Lee Ardis

Biblical flooding in Saudi Arabia sees cars swept away after King prays for rain

King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud demanded that the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pray for rain after recent dry spells, but it appears that they prayed a little too hard

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been hit by biblical flooding after the country’s king prayed for rain.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud had called on the locals of Saudi Arabia to pray for rain earlier this week.

Due to a lack of rain in recent months, the King, who is also the custodian of the two holy mosques, told his people to “supplicate Allah almighty” and ask for “forgiveness and repentance”.

Read more and see video at www.dailystar.co.uk

Senate Advances Same-Sex Marriage Bill With Some GOP Support

A bill that would codify same-sex marriage protections into law passed a procedural vote with the support of 12 Republican senators on Wednesday, despite concerns that it would infringe on religious freedoms.

The Respect for Marriage Act would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that legally defined marriage as between one man and one woman, and permitted states to not recognize same-sex marriages from other states. The RMA would make it so that any “person acting under color of State law” must fully recognize a marriage between two people in another state. It also makes it so that the federal government must recognize marriages if they were valid in the state where the marriage took place.

The procedural vote passed 62 to 37. The Republican senators who voted to advance the bill were Roy Blunt (MO), Richard Burr (NC), Shelley Moore Capito (WV), Susan Collins (ME), Todd Young (IN), Joni Ernst (IA), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Rob Portman (OH), Mitt Romney (UT), Dan Sullivan (AK), and Thom Tillis (NC).

Greg Baylor, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, told The Daily Wire that “the original version of the bill created serious threats to religious liberty. The changes to the bill did virtually nothing to address those threats. The amendments to the bill that purport to protect religious liberty are mere window dressing.”

United Methodist Church body elects openly gay bishop in violation of its rules: ‘Inmates running the asylum’

The UMC Book of Discipline forbids ordaining ‘self-avowed practicing homosexuals’

A regional body of the United Methodist Church (UMC) voted to elect the denomination’s first openly gay Black bishop last week in violation of its rules prohibiting the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.”

The UMC Western Jurisdiction, which encompasses the western U.S. and Alaska, voted to promote Rev. Cedrick D. Bridgeforth of the California-Pacific Conference to the rank of bishop on Nov. 4 after Bridgeforth secured 73 votes out of the 93 cast. He needed 63 votes to win.

Bridgeforth, who is married to another man, said in remarks following his election that he was “grateful to God Almighty” and “to my husband, Christopher.”

“It’s in the church where I have found purpose, even when I felt like it was chewing me up and spitting me out, I still couldn’t let it go,” the new bishop said.

Sports Star Jailed 10 Months for ‘Transphobic’ Message that ‘God Created Adam and Eve’

One of the most legendary soccer players of his time received a jail sentence and a fine for posting “transphobic” social media messages citing the Bible’s creation account.

“God created Adam and Eve,” wrote retired Greek football legend Vassilis Tsiartas in the second of two Facebook posts opposing a 2017 law that would have lowered the age to legally change one’s gender to 15 and removed other legal barriers.

The 49-year-old initially responded by saying, “I hope that the first sex changes will be made to the children of those who voted for this abomination.” Members of Parliament may as well “legalize pedophiles and complete their crimes” against nature, he wrote.

While citing the Book of Genesis, the 18-year soccer standout explained his faith-based objection to extreme gender ideology and the redefinition of marriage. “Anyone can have his preferences whether he is a man or a woman, and I completely respect that. For me, however, a couple is only a man and a woman, the rest are just together. I’m not going to accept all the weddings, all the parades, and anything else they do as normal,” Tsiartas wrote. He said he had no time for anyone who claims “those who don’t agree are racists.”

Human “dignity,” he said, came from a higher power than mankind. “God created Adam and Eve. The rest [of gender identities] were manufactured for consumption,” he concluded.

Tsiartas received a 10-month suspended prison sentence and a suspended fine of 5,000 euros from the Single-Member Misdemeanor Court of Athens. The Transgender Support Association, which brought the lawsuit, called punishing his biblical views “particularly important for the transgender community.” Tsiartas plans to appeal the decision.

The ruling marks at least the second time a European court has ruled that biblical values violate the human rights of transgender individuals.

Gen Z more close-minded than parents, grandparents’ generations: ‘Young, illiberal progressives’

Generation Z is less open-minded and more intolerant than older generations, according to a recently released study by the left-leaning British media outlet Channel 4.

Defined as people aged 13-24, Gen Z were more likely to believe that people should be “canceled” for their views and held less acceptance of different opinions than older generations.

For its study, Channel 4 drew from a survey of 1,500 people, which was divided into cohorts of people aged 13-24 and people older than 25.

