Should Compromising Religious Beliefs Be the Price of Citizenship?

Yesterday, I posted the content of an email entitled  “Conscience Rights for All” that I had received from Alliance Defending Freedom. Today, I was not able to find a link to the article. However, there is a link at the ADF site which shares an excellent essay on this topic from The Public Discourse website. The post goes into more detail regarding this very important issue and the current battle going on within the courts of our nation.

The Public Discourse: SOGI Laws: A Subversive Response to a Nonexistent Problem.

Excerpt:

The “price of citizenship” in a free society can never include our freedom of conscience. If we surrender that, then we have surrendered free society itself.

Throughout history, every person under every regime has had—in the most elemental sense—the freedom to form a unique set of beliefs and values. But, uniquely, citizens of the United States have long been guaranteed the fulfillment of that freedom. That is, we possess the freedom to live peacefully according to our beliefs and to follow the dictates of our conscience.

This freedom—codified by the First Amendment—is a pre-political right that rests in our dignity as human beings. But the cultural movement for “tolerance” and “inclusion” has reduced freedom of conscience to a lesser-than right, a token that exists subject to the decisions of judges and lawmakers.

In recent years, laws that provide special privileges to individuals based on their self-proclaimed gender identity or sexual preferences have emerged across the country. Commonly known as SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) laws, these legislative undertakings are typically fueled by activist groups and represent a subversive response to a nonexistent problem. Available data confirm there exists no significant social pattern or practice of unjust discrimination against these groups. This is not only because the vast majority of Americans already respect each other and are fair-minded, but also because anyone engaged in baseless discrimination faces the prospect of social and financial consequences brought on by public pressure and boycotts.

SOGI laws, however, use the full force of the law to punish individuals who seek to live peacefully and to work in a way that is consistent with their consciences. Elaine Huguenin, Barronelle Stutzman, Jack Phillips, and Blaine Adamson are just a few of the small business owners who gladly serve all people without exception, but who also face legal punishment because they declined to participate in certain events or to create custom art that would have violated their consciences. In Elaine’s case, she politely declined a request to use her expressive photography skills to tell the story of a same-sex commitment ceremony. Her attempt to remain peacefully true to her faith’s teachings about marriage led to a seven-year court battle that culminated in a ruling by the New Mexico Supreme Court against her and her husband, Jon. One justice stated that the Huguenins “now are compelled by law to compromise the very religious beliefs that inspire their lives,” and added that this compulsion “is the price of citizenship.”

Barronelle Stutzman is a 72-year-old grandmother who faces the loss of her business, savings, and home for referring elsewhere a request by a long-time friend and customer that she participate in the celebration of his same-sex wedding by designing custom floral arrangements for it.

In Iowa and Massachusetts, not only religious citizens but even houses of worship are under attack. Churches currently face government-imposed mandates requiring them to open their restrooms to individuals based on their subjectively determined sex rather than biological reality.

Conditional Surrender Fails to Advance Religious Liberty.

[In] the current cultural standoff, proponents of religious freedom and freedom of conscience simultaneously confront opportunities for victory and defeat. We can either choose to enter the arena and strive valiantly for victory, or we can join “those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat,” choosing to negotiate the terms of our own surrender. Now is not the time to partner with proponents of SOGIs in hopes of catching a few crumbs of liberty that fall from the table. Freedom of conscience is not a token to be surrendered as the price of citizenship in a free society; it is the mark of citizenship and the fruit of a free society.

James Gottry is a lawyer and writer with Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal group founded to preserve and defend religious liberty.

Read it all at:

The Public Discourse: SOGI Laws: A Subversive Response to a Nonexistent Problem.

Related article:

The Federalist: BuzzFeed Wants To Destroy Chip And Joanna Gaines For Being Christian And Wildly Popular.

Hat tips to all links.

Why Is That?

If you are a Christian conservative, you might be asking the question, “Why Is That?” regarding the great divide that has happened during and after this contentious election of 2016. The liberal lunatic policies over the past 8 years under the 0bama BADministration has brain-dirtied many groups of people, especially many of the self-named  “coddled childish” Millennials. Those that “came of age” during that time most likely don’t even know about correct history because of the liberal leftist lies that have been drilled into their brains.

Why Is That?

Well, by the end of this post I’m going to make a simple, but hopefully accurate, attempt to answer that question.

Fellowship of the Minds reports: “Hillary Uses Jill Stein to Steal Election Via Voter Recounts in Battleground States.

Read it all at that link, but here is a pertinent excerpt:

Jill Stein made her intentions known on her Facebook page around 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 23. By this afternoon (Nov. 26), Stein has raised more than $5.8 million, with the goal now upped to $7 million. See for yourself at Jill2016.

In other words, in just 3 days Stein raised $5.8 million, all by crowd funding! The same Jill Stein who was the only candidate on the November ballot to rely on public money — four federal payments totaling $456,000 under the Presidential Election Campaign Fund — for her own failed presidential campaign.

So who are these millions of Americans who are donating to Stein’s vote recount war chest?

As in robots. Machines. Not real people.

How do we know this?

Because the donations came in and are still coming in in REGULAR intervals — even at 3 a.m. when most Americans are asleep.

Two days ago, freelance journalist Jim Stone wrote:

“JILL STEIN’S ELECTION RECOUNT IS BEING PAID FOR BY A BOT! A bot is pulling cash from a central fund, and giving it out at a pre determined rate. Go to Jill Stein’s fundraiser page and watch the progress. You will see that her funding is coming in at a PERFECTLY CONSISTENT 160,000 an hour. I watched this yesterday and last night carefully, and noted that at night, when everyone is sleeping and right through the time when the whole world slows down, her donations for this came in like clockwork, with no deviation from the steady pace whatsoever. The only way that can happen is if a bot was set up to fake her getting donations from multiple people, and whoever set it up did not consider the fact that practically everything would come from America, and practically everyone is asleep at 3AM. LAST NIGHT IT SHOULD HAVE SLOWED DOWN. IT DID NOT. IT JUST MARCHED RIGHT TOWARD THE FINISH LIKE AN OBEDIENT SOLDIER. It went straight to 2.65 million by six AM. I can calculate: IT WILL GO TO 4.5 MILLION IN 28.125 HOURS. Oh, a few people will pitch in for real, so I’ll say 27 hours . . . . Yes folks, we are watching the election steal as it happens. They could not do it by threatening electors, so now we have this. And it is all based on false claims, because Michigan CANNOT BE HACKED. Michigan has a CERTIFIED [paper] VOTE. There is NO WAY THIS IS LEGIT. And that means ONE THING – there are liars doing it, powerful liars who know in advance they are going to find what they are looking for.”

