The Faithful Watchman

Judge sides with Biden, rules that Christian college must open women’s bedrooms and showers to biological males?

Phil Shiver – May 21, 2021

A federal judge this week rejected a Christian college’s request to bypass new rules under the Biden administration that force religious schools to open their dormitories — including shared bedrooms and shower spaces — to members of the opposite sex.

Judge Roseann Ketchmark issued the ruling Wednesday denying the College of the Ozarks a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, which would have provided temporary protection for the school while its federal court case is pending.

The school filed a lawsuit in April arguing that the Biden administration was forcing religious schools to violate their beliefs by opening up female dormitories to biological males, and vice-versa, under subject of punitive damages, six-figure fines, and attorneys’ fees.

After President Joe Biden issued an executive order titled, “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation” in January, the Department of Housing and Urban Development put forward a directive in line with the administration’s new interpretation of “sex.”

The directive holds that entities covered by the Fair Housing Act cannot discriminate against someone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Meaning that a transgender person who is biologically male but identifies as a female must be permitted to share dormitory spaces such as bedrooms, bathrooms, and showers with female students.

“The government cannot and should not force schools to open girls’ dorms to males based on its politically motivated and inappropriate redefinition of ‘sex,'” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake said in a statement. The religious liberty law firm is representing the school in its legal fight.

https://www.theblaze.com

Gov. Abbott signs near-complete ban on abortion in Texas

Alex Briseno – May 19, 2021

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation Wednesday that abortion opponents call a milestone measure to protect life, while others decry it as one of the most extreme restrictions in the nation and vow to fight it in court.

The law, proposed by Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, sets a ban on abortion the moment a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is as early as six weeks, before many are aware of their pregnancy. It goes into effect Sept. 1.

The law also allows any private citizen to file a civil lawsuit against abortion providers, and anybody who “aids or abets” the performance of a procedure in violation of the ban. The law includes an exception for medical emergencies, but not for pregnancies that resulted from cases of rape or incest.

One amendment prevents a person who impregnated an abortion patient through rape, incest or sexual assault from bringing a lawsuit forward under this measure.

Abbott, who made his support of the bill clear before it received final approval, signed the proposal alongside Hughes, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Rep. Shelby Slawson, R-Stephenville, the House sponsor. They were joined by dozens of Republican lawmakers at the governor’s mansion, and Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, a longtime abortion opponent.

“Our creator endowed us with the right to life and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion,” Abbott said before signing the bill. “In Texas, we work to save those lives. That’s exactly what the Texas Legislature did this session.”

“The heartbeat bill is now law in the Lone Star State,” Abbott added.

https://www.dallasnews.com

Wisconsin Senate approves bill to dissolve dead bodies, dump them in sewer

Lifesite News – May 13, 2021

MADISON, Wisconsin, May 13, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Wisconsin senators approved a bill earlier this week allowing dead bodies to be dissolved in a chemical bath and disposed like sewage.

The bill, Senate Bill 228, authorizes a practice called alkaline hydrolysis, or “water cremation,” which liquifies the human body using a mixture of water, heat, and chemical agents, leaving only bones behind. The liquid is then dumped into the sewage system or boiled off, and bones can be crushed and deposited in an urn.

The Republican-led Senate passed the legislation without debate on Tuesday over the objection of the Catholic bishops of Wisconsin.

“Catholic teaching is centered on the life and dignity of the human person because each person is created in the image and likeness of God,” Kim Vercauteren, executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, wrote to the senate health committee. “The heart, mind, flesh, and bones of a human person are all elements of a unique creation, down to the DNA, which must be honored even after death.”

“Our concern is that with alkaline hydrolysis, remains are washed into a wastewater system as though the body created by God never existed,” Vercauteren added. “Wastewater does not honor the sacredness of the body, nor does it allow the grieving to honor the dead after disposition.”

Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, who sponsored SB 228, argued for the measure as a means to promote “consumer choice.” At a hearing for the bill, he said that “Wisconsin funeral directors are receiving more and more requests for flameless or water cremation.” “I believe in allowing consumers choices. And if a consumer chooses flameless cremation, I would like to empower Wisconsin funeral directors the means to fulfill that choice,” Testin said.

https://www.lifesitenews.com

Israel Strikes Gaza Tunnels, Palestinian Rocket Attacks Persist

Newsmax – May 14, 2021

Israel fired artillery and mounted extensive air strikes on Friday against a network of Palestinian militant tunnels under Gaza, amid persistent rocket attacks on Israeli towns.

