Saturday, May 31, 2025
Interview with a Christian Nationalist: Sunday Laws, Church & State, and...
Interview with a Christian Nationalist: Sunday Laws, Church & State, and the End Times
Heritage & Hope Ministries
✝️ Subscribe for more Bible prophecy, Christian history, and end-time analysis. @heritageandhope
We’re diving into one of the most controversial and urgent topics facing the Christian world today: Should governments enforce Christian morality? Is Sunday sacred by divine law? And is Christ’s kingdom now—or yet to come?
In this uncut 2+hour discussion, we sit down with Lennox Kalifungwa, podcast host and associate at New Saint Andrews College, to confront the growing movement of Christian Nationalism and its call for the legislation of Christian values. Does their world view encroach on separation of church and state?
This conversation explores:
- 🔹 The role of church and state in Bible prophecy
- 🔹 The truth behind Sunday laws and the seventh-day Sabbath
- 🔹 What the Bible says about the Kingdom of God—is it spiritual or political?
- 🔹 Is legislating morality Biblical—or dangerous?
If you’ve been watching the rise of religious legislation in America… if you care about religious liberty, biblical prophecy, and the future of faith in politics—you need to see this.
- 📚 Related Videos
- ▶️ Our reaction to Jared Longshore:
• Church Rules State? Legislate Morality? | ... ▶️ Of Flames and Crowns on Legislating Christian Morality:
• Imposing and Legislating Christian Moralit... ▶️ The Truth About the Mark of the Beast:
• The MARK of the BEAST [Bible Prophecy Movie] ▶️ The Sabbath vs. Sunday Debate:
• The Biblical Case for the Seventh-Day Sabb... - ✔️James's YouTube Channel: @Biblicalhope
- ✔️Christopher's YouTube Channel: @Network7mediacenter
- ✔️Network 7's website: https://n7mc.org/
- ✔️Of Flames and Crowns:
• Of Flames and Crowns - 🌐Find us online:
- Website: https://www.heritageandhope.org
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/ heritageandhopeministriesFriday, May 30, 2025
Thursday, May 29, 2025
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
13th International Meeting of High Representatives for security i...
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Delegations from 105 countries, including members of BRICS, SCO, ASEAN, CIS, the League of Arab States, the African Union, CSTO, and other international organisations, are participating in the event. The agenda includes issues of international cooperation in the field of security. Among the main topics of the meeting will be countering internet fraud and ensuring the protection of critical information infrastructure from terrorist attacks and technological sabotage.
With the penny going away, what should you do with the ones in your coin jar?
Mike Snider
Daniel de Visé
USA
Americans are holding an estimated $60-$90 in coins per household.
While some rare pennies are valuable, most are worth only a few cents.
Consumers can exchange coins for cash at banks, credit unions, or Coinstar kiosks.
Learn to love your coins.
That’s the message from Kevin McColly, CEO of Coinstar, the company behind those coin-cashing machines you see in supermarkets.
American consumers made only 16% of their payments in cash in 2023, according to the Federal Reserve. A 2022 Pew survey found that two-fifths of consumers never use cash at all.
President Donald Trump has ordered the Treasury to stop minting pennies because their production cost exceeds their value. (Intriguingly, the same is true of nickels.)
Many Americans regard both nickels and pennies as more nuisance than currency. The typical household is sitting on $60 to $90 in neglected coins, enough to fill one or two pint-size beer mugs, according to the Federal Reserve. Americans throw away millions of dollars in coins every year, literally treating them like trash.
Why do we treat coins like trash? McColly thinks we should change the way we think about coins.
To state the obvious, coins are worth money. Coinstar converts $3 billion in coins into spendable cash every year, one coin jar at a time. The average jar yields $58 in buying power.
Most of us don’t realize how much our coins are worth. Thus, a trip to a coin-exchange kiosk (or a bank, or credit union) can yield a pleasant surprise.
“People underestimate the value of their jar by about half,” McColly said. “It’s a wonderfully pleasurable experience. People have this sensation of found money.”
USA
Americans are holding an estimated $60-$90 in coins per household.
While some rare pennies are valuable, most are worth only a few cents.
Consumers can exchange coins for cash at banks, credit unions, or Coinstar kiosks.
Learn to love your coins.
That’s the message from Kevin McColly, CEO of Coinstar, the company behind those coin-cashing machines you see in supermarkets.
American consumers made only 16% of their payments in cash in 2023, according to the Federal Reserve. A 2022 Pew survey found that two-fifths of consumers never use cash at all.
President Donald Trump has ordered the Treasury to stop minting pennies because their production cost exceeds their value. (Intriguingly, the same is true of nickels.)
Many Americans regard both nickels and pennies as more nuisance than currency. The typical household is sitting on $60 to $90 in neglected coins, enough to fill one or two pint-size beer mugs, according to the Federal Reserve. Americans throw away millions of dollars in coins every year, literally treating them like trash.
Why do we treat coins like trash? McColly thinks we should change the way we think about coins.
To state the obvious, coins are worth money. Coinstar converts $3 billion in coins into spendable cash every year, one coin jar at a time. The average jar yields $58 in buying power.
Most of us don’t realize how much our coins are worth. Thus, a trip to a coin-exchange kiosk (or a bank, or credit union) can yield a pleasant surprise.
“People underestimate the value of their jar by about half,” McColly said. “It’s a wonderfully pleasurable experience. People have this sensation of found money.”
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Texas will require public school classrooms to display Ten Commandments under bill nearing passage
The House has approved Senate Bill 10 even though a similar Louisiana law was deemed unconstitutional. Supporters say Christianity is core to U.S. history.
UPDATED: MAY 25, 2025
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b266feda0c24d7dde81adf4980301367/0317%20Religion%20Capital%20LW%2018.jpg)
The Ten Commandments, written out on a monument, sit outside the Texas Capitol on March 17, 2025. Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune
Come September, every public school classroom in Texas could be required to display the Ten Commandments under a requirement that passed a key vote in the Texas legislature Sunday — part of a larger push in Texas and beyond to increase the role of religion in schools.
Senate Bill 10 moved forward despite a federal court ruling that a similar Louisiana law violated a constitutionally required separation of church and state.
The bill preliminarily passed the House 88-49 on Saturday — the Jewish Sabbath day, which the Ten Commandments forbids, as Rep. James Talarico said in an effort to highlight legislative hypocrisy. The lower chamber’s initial approval came after more than two hours of debate and despite last-ditch Democratic efforts to water down the law, including giving school districts the opportunity to vote on the policy, and adding codes of ethics from different faiths into the bill.
Monday, May 26, 2025
Sunday, May 25, 2025
TRUMP, SOUTH AFRICAN FARMERS & RHODESIA_05.22.2025 Chris Pinto
Today's Show: TRUMP, SOUTH AFRICAN FARMERS & RHODESIA
Chris discusses the recent controversy over President Trump extending refugee status and citizenship to the white South African farmers who have been persecuted through incessant farm attacks and murders along with land confiscation under the ANC government. We hear the notorious "Kill the Boer" song from the political leader, Julius Malema who has openly called for the killing of whites. Now the SA government has developed a new law which allows them to confiscate land from the white farmers without any financial compensation whatsoever. We also review the history of what happened leading to the fall of Rhodesia, which was given over to the Jesuit trained Robert Mugabe. Many researchers believe the same playbook used in Rhodesia and South Africa is what the global elites are also planning for America.
Image Credit: By Johnnyhurst - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33357596
Islamophobia training cancelled over teachers’ ‘anti-Semitic’ posts
Academic speakers at event for psychotherapists compared Zionists to fascists and accused Israel of ‘genocide’ on social media
A training session for psychotherapists on tackling Islamophobia was cancelled after three academics leading the event were accused of posting anti-Semitic material on social media.
Messages posted or shared by the trainers on X described Israel as a Nazi state and referred to “a Zionism problem” in healthcare institutions.