Yesterday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission said it had received Stein’s petition for a recount.

What you can do:

(1) Spread the news by publicizing this post on social media and via email.

(2) Keep the recount honest by:

• Volunteering for the recount. Sign up here.

• Politely warning the election officials in the 3 battleground states that you’ll be watching:

  • Wisconsin: Ph: 1-866-VOTE-WIS; Email: elections@wi.gov

  • Michigan: Ph: (517) 373-2540; Twitter: @michsos; wesite: http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127-13162—,00.html

  • Pennsylvania: Ph: (717) 787-6458, (717) 787-5280: Twitter: @PAStateDept

My husband correctly stated that the two months prior to Trump being inaugurated will be very dangerous times.  I must agree with him because the satanic globalism billionaire goons and their minions will NEVER rest until they get their “power” back!

Why Is That?

Next, we have the truth about the death of a horrible dictator – Fidel Castro, yet pansies (like Colin Kaepernick) say the dumbest things!  Why?  He probably doesn’t  know (or, more likely refuses to acknowledge) the decades of suffering under Castro’s tyrannical communist rule!

Why Is That?

Kingsjester’s blog nails it with the truth, once again!

I could go on and on…but my savvy readers here know what’s going on and most of you are aware of the reasons for it.

While reading an article over at WND, I ran across some comments that explain why the globalists, often with differing agendas, unite together for the same cause.

Why Is That?

WND: Fight Over Gay Wedding Cake Given New Life

Now, this news report discusses a case in Northern Ireland. However, the same religious discrimination problems have come up here in the United States.

Excerpt:

The infamous Northern Ireland case penalizing a family baking company for refusing to promote “gay” marriage with a wedding cake may have a new life.

WND reported earlier when an appeals court in Belfast refused to offer relief from the penalties for Ashers Bakery in Northern Ireland for violating that nation’s nondiscrimination laws.

And it was reported that the owners were considering taking their fight to the European Court of Human Rights.

But now, according to the Belfast Telegraph, a door has opened.

Senior judges in Belfast say that a section of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 may give the McArther family, which owns Ashers Bakery, a path to the Supreme Court.

“You need to make a decision whether you wish to pursue it,” Judge Declan Morgan told lawyers for the family this week.

David Scoffield QC, for the McArthurs, told the court: “We are happy to look at that and confirm our submissions in writing.”

The Court of Appeal last month affirmed a fine for Ashers for discriminating against Gareth Lee by refusing to make a cake for a “gay” wedding.

The bakers said they didn’t care about, or even know about, his sexual choices, but the message was what their Christian faith would not allow them to promote.

Last year a Belfast County Court ruled the bakery discriminated against Lee on grounds of sexual orientation and religious belief or political opinion. The firm was also ordered to pay £500 compensation.

The family’s representatives explained the rejection of the cake order was solely because of the message that violated their faith – it had nothing to do with Lee himself.

John Larkin, Northern Ireland’s attorney general, backed the McArthurs. He said they should not be forced to endorse a message with which they disagree.

Officials with the Christian Institute, which took part in the fight on behalf of the family, have reported that Larkin also has the option of seeking higher court review, but that was on hold pending the family’s decision.

Simon Calvert, of the Institute, said the family’s representatives had asked the Court of Appeal whether there was any further appeal route available.

Read more at WND

Why Is That?

You may be asking, what does each of these separate incidents have in common?

Well, I think that the following comment thread over at WND explains it quite well:

Tatiana Covington

And this is all about a cake?

nomark to Tatiana Covington

No.  It has nothing to do with a cake.  It has to do with freedom of religion, freedom of speech and the right of religious conscience.

aurora9

I had once seen a video on my computer of a gay person who wanted to order a cake, with a gay inscription, at a muslim bakery.  The owner had directed him to a different bakery but was not prosecuted for it.  There is nothing fair about globalism and they lean in favor of Islam, as many of us have already witnessed!

nomark to aurora9

The reason for this is Christianity threatens globalism because it puts God first, family second and the state third.  That undermines them.  The reason globalists not only “tolerate” Muslims but in fact encourage them, is the globalists see Islam kinder spirit and global government is using Islam to destroy Christianity.  The globalist adhere to the tenant “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” and so embrace Islam (for now).

Also you can see how they have tried to associate radical Islam with all religions.  It didn’t work, in fact it back-fired, but that was the plan.

Recall HiLIARy Clinton stating that

“And deep-seated cultural codes and religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.”

 

Go listen to the video where you can listen and watch her state this!

I STILL thank God every day that she lost the election!

The question, “Why Is That?” has now been answered.

Hat tip for graphic: The Common Sense Show

Update.  Since the graphic is blurry and difficult to read, here is what is written.

Progressive, Socialist, Globalism:

• Radical Socialist Globalism
• Increase Taxes/Regulations
• Economy/Jobs Collapse
• No Wall/ More Illegals/Refugees
• Amnesty in First 100 Days
• Domestic Terrorist Embeds
• More Expensive Obamacare
• Pro-Trans Pacific Partnership
• Debt:  20+ Trillion Near Default
• Email, Benghazi Scandals

*******

American Nationalism:

• Capitalism
• Reduce Taxes/Regulations
• Economy/ Jobs Explode
• Build Wall/ No Illegals/Refugees
• No Amnesty/No Free Ride
• Terrorists Destroyed
• Repeal Obamacare
• Anti-Trans Pacific Partnership
• Debt Eliminated
• No Scandals

 

Hat tips:

Fellowship of the Minds

Kingsjester’s blog

Hat tips to all additional links!

