to me and I am very disappointed in all of you,” she said. “You can’t even follow your own rules. If you’re going to do that, why do we follow any rules we deem unfit or ridiculous? I’m not following your mask rule anymore then.”
She concluded, “get the posters out of our schools. Courage is contagious, so be courageous.”
Superintendent Michael Baumann said in a statement about the poster Series that they are there “to affirm our unwavering commitment to and in support of our Black students and staff, this series includes two Black lives matter posters. While the district has not changed its position that the Black Lives Matter Global Network is a political organization, we recognize there is a non-political social justice movement represented by the statement ‘Black lives matter.’ Lakeville Area Schools-branded Black lives matter posters are permissible under Policy 535; we ask staff who want to put up Black lives matter posters in their classroom or work space to use those from this poster series.”
Media Very Concerned American Parents Do Not Want Children Indoctrinated
June 20, 2021 | Sundance
This soundbite below from Meet The Press is reflective of the perspective of U.S. media toward the growing push-back from parents surrounding Critical Race Theory in schools.
The media are concerned, very concerned, that parents are starting to wake up. If this awakening continues, this could present a problem:
Grace Community Church‘s 81-year-old pastor of over 50 years, John MacArthur, told his congregation this past Sunday that the culture we live in today is systematically declaring war on children as it’s “weaponized to destroy children.”
MacArthur’s sermon title “Providing Shade for Our Children” was inspired by a Chinese proverb. He explained, saying, “One generation plants the trees, the next generation gets the shade.”
As he unpacked the proverb, MacArthur said, “Every generation should understand the responsibility that they have to plant the trees so there is shade for the next generation.” He then boldly said, “What we’re facing today is fierce! I will confess…of all the things that disturb me in this culture…of all the horrific, sinful, wretched, wicked, corrupt influences that go on in this culture. I think the thing that distresses me most is the war on children.”
MacArthur Gave Examples of How Culture Has Declared War on Children
Over 62 million children “have been slaughtered in the womb,” he factually stated since abortion was made legal in the 1970’s.
If a child escapes the death of abortion, they have a 50/50 chance of being born into a family whose parents are married.
If the child’s parents are married, the likelihood of them getting a divorce is high, and both or one of them will be “unfaithful to their marital vows.”
The probability of that child being sent to a public school and being under the influence of an agenda that is “anti-God, anti-Christ, and anti-Scripture” is also high.
Politicians in our country are passing laws that are “devastating to children.”
“Sexual freedom, homosexuality, and transgenderism” is constantly being pressured upon them as normalcy and if not accepted is called “hate speech.”
“The lies of systemic racism and the hustlers dominate the ideologies of universities and even churches,” MacArthur said.
Movie-makers, music producers, big tech, and social media providers “literally pump out things that destroy children.”
Children Are Defenseless Against the Relentless Attacks
All the forces of evil have released a relentless assault upon the children this country, who MacArthur said are “defenseless.” He explained that society offers no restraint to those destroying our children, yet encourages it.
Our culture’s defenseless children look like, “When their parents sell them to a human trafficker, who drops them eight to 10 feet over a wall into Sodom and Gomorrah [referring to America] all by themselves,” he described. Giving a children’s media example, MacArthur pointed out that the Disney Corporation created “characters that are transgender to seduce children into accepting wickedness as normal.”
MacArthur also exemplified the quickly growing trend of parents insanely offering “their children gender identity options,” somberly stating that “children are under assault now.” Referring to Joe Biden’s recent announcement that the government would like to provide free education from the ages of 3 to 20, MacArthur asserted that this extends the negative influences in our children’s lives.
“The president to the leading politicians and bureaucrats, teachers, race hustlers, pornographers, media people, tech people, and even media people” are attacking those who are most defenseless; children. “There is a war on children!”
Children are already forced to endure a world impacted by the sins of their parents when they are born. MacArthur then referenced Exodus 20:5, Numbers 14:18, Jeremiah 32:17-18, and Ezekiel 18 and showed that generational sins create a culture that has to be endured by those born into it. He called it “default reality.”
“This is a very dangerous place for children,” he said after he told the 2014 story of Planned Parenthood workers admitting to illegally selling aborted baby parts to undercover pro-lifers. Instead of Planned Parenthood getting charged with a crime, the government charged the pro-lifers felony counts of violating the privacy of health-care providers for recording without their consent.
“Satan’s war on children is a war on God because the children belong to him.”
Children Are a Gift From God
Reciting Psalm 127:3, the pastor said, “Children are a gift from the Lord.” He later told parents that when your “little ones arrive, you are stewarding them for God.”