The event, organised by the professional body for psychotherapists, had been intended to help therapists and wellbeing practitioners become aware of the impact of Islamophobia on mental health.
But the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) cancelled the session after complaints about the three trainers prompted an internal investigation into their social media activities.
The speakers at the May 15 event were to have been Ghazala Mir, a professor of health equity and inclusion at the University of Leeds; Dr Tarek Younis, senior lecturer in psychology at Middlesex University, and Prof Ahmed Hankir, a consultant psychiatrist and visiting professor at the University of Cardiff.
Posts allegedly shared by Prof Ghazala Mir, of Leeds University, made references to ‘Zionist paymasters’ Credit: Connor Bainbridge
Senior News Reporter
24 May 2025 5:30pm BST
24 May 2025 5:30pm BST
A training session for psychotherapists on tackling Islamophobia was cancelled after three academics leading the event were accused of posting anti-Semitic material on social media.
Messages posted or shared by the trainers on X described Israel as a Nazi state and referred to “a Zionism problem” in healthcare institutions.
The event, organised by the professional body for psychotherapists, had been intended to help therapists and wellbeing practitioners become aware of the impact of Islamophobia on mental health.
But the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) cancelled the session after complaints about the three trainers prompted an internal investigation into their social media activities.
The speakers at the May 15 event were to have been Ghazala Mir, a professor of health equity and inclusion at the University of Leeds; Dr Tarek Younis, senior lecturer in psychology at Middlesex University, and Prof Ahmed Hankir, a consultant psychiatrist and visiting professor at the University of Cardiff.
A post on X by Prof Mir suggests Israel is responsible for ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ Credit: x.com/ghazala_mir
Saturday, May 24, 2025
Georgetown scholar recalls terror and ‘mockery of due process’ in immigration jail
A Georgetown University scholar who was targeted for deportation by the Trump administration said he was terrified during his time in immigration jail. Badar Khan Suri was released on bond last week as his lawsuit against the U.S. government’s deportation case continues.
BY OLIVIA DIAZ AND BEN FINLEY
Updated 6:34 PM EDT, May 23, 2025Share
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — One of the lowest moments of Badar Khan Suri’s two months in federal custody was being crammed onto an airplane with hundreds of other shackled prisoners.
The Trump administration was trying to deport the Georgetown University scholar over statements he made against Israel’s war in Gaza. The guards wouldn’t say where they were headed, but the Indian national was convinced it was out of the United States.
Then Khan Suri had to use the plane’s bathroom. He said the guards refused to unshackle his wrists.
“They said, ‘No, you have to use it like this or do it in your trousers,’” Khan Suri recalled of the trip, taking him to a Louisiana detention center. “They were behaving as if we were animals.”
Khan Suri, 41, was released on bond last week as his lawsuit against the U.S.'s deportation case continues. In an interview with The Associated Press, he spoke Thursday of a cramped cell, crowded with other detainees, where he waited anxiously, fearful about what would happen next.
He also addressed the Trump administration’s accusations that he spread “Hamas propaganda.” Khan Suri said he only spoke in support of Palestinians, who are going through an “unprecedented, livestreamed genocide.”
“I don’t support Hamas,” he said. “I support Palestine. I support Palestinians. And it is so deceiving for some people who just publish canards ... They will just replace Palestine with Hamas.”
Yet, because of his comments, he said U.S. authorities treated him as if he had committed a high-level crime. Fellow inmates said his red uniform was reserved for the most dangerous offenders.
“I said, ’No, I’m just a university teacher. I did nothing,” Khan Suri recalled.
Still, there were rays of hope. He said more than a hundred people from the Georgetown community wrote letters on his behalf to the federal judge overseeing his case, including some who are Jewish.
A crowd also greeted him when he arrived back in the Washington, D.C., area.
“Hindus, Jews, Christians, Muslims — everyone together,” said Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow who studies religion, peace and violence. “That is the reality I want to live with. That’s the reality I want to die for. Those people together.”
In a statement to the AP on Friday afternoon, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin refuted Khan Suri’s allegations of lack of due process and inhumane treatment.
McLaughlin said Khan Suri was in communication with attorneys “within hours of his arrival at the facility” and did not have to sleep on the floor. She said Immigration and Customs Enforcement “takes its commitment to promoting safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody very seriously.”
Can You Hear God Now?
Can You Hear God Now?
Written by R. Herbert
God
May 1, 2024
In the iconic Verizon TV Commercial that aired in the US for nine years between 2002–2011, the actor playing the Verizon cellular phone service technician repeatedly asks “Can you hear me now?” It was an effective commercial that made its point through the continued repetition of its tagline.
The repetition of “Can you hear me now?” in this commercial always reminded me of Psalm 136 – a unique psalm of twenty-six verses, each of which ends with the same statement: “His love endures forever!” That’s a lot of repetition. The only other psalm that comes close to it is Psalm 118 which repeats the same expression four times; but with twenty-six repetitions, Psalm 136 is truly the “Can you hear God now?” psalm!
But psalm 136 is more than just the simple repetition of a phrase. Its repeated “tagline” ties into an important lesson that the psalm teaches. The psalm carefully catalogs the many different areas in which God’s love may be seen – some of which we may not often think about. The composition begins with a statement about God’s goodness (vs. 1) and continues through its first section with expressions of God’s powerful nature and creative deeds (vss. 2–9). These are things we may usually think of as being the reason for praise, but not aspects of God’s love. The Psalmist clearly saw the connections, however, and we can also if we think about them. For example, can we see that God’s refusal to misuse his great power is based entirely on his love? That is only a single instance of how God’s love continually determines every other aspect of his nature.
Written by R. Herbert
God
May 1, 2024
In the iconic Verizon TV Commercial that aired in the US for nine years between 2002–2011, the actor playing the Verizon cellular phone service technician repeatedly asks “Can you hear me now?” It was an effective commercial that made its point through the continued repetition of its tagline.
The repetition of “Can you hear me now?” in this commercial always reminded me of Psalm 136 – a unique psalm of twenty-six verses, each of which ends with the same statement: “His love endures forever!” That’s a lot of repetition. The only other psalm that comes close to it is Psalm 118 which repeats the same expression four times; but with twenty-six repetitions, Psalm 136 is truly the “Can you hear God now?” psalm!
But psalm 136 is more than just the simple repetition of a phrase. Its repeated “tagline” ties into an important lesson that the psalm teaches. The psalm carefully catalogs the many different areas in which God’s love may be seen – some of which we may not often think about. The composition begins with a statement about God’s goodness (vs. 1) and continues through its first section with expressions of God’s powerful nature and creative deeds (vss. 2–9). These are things we may usually think of as being the reason for praise, but not aspects of God’s love. The Psalmist clearly saw the connections, however, and we can also if we think about them. For example, can we see that God’s refusal to misuse his great power is based entirely on his love? That is only a single instance of how God’s love continually determines every other aspect of his nature.
President Trump's Religious Liberty Commission established on May 1, 2025
Presidential Actions
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY COMMISSION
Executive Orders
May 1, 2025
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose and Policy. It shall be the policy of the executive branch to vigorously enforce the historic and robust protections for religious liberty enshrined in Federal law. The Founders envisioned a Nation in which religious voices and views are integral to a vibrant public square and human flourishing and in which religious people and institutions are free to practice their faith without fear of discrimination or hostility from the Government. Indeed, the roots of religious liberty stretch back to the early settlers who fled religious persecution in Europe, seeking a new world where they could choose, follow, and practice their faith without interference from the Government. The principle of religious liberty was enshrined in American law with the First Amendment to the Constitution in 1791. Since that time, the Constitution has protected the fundamental right to religious liberty as Americans’ first freedom.
