2+ week, 18+ hour ago (1013+ words) Now is a good time for religion in America. President Trump has established the White House Religious Liberty Commission, led by a diverse group of religious leaders and scholars, including Mary Margaret Bush, Napa Legal's own former executive director. The commission is identifying some of the nation's most pressing religious liberty issues and developing plans for action. Lawmakers should take advantage of the moment to enact durable protections that will outlast any administration.The U.S. Supreme Court, too, has protected religious liberty in several crucial cases. In [https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.supremecourt.gov%2Fopinions%2F21pdf%2F20-1088_dbfi.pdf&data=05%7C02%7Ccenloe%40blazemedia.com%7C833729cad67f47e3dd0908de2215cd43%7Ccb6bcf2f9ec84d27b2344b2f00283fde%7C0%7C0%7C638985674240173109%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=C9Cd9EsG6kmU%2B4sZhTvG0KqFX2P9hGb4gna6m1rq7vs%3D&reserved=0]Carson v. Makin (2022), the court held that it is unconstitutional to exclude religious schools from generally available government funding programs.In [https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.supremecourt.gov%2Fopinions%2F21pdf%2F21-418_i425.pdf%3Fbcs-agent-scanner%3Df092fda5-f4fa-a14e-a2bf-5c59e155354b&data=05%7C02%7Ccenloe%40blazemedia.com%7C833729cad67f47e3dd0908de2215cd43%7Ccb6bcf2f9ec84d27b2344b2f00283fde%7C0%7C0%7C638985674240192353%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=oA4MKJIFss%2Fepc%2B1yB1Am08jae38IPaNCyf2guyAl1g%3D&reserved=0]Kennedy v. Bremerton, it found that coach Joseph Kennedy's postgame prayers did not violate the First Amendment. This year brought additional victories in [https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.supremecourt.gov%2Fopinions%2F24pdf%2F24-297_4f14.pdf&data=05%7C02%7Ccenloe%40blazemedia.com%7C833729cad67f47e3dd0908de2215cd43%7Ccb6bcf2f9ec84d27b2344b2f00283fde%7C0%7C0%7C638985674240210802%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=BWlTQYz7v4zjiWhNg2njWqt4VEkQOhhOxjDoj2vTQwU%3D&reserved=0]Mahmoud v. Taylor, where the court upheld parents' rights to…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago (1142+ words) America suffers from more than political unrest. We are in a spiritual drought " a values famine so deep that even the conservative movement, once grounded in virtue, now splinters under the weight of ego and bitterness. Too many voices compete for authority on the right, but too few echo the one voice that matters: God's.This isn't about pundits or personalities. It's about the soul of our movement and the substance of our faith. Somewhere along the way, many conservatives forgot a truth written plainly in Scripture: It is Christian to love and support the Jewish people.If we can't love our spiritual cousins " the people through whom our faith was born " what are we even defending? What good is a "Christian' movement that forgets the Christian part?When Jesus was asked which commandment was greatest, He didn't hedge: "Love…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago (576+ words) Archbishop Paul S. Coakley is not in favor of giving politicians preferential treatment.Coakley, archbishop of Oklahoma City, was elected as the next president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in a secret ballot on Tuesday and will serve a three-year term as president.'I think in many cases it becomes the right decision and the only choice.'Coakley has set a strong precedent for supporting the denial of communion to certain politicians that dates back more than a decade.Most recently, in 2022, Coakley spoke in support of Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone of San Francisco. As reported by Life News, Cordileone decided to withhold communion from Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at the time after she backed the Democrats as they blocked a vote on a bill to stop infanticide at least 80 times.As Pelosi's district encompasses San Francisco, Cordileone…...

3+ week, 18+ hour ago (1058+ words) From the moment I first studied the United States Constitution through the lens of scripture, I've been struck by how carefully our founders embedded God-given liberty into the fabric of our nation. Freedom of conscience, equality before God, and protection from government overreach are not just political ideas; they are biblical principles. The more I study, the clearer it becomes that Islamic systems like sharia law, enforced as government policy abroad, stand in sharp contrast to both the freedoms our Constitution guarantees and the liberties scripture upholds.Christians must be informed, discerning, and proactive in defending freedoms that allow people to come to God freely. Sharia law, when enforced as government policy, conflicts with constitutional freedom and biblical principles of liberty, including protections for personal conscience, speech, and moral choice.Sharia law vs. constitutional libertySharia law is a system derived…...

