We are all familiar with the expressions, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” or, “A stitch in time saves nine,” meaning it is wise to catch a problem early, while it is small and manageable, rather than to wait until it has grown and become a serious threat. We understand this with things like weeds in our garden or cancer.  But somehow, we neglect it in the arenas of politics and culture.

James Madison lamented that Americans waited until a situation became a crisis before they acted. Politics are so wide ranging, and solutions seemingly beyond the reach of the individual, so most people simply throw up their hands and hope for the best. This must change if America is to survive the Socialist onslaught it is now facing!  “Now is the time,” as Patrick Henry admonished, “for all good men to come to the aid of their country!”

If you are at all aware of what is going on in America, you know radical changes are occurring. This nation was founded on the novel idea that if people are adequately taught in Christian virtues and are self-disciplined, they can govern themselves. Is it not transparently clear that if people govern themselves, they need nobody else to govern them? America is the only, or at least best, example in human history of a self-governing nation!

Abraham Lincoln noted in his famous “Gettysburg Address” that we have a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” The point being that, as the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution states, “We the People” are the government and those we send to our state and national capitals are our servants, not our masters. With the events of the last several years it appears that many of those we have sent to do our will now see themselves as rulers, not servants. President Joe Biden exposed his own personal ambition when he commented publicly regarding Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Stacy Abrams, that if the Democrat Party had more like her, “We could rule the world!”

No, Mr. Biden, the U.S. Constitution does not make politicians rulers! It makes them servants! Any American politician who establishes himself as the “ruler” is guilty of insurrection!

Good and wise leaders do not exacerbate public fears or exploit them to increase their own personal power, but rather seek to calm the public in times of crisis. Yet day after day our political and cultural leaders ignite new fires and then throw gasoline on them to arouse as much fear as possible. Sweep aside the rhetoric and anyone can see that while the pandemic has tragically taken many lives, it has not done nearly as much damage to America as the rhetoric and fearmongering have.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died in wars to enable us to be free to live according to our own consciences, desires, and abilities, but we are now being led down a path toward submission, even tyranny, ironically in the name of “saving lives!” However, virtually everything we have heard from the media and government over the last two years has proven to be either inaccurate or outright lies!  One mandate after another is conditioning Americans to the idea that our elected leaders are our masters, and we must obey them! This must be resisted!

Individually we do not have much power, and neither do our political leaders, which is as it should be. It is only as we come together, listen to one-another, find common ground, and make decisions as a nation that changes are made.

Should we be concerned that tyrants might lurk in the halls of Congress or other institutions of power in the United States masquerading as beneficent saviors?  Well, consider that Joseph Stalin studied religion as a young man, and Adolf Hitler wanted to be an artist. Basher al-Assad, the butcher of Syria, studied for a career in medicine. From these examples we understand that tyrants’ personal ambitions and brutality are generally not known until it is too late to stop them.

The adage, “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” reminds us that under no circumstance can we allow individuals or small groups to gain too much power. Do we have a Hitler or Stalin walking in our midst? Do we really wish to find out? By the time we figure it out it will be too late  At times like this we should look back to patriot Patrick Henry who notably asked,

“is life so dear and peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?  Forbid it, Almighty God!” 

He also noted that

“the Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government-lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” 

How prescient he was!

For that reason, we must act now to prevent any person or any group from amassing such political powers.  If multiplied thousands of Americans went to their deaths on the battle fields of Europe and the South Pacific to ensure our liberties, then we must not shirk our responsibility to stand for freedom, regardless of the personal or national cost.

We were told in panicked tones that COVID-19 would take millions of lives in America, but if we wore masks for two weeks it would flatten the curve and put us on a course to defeat it. Here we are, over two years later and neither of those predictions were accurate. Such proclamations were, in fact, merely a pretext for amassing power in Washington. Sadly, a precise accounting of deaths appears impossible as anecdotal evidence suggests the government incentivized listing any death where Covid-19 was present a COVID death, even if the virus was not the actual cause of death.