During my first term, I issued Executive Order 13798 of May 4, 2017 (Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty). Pursuant to that order, the Attorney General issued a memorandum for all executive departments and agencies (agencies) titled “Federal Law Protections for Religious Liberty” on October 6, 2017. The Supreme Court has also continued to vindicate the Founders’ commitment to religious liberty, including by giving effect to the principle that religious voices should be welcomed on an equal basis in the public square.
In recent years, some Federal, State, and local policies have threatened America’s unique and beautiful tradition of religious liberty. These policies attempt to infringe upon longstanding conscience protections, prevent parents from sending their children to religious schools, threaten loss of funding or denial of non-profit tax status for faith-based entities, and single out religious groups and institutions for exclusion from governmental programs. Some opponents of religious liberty would remove religion entirely from public life. Others characterize religious liberty as inconsistent with civil rights, despite religions’ vital roles in the abolition of slavery; the passage of Federal civil rights laws; and the provision of indispensable social, educational, and health services.
President Ronald Reagan reminded us that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” Americans need to be reacquainted with our Nation’s superb experiment in religious freedom in order to preserve it against emerging threats. Therefore, the Federal Government will promote citizens’ pride in our foundational history, identify emerging threats to religious liberty, uphold Federal laws that protect all citizens’ full participation in a pluralistic democracy, and protect the free exercise of religion.
Vermont’s Governor Delays Electric Car Mandates, Part of State’s Climate Plan
In an executive order, Gov. Phil Scott paused enforcement of EV supply mandates. The stated reasons defy the administration’s prior messaging about zero-emission vehicle goals.
By Nathaniel Eisen
May 23, 2
May 23, 2
Gov. Phil Scott cited a lack of charging stations and a freeze of millions of dollars in federal funding for chargers in Vermont as part of the reason for the order. Credit: Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Vermont, in a surprising shift, will not enforce electric car and truck supply mandates through the end of calendar year 2026.
Gov. Phil Scott signed an executive order on May 13 to allow a 19-month delay in part because of pressure from vehicle manufacturers as well as uncertainties stemming from the Trump administration’s tariffs and broad federal budget freezes and cuts. Lawmakers in Washington this week pursued a more radical course: the U.S. Senate voted to block the California plan for EVs that Vermont and other states have followed.
The Scott administration has previously touted its regulations-–patterned after California’s zero-emission vehicle rule that aims to end gasoline-powered car and light truck sales by 2035–as an effective climate strategy that required manufacturers to increase the percentage of EVs offered for sale in the state. State agencies had linked the strategy to a rapid uptick in EV ownership.
Scott’s executive order, signed May 13, will affect two model years and was cast as a temporary response by administration officials who faced some tough questioning during a hastily called Senate hearing to review the order.
“This is a modest step to create a little bit of space while some of the dust settles at the federal level in particular, while maintaining our commitment to an overall transition to electric vehicles,” Julie Moore, the state’s natural resources secretary, said during a contentious joint hearing of two Senate committees.
Democrats and climate advocates cried foul and demanded, as federal environmental safeguards fall, that Vermont “hold the line” against industry demands. Scott also cited a lack of charging stations and a freeze of millions of dollars in federal funding for chargers in Vermont as part of his rationale. Critics disputed that Vermont lacked a robust charging network.
Vermont, in a surprising shift, will not enforce electric car and truck supply mandates through the end of calendar year 2026.
Gov. Phil Scott signed an executive order on May 13 to allow a 19-month delay in part because of pressure from vehicle manufacturers as well as uncertainties stemming from the Trump administration’s tariffs and broad federal budget freezes and cuts. Lawmakers in Washington this week pursued a more radical course: the U.S. Senate voted to block the California plan for EVs that Vermont and other states have followed.
The Scott administration has previously touted its regulations-–patterned after California’s zero-emission vehicle rule that aims to end gasoline-powered car and light truck sales by 2035–as an effective climate strategy that required manufacturers to increase the percentage of EVs offered for sale in the state. State agencies had linked the strategy to a rapid uptick in EV ownership.
Scott’s executive order, signed May 13, will affect two model years and was cast as a temporary response by administration officials who faced some tough questioning during a hastily called Senate hearing to review the order.
“This is a modest step to create a little bit of space while some of the dust settles at the federal level in particular, while maintaining our commitment to an overall transition to electric vehicles,” Julie Moore, the state’s natural resources secretary, said during a contentious joint hearing of two Senate committees.
Democrats and climate advocates cried foul and demanded, as federal environmental safeguards fall, that Vermont “hold the line” against industry demands. Scott also cited a lack of charging stations and a freeze of millions of dollars in federal funding for chargers in Vermont as part of his rationale. Critics disputed that Vermont lacked a robust charging network.
Friday, May 23, 2025
SCOTUS silently preserves church-state boundary in Catholic charter school case, but won’t say how justices voted
Elura Nanos May 22nd, 2025, 12:34 pm
Members of the Supreme Court sit for a new group portrait following the addition of Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Bottom row, from left, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Top row, from left, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
As some court watchers predicted, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 4-4 ruling Thursday that preserves the distinction between church and state — for the time being. Despite the eight participating justices having been vocal during oral arguments just three weeks ago, however, the Court issued its ruling without a single word of opinion, guidance, or information as to the lineup of votes.
“A robust Catholic education”
The case, stylized as Oklahoma Charter School Board v. Drummond, was a contentious one in which the justices heard several hours of exhaustive oral arguments over whether a virtual Catholic charter school has a right to operate despite Oklahoma’s requirement that its charter schools be nonreligious. The St. Isidore of Seville school — named for an unofficial patron saint of the internet — aims to provide a “robust Catholic education,” and is open to both Catholic and non-Catholic students. The school, which would operate entirely online, projected an initial enrollment of 500 students with the expectation of reaching 1,500 students by 2028, half from lower-income families.
Although Oklahoma’s charter school board initially approved St. Isidore’s application for the 2024-25 school year, Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general and current gubernatorial candidate, Gentner Drummond, opposed the school’s participation in the charter program on the grounds that under both Oklahoma law and the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution, all public schools in the state are required to be nonsectarian.
Trump appoints archbishop who banned Nancy Pelosi from communion to advisory board
By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Salvatore J. Cordileone, archbishop of San Francisco, delivers a homily at the 2016 Steubenville Conference. | Wikimedia Commons/Steubenville Conferences https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salvatore_J._Cordileone.png
A prominent leader in the American Catholic Church known for feuding with one of the most powerful political figures in the United States has been appointed to the advisory board of President Donald Trump's newly formed Religious Liberty Commission.
In a statement published Thursday, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco announced that Trump had appointed Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone to serve on the advisory board of his new Religious Liberty Commission.
Trump announced the formation of the commission at the White House earlier this month on the National Day of Prayer, noting that it would include 14 members and an advisory board consisting of no more than 15 religious leaders.
"Religious liberty is a critical issue in our time that needs to be defended and addressed," Cordileone said in reaction to his appointment. "I am happy to join my brother bishops in providing a Catholic voice on this important topic at a national level."
Two other Catholic bishops were appointed to the Religious Liberty Commission — Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York. Two additional Catholic bishops were appointed to the advisory board — Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois and Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend in Indiana.
Other appointees to the advisory board, as outlined in a statement published by The White House Friday, include Pastor Jentezen Franklin of Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia, Archbishop Elpidophros of the Greek Orthodox Church's Archdiocese of America, Father Thomas Ferguson of Good Shepherd Parish in Alexandria, Virginia, Pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, and four rabbis.
A prominent leader in the American Catholic Church known for feuding with one of the most powerful political figures in the United States has been appointed to the advisory board of President Donald Trump's newly formed Religious Liberty Commission.
In a statement published Thursday, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco announced that Trump had appointed Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone to serve on the advisory board of his new Religious Liberty Commission.
Trump announced the formation of the commission at the White House earlier this month on the National Day of Prayer, noting that it would include 14 members and an advisory board consisting of no more than 15 religious leaders.