“Phony News” or Targeted Censorship?

When I heard 0bama tell people to watch out for “phony news,” it occurred to me that his comment was most likely stated in order to put forth a lying, fake meme of some sort in order to try and protect the failed policies of his terrible presidency of 8 years and the Democrat’s failed candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

But I was curious to find out what, exactly, he was referring to in his comments.  My guess is that it certainly wasn’t the pandering, chortling, pro-Hillary mantra that the media-of-mass-deception spewed throughout the election process.  Nope!  He was all for that fake news scenario.   So what was he referring to?

Could he have meant his comment to be an attempt to cause people to ignore the Wikileaks documents that exposed the cheating of the Hillary campaign and all of the other bad news that was exposed about the far leftist lunatics?  What about the YouTube videos that exposed Hillary’s health problems?

Was he referring to the conservative, social media (like blogs), certain YouTube channels and memes that exposed Clinton Foundation and Democrat corruption on Twitter?

Was he referring to James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas videos that showed the stench of corruption and cheating going on in the Hillary campaign by Democrat election operatives?

What was it?

Ah!  Perhaps the following article explains it!

Vox.com: Facebook is full of fake news stories. On Election Day, don’t fall for them.

Notice that the one-sided article (obviously pro-Hillary) states things like this:

And that’s the biggest thing to keep in mind on Election Day. Facebook’s enormous reach means that lies and distortions — regardless of whether they come from GOP dirty tricksters, partisan journalists, paid trolls in Russia, or money-seeking entrepreneurs in Macedonia — can genuinely impact the outcome of the campaign. Be careful with what you read, be careful with what you retweet, and be careful with what you share on Facebook. There are bad actors out there hoping to mess with our election. Don’t make it easier for them.

Hmmm…so where in that statement do we read, “Dem dirty tricksters?” Answer: NOT THERE!

Well, WND is on the case and reveals exactly where this meme came from!

WND.com: Meet Leftist Prof Who Wrote “Hit List” of “Fake” News Sites.

Excerpt:

Zimdars has not responded to WND’s request for clarification on her expertise or criteria for deciding which news sources to include on her list. WND asked Merrimack College President Christopher Hopey if he stands by Zimdars’ decision to publish the list and use it as teaching material for her classes. However. Merrimack Vice President of Communications Jim Chiavelli replied, “Thanks for your question to the president about professor Zimdars pedagogy. The college has no comment for this story.”

Concerned individuals may contact Melissa Zimdars and Merrimack College President Christopher Hopey.

[Note from Christine:  Zimdars and Hopey?  One would think that these are phony names if their true existence wasn’t actually revealed and verified!]

In response to the list, PJ Media’s Stephen Kruzier wrote “it’s no surprise that a college professor compiled this list; what’s galling is that the Los Angeles Times ‘reported’ on it without mentioning that it’s complete garbage.”

Sean Hannity’s website warned that Zimdar’s list includes “mainstream conservative sources” and “is giving us insight into just what kind of websites the left plans on targeting for censorship.”

Moral of the story.  They have been exposed and found out because of the true journalism of conservative websites and everyday journalists who brought forth the truth during the 2016 Election!

Lying is sin.  People can make mistakes and unfortunately (or even unknowingly at the time), put forth a lie as truth.  Thank God there is forgiveness for all sins through repentance and faith in Christ.

Col 3:9

Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,

Col 3:10

and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

Jesus had very strong words about people who deliberately and viciously lie; and just who the “father of lies” is:

Jhn 8:44

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

The second half of this Bible verse tells the truth of the matter:

Num 32:23

“But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out.

Read more at WND

Hat tips to all links.

*******

Update!

Wow!!! Just WOW!!! Daniel Greenfield just NAILS IT in his latest post over at Sultan Knish!

You Are Being Lied To.

I have been a fan of his writings for some time now. Dear readers, please click on the link above to go over and read his latest post!

Excerpt:

Media schizophrenia.

Every quantum leap in mass communications also made possible a vast improvement in propaganda techniques. Nazi and Soviet propaganda looks as crude to us as a Babbage calculating machine. Virtual reality isn’t something that’s coming. It’s here. It’s been here for a while. The potent combination of media budgets and crowdsourced social media distribution has allowed for a previously unparalleled level of propaganda that creates and inhabits its own virtual reality.

There’s a name for that sort of thing. Schizophrenia.

What happens when the schizophrenic media reality collapses when it comes into too sharp of a conflict with reality is the same behavior that schizophrenics exhibit when their perceptions of the world conflict with the real world.

The people venting and rioting and screaming were living in a cozy reality. Everyone in that progressive reality understood that history was on their side, that the majority was with them and that the right was a decaying mass of racists and corporations soon to be swept away by the tide of change.

But this wasn’t reality. It was a carefully constructed narrative that fooled even the people who were building it. It was a virtual world overlaid over the real world. Its narratives were so integrated with the real world that it seemed as if it were real. There were stories and polls. Everyone in their social media bubble, except a few crazy uncles agreed with them. All the celebrities were on board.

And then the holodeck got switched off.

Yes!  The holodeck got switched off during the Election of 2016!!!

The Increase of Intolerance

The Increase of Intolerance

America was once a place where Christians were free to worship and live according to their consciences.

OVERVIEW of CHAPTER 3*

In fact, our country was built upon the principles of religious tolerance, individual liberty, and the right to dissent. In our founding documents, the source of these rights and freedoms is clearly acknowledged as God, not the government. Yet, the moral sea change we have experienced in the past century has so turned our culture on its head that to exercise those rights and freedoms means that a Christian risks marginalization, repression, and even outright persecution.

In the media, those who adhere to Christian values are portrayed as bigoted and backward, anti-woman and anti-gay, willfully ignorant and woefully out of touch. Government mandates seek to force Christians to act against their consciences and support practices the Bible calls sin. People are dragged to court for praying in schools or posting about their personal religious beliefs on their own private social media accounts. Jobs are lost, businesses are bankrupted, relationships are severed.

