It doesn’t get any better (or worse) than this. Illinois State Senator Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) forcefully addressed 58 elected adults in a chamber on an obvious fact that no one else would address: there are only two genders – male and female.  He went on record, speaking directly to the Progressives on the Senate floor, in his powerful short speech against HB 2350, a bill to mandate that insurance companies now cover Pap smear tests for men and prostate exams for women.

Yes, conservative senators and representatives have long railed outside the chamber on this. And they have politely pointed out in committee and on the floor the obvious flaws and craziness in gender-related bills like HB 1596 (deleting children’s pronouns from law), and others. But this was the first time in memory someone eloquently, fiercely, and simply spoke to a chamber the objective Truth of male and female. Sure, it would have been great to hear God referenced, but it was a great speech nonetheless.

Transcript:

“It’s precisely about feelings. Folks, if you want to know why kids are confused and why people do crazy stuff, this is exactly why. Biological males cannot get pap smears. It’s not possible! It’s physically and anatomically impossible. It’s not even…it’s not even following science! You know, people don’t understand why we do goofball things – this is why. Right? Biological women cannot go get a prostrate exam. It’s not possible!

“So we can do all the gender feel-good garbage, but this is why our kids are confused. This is why your kids are dressing up as furries and want kitty-litter in the bathroom. It’s because you guys won’t follow science! There are two genders! There are two genders possible; there’s not three, there’s not four, there’s two! The crazy stuff like this is why people are confused, and the kids don’t know what the hell’s going on because they’re confused because of legislation like this.

“Drop the pronoun crap. There are two genders! Period.”

Kudos to Senator Chesney for speaking out! Wouldn’t it be great if more Christian conservative lawmakers would refuse to remain silent in the face of super-majority tyranny?

Left-leaning lawmakers sat stunned that someone would question what they thought was now accepted  – that gender is fluid and changeable. It was as if they were frozen. They just sat silent and motionless. Whereas moderate and conservative legislators stayed composed, most of them enthusiastically enjoyed his speech as Chesney spoke the truth. Many couldn’t believe Sen. Chesney was actually driving the point directly home. And a lot of them, I’m sure, wished they could have had the courage to say what he said on the Senate floor.

It did take courage. One wouldn’t think so, but today it takes great courage for an elected official, especially in Illinois, to speak the truth to the supermajority in power in Illinois.  And there are a handful of other legislators in Springfield who, thank God, have spoken the truth on marriage, homosexuality, life, etc., don’t get me wrong. The media does cover them very well when they come across badly in tone or substance — they just don’t cover them when they do it effectively. (In fact, just the other day, Sen. Jil Tracy and Sen. Terri Bryant said on the Senate floor they were “offended” as mothers that legislation would actually cancel the term “mother” in Illinois statute.)

Just like the vast majority of Illinois voters, these citizen legislators work and live in the real world. They know the vast majority are not demanding woke polices that neuter pronouns or create co-ed bathrooms. One Pew Research poll suggests that 60% believe that gender is determined by sex at birth. Yes, I know that sounds low, but that number is even growing in our confused society.

Sen. Chesney will be attacked by the media and by the supermajority party. They will claim he’s being uncompassionate, a liar, and/or a fanatic. What little legislation the supermajority was allowing Sen. Chesney to pass to benefit his constituents may not be as likely to pass now. He will be reprimanded for calling out those in power. His friends and colleagues on the GOP side will tell him privately how much they truly appreciated his remarks, but publicly will these friends and colleagues try to distance themselves from him? We sure hope not.

Such is the place we’re in – where the majority of Illinoisans still sit on the sidelines just like most legislators. But some are coming out of the woodwork, like Chesney. I am hopeful that his speech emboldened the GOP at least for the remaining days of session. We should pray to that end.

Take ACTION: Please take a few minutes of your time to thank Sen. Chesney by calling his Springfield office (217-782-0180) and/or his Freeport district office (815-232-0774).  The LEAST we can do is thank him as he takes the slings and arrows from woke activists and the legacy media.

It is hard to believe that the Illinois House passed this by a vote of 78 to 32 and the Illinois Senate passed it by a vote of 37 to 17. Governor JB Pritzker is expected to sign this bill into law when he receives it in the near future.

More ACTION: Please consider calling the Governor’s office in Springfield at (217) 782-6830 or his office in Chicago at (312) 814-2121 to express your opposition to this mandate requiring health insurance coverage of Pap smear tests and prostate screenings for all (HB 2350). You may want to let him know that biological men do not need Pap smear tests and biological women do not need prostate exams.