"Religious liberty is a critical issue in our time that needs to be defended and addressed," Cordileone said in reaction to his appointment. "I am happy to join my brother bishops in providing a Catholic voice on this important topic at a national level."
Two other Catholic bishops were appointed to the Religious Liberty Commission — Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York. Two additional Catholic bishops were appointed to the advisory board — Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois and Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend in Indiana.
Other appointees to the advisory board, as outlined in a statement published by The White House Friday, include Pastor Jentezen Franklin of Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia, Archbishop Elpidophros of the Greek Orthodox Church's Archdiocese of America, Father Thomas Ferguson of Good Shepherd Parish in Alexandria, Virginia, Pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, and four rabbis.
Thursday, May 22, 2025
We’ve All Just Made Fools of Ourselves — Again
Opinion
We’ve All Just Made Fools of Ourselves — Again
The awful corruption of scandal politics.
March 25, 2019
Representative Adam Schiff speaking in 2017 about the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into possible ties between the Trump administration and Russia.Credit...Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times
By David Brooks
Opinion Columnist
“You have a president who, in my opinion, beyond a shadow of a doubt, sought to, however ham-handedly, collude with the Russian government, a foreign power, to undermine and influence our elections.” — Beto O’Rourke, presidential candidate
“I think there’s plenty of evidence of collusion and conspiracy in plain sight.” — Adam Schiff, chairman of House Intelligence Committee
“I called [Trump’s] behavior treasonous, which is to betray one’s trust and aid and abet the enemy, and I stand very much by that claim.” — John Brennan, former C.I.A. director
“The biggest scandal in U.S. history is coming into focus. On Friday Rachel Maddow made it clear. Donald Trump conspired with the enemy.” — Rob Reiner, film director
Maybe it’s time to declare a national sabbath. Maybe it’s time to step back from the scandalmongering and assess who we are right now.
Democrats might approach this moment with an attitude of humility and honest self-examination. It’s clear that many Democrats made grievous accusations against the president that are not supported by the evidence. It’s clear that people like Beto O’Rourke and John Brennan owe Donald Trump a public apology. If you call someone a traitor and it turns out you lacked the evidence for that charge, then the only decent thing to do is apologize.
Republicans and the Sean Hannity-style Trumpians might also approach this moment with an attitude of humility and honest self-examination. For two years they’ve been calling the Mueller investigation a witch hunt. For two years they’ve been spreading the libel that there are no honest brokers in Washington. It’s all a deep-state conspiracy, a swamp. They should apologize for peddling the sort of deep cynicism that undermines our country’s institutions.
And what about the rest of us? What about all the hours we spent speculating about the Mueller report, fantasizing about the Trump ruin or watching and reading speculation about these things? What about the superstructure of scandal politics we have built and live in today?
The sad fact is that Watergate introduced a poison into the American body politic. Richard Nixon’s downfall was just and important, but it opened up the mouthwatering possibility that you don’t need to do the hard work of persuading people to join your side. Instead, you can destroy your foes all at once through scandal.
Politics since Watergate has been defined by a long string of scandals and pseudo-scandals — Iran-contra, Whitewater, Valerie Plame, Benghazi, Solyndra, swift-boating. Politico last year compiled a list of 46 scandals that were at one time or another deemed “worse than Watergate.”
The nation’s underlying divides are still ideological, but we rarely fight them honestly as philosophical differences. We just accuse the other side of corruption. Politics is no longer a debate; it’s an attempt to destroy lives through accusation.
The political media, especially on TV, now has a template it can apply whenever a scandal looms into view, to hook viewers into the speculative story line. According to the Tyndall Report, the three main broadcast networks made the Russia collusion investigation the second-most-covered news event of 2018, trailing only the Kavanaugh hearings, another scandal.
All the players slip into their assigned roles. Straight reporters are doing good, hard work. But the flow of information is not fast enough to keep up with 24/7 programming, so you get this toxic deluge of raw speculation.
The accused’s political opponents assume maximum guilt. Imaginative pundits take a few dots of information and connect them to vast if speculative constellations of guilt. “I hear the indictments are coming down next week,” they whisper to one another.
Members of the accused’s party attack the investigators themselves. They get to enjoy their own sense of spiritual superiority when it turns out the scandal is much smaller than it appeared, which is almost always the case.
It’s all a wonderful game. You don’t have to know anything about a boring policy subject like economics, poverty or foreign affairs. You can have a long career in politics and media by simply treating public life as an arena of life-or-death gossip.
Since Watergate launched this Age of Investigation, government has become much more transparent. As a result, public trust in institutions has plummeted. The scandal culture hasn’t ultimately helped one party over the other. It’s just spread a corrosive cynicism that has disabled government altogether.
The ray of hope is that out on the campaign trail voters rarely ask about the scandals du jour, which obsess the cognoscenti. Most of the Democratic presidential candidates spent the last few months trying not to talk about Russian collusion. They have found a vein of voters who would rather focus on the substance of our historical moment: What motivated so many Americans to vote for a presidential candidate they knew was untrustworthy? How do you provide affordable health security? Is China a mortal foe?
The Democrats won the 2018 midterms by focusing on the issues, not collusion. For most voters, politics is about their lives, not a self-righteous TV show.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.
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David Brooks has been a columnist with The Times since 2003. He is the author of “The Road to Character” and the forthcoming book, “The Second Mountain.” @nytdavidbrooks
By David Brooks
Opinion Columnist
“You have a president who, in my opinion, beyond a shadow of a doubt, sought to, however ham-handedly, collude with the Russian government, a foreign power, to undermine and influence our elections.” — Beto O’Rourke, presidential candidate
“I think there’s plenty of evidence of collusion and conspiracy in plain sight.” — Adam Schiff, chairman of House Intelligence Committee
“I called [Trump’s] behavior treasonous, which is to betray one’s trust and aid and abet the enemy, and I stand very much by that claim.” — John Brennan, former C.I.A. director
“The biggest scandal in U.S. history is coming into focus. On Friday Rachel Maddow made it clear. Donald Trump conspired with the enemy.” — Rob Reiner, film director
Maybe it’s time to declare a national sabbath. Maybe it’s time to step back from the scandalmongering and assess who we are right now.
Democrats might approach this moment with an attitude of humility and honest self-examination. It’s clear that many Democrats made grievous accusations against the president that are not supported by the evidence. It’s clear that people like Beto O’Rourke and John Brennan owe Donald Trump a public apology. If you call someone a traitor and it turns out you lacked the evidence for that charge, then the only decent thing to do is apologize.
Republicans and the Sean Hannity-style Trumpians might also approach this moment with an attitude of humility and honest self-examination. For two years they’ve been calling the Mueller investigation a witch hunt. For two years they’ve been spreading the libel that there are no honest brokers in Washington. It’s all a deep-state conspiracy, a swamp. They should apologize for peddling the sort of deep cynicism that undermines our country’s institutions.
And what about the rest of us? What about all the hours we spent speculating about the Mueller report, fantasizing about the Trump ruin or watching and reading speculation about these things? What about the superstructure of scandal politics we have built and live in today?
The sad fact is that Watergate introduced a poison into the American body politic. Richard Nixon’s downfall was just and important, but it opened up the mouthwatering possibility that you don’t need to do the hard work of persuading people to join your side. Instead, you can destroy your foes all at once through scandal.
Politics since Watergate has been defined by a long string of scandals and pseudo-scandals — Iran-contra, Whitewater, Valerie Plame, Benghazi, Solyndra, swift-boating. Politico last year compiled a list of 46 scandals that were at one time or another deemed “worse than Watergate.”
The nation’s underlying divides are still ideological, but we rarely fight them honestly as philosophical differences. We just accuse the other side of corruption. Politics is no longer a debate; it’s an attempt to destroy lives through accusation.
The political media, especially on TV, now has a template it can apply whenever a scandal looms into view, to hook viewers into the speculative story line. According to the Tyndall Report, the three main broadcast networks made the Russia collusion investigation the second-most-covered news event of 2018, trailing only the Kavanaugh hearings, another scandal.