Channel 4 Chief Executive Alex Mahon noted in a speech on Tuesday about the study that it documented the rise of what she described as “young, illiberal progressives” (YIPs).

Maryland school district unveils LGBTQ book list that teaches words ‘intersex,’ ‘drag queen’ to pre-K students

MCPS recommends book that teaches ‘cisgender,’ ‘transgender’ to 7-year olds

Maryland’s wealthiest school district has unveiled a new LGBTQ-inclusive book list for elementary schools that teaches words like “intersex” and “drag queen” to children as young as 4.

A PowerPoint presentation by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) shows a list of LGBTQ+ books that will be provided for pre-K through fifth-grade classrooms this year. The presentation explains that the LGBTQ-inclusive reading list aims to “reduce stigmatization and marginalization of transgender and gender nonconforming students.”

“All students deserve to see themselves in their school and classroom, including students who identify as LGBTQ+ and come from LGBTQ+ headed families and have family members that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community,” the presentation states. “There are no planned explicit lessons related to gender and sexuality, but these books do mean that LGBTQ+ identities will be made visible. Inclusive curricula support a student’s ability to empathize, connect, and collaborate with a diverse group of peers, and encourage respect for all.”

‘400 seconds’ to Tel Aviv: Iranian media publishes Hebrew hypersonic missile threat

Iran’s Sobh-e-Sadegh newspaper published a threat in Hebrew on its front page on Monday, warning that a new Iranian hypersonic missile could reach Israel in 400 seconds.

“400 seconds: General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force, said that Iran has obtained technology for hypersonic missiles,” wrote the newspaper, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Pariyab also referenced a letter sent by Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the “father” of Iran’s missile program, to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, which referenced the acquisition of a “quick response super-fast missile.”

Bible’s Reliability Further Affirmed as King Hezekiah Inscription Deciphered

Israeli archaeology experts cite parallel passage in 2 Kings 20 and a new class of biblical artifacts.

A broken portion of an engraving on a limestone tablet the size of your palm (see photo below) is adding yet further confirmation to the biblical account and giving a new twist on how Israel’s kings saw themselves.

The partial inscription engraved in ancient Hebrew letters was originally reported in 2008, but was not deciphered until recently. The letters on the inscription are only fragments of words, with the rest of the letters having been broken off. When found, the artifact was near an ancient man-made pool together with pottery shards dating to the 8th century BC. However, at the time the Israel Antiquities Authority did not make a conclusive connection between the inscription, King Hezekiah and the pool.

Now two mainstream Israel archaeological experts, Gershon Galil and Eli Shukron, have concluded that the full inscription was:

“Hezekiah made the pool in Jerusalem.”

The parallel passage is found in 2 Kings 20:20, which reads:

“As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city…” (NKJ)

‘We Do Have National Security Concerns’: FBI Director Warns Chinese Communist Party Uses TikTok To Compromise American Privacy

FBI Director Christopher Wray told Homeland Security Committee House members Tuesday that the video-sharing app TikTok poses national security threats from the Chinese Communist Party.

Concerns from Wray and the FBI come off the heels of Federal Communications Commission officials urging the U.S. government to ban the app to protect American citizens’ private data, citing issues with controlling the information flow back to Beijing. TikTok officials denounced the federal agency’s accusations, saying FCC officials have no role in the confidential discussions with the U.S. government related to the app.

“We do have national security concerns — at least from the FBI’s end — about TikTok,” Wray said in a hearing focused on Worldwide Threats to the Homeland. “They include the possibility that the Chinese government could use it to control data collection on millions of users. Or control the
recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations if they so chose. Or to control software on millions of devices, which gives it opportunity to potentially technically compromise personal devices.”

Chinese tech giant ByteDance owns TikTok, which currently has more than 200 million downloads in the United States — and according to Fox Business, the company must share its data with the CCP upon request, as required by Chinese law.

Sheriffs Vow Not To Enforce Oregon’s Strict New Gun Control Law

Oregon sheriffs are vowing not to enforce a strict gun control measure passed by the state’s voters last week.

At least five county sheriffs are openly refusing to not enforce at least parts of the law, according to Fox News. The officials say that the law oversteps Constitutional gun rights and will be an additional drain on law enforcement while failing to address problems with more serious crimes.

“The biggest thing is this does absolutely nothing to address the problem,” Sheriff Cody Bowen of Union County told Fox News. “The problem that we have is not … magazine capacity. It’s not background checks. It’s a problem with mental health awareness. It’s a problem with behavior health illness.”

“Our society as a whole is a bigger problem rather than saying that, you know, the guns are killing people,” he said.