How are American Christians responding? Often with anger, bitterness, and withdrawal from the public square.

But how did the first Christians respond to persecution? When believers were being flogged, stoned, burned alive, and thrown to wild beasts in the arena, were they surprised? Incensed? Litigious? What about the millions of believers all across the globe today who suffer daily humiliation and violence as a result of their faith? What do they know about oppression that American Christians have yet to learn?

The Increase of Intolerance gives us biblical insight about what Jesus meant when He advised His would-be followers to count the cost before taking up their crosses. We’ll discover what suffering has to teach us about ourselves and our God. And we will be confronted with the unsettling question: Will I have the courage to stand against the persecution that is coming?

This message was also intended to encourage God’s chosen people while they were captives in Babylon. God wanted to show them that there was much more to their future than they could see.

It was God, not Nebuchadnezzar, who held the key to their future and the future of all humankind.

* Excerpt from: People Are Asking…Is This the End?

Jesus told us what to expect when we confess our sins,  repent at the foot of the Cross, and invite Him to dwell in our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit.

He told us that when we are born again in Him, we are “not of this world” any longer. He warned us that we would be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” He told us that we would be reviled and persecuted. He told us that they will “say all kind of evil against” us…FALSELY…for His sake. He told us that we will be blessed, because our REAL home is in the kingdom of heaven!

Mat 5:10

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:11

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.

 

Mat 5:12

“Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Mat 5:13

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

Mat 5:14

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Mat 5:15

“Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Mat 5:16

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Hat tips: DavidJeremiah.org, Blue Letter Bible, and graphics links.

The Power of Prayer

It is certainly funny – not the “ha ha” kind of funny, but the kind that means:

3. warranting suspicion; deceitful; underhanded:
We thought there was something funny about those extra charges.

and

5. curious; strange; peculiar; odd:
Her speech has a funny twang.

Read these articles:

TODD STARNES
School threatens to fire praying football coach

• FLASHBACK: Football coach says he will defy school’s prayer ban
• STARNES: High school quarterback penalized for thanking God

Excerpt from first link:

For years the former Marine combat veteran would walk alone to the 50-yard line and offer a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing after football games. He drew inspiration for his post-game prayers from “Facing the Giants”, a popular faith-based film. Over the years, players and coaches from both teams would join him — on their own volition. 

On Sept. 27th [Superintendent Aaron] Leavell fired off a letter to the coach warning him to cease and desist. 

“Your talks with students may not include religious expression, including prayer,” he wrote. “They must remain entirely secular in nature, so as to avoid alienation of any team member.”

In his most recent letter, Leveall said the school district would be glad to provide a place for Coach Joe to pray — so long as it was in private — “not observable to students or the public.”

“For example, a private location within the school building, athletic facility or press box could be made available to you for brief religious exercise before and after games,” Superintendent Leavell wrote. 

To be clear, Coach Joe is forbidden from bowing his head, taking a knee or doing anything that might remotely be construed as religious.

“While on duty for the District as an assistant coach, you may not engage in demonstrative religious activity, readily observable to (of not intended to be observed by) students and the attending public,” the superintendent added.

That means he’s not even allowed to bow his head behind the bleachers where the kids are smoking pot. 

Liberty Institute, the nation’s largest law firm specializing in religious liberty cases, is preparing to initiate legal proceedings against the school district — accusing them of religious discrimination.

“They’ve already punished Coach Joe by denying his request for religious accommodation,” attorney Hiram Sasser told me. “Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, they’ve already violated his civil rights.”

Superintendent Leavell stressed in his letter that the district does not prohibit prayer or other religious exercises by its employees.

“However, it must prohibit any conduct by employees that would serve as District endorsement of religion,” he said. 

Sasser said the district’s argument is outrageous. 

“What they are saying is he cannot pray by himself, he cannot simply take a knee at the 50-yard-line,” Sasser said. “That’s like telling a coach he can’t wear a yarmulke if he’s Jewish, he can’t wear a turban if he’s a Sikh, he can’t pray to Mecca if he’s a Muslim, he can’t wear a cross necklace if he’s a Christian.”

Late last week State Superintendent Randy Dorn released a statement backing the school district.

“It’s unfortunate when the actions of one employee affect an entire district,” Dorn said.

As if a football coach who prays for his team is doing engaged in some sort of criminal enterprise. 

Dorn went on to suggest that teachers like Coach Joe are not good role models. 

“School staff exercising their right to silently pray in private on their own is fine. But leading a prayer isn’t,” he said. “School officials are role models; leading a prayer might put a student in an awkward position, even if the prayer is voluntary. For students who don’t share the official’s faith, players, the official’s public expression of faith can seem exclusionary or even distressing.”

For the record, Coach Joe never invited anyone to pray with him — especially students. They chose to participate by their own free will. 

Sasser said the state superintendent does have a point – there are people in the state of Washington who feel disenfranchised — Christians.

“When they find out a coach can’t even silently pray at the 50-yard-line, there’s no greater message of hostility than that,” Sasser told me. “This is not a school being neutral. This is a school being hostile to religion – and we are going to hold them accountable.”

Provided Coach Joe still has a job on Friday night, he plans to do what he’s done after every other football game. 

“I’m going to keep on praying,” he said.

Good for this coach!  He is willing to STAND UP for his First Amendment rights which includes freedom of religion, freedom of association, and freedom of speech!

It’s “funny” [see above definitions] how individuals like Aaron Leavell, who is obviously an advocate for secularism, deems voluntary prayer by a coach, his team, and teammates from the opponents (no less!) as “exclusionary” and/or “distressing.”  Whether or not Aaron Leavell believes in prayer, it sure seems as though he thinks that prayer is powerful enough to cause the angst of non-believers  like him, and thus make a demand for its exclusion!

UPDATE:

VIDEO: School threatens to fire praying football coach.

Hat tip: Fox News Channel

The First Amendment guarantees our freedom to practice our faith, and just because she is a public official, I don’t know of any law that says she loses that freedom – Pastor Tom James

Did you read that graphic?  The Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Where did the Extreme Court get the right to claim that same-sex “marriage” can be made a law by 5 unelected lawyers?