“This generation of leaders, the immoral people that are engaged in this massive assault on children are going to have to answer to God,” said MacArthur. He then reminded his congregation, “We’re gonna have to answer, too, for the little ones he gives us.” They are not ours, they are his so our “life commitment” is to influence them to place their faith in Christ. “That is raising your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Watch Pastor John MacArthur’s entire sermon below:
Perhaps my parents were naïve. They raised me to respect my teachers, the government, and other authorities, and to believe these entities acted in my best interests and certainly wouldn’t lie to me. I was warned about the duplicity of politicians and used-car salesmen, but they were mostly grouped in classes by themselves.
Now I know I was misled by these authorities on some very important things. For instance, in biology class I was taught as scientific fact a totally fanciful—and atheistically religious—story that “survival of the fittest” caused the evolution of life on Earth. Disseminating that lie was an abuse of youthful trust in authority.
The lying has gotten far worse. Back then, I never felt institutional coercion to join a perverse government-led movement that affirms as truth many things I and most other people can clearly see are false. For example, until recently it was basic common sense to recognize that male and female are the two biological sexes. Today, anyone daring to speak common sense is publicly pummeled with disparaging names (or worse) by members of a rapidly growing deviant movement. They use a hostile crowd to systematically isolate people from each other by making everyone afraid to be associated with the pummeled person lest it also happen to them—a method to strong-arm conformity in thinking and control the behavior of an entire group.
As many Christians ponder whether to acknowledge more than the two sexes Christ created, they need to consider more than the “science” that floods schools and the media. The real issue is whether Christians, pastors, and seminary presidents will reject clear biblical teaching just to avoid the nasty social outrage against their ministries or themselves if they dare speak a truth the world finds offensive—that male and female are the only two human sexes.
Christians have faced the decision of whether to cast aside clear biblical teaching and embrace the world’s so-called science for a far longer period when it comes to Darwinian selection and evolution. Lies spread by government-sponsored institutions can be so absurd that they require years of forced, repetitive indoctrination for people to believe them. One government lie sits atop them all: that over a time frame far too slow for anyone to observe—and without the mind and power of God—life spontaneously started and nature exercised a type of selective agency to mold that “proto-life” into the diversity of creatures on Earth. We may not know how many people silently question this lie because dissenting views are quashed through government-tolerated academic oppression.
For illustration we’ll consider the above-mentioned lie that humans can be classified into a sex other than male and female. Perhaps it will serve as a contemporary wake-up call for Christians to refuse to live by the world’s lies.
Biological Sex and the Institutional Lie
In George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, the Ministry of Truth produced lying propaganda and the Ministry of Love dispensed torture. In Orwell’s farsighted story, reality was totally inverted through the government’s highly coordinated actions to manipulate its citizens’ thinking. What’s remarkable in the book is that almost all citizens eventually became willing promoters of government lies themselves.
An NBC News report demonstrates the combined power of government, academia, and the media to bring about a 1984-like adoption of total nonsense. In this case, even highly educated leaders of independent corporations participate. NBC stated that “[the brand] Always announced it will remove the Venus symbol from its menstruation products packaging” in response to protests by “transgender and nonbinary people” who were born female but now believe they’re male.1
Procter & Gamble, Always’ parent company, has come to regret placing the female symbol on their packages. In response to the outrage of these “men,” Always now recognizes that the packages were offensive “by not acknowledging that they [men], too, can experience menstruation,” and they dismiss the criticisms of people upset over the symbol’s removal as being “rooted in the misconception that [male] transgender and nonbinary people cannot experience menstruation—a claim medical experts have debunked.”1
How do you get people to assent to completely bizarre flights of fancy? By repeating them incessantly. Several months after their story on Always, NBC added a personal account and reported, “When transgender model and activist Kenny Ethan Jones experienced his first period, he faced both physical and psychological pain.”2 Kenny Jones was born female but is now considered by many (including “medical experts”) to be male. Perhaps to make it easier for readers to jettison their common sense, NBC adds Jones’ personal testimony:
“Having a period already causes me a lot of [gender] dysphoria, but this dysphoria becomes heightened when I have to shop for a product that is labeled as ‘women’s health’ and in most cases, is pretty and pink,” Jones explained.2
How powerful are the combined forces of government, academia, and the media targeted against individual citizens? Pretty powerful, it seems. After presenting stories like that of Kenny Jones, it’s as if those in power sit back and watch to see if ordinary people will compliantly speak about “his first period” without a tinge of humiliation over the mental confusion or muddled judgment needed to state something so nonsensical. A power that conditions a mass of people to embrace such ridiculous notions should grab the attention of Christians.