All the players slip into their assigned roles. Straight reporters are doing good, hard work. But the flow of information is not fast enough to keep up with 24/7 programming, so you get this toxic deluge of raw speculation.
The accused’s political opponents assume maximum guilt. Imaginative pundits take a few dots of information and connect them to vast if speculative constellations of guilt. “I hear the indictments are coming down next week,” they whisper to one another.
Members of the accused’s party attack the investigators themselves. They get to enjoy their own sense of spiritual superiority when it turns out the scandal is much smaller than it appeared, which is almost always the case.
It’s all a wonderful game. You don’t have to know anything about a boring policy subject like economics, poverty or foreign affairs. You can have a long career in politics and media by simply treating public life as an arena of life-or-death gossip.
Since Watergate launched this Age of Investigation, government has become much more transparent. As a result, public trust in institutions has plummeted. The scandal culture hasn’t ultimately helped one party over the other. It’s just spread a corrosive cynicism that has disabled government altogether.
The ray of hope is that out on the campaign trail voters rarely ask about the scandals du jour, which obsess the cognoscenti. Most of the Democratic presidential candidates spent the last few months trying not to talk about Russian collusion. They have found a vein of voters who would rather focus on the substance of our historical moment: What motivated so many Americans to vote for a presidential candidate they knew was untrustworthy? How do you provide affordable health security? Is China a mortal foe?
The Democrats won the 2018 midterms by focusing on the issues, not collusion. For most voters, politics is about their lives, not a self-righteous TV show.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
David Brooks has been a columnist with The Times since 2003. He is the author of “The Road to Character” and the forthcoming book, “The Second Mountain.” @nytdavidbrooks
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Women’s college gives transgender Biden official a degree
by Elizabeth Russell
Post Date:
May 19, 2025
Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health, Admiral Rachel Levine speaks, Sept. 8, 2023, in Washington.Associated Press / Photo by Mark Schiefelbein
Smith College, a historically all-female institution, on Sunday gave an honorary degree to a man who identifies as a woman. The college presented Rachel Levine, a man originally named Richard, with the degree during its 147th commencement ceremony. Levine also spoke to the school’s graduating class. He was the assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Biden administration. Smith College said it was honoring him for his work in public health and advancing LGBTQ advocacy.
Representatives of Women’s Declaration International, a feminist organization that advocates for sex-based protections for women, protested outside the school the day before the ceremony.
Who else was honored at the ceremony? The school also gave honorary degrees and speech slots to three women for their work in political theory, music performance, and mental health. Smith College began admitting male students who identify as women in 2015, according to Inside Higher Ed.
What is Levine known for? His 2021 appointment as assistant health secretary made him the highest-ranking openly transgender U.S. official. He also was celebrated as the first female four-star admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, according to the National Women’s History Museum. Levine notably pushed to remove age limits for genital surgery from guidelines published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
Elizabeth Russell
Elizabeth is a staff writer at WORLD. She is a graduate of World Journalism Institute and Patrick Henry College.
Smith College, a historically all-female institution, on Sunday gave an honorary degree to a man who identifies as a woman. The college presented Rachel Levine, a man originally named Richard, with the degree during its 147th commencement ceremony. Levine also spoke to the school’s graduating class. He was the assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Biden administration. Smith College said it was honoring him for his work in public health and advancing LGBTQ advocacy.
Representatives of Women’s Declaration International, a feminist organization that advocates for sex-based protections for women, protested outside the school the day before the ceremony.
Who else was honored at the ceremony? The school also gave honorary degrees and speech slots to three women for their work in political theory, music performance, and mental health. Smith College began admitting male students who identify as women in 2015, according to Inside Higher Ed.
What is Levine known for? His 2021 appointment as assistant health secretary made him the highest-ranking openly transgender U.S. official. He also was celebrated as the first female four-star admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, according to the National Women’s History Museum. Levine notably pushed to remove age limits for genital surgery from guidelines published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
Elizabeth Russell
Elizabeth is a staff writer at WORLD. She is a graduate of World Journalism Institute and Patrick Henry College.
Monday, May 19, 2025
Denomination Relations: Seventh Day Adventists
by Jason Scott · Published May 13, 2025 · Updated May 12, 2025
In our ongoing series, “Denomination Relations”, Jason Scott explores the history, shared beliefs, and differences between Catholics and other Christian denominations. This week, he turns his attention to the Seventh Day Adventists.
Where Do Seventh Day Adventists Come From?
The Seventh Day Adventist Church emerged in the mid-19th century, rooted in the Millerite movement, which anticipated the Second Coming of Christ in 1844. After the predicted date passed without event, a group of believers, led by Ellen G. White, James White and Joseph Bates, reorganised their beliefs and formed what would become the Seventh Day Adventist Church. They are known for their observance of the Sabbath on Saturday and their emphasis on health and wellness.
Seventh Day Adventists place a strong emphasis on the authority of Scripture and the ministry of White, whose writings they consider inspired. They also advocate for a holistic approach to life, promoting vegetarianism and a healthy lifestyle as part of their religious practice.
What We Agree On
As Catholics, we share fundamental beliefs with Seventh Day Adventists: the Trinity, Christ’s divinity and humanity, and the resurrection. We both affirm the importance of the Bible as the word of God, though our interpretations and applications differ. Both traditions emphasise the importance of living a life of faith and obedience to God’s commandments.
Where We Disagree
From a Catholic perspective, the key disagreements with Seventh Day Adventists are clear. Seventh Day Adventists observe the Sabbath on Saturday, which contrasts with the Catholic tradition of observing the Lord’s Day on Sunday. This difference in Sabbath observance reflects a broader disagreement on the role of the Old Testament law in the life of the Christian, with Seventh Day Adventists still following many of the old Jewish laws
Seventh Day Adventists do not recognise the authority of the Pope or the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church, favouring a more congregational form of governance. They also reject the Catholic doctrine of the immortality of the soul, believing instead in the concept of “soul sleep”, where the dead remain unconscious until the resurrection.
Furthermore, Seventh Day Adventists do not uphold the Catholic sacraments, particularly the Eucharist, and do not believe in the real presence of Christ in the sacrament. Their practice of baptism by immersion for those who have reached an age of accountability differs from the Catholic tradition of infant baptism.
Recent Steps Towards Unity
Despite these differences, progress has been made. The Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio, opened doors for dialogue with other denominations, including Seventh Day Adventists. More recently, joint statements and collaborative projects have highlighted areas of agreement and mutual respect. For instance, both groups have worked together on humanitarian efforts, such as disaster relief and health initiatives, reflecting a shared commitment to serving others.
While formal theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Seventh Day Adventist Church has been limited, there have been informal discussions and cooperative efforts in areas of common concern, such as religious freedom and social justice. These efforts reflect our shared commitment to unity and the healing of centuries-old divisions. As Catholics, we are committed to reuniting Christians and restoring full communion within the one true Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, to heal the wounds of centuries-old divisions.
Franklin Graham: ‘May God’s Hand Be Upon President Trump’ During Calls with Putin and Zelensky to Bring Peace
SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty
Amy Furr19 May 20259
Reverend Franklin Graham is asking people to pray for President Donald Trump as he prepares for important conversations with the goal of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Graham said Trump is scheduled to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday.
“Pray for President Donald J. Trump today as he is scheduled to talk with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about a lasting peace agreement between their two countries,” he wrote.
“It is reported that some 5,000 people are dying every week in that bloody conflict. May God’s hand be upon President Trump and give him wisdom, and may God touch the hearts of these leaders and bring peace,” Graham added:
The Kremlin in Moscow on Monday confirmed the three leaders would speak via telephone at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, Breitbart News reported. Trump is scheduled to speak with Putin first, then Zelensky.