OK.  Maybe you have come to this blog thinking that allowing a made-up-out-of-thin-air “right” to same-sex “marriage” could not possibly hurt anyone?  Well, think again!  Regardless of the way that it was improperly and lawlessly imposed upon all 50 states (remember that at least 35 states had constituents who VOTED to ban same-sex “marriage” – which were all whisked away by the whims of 5 pro-homosexual activists on the Extreme Court) this disastrous decision has placed those who love God, His written Word the Bible, and His Living Word Jesus Christ all in the crosshairs of being destroyed by the radical homosexual agenda!

Don’t believe that this is true and a FACT?  Read all the blog posts where I shared what destroying the true definition of marriage would lead to!

For years, at this WordPress Talk Wisdom blog and previously at my former Talk Wisdom blog, I have been sounding the alarm and warning what would happen to people of faith  (particularly born-again Bible-based Christian believers) if, and when, the fraudulent same-sex “marriage” activists got their way via the courts to change the true, God given definition and over 2,000 year old existence of marriage as being the union of one man and one woman.

Well, we are now seeing the harmful ramifications of that awful, defiant, unlawful, and unconstitutional Extreme Court decision by five unelected lawyers back in June.   It has not only led to Christian bakers, florists, marriage venue owners, etc. being taken to court and fined; but now a pro-homosexual judge decided to throw a Kentucky clerk into jail because she had the nerve to stand up for God and her deeply held Christian beliefs in regards to not issuing same-sex marriage licenses because doing so would go against her religious convictions.

There are many articles out there, but the following one is one of the best that I have read in a long time!  I have included the article (below) in its entirety.

Jesus told us that the closer we get to the end times, the more that we would see the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. He warned us that it would be as in the Days of Noah, and as in the Days of Lot.

Such days are upon us right now!

Look up, for your redemption is nigh…

In Christ,

~ Christine

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Cruz rips federal judge’s ‘tyranny’ in clerk’s case.

‘Where is the call for President Obama to resign for ignoring and defying our immigration laws’

GOP president hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz, on Thursday accused U.S. District Judge David Bunning of “judicial tyranny” for jailing a Kentucky county clerk who refused to violate her Christian faith and issue licenses to same-sex couples.

He said those who are calling for her removal from office – she can’t be fired, she can only be impeached if she chooses not to quit – are hypocrites.

“Where is the call for President Obama to resign for ignoring and defying our immigration laws, our welfare reform laws, and even his own Obamacare?” Cruz said. “When the mayor of San Francisco and President Obama resign, then we can talk about Kim Davis.

“Those who are persecuting Kim Davis believe that Christians should not serve in public office. That is the consequence of their position. Or, if Christians do serve in public office, they must disregard their religious faith – or be sent to jail,” he continued. “Kim Davis should not be in jail. We are a country founded on Judeo-Christian values, founded by those fleeing religious oppression and seeking a land where we could worship God and live according to our faith, without being imprisoned for doing so.

“I call upon every believer, every constitutionalist, every lover of liberty to stand with Kim Davis. Stop the persecution now.”

Bunning summoned Rowan County clerk Kim Davis to his courtroom on Thursday after she defied his order to violate her faith and issue licenses to same-sex couples.

Bunning, who previously has ruled in favor of partial-birth abortion and homosexual clubs for high schoolers, said a fine simply wasn’t enough punishment for her and ordered her to jail until she agrees to issue the licenses.

Then he ordered her assistants to either issue the licenses or join her in jail. Five of the six agreed, several under protest.

Bunning later tried to resolve the case by telling Davis to come back to his courtroom and she could go if she agreed not to interfere with her deputies’ actions, according to reports.

She refused.

Cruz said: “Today, judicial lawlessness crossed into judicial tyranny. Today, for the first time ever, the government arrested a Christian woman for living according to her faith. This is wrong. This is not America.

“I stand with Kim Davis. Unequivocally. I stand with every American that the Obama administration is trying to force to choose between honoring his or her faith or complying with a lawless court decision,” he said. “In dissent, Chief Justice Roberts rightly observed that the court’s marriage decision has nothing to do with the Constitution. Justice Scalia observed that the court’s decision was so contrary to law that state and local officials would choose to defy it.

“For every politician – Democrat and Republican – who is tut-tutting that Davis must resign, they are defending a hypocritical standard. Where is the call for the mayor of San Francisco to resign for creating a sanctuary city – resulting in the murder of American citizens by criminal illegal aliens welcomed by his lawlessness?”

Paul Kengor, author of “Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left Has Sabotaged Family and Marriage,  today “it’s the county clerk, tomorrow it will be the florist, the baker, the photographer, the pastor, and on and on,” warned

“Get ready for the persecution coming near you – all, of course, in the name of ‘love’ and ‘tolerance,’” he said. “This has only just begun.”

Kengor was not surprised by the jailing. He said a moment like this became inevitable as soon as Anthony Kennedy and four other Supreme Court justices declared “same-sex marriage” a constitutional right in June.

“For the apostles of tolerance and diversity, this is what their ‘tolerance’ and ‘diversity’ actually look like in practice,” Kengor told WND. “It is intolerance. It is coercion. It is pickets, boycotts, fines, penalties, demonization, and, in some cases, incarceration. Welcome to the Left’s new America, where those who disagree with the Left’s ongoing invention of new ‘rights’ are penalized by the state.”

Michael Brown, a WND columnist, said the case exemplifies why he wrote his new book “Outlasting the Gay Revolution.”

“There will be a price to pay, but it is only as we stand firm that change will come,” Brown told WND. “Kim Davis is paying a very real price now.”

Prior to her court appearance, Davis told Fox News’ Todd Starnes she was prepared to go to jail for her beliefs, saying, “This is a fight worth fighting.”

She actually stopped issuing any marriage licenses after the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision so she would not be discriminating against any group.

“This is why the very first principle in the book is ‘Never Compromise Your Convictions’ and the fourth principle is ‘Refuse to Redefine Marriage,’” Brown said. “This is the great moral, cultural, and spiritual test of our generation. Will we do what is right in God’s sight – which is in the ultimate best interests of our society – or will we cave in and capitulate?”