We are witnessing authorities use the stamp of scientific authority as a propaganda tool to dishonestly assert that something everyone knows is true—that men cannot have monthly cycles—has been debunked. Most people likely resent being coerced into accepting something that has never been observed and is utterly foolish.
What many Americans don’t recognize is that the train long ago left the station and took our country along the line to nonsensical beliefs. That happened when they swallowed the lie that over a long period of time one kind of creature can morph into another—something else that has never been observed. What’s worse is that these lies about both evolving creatures and interchangeable sexes are not just ludicrous, they’re intellectually and morally perverse.
Government Perverting Its God-Ordained Role
God denounces the government-sanctioned corruption of truth: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). Moral perversion goes hand in hand with governments acting in perverted ways.
Two passages in the New Testament detail the God-ordained role of government. Those in authority today should rule by these mandates: “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil….For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil” (Romans 13:3-4); and government leaders “are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good” (1 Peter 2:14).
The Bible’s teaching is plain. Government is responsible to promote good and punish evil, but today’s rulers often oppress—if not outright persecute—people doing good and exult in the evil behavior they promote, which they mischaracterize as good. The destruction of the moral fiber of its citizens through lying and coercive tactics is a perversion of government’s mandate and authority.
Lessons Learned from the Soviet Union
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, 1974Image credit: Bert Verhoeff
Citizens of the United States now face increased institutional deception. People in other lands have endured habitual governmental lying, and their experiences may prove useful to Christians who refuse to live by the world’s lies.
Last year someone forwarded the link to a very helpful essay titled “Live Not by Lies” written in 1974 by the late Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn’s essay isn’t long, and I’d recommend that everyone read it since the actions he encourages other Soviets to adopt are valuable for Americans today. He sets the stage of the sad state of isolation and fear oppressing the Soviet people.
There was a time when we dared not rustle a whisper….[We] heartily complain to each other of all they [the government] are muddling up, of all they are dragging us into!…They put whomever they want on trial, and brand the healthy as mentally ill….Already a universal spiritual demise is upon us…while we continue to smile sheepishly….We have so hopelessly ceded our humanity that for the modest handouts of today we are ready to surrender up all principles, our soul, all the labors of our ancestors, all the prospects of our descendants—anything to avoid disrupting our meager existence…..[We] fear only to take a civic stance! We hope only not to stray from the herd, not to set out on our own.3
Solzhenitsyn then explains why government-sanctioned violence alone can never enslave an entire population. Real enslaving power is wielded through institutional lying.
But it [breaking the oppressive cycle] will never come…if we all, every day, continue to acknowledge, glorify, and strengthen it, if we do not, at the least, recoil from its most vulnerable point. From lies….Violence ages swiftly….To prop itself up, to appear decent, it will without fail call forth its ally—Lies. For violence has nothing to cover itself with but lies, and lies can only persist through violence. And it is not every day and not on every shoulder that violence brings down its heavy hand: It demands of us only a submission to lies, a daily participation in deceit—and this suffices as our fealty.3
Thus, the road to freedom is to refuse to live by lies. “And therein we find, neglected by us, the simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a personal nonparticipation in lies!…For when people renounce lies, lies simply cease to exist. Like parasites, they can only survive when attached to a person.” The first of eight vital behaviors Solzhenitsyn says are necessary to shake off enslavement begins with each citizen declaring they “will not write, sign, nor publish in any way, a single line distorting, so far as he can see, the truth.”3
Creationists have historically demonstrated the courage to resist institutional lying. Maybe that’s why the world uses the name “creationist” as a title of derision. Nevertheless, we must remember “let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). If we don’t want to unknowingly advance any of the world’s lies, shouldn’t we examine ourselves to see whether our own minds have been “evolutionized” to some degree?
Recognizing How Lies Are Built into Terminology
Evolutionists invent terms all the time that simultaneously express evolutionary concepts and are used as more evidence for evolution. For instance, the literature is full of terms like convergent evolution, vestigial organs, pseudogenes, and highly conserved sequences. These terms have a built-in presupposition of evolution that makes them inherently misleading. Thus, just by speaking the jargon, a person is assisting the deceitful evolutionary indoctrination of society. The same type of built-in lying occurs when we talk about people as being transgender—as if that’s a real state of being—just because the world imagines more than two human sexes.
Evolutionary theory is full of imaginary, misleading scenarios. The most egregious is when nature is personified, presented as exercising agency, and then invoked as a substitute god to explain the origin and diversity of life. Selectionists project onto the environment abilities to “select,” “favor,” “act,” “send information,” and similar verbs indicating the work of an intelligent agent. The terminology they use therefore embeds a potent lie—that nature has some type of innate volition. The constant personification of nature as exercising creative agency transfers credit from the Lord Jesus as Creator to the creation itself…the principal lie described in Romans 1:25.