The largest Israeli operation against a specific target since the conflict began included 160 aircraft as well as tanks and artillery firing from outside the Gaza Strip, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said.

Rocket barrages against southern Israel swiftly followed the 40-minute pre-dawn offensive on the fifth day of the most serious fighting between Israel and Gaza militants since 2014.

A woman and her three children were killed in Gaza, health officials in the north of the enclave said, and their bodies were recovered from the rubble of their home. An elderly woman in Israel died while on her way to a shelter to shield from the rocket attacks.

Gaza’s ruling Hamas group launched the rocket attacks at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in retaliation for Israeli police clashes with Palestinians near Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

At least 119 people have been killed in Gaza, including 31 children and 19 women, and 830 others wounded, Palestinian medical officials said.

The death toll in Israel stood at eight: a soldier patrolling the Gaza border, six Israeli civilians — including two children — and an Indian worker, Israeli authorities said.

https://www.newsmax.com

French soldiers warn of civil war in new letter

BBC – May 10, 2021

A new open letter has been published in France warning of the threat of civil war and claiming to have more than 130,000 signatures from the public.

The message, published in a right-wing magazine, accuses the French government of granting “concessions” to Islamism.

“It is about the survival of our country,” said the text, said to be issued anonymously by soldiers and appealing for public support.

The French government condemned it, as well as a similar letter last month.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin called the latest letter a “crude manoeuvre” and accused its anonymous signatories of lacking “courage”, AFP news agency reported.

The letter to the government last month came from semi-retired generals. The minister in charge of the armed forces, Florence Parly, said they would be punished for defying a law that forbids reservists or serving members of the military from expressing opinions in public on religion and politics.

However, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a candidate in next year’s presidential election, spoke out in support of the estimated 1,000 servicemen and women who backed the April letter.

The new text was published late on Sunday by Valeurs Actuelles, although the numbers and ranks of its original signatories – said to be active members of the military – remain unclear.

https://www.bbc.com

Sinkhole drains lake near St-Louis, Missouri – Major Memphis bridge cracked – Is the New Madrid waking up?

Strange Sounds – May 13, 2021

Lone Elk Park in St. Louis County has a leaky lake — and an SUV-sized sinkhole that opened up there in recent days has drained about a third of it.

St. Louis County Parks Director Tom Ott said he got word Friday that the lake had dropped about 3 feet, and then enough water drained away over the weekend to reveal the sinkhole.

This isn’t the first time this has happened at the manmade lake, called the Lone Elk Reservoir, said Ott. In 2016, a similar sinkhole about 4 to 5 feet across appeared in the vicinity of the new one. Then, they had someone inspect it and had concrete slurry poured into the hole to patch it.

The county will get a hydraulic engineer to look at the sinkhole, and will send someone with a drone to take pictures of it. They’ll also add signage along the shoreline to warn people to keep away.

Ott wonders if a small-magnitude earthquake reported near Eureka on April 20 shook anything loose.

He said that in the early 1990s the lake was always full, but in the past 20 years it hasn’t held water the way it should. “We’ve had people look at it — they couldn’t tell where it was leaking,” he said.

Meanwhile, all lanes on the Hernando Desoto Bridge were closed Tuesday until further notice after an inspection found a crack that requires investigation.

Memphis Police said the bridge is being inspected, and it is unknown when the I-40 bridge will reopen. It could be closed for month…

Right now, drivers can use the Interstate 55 bridge to cross the Mississippi River.

Now, if you add to this giant sinkhole, the shutdown of the I-40 bridge in downtown Memphis due to infrastructure damage and the hacked (?) pipeline… Are these more signs of the overdue New Madrid earthquake?

https://strangesounds.org

71-Year-Old Pastor Arrested for Causing ‘Alarm and Distress’ for ‘Homophobic’ Message on Marriage

Christian News – April 30, 2021

(Christian Concern) — John Sherwood, a UK pastor, was arrested in North West London this past Friday, April 23, and detained overnight – all for speaking about what the Bible says about marriage.

John, in his early 70s, is minister of a north London church, and was preaching with a colleague in the centre of Uxbridge on Friday, as he regularly does. After speaking on the final verses in Genesis 1, where it says that God created mankind in his own image, creating them male and female, a number of police officers appeared on the scene. Reportedly, three complaints had been received about the pastor’s teaching, and the police accused him of causing “alarm and distress” to the public.

After speaking to the police, John resumed his preaching, speaking on freedom of speech. However, a couple of bystanders in the crowd apparently shouted that John’s preaching was “homophobic” and “hate speech”. John spoke to the police once more.