Kengor warned that progressives will be ruthless on this matter.

“Be prepared for something even more shocking from the Left – the lack of apologies and regrets,” he said. “Liberals will defend and even applaud the sight of this woman being hauled off to jail.”

Indeed, hundreds of people outside the courthouse chanted, “Love won! Love won!”

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee tweeted his support for Davis: “Kim Davis in federal custody removes all doubts about the criminalization of Christianity in this country. We must defend #ReligiousLiberty!” he said.

Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage said the fault rests with the Supreme Court, which created the conflict between the enumerated constitutional right of free religious exercise and the newly created “same-sex marriage” right.

“It is outrageous to jail Kim Davis because she does not want to personally be part of certifying same-sex ‘marriages’ that violate her deeply held religious beliefs about the nature of marriage,” said Brown. “What this judge is saying is that now that the Supreme Court has illegitimately redefined marriage, every single person in government if not in the country must stand in salute and participate in the act. That is profoundly wrong and violates the spirit of federal law which provides that the government must seek ways to reasonably accommodate people’s religious views in the workplace.”

He said: “While Judge Bunning is the instrument of the inhumane punishing of Kim Davis, the authors of it are the five justices of the U.S. Supreme Court who illegitimately, without a shred of constitutional authority, redefined marriage without any regard to the profound implications their ruling would have on law-abiding, faithful Americans. With this ruling, the idea of religious freedom that is at the heart of our constitution has been eliminated when it comes to exercising beliefs about marriage. It’s a profound shredding of the constitution on the altar of gay activism.”

Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, said that Davis’ “predicament is the direct result of the lawlessness promoted by the Supreme Court of the United States itself with its unconstitutional Obergefell decision.”

“It’s flippant, and frankly insulting, treatment of religious liberty and Obergefell is a disgrace to that great institution.”

AL.com reported Davis’ lawyer, Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, said, “While she may be behind bars for now, Kim Davis is a free woman. Her conscience remains unshackled.”

Raw Story reported the White House expressed no concern for Davis or religious freedom, with spokesman Josh Earnest saying: “There’s a rule of law and the principle of the rule of law is central to our democracy. And it’s appropriate in this instance for a federal judge to determine the best way to enforce the law.”

A legislative leader in Kentucky had asked the judge to delay the case until lawmakers could provide a resolution, but Bunning refused. He also refused, according to Davis’ supporters, to provider her due process.

WBKO in Bowling Green quoted one pastor raising a question that Bunning failed to address.

Tom James of Eastwood Baptist Church told the station: “The Supreme Court didn’t make a law, they just interpreted the one that was already on the books. … The First Amendment guarantees our freedom to practice our faith, and just because she is a public official, I don’t know of any law that says she loses that freedom.”

Another pastor criticized her for not following the ruling in her position as county clerk. However, “same-sex marriage” was not the law when Davis was elected.

Hat tip:

WND

Perfect Example of “The New Totalitarians”

When actress Candace Cameron Bure defended the Christian owners of an Oregon bakery who refused to make a cake for a gay wedding on “The View” Tuesday, an apparent audible gasp from one of the co-hosts immediately followed.

Discussing the divisive case, the former “Full House” star revealed she doesn’t think what the bakery did amounts to “discrimination.” It quickly became clear she was outnumbered on the issue.

“This is about freedom of association, it’s about constitutional rights, it’s about First Amendment rights,” she added. “We do have the right to still choose who we associate with.”

Bure argued the owners of Sweet Cakes By Melissa didn’t refuse to bake the cake simply because the customers were lesbians. In fact, she said, “they baked cakes for them previously.”

“They had a problem with the actual ceremony because that, the ceremony, is what conflicted with their religious beliefs,” Bure said.

Co-host Raven-Symone strong disagreed with the actress, claiming the bakery discriminated against the couple based on their “sexual orientation” and likened the case to past discrimination of black people. The bakery has been fined $135,000 and hit with a gag order for refusing to bake the cake.

Bure ended her argument by saying, “Here’s the other thing that I really wish we could do as a society, as a culture, as a country, is to respect that we have opposing views.”

[Note: If video doesn’t play here, go to Youtube]:

Candace Cameron Bure & Raven Symone on Lesbian Couple’s Wedding Cake

Hat Tip: The Blaze

*******

Copy of previous post that explains why “the majority” on the leftist leaning panel at “The View” exhibited The New Totalitarian views that Tom Nichols, who is a professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College and adjunct professor in the Harvard Extension School, wrote about in his The Federalist essay entitled, “The New Totalitarians.”

 

I wasn’t planning on doing a post today, but after hearing Rush Limbaugh on the radio this morning, discussing “The New Totalitarians,” I decided that I needed to share the marvelous insight of Tom Nichols, who is a professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College and an adjunct professor in the Harvard Extension School.” He wrote this piece at the website called The Federalist and it’s titled “The New Totalitarians Are Here.”

Excerpts:

He said, “There’s a basic difference in the traditions of political science between ‘authoritarians’ and ‘totalitaritarians.

Simply put, authoritarians merely want obedience,” they just want you to agree with them, “while totalitarians … want obedience and conversion. Authoritarians are a dime a dozen.” Your average boss is an authoritarian. “Totalitarians are rare.

These are the people who have a plan, who think they see the future more clearly than you or who are convinced they grasp reality in a way that you do not. They don’t serve themselves — or, they don’t serve themselves exclusively — they serve History, or The People, or The Idea, or some other ideological totem that justifies their actions.”

There’s always some grand cause justifying their totalitarianism.

“They want obedience, of course. But even more, they want their rule, and their belief system, to be accepted and self-sustaining. And the only way to achieve that is to create a new society of people who share those beliefs, even if it means bludgeoning every last citizen into enlightenment. That’s what makes totalitarians different and more dangerous: they are ‘totalistic’ in the sense that they demand a complete reorientation of the individual to the State and its ideological ends.

