Lee Ardis

‘Crude Violation’: NATO Intercepts Russian Jets as Secretary General Affirms Shoot-Down Doctrine

Lithuania has complained of a Russian incursion into its airspace of a pair of jets leaving Kaliningrad, the latest such violation in an apparently rising pace of events in recent weeks.

Two aircraft — a jet fighter and an aerial refuelling tanker jet — were intercepted by NATO Eurofighter Typhoons on the verge of Lithuanian airspace on Thursday. The interception comes amid discussion between NATO partners on how to deal with the rising pace of violations of the alliance’s airspace, including by manned jets and by drones.

Church Denomination Insists Numerous Verses In Scripture Are ‘Harmful To Women’

Sometimes I see a video that—even after everything I’ve seen over 50 years of ministry—still shocks me. And a recent video from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is one of those videos as an ELCA spokeswoman claims that numerous verses of Scripture are “harmful” to women and girls but, not to worry, we can just not take those verses literally!

Using wording from a 2019 church document, she says:

“The Christian tradition is both a challenge and a resource when it comes to addressing sexism. And, let me tell ya, it’s been a big challenge. . . . Biblical texts say things about women and girls that we now recognize as harmful.” (emphasis added)

‘Most Extensive Wave Of Persecution In Over Four Decades’: Dozens of Pastors Arrested By The Chinese Communist Party

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials on Friday evening arrested more than two dozen pastors across at least seven provinces who are part of the underground Zion Church network, extending what China Aid called “the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution against urban independent house churches in China in over four decades.” Details on both the charges and the total number of arrests remain thin, but one U.S.-based Zion Church pastor, Sean Long, said the pastors may be charged with “illegal dissemination of religious content via the internet.”

Say what? Student calls out textbook that describes Christians as ‘white supremacist’

University communities often, across the United States, essentially are communes of liberalism. Professors donate the vast majority of the political contributions they make to Democrats. Conservative students often are silenced. Conservative teachers largely cannot be found.

But now one student at the University of North Georgia says it’s gone further, with her assigned $100 textbook openly slamming Christians as “white supremacist.”

Kelbie Murphy, a senior, bought the assigned book for her course in International Public Relations.

Asteroid Threat Revives Ancient Prophecies as NASA Weighs Nuclear Option

Space agencies are developing a plan to use nuclear weapons against an asteroid that poses a threat to the Moon, potentially creating dangerous debris clouds that could threaten Earth’s satellite infrastructure for years.

Asteroid 2024 YR4, measuring 65 meters in diameter, currently has a 4% probability of impacting the Moon in December 2032. While the space rock poses minimal risk to Earth itself, a lunar collision could generate catastrophic debris exceeding 100 million kilograms that would endanger orbital satellite systems critical for communications, navigation, and scientific operations.

Report: Vatican Grants Muslim Plea for Dedicated Prayer Room

A dedicated prayer room for Muslims has reportedly been opened inside the 500-year-old Vatican Apostolic Library in Rome after a plea for the separate, carpeted space was made by visiting Islamic scholars.

The Catholic Herald reports Fr Giacomo Cardinali, Vice Prefect, said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that Muslim academics had requested an area in which to pray, and the library had agreed. “Some Muslim scholars have asked us for a room with a carpet for praying and we have given it to them,” he said.

‘We Need to Pray’: Expert Warns of China’s Escalating Crackdown on Christians

Hostility toward Christians in China is escalating, which experts say is a “coordinated wave of persecution” driven largely by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Last week, the CCP “arrested more than two dozen pastors across at least seven provinces who are part of the underground Zion Church network,” as reported by The Washington Stand. China Aid, a Christian international non-profit dedicated to supporting persecuted believers, condemned the arrests as “a direct assault on the fundamental human right of religious freedom and a stark reminder that the Chinese Communist Party remains determined to eradicate any form of independent civil faith community that does not submit to state control.”

The Emerging Problem of “AI Psychosis”

As more people turn to AI chatbots for emotional support and even as their therapists, a new and urgent concern is emerging at the intersection of AI and mental health: “AI psychosis” or “ChatGPT psychosis.”

This phenomenon, which is not a clinical diagnosis, has been increasingly reported in the media and on online forums like Reddit, describing cases in which AI models have amplified, validated, or even co-created psychotic symptoms with individuals. Most recently, there have been concerns that AI psychosis may be affecting an OpenAI investor.

Christian Law Firm Steps In After School Forces Students To Participate In ‘Witchcraft’ Lessons

Government school officials in Orange County, Florida, were subjecting captive students to lessons teaching sorcery and witchcraft — literally. The move sparked outrage among critics, and legal demands that West Orange High School stop the program immediately or at least give students the ability to opt out and promote Christianity.

According to news reports and a Christian non-profit law firm that got involved in the case, every Wednesday, students at the school were shown witchcraft programming across the school’s TV system as part of the mid-week morning announcements. There was no option to avoid the program.

Trump Calls Out Democrats For ‘Demonizing Law Enforcement’ After Deadly ICE Shooting

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump is calling on Democrats to end their demonization of law enforcement in the wake of a deadly shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Texas.

Twenty-nine-year-old Joshua John opened fire on an ICE facility in Dallas on Wednesday morning, killing two illegal immigrant detainees and injuring another, according to the Dallas Police Department. Authorities found “rounds” that contained messages that are “anti-ICE” near the shooter.