What quickly followed was a brutal arrest, where an officer took away the pastor’s Bible and pulled him from the steps where he had been preaching. Three officers gathered around him to handcuff him and take him away.

You can read more about the case from Pastor John Sherwood’s colleague, Peter Simpson, on The Conservative Woman blog.

https://christiannews.net

Scientists Want to Dim the Sun to ‘Save Us’ from Climate Change – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Dale Hurd – May 11, 2021

Scientists want to spread dust in the upper atmosphere to see if it will stop climate change.

The idea is to dump calcium carbonate, basically chalk dust, into the stratosphere to block some of the sun’s rays with the hope of halting the climate from warming.

It’s called Stratospheric Aerosol Injection or SAI.

The media calls it Bill Gates’ idea, but Gates is only one of many people funding the research and it isn’t his idea, it’s Harvard’s.

The test launch for the project next month in Sweden was canceled after people complained. But there’s likely to be another test in the future because some scientists think this could work, while others say it’s a very bad idea.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? A Lot

A video made by the German science foundation Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung shows how it could all go terribly wrong. It says of Stratospheric Aerosol Injection that “It is unlikely that cooling of the planet could be achieved in a uniform way. SAI would therefore produce regional winners and losers. The total global rainfall would be less. In Asia, SAI could upset the complex system governing the monsoon, on which the water and food supply of 2 billion people depends.”

It could also lead to droughts in Africa and flooding in Latin America.

Experts admit they aren’t sure what would happen if the sun was dimmed, but we know when it has happened because of natural processes, the result was not good.

https://www1.cbn.com

State steps in when feds give Title X money to abortionists

Bob Unruh – May 13, 2021

President Trump successfully had worked to make sure federal Title X taxpayer money was not being used to fund abortions.

Joe Biden, when he moved into the Oval Office, immediately reversed that. It’s one of nearly a dozen ways President Biden is moving to cement a “legacy of death,” as critics have described

But now one state has started a movement to protect its own taxpayers from that burden anyway.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte on Thursday signed his state Legislature’s HB620, sponsored by Rep. Amy Regier, that ensures taxpayer dollars funding Title X family planning programs are kept separate from abortion-related activities.

“Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to subsidize the dangerous work of abortionists. HB 620 helps ensure that Montana women and families maintain access to quality, comprehensive healthcare, including family planning services,” said Denise Burke, a senior counsel to the Alliance Defending Freedom.

https://www.wnd.com

3 major reasons why the Super Blood Moon Eclipse on May 26 will be a very big deal

Strange Sounds – May 12, 2021

It’s almost time for another “Blood Moon” eclipse in North America—the first for over two years! “Blood Moon 2021,” a total lunar eclipse, will occur in the early hours of May 26, 2021 and be visible to some—but not all—of North America.

A total lunar eclipse, during which observers see a red Moon, can only occur at full Moon. The full Moon in May 2021 is called the “Flower Moon,” simply for the time of year it occurs in the northern hemisphere.

So why is the event being trailed as the “Super Flower Blood Moon 2021?”

Here are three things you need to know about 2021’s only total lunar eclipse.

1. It’s a ‘supermoon,’ the biggest and brightest full Moon of 2021

The “Super Flower Blood Moon 2021” is a “supermoon.”

It will be about 7% bigger than an average full Moon, but that’s not something you’re going to notice. What you will probably notice is that it will be about 15% brighter—the brightest, in fact, of 2021. That’s because it’s the closest full Moon to Earth of 2021.

The entire world can enjoy this special sight of a “supermoon.” All you have to do is look to the east around dusk to see a fabulous full moonrise.

2. It’s a ‘Blood Moon,’ 2021’s only total lunar eclipse

From 11:11-11:25 UTC the full Moon will turn a reddish color. You can find out if you can see it from where you are using this eclipse map.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when a full Moon enters Earth’s shadow in space. Of course, Earth is always casting a shadow into outer space opposite the Sun. It extends to around 870,000 miles/1.4 million km.

The Moon’s orbital path around Earth is roughly 5% inclined to the path of the Sun through our sky, so it rarely causes an eclipse of the Sun. So too lunar eclipses.

3. You’ve got a 50% chance of seeing it from where you are in North America

The entire night-side of Earth will witness the full Moon turn a reddish color during a brief 15-minute totality on May 26, 2021, but in many parts of the U.S the Moon will set just as the eclipse gets going.

https://strangesounds.org