1+ week, 2+ hour ago (1218+ words) Much like gas-station sushi, David Brooks is hard to stomach at the best of times.But his latest New York Times essay is the kind that makes you reach for the sick bag. He opens with the usual routine: an exasperated sigh, a long, self-important pause, and the unmistakable air of a man convinced he has cracked the cosmos " again.A hidden faith saves no one, a timid faith shapes nothing, and a faith that folds under pressure is closer to cheap furniture than conviction.He quotes a Czech priest, hints at deep wells of wisdom, and then meanders toward the real purpose of the piece: explaining, with mild exasperation, why Christians are once again disappointing him. This is nothing new. It's a ritual at this point " a complaint that returns like spam you swore you unsubscribed from.To be…...

2+ day, 21+ hour ago (865+ words) There was a time when Thanksgiving pointed toward something higher than stampedes for electronics or a long weekend of football. At its root, Thanksgiving was a public reminder that faith, family, and country are inseparable " and that a free people must recognize the source of their blessings.Long before Congress fixed the holiday to the end of November, colonies and early states observed floating days of thanksgiving, prayer, and fasting. These were civic acts as much as religious ones: moments when communities asked God to protect them from calamity and guide their families and their nation.Grounded in gratitudeThe Continental Congress issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation in 1777, drafted by Samuel Adams. The delegates called on Americans to acknowledge God's providence "with Gratitude" and to implore "such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of."Twelve years later, President George…...

2+ week, 16+ hour ago (989+ words) Almost every civilization has, at one point or another, practiced child sacrifice. In our rebellion against God and rejection of Jesus Christ, modern America is no exception.While we may not burn our children like the Canaanites, cut out their hearts like the Aztecs, or drown them like the Gauls, we most certainly sacrifice our children in acts of worship to benefit ourselves.We cannot afford to overlook the severity of this sin or its stench before the one true and living God.Take the example of Stevie Nicks, the singer-songwriter best known for her years with Fleetwood Mac. Nicks boasted about the benefits of her past abortion in a recent video posted on social media and described as a "must watch" by the Center for Reproductive Rights.In recalling her past abortion, Nicks was not filled with regret or…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago (670+ words) When women are told that the biggest issue they face is their self-esteem " not their sin " it doesn't bring them closer to God or make them more likely to walk through the church doors on Sunday.Instead, it leaves them feeling like they can find that kind of advice anywhere.Why would you go to church and sacrifice your free time if you're going to hear the same message anywhere?" BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey asks ex-Green Beret and Virginia delegate Nick Freitas, noting that they're simply being told what they want to hear."And women aren't the only ones being fooled. Do you feel like that also might be happening among the Andrew Tate acolytes of the world who say, "Okay, in order to attract these young men, we have to not be like Jesus was. We have to…...

3+ day, 3+ hour ago (844+ words) Thanksgiving is an annual reminder of our nation's Christian roots and our godly heritage. Although Virginia proclaims that the first Thanksgiving was in Jamestown in 1619 " not in Plymouth in 1621 " the Plymouth one became the prototype of our annual celebrations.George Washington was the first president under the Constitution to declare a national day of thanksgiving, and President Lincoln was the first to declare Thanksgiving an annual holiday.'It is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such further Blessings as they stand in Need of ...'However, Samuel Adams, with the help of two other continental congressmen, was the first to declare a National Day of Thanksgiving for America as an independent nation.The time was the fall of 1777. Overall,…...

3+ week, 6+ day ago (568+ words) On a recent episode of "Unashamed," the Robertson brothers and Zach Dasher dove headfirst into the infamous P-word. Pornography has become an epidemic that enslaves millions and millions of people, most often boys and men. While it's technically been around for millennia, the digital age has brought porn into the mainstream and made it nearly impossible to avoid. It's on our televisions; it's on our phones; even artificial intelligence has fused with the industry in ways that can only be described as sick and depraved.Today, many boys are exposed to porn long before they hit puberty.Al, who grew up in an era where pornography was still confined to magazines, says he first encountered it at a "very young" age " "probably 7 or 8 years old" " while living next door to the bar Phil owned and operated before his radical conversion…...