The denial of two biological sexes as illustrated by the Kenny Jones nonsense shows how serious the scope of these institutional lies and the coercion to conform is. The challenge facing Christians is whether we will cast aside clear biblical teaching and embrace the world’s so-called science. We belong to the Lord Jesus, who promised, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). Christians need to be a sanctuary of truth; we must refuse to live by the world’s lies.
Solzhenitsyn, A. Live Not by Lies, February 12, 1974. Posted on solzhenitsyncenter.org.
* Dr. Guliuzza is President of the Institute for Creation Research. He earned his M.D. from the University of Minnesota, his Master of Public Health from Harvard University, and served in the U.S. Air Force as 28th Bomb Wing Flight Surgeon and Chief of Aerospace Medicine. Dr. Guliuzza is also a registered Professional Engineer and holds a B.A. in theology from Moody Bible Institute.
Cite this article: Randy J. Guliuzza, P.E., M.D. 2021. Refusing to Live by Lies. Acts & Facts. 50 (5).
Every year, warnings from elected officials and corporate leaders about weaponized disinformation grow louder. The discovery that Russian operatives spent $160,000 on social media ads to influence the 2016 presidential election began a national conversation about disinformation, misinformation, and foreign propaganda. The heads of Facebook, Twitter, and Google have appeared in congressional hearings on the subject, most recently on March 25.
To the average 21st-century media consumer, these warnings of disinformation likely seem strange. If information is just facts, combatting disinformation should be as simple as identifying and ignoring falsehoods. “The truth will set you free,” right? Human rationality is supposed to be our foremost weapon against disinformation. This is the basis of democracy and every citizen’s right to vote.
But based on their reaction to disinformation, world leaders evidently find this view naïve—and a “disinformation industrial complex” has arisen to arm governments for the narrative war. It consists of new government offices like the U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Center, initiatives and task forces controlled by intelligence services, and special media projects undertaken by NGOs. These entities spend billions of private and public dollars on disinformation defense, sometimes against state actors, but often asymmetrically against ragtag groups of conspiracy theorists or pranksters.
National elections are the most common battlegrounds in these fights over facts, and even straightforward data and documents can be labeled disinformation when carrying electoral import.
For example, the 2017 email leaks that claimed to expose criminal activity by Emmanuel Macron were designated a disinformation attack because they were “taken out of context.” And most media outlets and social media platforms brazenly suppressed the leaked contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop ahead of the November 2020 presidential election.
Although legacy media outlets and tech giants have largely privatized the disinformation defense industry, many elected officials have proposed limits on digital speech and prosecuting disinformation peddlers. In the United States, the First Amendment prevents speech bans like those in Europe, where a French presidential candidate can be convicted for tweeting about Islamic State terrorism. But governments need not resort to outright censorship: they already have many ways of silencing or deplatforming dissent.
Cases like that of Douglass Mackey illustrate how many tools governments have in the war on disinformation—and how quickly these tools can become weapons of political power. Mackey posted pro-Trump jokes and memes on Twitter before the 2016 election, but—despite his anonymous identity being “doxxed”—his activity was never deemed criminal until four years later, when the Justice Department charged him with election interference just seven days into Biden’s administration. Jail time for Americans with the wrong political opinions has now become an official means of “fortifying” elections against disinformation.
Predicaments like those facing Mackey or Marine Le Pen’s supporters in the French election might intimidate would-be hooligans from creating anonymous Twitter accounts, and they certainly have a chilling effect on politicians’ speech. They also severely undermine the credibility of intelligence services, mainstream news and social media, and others with a responsibility to facts. The CIA’s home page proudly announces, “We are the nation’s first line of defense.” But Americans don’t feel defended by censorship or counterpropaganda. In an age when the average internet user can find alternative viewpoints online with little effort, the war on disinformation has only heightened suspicions.
That’s one reason the public has become more cynical and divided than ever—the vast majority of disinformation accusations are transparently manipulative and self-serving. Meanwhile, proven disinformation that serves establishment narratives—like the infamous Steele dossier—is given a free pass and amplified by corporate media.
Neither individual nations nor international stability can survive if competing interests handle differing viewpoints as “information wars.” Conversations are not armed conflicts, and treating them as such will ensure a self-fulfilling prophecy of violence. Unfortunately, the disinformation-industrial complex seems not to care if narratives labeled “disinformation” are true, false, or somewhere in between. It only matters whose narrative—whose power—it defies.
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