Trump announced the plans in a Truth Social post on Saturday, saying the subjects of the call would be stopping the “bloodbath” that is killing over 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers per week, and trade.
“I WILL THEN BE SPEAKING TO PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY OF UKRAINE AND THEN, WITH PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY, VARIOUS MEMBERS OF NATO. HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END. GOD BLESS US ALL!!!” he added.
Zelensky recently said he is willing to “personally” meet with Putin for peace talks in Istanbul, but continued demanding a ceasefire be established prior to negotiations, Breitbart News reported on May 11.
In a social media post on Monday, Zelensky said he hosted a meeting on diplomatic efforts to end the war.
“Minister of Defense of Ukraine, @rustem_umerov, reported on the work of our delegation and the negotiation process in Türkiye. The meetings on May 15–16 showed the world both our commitment to advancing peace and, at the same time, the necessity of pressuring Russia in order to stop the war,” he said:
Amy Furr19 May 20259
Reverend Franklin Graham is asking people to pray for President Donald Trump as he prepares for important conversations with the goal of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Graham said Trump is scheduled to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday.
“Pray for President Donald J. Trump today as he is scheduled to talk with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about a lasting peace agreement between their two countries,” he wrote.
“It is reported that some 5,000 people are dying every week in that bloody conflict. May God’s hand be upon President Trump and give him wisdom, and may God touch the hearts of these leaders and bring peace,” Graham added:
The Kremlin in Moscow on Monday confirmed the three leaders would speak via telephone at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, Breitbart News reported. Trump is scheduled to speak with Putin first, then Zelensky.
Trump announced the plans in a Truth Social post on Saturday, saying the subjects of the call would be stopping the “bloodbath” that is killing over 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers per week, and trade.
“I WILL THEN BE SPEAKING TO PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY OF UKRAINE AND THEN, WITH PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY, VARIOUS MEMBERS OF NATO. HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END. GOD BLESS US ALL!!!” he added.
Zelensky recently said he is willing to “personally” meet with Putin for peace talks in Istanbul, but continued demanding a ceasefire be established prior to negotiations, Breitbart News reported on May 11.
In a social media post on Monday, Zelensky said he hosted a meeting on diplomatic efforts to end the war.
“Minister of Defense of Ukraine, @rustem_umerov, reported on the work of our delegation and the negotiation process in Türkiye. The meetings on May 15–16 showed the world both our commitment to advancing peace and, at the same time, the necessity of pressuring Russia in order to stop the war,” he said:
Meanwhile, people commenting on Graham’s post said they were joining him in prayer for Trump and other world leaders.
“Praying for all three of them to trust in God a make the right decisions to end this war , and to put God first in their life and become peaceful Nations. In Jesus name amen,” one person commented, while another said, “Praying for God to intervene. For their heart to be turned to what is right. God give them compassion for their fellow man. In Jesus Name may You Be Glorified. Amen!”
Sunday, May 18, 2025
The Group Behind Project 2025 Has a Plan to Crush the Pro-Palestinian Movement
Even before President Trump was re-elected, the Heritage Foundation, best known for Project 2025, set out to destroy pro-Palestinian activism in the United States.
The Heritage Foundation headquarters in Washington, D.C.Credit...Jared Soares for The New York Times
By Katie J.M. Baker
May 18, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET
In late April, the Heritage Foundation dispatched a team to Israel to meet with power players in Israeli politics, including the country’s foreign and defense secretaries and the U.S. ambassador, Mike Huckabee.
The conservative Washington-based think tank is best known for spearheading Project 2025, a proposed blueprint for President Trump’s second term that called for reshaping the federal government and an extreme expansion of presidential power.
Now the Heritage contingent was in Israel, in part, to discuss another contentious policy paper: Project Esther, the foundation’s proposal to rapidly dismantle the pro-Palestinian movement in the United States, along with its support at schools and universities, at progressive organizations and in Congress.
Drafted in the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel in 2023 and the mounting protests against the war in Gaza, Project Esther outlined an ambitious plan to fight antisemitism by branding a broad range of critics of Israel as “effectively a terrorist support network,” so that they could be deported, defunded, sued, fired, expelled, ostracized and otherwise excluded from what it considered “open society.”
Project Esther’s architects envisioned outcomes that at the time might have seemed far-fetched. Curriculum it believed to be sympathetic to a “Hamas support” narrative would be taken out of schools and universities, and “supporting faculty” would be removed. Social media would be purged of content deemed to be antisemitic. Institutions would lose public funding. Foreign students who pushed for Palestinian rights would have their visas revoked, or be deported.
By Katie J.M. Baker
May 18, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET
In late April, the Heritage Foundation dispatched a team to Israel to meet with power players in Israeli politics, including the country’s foreign and defense secretaries and the U.S. ambassador, Mike Huckabee.
The conservative Washington-based think tank is best known for spearheading Project 2025, a proposed blueprint for President Trump’s second term that called for reshaping the federal government and an extreme expansion of presidential power.
Now the Heritage contingent was in Israel, in part, to discuss another contentious policy paper: Project Esther, the foundation’s proposal to rapidly dismantle the pro-Palestinian movement in the United States, along with its support at schools and universities, at progressive organizations and in Congress.
Drafted in the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel in 2023 and the mounting protests against the war in Gaza, Project Esther outlined an ambitious plan to fight antisemitism by branding a broad range of critics of Israel as “effectively a terrorist support network,” so that they could be deported, defunded, sued, fired, expelled, ostracized and otherwise excluded from what it considered “open society.”
Project Esther’s architects envisioned outcomes that at the time might have seemed far-fetched. Curriculum it believed to be sympathetic to a “Hamas support” narrative would be taken out of schools and universities, and “supporting faculty” would be removed. Social media would be purged of content deemed to be antisemitic. Institutions would lose public funding. Foreign students who pushed for Palestinian rights would have their visas revoked, or be deported.
Victoria Coates, a former deputy national security adviser and the vice president at the Heritage Foundation who oversees Project Esther.
Credit...Jared Soares for The New York Times
Temptation and The Spirit of The Grand Inquisitor
What Can Dostoevsky Teach Us About Catholicism?
Jul 19, 2024
Thank you to those who subscribed in the past couple of weeks. I am so grateful! As I am balancing my marriage, day job, and the needs of a young infant, these essays will never be as long as I might wish. I appreciate the chance to discuss great books with all of you.
In my previous post, I discussed Dostoevsky’s perceptions of Catholicism in the context of his novel The Brothers Karamazov, and specifically The Grand Inquisitor, a story-within-a-story and a chapter in that book.
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As I noted, Dostoevsky suggests that the Catholic Church and its leaders embrace the Devil instead of Christ, promising material security and rules that create moral certainty instead of accepting God’s gift of free will (and its derivatives, freedom of conscience and moral responsibility) . Dostoevsky reserves particular contempt for Jesuits1, a Catholic religious order of priests, who even Alyosha, the kindest and wisest of the three Karamazov brothers, despises.
Some might say that Dostoevsky’s critique sounds Protestant in nature, but Dostoevsky rejected Protestantism, too—he viewed it as fundamentally void and believed it would eventually collapse.2
Dostoevsky’s religious views are rooted in Russian Orthodoxy—and very emphatically Russian Orthodoxy, not Orthodoxy in general. I will discuss Dostoevsky’s Russian Orthodoxy at length in a moment, but first I want to address Dostoevsky’s view of Catholicism in more detail.