And we have myriad reports of people dying who were not infected at all yet were reported as COVID related deaths. What actually happened? We don’t really know, do we? It is said that “the first victim of war is truth.” And, if you are not seeing it, understand that we are in, as some have pointed out, a “cold civil war.” Americans are terribly divided, and our leadership is largely to blame.

Actor Michael Douglas in a video made not long ago noted that our political system has been “hijacked” to “ensure that those with power keep it.” Truer words have not been spoken. Our Constitution yields very limited power to elected officials and only for a brief time. It is diametrically opposed to anyone having great power for even a moment.

The answer to the power-grab by the Leftists is not to accrue power to conservatives, but to educate all Americans regarding the necessity of diffusing power across the electorate, and the importance of informed voting. Loyalty to God and country must eclipse Party and even friends. Too much is at stake!

First and foremost, the answer for America is to bow at the feet of Jesus Christ in repentance and submission to His lordship over every nation and people!

If noble and patriotic citizens do not stand up, speak up and act, it may soon be too late.

As Mao Zedong took over China with his communist revolutionaries, he sparked one of the largest mass migrations of the 20th century. Between 1948 and 1950, an estimated 2 million Chinese refugees fled Mao’s regime and escaped to Taiwan and other countries around the world. While Mao was razing and restructuring Chinese culture and society, these refugees were able to begin new lives in safer and freer countries.

While the Chinese mass migration makes the history books, a similar 2-million-in-2-years migration is currently happening—across educational borders. An analysis published by Harvard’s Education Next Institute (EN) recently announced that, between the spring of 2020 and the spring of 2022, “Our polling data indicate that district-operated schools lost 4% of student enrollments to other types of schooling between 2020 and 2022.” EN went on to say, “If that percentage is accurate, it means that nearly 2 million students have shifted from traditional public schools to alternative school arrangements.”

Individual examples of the recent dramatic shift in educational choices are not hard to find. While New York City (NYC) public schools have been steadily losing students over the past five years, they lost 10 percent of their remaining students during the COVID-19 epidemic alone. Those children are not expected to return, and the NYC public school system is now at a 15-year enrollment low. California’s state school system is at a 20-year enrollment low; over 270,000 students have left since COVID. Los Angeles alone lost more than 10 percent of students. The Chicago government school system is projected to have lost 100,000 students—more than 25 percent of total enrollment—by the end of the ten-year period between 2015 and 2025.

And states such as Michigan, Rhode Island, and Minnesota have all experienced drops in enrollment, continuing even after the initial COVID-19 year. Now, EN does caution that “the overall picture shows less change than media reports portray,” and that these trends do not constitute a “mass exodus,” but the statistics are nonetheless remarkably significant.

Harsh lockdown policies and virus mitigation measures have surely been significant in shifting the nation’s educational choices. According to Education Next’s analysis:

“In November 2020, Education Next polling data revealed widespread parental worries about the learning loss, social isolation, emotional distress, and physical inactivity induced by school closures, online learning programs, and other measures designed to prevent Covid spread.”

However, the presence of COVID-19 lockdown policies can’t be the only factor; EN also points out that when pandemic measures were relaxed, their polls showed a notable improvement in parent satisfaction. “By spring 2022 … parental distress had subsided.” Yet enrollments continue to decline. Something else must be up.

As the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) suggests, what started as “pandemic pods” during the thick of the crisis eventually became co-ops and “microschools,” which many families have found to work better for them than government schools. Catholic schools and private schools were more likely to remain open during the pandemic and thus received an influx of students. In short, FEE assesses, “Parents are recognizing that they have many more options for their children’s education and are continuing to abandon government-assigned district schools.”

This change is notably visible in EN’s data. Contrary to their government schools over the same two-year period, private schools (8 to 10 percent), charter schools (5 to 7 percent) and homeschooling (6 to 7 percent) all boasted shares of enrollment greater than when the pandemic started. And the enrollment numbers match the parental polls:

“Parents expressed higher levels of satisfaction with their child’s school if their student was attending a private or charter school rather than a district school.”