Nichols writes, “Americans Are Getting Too Comfortable With Thought Control. I’ve gone down this road of literary and academic exposition –” meaning he’s written this piece and all those other things. “– because I fear an increasing number of my fellow Americans are, at heart, becoming totalitarians.

[I] mean that ordinary people, and not a few opinion and thought leaders, are adopting the same insane belief that human minds can be molded and shaped and made to think in new ways by sheer force.

[Now], you remember George Takei (imitating Thomas), “Clarence Thomas is just a clown in black face. He has no business being on the Supreme Court.” How many times have I pointed out no matter how much the left wins, they’re not happy. No matter what they get, they’re never happy. No matter what they get, they’re never satisfied. The reason is that there’s always dissent. They’re going to be miserable as long as there are people who disagree. Just the fact that there is disagreement depresses them, angers them, outrages them. That is intolerable. That’s what totalitarianism is.

It’s not enough that Clarence Thomas’s side was defeated in that gay marriage case or in the Obamacare case. No. What mattered was that he dared write his disagreement. And what mattered was his disagreement it was an affront to what we think. How dare he? And so Clarence Thomas is going to be punished and everybody like him is going to be punished until they see the light and stop disagreeing with us. You will support gay marriage some day and you will love it. And furthermore you’re going to end up thinking that it is superior to traditional marriage. And if you don’t, we are going to continue coming after you.

It doesn’t matter what you think. If it disagrees with us, you’re finished. They make it plain in all of these very public efforts they make of destroying people. The new totalitarian is terrifying because it means that for a fair number of people in what’s supposed to be a democracy, winning simply isn’t enough. They are not really trying to capture something as pedestrian as political equality nor are they satisfied that if they get it. They’re not really seeking a win in the courts or a legal solution. Those are all just merit badges to be collected along the way to a more important goal and that is you will agree and you will love them and you will believe them and you will support them and you will recant your dissent. And we’re going to keep pounding you until you do, and that is what is happening.

*******

Explains a lot…doesn’t it? George Orwell’s “1984” was written like a prophecy! And we are living in such times right now!

It means that the people on the Left taking bakers to court, de-Africanizing Justice Thomas, and making Young an accomplice to rape will not be satisfied with winning. For the new totalitarians, prevailing in the courts or at the ballot boxes isn’t enough if there’s still a suspicion that anyone, anywhere, might still be committing thought crime.

Tom Nichol’s subtitle tells it all in one sentence!

Totalitarians want their rule, and their belief system, to be accepted and self-sustaining – even if it takes bludgeoning every last citizen who disagrees.

Hat tips:

Rush Limbaugh.com

The Federalist.com

In Canada, Trinity Western University’s law school loses accreditation

Wintery Knight has a post up that informs us that In Canada, Trinity Western University’s Law School Loses Accreditation due to a recent ruling that obviously elevates homosexual “marriage” over and above religious liberty.

Canada legalized homosexual “marriage” 10 years ago. See what happens to not only natural marriage, but also religious liberty when civil homosexual “rights” are elevated above and beyond religious rights?

God provides the truth about marriage:

Be sure to go the Wintery Knight link above and hear what one Jewish Canadian journalist stated in a 5 minute video as well as what a Catholic Canadian journalist had to say!

Maybe you think that won’t happen here? Think again.

Excerpt:

In Canada, gay rights trump religious liberty rights.

But Canada is a different country, would the Democrats really be able to go after Christian schools the same way here?

This article from Campus Reform says yes.

Excerpt:

The recent Supreme Court opinion threatens the operations of religious colleges, according to a constitutional lawyer.

“If same-sex marriage is really the law of the land, if it’s really constitutionally required, isn’t there a risk that accrediting bodies are going to start pressuring religious colleges to recognize same-sex marriages for all purposes on their campuses as a condition of accreditation?” constitutional lawyer Gene Schaerr rhetorically asked Tuesday in his analysis of Obergefell v Hodges.

By the way, I don’t need to mention that many Christians in Canada voted for the bigger government over the last two decades, and that’s conservative Christianity is almost dead there. Why would “Christians” vote to expand for bigger secular government? Because Christians in Canada thought that it was the government’s job to take care of poverty and to give everyone “free health care”. When you ask a secular government to control more and more of our lives, this is what you get. Let me be clear: a “Christian” who favors bigger government favors the end of Christianity. Period. That clear enough for you?

 

Of course, praying about this monumental change in our nation’s culture should be the first thing that Christians should do about it. But maybe…just maybe some readers will now consider what I had suggested in my previous post?

 

Make Calls to Rehear the Marriage Case.

 

Hat tip:
Wintery Knight

Make Calls to Rehear The Marriage Case!

Janet Porter of Faith 2 Action Ministries is encouraging all Americans who believe that natural marriage is God given (has always been and should continue to be only the union of one man and one woman) to make phone calls to Attorney General Mike DeWine (800-282-0515 ) and ask to have the case reheard.

Excerpt:

Rehear the Case

July 06, 2015

 

Are you upset about what the Supreme Court did to marriage? Now, there’s something you can do about it.

We can ask the court to rehear the case because two justices violated the federal law which states, “Any justice… of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
[ 28 U.S. Code § 455]

Justices Kagan and Ginsburg both officiated homosexual so-called weddings, which disqualifies them from ruling on the case.

Ask Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine to file a motion for rehearing the marriage case at: 800-282-0515 because it was illegally rendered. Ask him to call for a motion for rehearing the case.

Does THIS look like impartiality to you?

“Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality may reasonably be questioned.”

–28 US code #455 – Disqualification of justice, judge or magistrate judge

Supreme Court Rule 44 allows a party to file a motion for rehearing within 25 days of the June 26 hearing. That means if Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine files a motion before July 29th, the case can be reheard–without Justices Ginsburg and Kagan.

The dissenting justices didn’t want to risk antagonizing the Justices before the April oral argument, but there is no reason to ignore this now. If you read the dissenting opinions, they are scathing–Justice Scalia calls the decision a “threat to American Democracy”–and he is right. Now there is something you can do about it.

Call the number below with this message:

Please file a motion for rehearing the marriage ruling because Justices Ginsburg and Kagan violated Federal law by not recusing themselves.