Dostoevsky’s view of Catholicism was shaped by the time he spent in a Siberian labor camp as a young man. There, Dostoevsky “observed the machinations of Polish prisoners, many of whom were revolutionaries hoping to throw off the Russian yoke.”3 Dostoevsky was also disturbed by intra-Catholic loyalty, especially the Polish loyalty to the Jesuits.4
Later, Dostoevsky came to view France as the paradigm of Catholicism—and the best example of its inherent errors. As he argued in his essay “Three Ideas”:
“Catholicism has sought but failed to organize society in the name of Christ; that same France with her revolutionists of the Convention, with her atheists, with her socialists and with her present-day communards,—is, continues to be, in the highest degree, fully and altogether, a Catholic nation, completely contaminated with the spirit and letter of Catholicism.”5
Dostoevsky believed that socialism and Catholicism shared the same core ideas, those expressed by the Grand Inquisitor. To Dostoevsky, both socialism and Catholicism seek to liberate men from the “burden” of their free will and its attendant responsibility, which requires individuals to make the difficult choice to choose God’s will on a daily basis. As John Moran argues,
“At its core, socialism promises a society that allows for the blossoming of human happiness. Once the material conditions of man’s existence are corrected through the elimination of private property, man can be expected to attain his highest state of happiness.”6
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Mexican Ship Hits Brooklyn Bridge - LIVE Breaking News Coverage
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Thursday, May 15, 2025
Steven Hill's Mission Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Hill was the original leader of the Impossible Missions Force, Dan Briggs, in the series Mission: Impossible beginning in 1966. The phrase "Good morning, Mr. Briggs..." was a fixture early in each episode, where a sound or film recording he retrieved detailed the task he must accomplish. However, he was replaced in the show in 1967 after the end of the first season. As one of the few Orthodox Jewish actors working in Hollywood, he made it clear in advance of production that he was not able to work on the Sabbath (i.e., sundown Friday to dusk Saturday), and that he would leave the set every Friday before sundown.[7] However, despite Hill's advance warnings, the show's producers were unprepared for his rigid adherence to the Sabbath, and on at least one occasion, Hill left the set while an episode was still in the midst of filming. The producers used a number of ways of reducing the role of Hill's character, Dan Briggs, whereby he would only obtain and hand out the mission details at the start of certain episodes, being unable to take further part in the mission as he was known to people they would encounter (used at least three times), or Briggs would need to don a disguise and another actor would then play his role incognito until the conclusion of the mission (and episode) when Briggs would peel off a face mask. On other occasions, Briggs was waiting to pick up the team at the end. Usually, Martin Landau's character (Rollin Hand) took over as the team leader for missions in Briggs' absence, Landau being initially a "special guest star" for the first season, not even included in the show's original opening credits.[7]
According to Desilu executive Herb Solow, William Shatner once burst into his office, claiming "Steve asked me how many Jews worked on Star Trek. He was recruiting a minyon, a prayer group of 10 men, to worship together on top of the studio's highest building and only had six Jews so far from Mission. He asked if I would come and bring Nimoy and Justman and you."[20]
Hill was briefly suspended from the show near the end of the season, during the production of episode 23, titled "Action!" In it, for the only time, Barbara Bain's character Cinnamon Carter obtained the mission details through the taped instructions, even though Landau's character, Rollin Hand, then actually led the team. The suspension was imposed after he refused to climb the rafters via a sound stage staircase, as was called for in the script.[21] This incident was ostensibly unrelated to any religious observances of Hill's. Consequently, Hill was written out of that episode and when he returned to Mission: Impossible for the five remaining episodes of the season, his role was severely reduced. Hill was not asked to return for season two, and was replaced as the show's star by Peter Graves.[22]
Source: Wikipedia - Steven Hill
Beneath Sheep's Clothing 2024
May 14, 202524
ThoughtCrime Channel
@ThoughtCrimeChannel
In “Beneath Sheep’s Clothing”, join us on a riveting journey through Soviet history and modern America to understand the pattern of a communist takeover of culture. Witness firsthand accounts of historical Soviet tactics to overtake education and religion. Observe the compelling evidence that similar tactics have been at play with our schools and churches here in America – for over a century! If our culture-making institutions here in America, the West in general, and globally are subverted to Marxist ideologies, what comes next? Today we stand at the precipice of history. Will we awaken and safeguard our nations and world from the grip of communist and globalist tyranny enacted in the name of liberating the underprivileged and sustainable development? Or will we stand by while the freedom and prosperity our forebears fought and died for slip between our fingers? Will we hand our children freedom or enslavement? The choice is ours, but time is of the essence!
https://x.com/JulieABehling/status/1921295637188100248
https://beneathsheepsclothing.movie/
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Episcopal Church refuses to resettle white Afrikaners, citing moral opposition
May 12, 20252:45 PM ET
By
Jack Jenkins
White South Africans demonstrate in support of President Trump in front of the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, on Feb. 15.Jerome Delay/AP
In a striking move that ends a nearly four-decades-old relationship between the federal government and the Episcopal Church, the denomination announced on Monday that it is terminating its partnership with the government to resettle refugees, citing moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa who have been classified as refugees by President Trump's administration.
Africa
White South African Afrikaner refugees arrive in U.S. on a government-chartered plane
In a letter sent to members of the church, the Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe — the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church — said that two weeks ago, the government "informed Episcopal Migration Ministries that under the terms of our federal grant, we are expected to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa whom the U.S. government has classified as refugees."
The request, Rowe said, crossed a moral line for the Episcopal Church, which is part of the global Anglican Communion, which boasts among its leaders the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a celebrated and vocal opponent of apartheid in South Africa.
"In light of our church's steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step," Rowe wrote. "Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government."
By
Jack Jenkins
White South Africans demonstrate in support of President Trump in front of the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, on Feb. 15.Jerome Delay/AP
In a striking move that ends a nearly four-decades-old relationship between the federal government and the Episcopal Church, the denomination announced on Monday that it is terminating its partnership with the government to resettle refugees, citing moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa who have been classified as refugees by President Trump's administration.
Africa
White South African Afrikaner refugees arrive in U.S. on a government-chartered plane
In a letter sent to members of the church, the Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe — the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church — said that two weeks ago, the government "informed Episcopal Migration Ministries that under the terms of our federal grant, we are expected to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa whom the U.S. government has classified as refugees."
The request, Rowe said, crossed a moral line for the Episcopal Church, which is part of the global Anglican Communion, which boasts among its leaders the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a celebrated and vocal opponent of apartheid in South Africa.
"In light of our church's steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step," Rowe wrote. "Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government."
Monday, May 12, 2025
Rerum Novarum and Sunday Rest
References:
32). Gen. 2:2.
Sunday, May 11, 2025
Saturday, May 10, 2025
The World Wonders After the Beast
May 8, 2025 Gerry Wagoner
Maybe you heard. The papacy elected a pope today. We don’t know what he will be like yet, but here are some details about the voting process.
First, the voting process was over rather quickly. The papal conclave to elect a pope is all about grandeur. It is a gorgeous display of solemn rites to fascinate the senses of people and overwhelm the voice of reason. And the whole world was watching and wondering (Revelation 13:3).
Only 133 cardinals could vote in this election (electors). There is an age requirement (you have to be less than 80 to vote). Of the 133 electors, 108 were appointed by the previous pope (Francis). That is a significant majority.
A majority of the electors—for the first time ever—were non European. Based on this fact, I wrote to a friend this morning, “I wonder if a Hispanic pope will be elected this time.” It was a lucky guess.
His mother was Spanish, his father French and Italian. He is the first American pope in like…ever. He was born in the south side of Chicago and spent 12 years in Peru, beginning at the age of 30.
And the whole world was wondering after the beast today (at least the Little Horn power). 100,000 people gathered on Saint Peter’s Square today. According to the pictures and interviews, many were awash with emotion and adoration there. For Protestants, many of them were like “Meh.”
Is this pope a liberal or a conservative? We don’t know yet. Speculation abounds. Since he was appointed by Francis, we might expect him to be a Marxist/socialist like Francis. According to the Italian proverb “Fat pope, skinny pope” we might expect him to be a conservative (it means new popes often differ from their predecessors). We don’t know, yet.
What we do know is that there are a whole bunch of Roman Catholic United States supreme court justices, and lots of Trump appointees that are Roman Catholic.