An Illinois lawmaker’s bill to publicly display the motto “In God We Trust” in public schools is the latest challenge to the secularism that is the status quo in many public schools across the country.  Though displaying the motto would not be mandatory, State Representative Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) says his legislation (HB 341) would encourage a return to Christian principles: “As a God-fearing Christian, I believe that the lack of such is the problem in our country today.”

This bill has three co-sponsors in the Illinois House thus far: State Representatives Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport), Chris Miller (R-Robinson) and Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville).

Illinois is the latest state with legislation that would permit the posting of “In God We Trust” in public schools.  Lawmakers in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee have recently voted to require or allow the motto to be posted in public schools.  Sheriff’s deputies in Jefferson County, Illinois, have joined the movement by voluntarily placing “In God We Trust” decals on their squad cars.  Similar bills have already been introduced this year in Alaska, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York and South Carolina.

Atheists like Hemant Mehta of friendlyatheist.pathos.com are outraged by attempts to refer to a Higher Power:

“We certainly don’t need religion to teach common decency and morality when it’s the Christians currently running the government who provide us with a steady stream of corrupt acts and cruel policies.”

Evidently not a very “friendly atheist.”  Critics also say the motto can be alienating to students who are not religious, and allege that it is a violation of the separation of church and state.

But that cornerstone of American secularism – the vaunted “separation of church and state” – never appears in the United States Constitution, but rather first appears in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association dated January 1, 1802.  Jefferson’s chief concern appears to be avoiding the establishment of any denomination as the “state church.”

Garrett Epps, writing in The Atlantic, and arguing against public expressions of faith, claims that the concept of the “separation of church and state” originated not with Jefferson, but with the American theologian Roger Williams, founder of the first Baptist congregation in the British New World.  According to Epps, Williams coined the phrase in 1644 to “signify the protection that the church needed in order to prevent misuse and corruption by political leaders.”

Epps is seemingly unaware that he has undermined his own argument.  The “separation of church and state” is meant to protect the churches from government intrusion – not the populace from exposure to religious teachings.

Those who oppose the influence of Christianity in society are fond of (mis)quoting Thomas Jefferson, one of several deists among the Founding Fathers.  But deism is not atheism, and while Jefferson did not believe in supernatural revelation, he affirmed his belief in one God as well as in divine providence, the divine moral law, and in personal judgment including rewards and punishments after death.

The opponents of Christianity would also do well to study the life of George Washington, the first president of the United States.  George Washington was a devoted Anglican his entire life.  As General of the Army of the Potomac, Washington openly endorsed religious practice – this, mind you, while as a public servant.  He encouraged his soldiers to attend to their religious duties, including “to implore the blessing of Heaven” upon the nascent American Army.  Washington’s archived papers contain hundreds of biblical quotations, figures of speech, idioms, proverbs, and allusions related to his Christian faith.

George Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention of 1787 during the time when the writing of two key founding documents in American history were written: The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  The Constitution explicates how the new United States was intended to function.  The Declaration of Independence lays out the rationale for the new nation, and in so doing mentions God four times and states that our rights come from our Creator.

It seems inconceivable that important aspects of American history are deliberately withheld from public school students – especially when the vast majority hold to a belief in God and subscribe to Christian beliefs.  A Pew Research Center survey found that “an overwhelming majority of the youngest adults continue to believe in God or a higher power: Eight-in-ten of those ages 18 to 29 say they believe in at least some kind of spiritual force.”

It is the height of duplicity to deny the posting of what was unanimously declared by the 84^th Congress to be the official national motto of the United States, and which appears on the currency in the purses and wallets of students.  The “In God We Trust” movement is a welcome reaffirmation of the Divine guidance upon which our great country was built.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state representative to ask him/her to support and co-sponsor HB 341.  Simply acknowledging God does nothing to establish a church or a religion, but subtly points to the fact that we are dependent daily on God’s goodness, mercy and grace.

Christian Life in Exile
On February 22^nd, IFI is hosting a special forum with Dr. Erwin Lutzer as he teaches from his latest book, “The Church in Babylon,” answering the question, “How do we live faithfully in a culture that perceives our light as darkness?” This event is free and open to the public, and will be held at Jubilee Church in Medinah, Illinois.

Click HERE for more info…