Attorney General Mike DeWine: 800-282-0515

*******

It only takes four Justices to accept a case.

We HAVE the Four:

Roberts:  “Just who do we think we are?”  “The Majority’s decision is an act of the will, not legal judgment.  The right it announces has no basis in the Constitution or the Court’s precedents.”

Scalia:  “A system of government that makes the People subordinate to a committee of nine unelected lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy…Thus, when the rights of persons are violated, the Constitution requires redress by the courts.

Thomas:  “…to allow the policy question of same-sex marriage to be considered and resolved by a select, patrician, highly unrepresentative panel of nine is to violate a principle even more fundamental than no taxation without representation:  no social transformation without representation.”

Alito:  “I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools.

Five people should not be able to take away the votes of 50 million Americans.

The Motion for Rehearing could literally protect the voter in nearly 40 states, our state constitutions, the institution of marriage, and our Freedom of Speech and Religion.

Think that is worth a call to Attorney General DeWine?  800-282-0515.

 

Never give up! Please help in this endeavor by sharing it everywhere on social media!

Thank you,

Christine

Hat tip: Faith 2 Action.org

The Betrayal Papers

be-tray
verb (used with object)
1.
to deliver or expose to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty:
Benedict Arnold betrayed his country.
2.
to be unfaithful in guarding, maintaining, or fulfilling:
to betray a trust.
3.
to disappoint the hopes or expectations of; be disloyal to:
to betray one’s friends.
4.
to reveal or disclose in violation of confidence:
to betray a secret.
5.
to reveal unconsciously (something one would preferably conceal):
Her nervousness betrays her insecurity.
6.
to show or exhibit; reveal; disclose:
an unfeeling remark that betrays his lack of concern.
7.
to deceive, misguide, or corrupt:
a young lawyer betrayed by political ambitions into irreparable folly.
Source: dictionary.com

 

I found the following video link in the comment section of another blog.  It is only Part 5 of 6, but I think even just this one video helps support what Joe at Oil For Your Lamp claims in his post that when we “CONNECT THE DOTS: it’s not really about health care or ‘equal rights’ for homosexuals.”  The true goal is to destroy the freedoms we have enjoyed since the founding of our nation. When readers view the video, you will all be reminded of what 0bama said while campaigning back in 2007. “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” We now have seen 6 1/2 years of what type of “transformation” he was referring to.

Regarding the terms “fundamental transformation” and love of country, someone once quipped (paraphrased here):

If you love your wife, you are certainly not out to “fundamentally transform” her.

So, why would someone running for president want to fundamentally transform the country that he supposedly loves? Answer: he wouldn’t!

Through the systematic (and planned) destruction of our U.S. Constitutional rights as free people; the programmed re-gressives in charge right now (influenced by socialism, communism, tyranny, and totalitarianism-type governments of the past) will continue to utilize every tactic possible in order to undermine our freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of association rights.

Of course there is no doubt that they would also love to eliminate the Second Amendment – our right to bear arms.  That is what fascist Hitler did in Germany back in the 1940’s and many communist dictators did in order to oppress, denigrate, and even kill millions of people in their countries as well as in other countries that they wanted to take over.

I know that it might be difficult for some people to grasp or even believe this, but our once great nation is filled with evil-thinking people in government.  The ultimate goal of such tyrants (often masquerading as “progressives” to fool the minions),  is to eliminate such rights that were once guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.

 

The Betrayal Papers: Part V – Who is Barack Hussein Obama?

Watch the video. You will see even more of the “connect the dots” information that will reiterate the truth about what Joe wrote concerning history and the events of the past week in his blog post.

At this point, I have only viewed the one video. But just that one video was enough to convince me, once again, that Joe was spot on in his “connect the dots” evaluation post!

Here is a link to the transcription of the video at:

The American Report: Betrayal Papers: Part V – Who is Barack Hussein Obama?

There are many links within the post to view that further explain the content of both the video and the transcribed post of the video.

I would like to say “happy viewing” of the video or “happy reading” of the transcript, but the information is so devastating that I can’t even joke about it.

Of course, there will be the naysayers with their forever 0bamaBorgBot blinders on who will NEVER believe anything negative about this puppet-man and his group of evil puppeteers (Soros, Jarrett, etc.). They will likely pooh-pooh the whole thing and continue to live in their O-bubble socialist utopia.

However, it is my hope and prayer that perhaps others who happen to read this post, view the video, and read the transcript will have their eyes opened to see, hear, and then speak up about the tyranny that we are now living under!

It is my prayer that the post at Oil For Your Lamp, the video at You Tube: The Betrayal Papers: Part V – Who is Barack Hussein Obama?, and the transcript at American Report will spread far and wide in order for people to see that much of the dangers and fears that many conservatives warned about before 0bama even got into office, as well as the subsequent deceptions and evil that this puppet and his puppeteers have wreaked upon America – have now come to fruition.  Add on all of the BADministration scandals and we see the immense harm being done to our nation, the American people, and around the world.

Note this comment from American Report:

Why No Impeachment? says:

June 21, 2015 at 2:10 am

There is no impeachment of Obama because those who must impeach him, (Congress), are complicit in the “biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people”, (Thank you for that quote, Clint Eastwood). A known identity fraud con-artist was allowed and assisted in usurping the presidency and those complicit, Congress, leadership especially, and the media have a goal they believe they absolutely must accomplish which is to get “Obama” across the finish line in 2017 officially considered a legitimate president. Impeachment, whatever the stated reason, would create an uncontrollable worldwide discussion of, “Who is Barack Hussein Obama?”, which those involved in the biggest fraud in history will do anything to prevent…….hence, no impeachment, no matter what. Obama and his regime know he will not be impeached, (and Boehner has came right out and said that several times), and the Obama regime continues to do whatever they want without fear of the truth behind The Obama Fraud being acted on by Congress or the Courts or, for the most part, the media.

To save face, and much more, those involved must continue the charade of legitimacy no matter how obvious it becomes, and that is what has been going on since Obama was sworn in back in 2009.

Hat tips to all links.