A short list includes: JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Sean Duffy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Elise Stefanik, John Ratliffe, Linda McMahon, Lori DeRemer, Kelly Loeffler, Tom Homan, Karoline Leavitt, and of course Brian Burch.
Friday, May 09, 2025
Prophecy Alert 05: First American Pope? Prophecy, Revelation 13 | Is Pop...
May 8, 2025 PHOENIX
Is the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, just a historic surprise—or a prophetic signal? Could this moment mark a turning point in the relationship between the United States and the Vatican foretold in Revelation 13?
In this eye-opening video, we explore the symbolic and spiritual implications of an American rising to the head of the Roman Catholic Church. What does it mean for Christian prophecy, religious liberty, Sunday laws, and global unity? Could this be the beginning of the final movements in Bible prophecy?
Whether you’re Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, or Seventh-day Adventist—this is a message you can’t afford to miss.
Topics Covered:
• Who is Pope Leo XIV?
• Why the name “Leo” matters prophetically
• The two beasts of Revelation 13: America and the Papacy
• Trump, Vance, and the rise of Christian nationalism
• The future of religious liberty and Sunday laws • What Ellen White warned in The Great Controversy
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New Pope Has Creole Roots in New Orleans
His ancestry, traced to a historic enclave of Afro-Caribbean culture, links Leo XIV to the rich and sometimes overlooked Black Catholic experience in America.
Image of a grave marker in Chicago for members of the Martinez family, including the new pope’s grandparents.Credit...via Jari C. Honora
By Richard Fausset and Robert Chiarito
Richard Fausset grew up in New Orleans and reports on the American South. Robert Chiarito reported from New Lenox, Ill.
May 8, 2025
Robert Francis Prevost, the Chicago-born cardinal selected on Thursday as the new pope, is descended from Creole people of color from New Orleans.
The pope’s maternal grandparents, both of whom are described as Black or mulatto in various historical records, lived in the city’s Seventh Ward, an area that is traditionally Catholic and a melting pot of people with African, Caribbean and European roots.
The grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, eventually moved to Chicago in the early 20th century and had a daughter: Mildred Martinez, the pope’s mother.
The discovery means that Leo XIV, as the pope will be known, is not only breaking ground as the first U.S.-born pontiff. He also comes from a family that reflects the many threads that make up the complicated and rich fabric of the American story.
The pope’s background was unearthed Thursday by a New Orleans genealogist, Jari C. Honora, and confirmed to The New York Times by the pope’s older brother, John Prevost, 71, who lives in the Chicago suburbs.
Thursday, May 08, 2025
New Pope Leo XIV spent years retweeting criticism of Trump policies
Politics
By
Steven Nelson and
Diana Glebova
Published May 8, 2025
Updated May 8, 2025, 8:01 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON —Newly elected Pope Leo XIV spent years amplifying criticism of President Trump’s policies on social media — with the Catholic Church’s first American leader taking particular aim at the Republican’s hard-line immigration stance.
Leo XIV, until Thursday known as Robert Francis Prevost, 69, shared or retweeted the opinions of colleagues using his verified account @drprevost on X, formerly known as Twitter.
His final X post before being elected by the Conclave in the Sistine Chapel was a retweet of a message from Philadelphia-based Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo, who on April 14 slammed Trump’s partnership with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele on deportation of illegal migrants.
By
Steven Nelson and
Diana Glebova
Published May 8, 2025
Updated May 8, 2025, 8:01 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON —Newly elected Pope Leo XIV spent years amplifying criticism of President Trump’s policies on social media — with the Catholic Church’s first American leader taking particular aim at the Republican’s hard-line immigration stance.
Leo XIV, until Thursday known as Robert Francis Prevost, 69, shared or retweeted the opinions of colleagues using his verified account @drprevost on X, formerly known as Twitter.
His final X post before being elected by the Conclave in the Sistine Chapel was a retweet of a message from Philadelphia-based Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo, who on April 14 slammed Trump’s partnership with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele on deportation of illegal migrants.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost addresses the crowd on the main central loggia balcony of the St Peter’s Basilica for the first time, after the cardinals ended the conclave, in The Vatican, on May 8, 2025.AFP via Getty Images
“As Trump & Bukele use Oval to [laugh emoji] Feds’ illicit deportation of a US resident… once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC [auxiliary bishop] Evelio [Menjivar] asks, ‘Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?'” the tweet reads.
“As Trump & Bukele use Oval to [laugh emoji] Feds’ illicit deportation of a US resident… once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC [auxiliary bishop] Evelio [Menjivar] asks, ‘Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?'” the tweet reads.
New pope led Order of St. Augustine dedicated to the poor and service
Cardinal Robert Prevost, the first U.S. pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church, previously led a Catholic religious order.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, appears on the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican shortly after his election as the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
PETER SMITH
ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 8, 2025, 2:48PM
Cardinal Robert Prevost, the first U.S. pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church, previously led a Catholic religious order.
Prevost, 69, who chose the name Pope Leo XIV, was formerly the prior general, or leader, of the Order of St. Augustine, which was formed in the 13th century as a community of “mendicant” friars — dedicated to poverty, service and evangelization. According to Vatican News, he is the first Augustinian pope.
The requirements and ethos of the order are traced to the fifth century St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the theological and devotional giants of early Christianity.
The Order of St. Augustine has a presence in about 50 countries, according to its website. Its ethos includes a contemplative spirituality, communal living and service to others.
A core value in their rule is to “live together in harmony, being of one mind and one heart on the way to God.”
A religious order is a community of Catholics — which can include priests, nuns, monks and even lay people — dedicated to a particular type of mission and spirituality. Unlike diocesan priests, who work within a particular territory, religious-order priests might be assigned anywhere in the world. At the same time, they might handle tasks similar to diocesan priests, such as being pastor of a parish.
Pope Francis was the first pope from the Jesuit religious order, and he was the first pope in more than a century and a half to come from any religious order. The previous one was Gregory XVI, a Camaldolese monk (1831-1846).
Is Robert Prevost Liberal Or Conservative? Exploring Pope Leo XIV's Political Leanings
Pope Leo XIV
Photo : AP
The Catholic Church has elected its first American pope. Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is viewed as a centrist, who holds both liberal and conservative positions, as per reports.
In a historic first for the Catholic Church, an American has been elected pope. Cardinal Robert Prevost, a Chicago native, was chosen by the conclave on Thursday to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, taking the name Leo XIV. The new pope holds a mix of both liberal and conservative positions, as reported by CBS.
Prevost, 69, is seen as a centrist figure who bridges divides within the church. Like Pope Francis, he has supported marginalized groups and spoken up for migrants and the poor, as reported CBS. But on matters of doctrine, he maintains more traditional positions, such as his opposition to the ordination of women as deacons, a stance that aligns with conservative teachings.
Also Read: New Pope Robert Prevost Takes Name 'Leo XIV': What Is Its Significance?
Before becoming pope, Prevost led the Dicastery for Bishops, a key Vatican office responsible for appointing bishops around the world. He also holds dual citizenship in the US and Peru, where he served for many years.
The election of an American pope is a big change for the Catholic Church. In 2,000 years, no pope had ever come from the United States, until now.
US President Donald Trump congratulated Pope Leo XIV on Truth Social, calling his election a great honor for the country. He stated, "It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!"
Robert Prevost Elected As New Pope
After the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 133 cardinals met in a secret conclave in Rome to elect a new pope. On Thursday, white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel and bells rang at St. Peter’s Basilica, signaling a successful vote after at least four ballots.
Over an hour later, the new pope appeared on the balcony, dressed in papal vestments. He mentioned Pope Francis twice, pledging to continue his mission. "We have to be a church that works together to build bridges and to keep our arms open, like this very piazza, welcoming," Pope Leo said in Italian. He also gave the Urbi et Orbi blessing, which means “to the city and the world.”
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