This change in the nation’s educational landscape has provoked a range of reactions from the nation’s leaders—on the one hand, no fewer than 18 new states over the past two years have passed laws broadening education choice. However, not all government officials have been as friendly to the widening school choice trend; the U.S. Department of Education recently considered instituting new hurdles for charter schools to receive government funds, inciting bipartisan protest and raising the hue and cry of even powerful liberal advocate Michael Bloomberg. Government reactions to parental choices will likely continue to unfold along one or the other of those two lines, and for Christians, who are commanded to pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2), this is both a timely and an important area to focus on.

In a plummeting culture such as ours, educational choice is becoming increasingly imperative. Former governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, inadvertently expressed one reason why: “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” This is a stark departure from the biblical model of education, in which parents are responsible for teaching their children (Deuteronomy 6:7, Ephesians 6:4). Schools help parents accomplish that goal; parents don’t abdicate their responsibility to the school system, and neither should that responsibility be divested from them by force of law.

When parents decide that their child would be better served by a private school, charter school, homeschooling, or online learning, it should not be the authority of the school district, local, state or federal governments to tell them otherwise. Doing so flips the biblical model on its head, and comments such as McAuliffe’s are foundationally wicked, because they imply that schools, not parents, are the ultimate authority over the education of children.

Education freedom should be championed in every state in the Union. Make no mistake about it, parents who want their children to attend government schools should be able to do so. However, the rising migration across educational borders—only accelerated by the the pandemic—also means “we, the people,” must work to reduce all barriers to education choices so that parents, not the government, are enabled to make the best decisions possible about their children’s development. This should be a consideration in picking candidates to vote for in this upcoming election, and in every future election we participate in.

May I be blunt?  The heart of man is just as Scripture says it is, “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.”  You may not want to hear that, and maybe you don’t believe it. But there Jeremiah 17:9 plainly states this truth. God, in His grace, has provided so that we do not always act as badly as we could act and even now there are glimmers of His grace shining forth.

But, looking at the big picture, things are quite grim. Whether it be the deception of the Chinese government regarding COVID-19, or the politicization of the crisis, or the lying by so many in the Media and government; people are often not inclined to do what is right unless they are squeezed pretty hard. The world is in a crisis yet on every hand we see powerful people either misleading us or turning the crisis to their own purposes! Then, if or when they are forced to do the right thing, they act like it was their plan all along! It would be easy to become cynical!

Trying to get a specific “message” from God regarding the crisis is a fool’s errand. The Book of Job should serve as fair warning to those who think they are able to interpret this crisis for a prophetic word from God. But that does not mean there are no lessons to be learned. There are vitally important truths to be taken from this tragic event that we ought not miss.

First, we are not masters of our destiny. Our lives, the nation–and even the world–can be turned up-side-down in a moment and there is nothing people can do about it! I understand this virus is quite weak and easily killed, yet it has sent the world into panic and has taken millions of lives! If it is weak and easily destroyed, what does it say of us who are defeated by it? Scriptures note that our lives are but a vapor, or like grass that grows up in a moment and is burned off by a hot wind. “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for soon it is cut off, and we fly away.”  (Ps. 90:10). Our tenure here is brief and at risk every day.

Thus, our disregard for the spiritual and eternal is tragic; we are so much like the people in Christ’s day. He rebuked them sharply for their indifference to His words. John the Baptist called the nation to repentance and they mocked him. Jesus came with the message of grace and they crucified Him. He said, “we played the flute for you and you did not dance; we mourned to you and you did not lament,” (Mt. 11:17). God has been gracious to us.  In spite of evils such as abortion and the destruction of marriage, He has been patient. When He allows trials to come, people say He is unloving. We ignore Him when He is kind, and despise Him when He gets tough! It is as Ecclesiastes says, “because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is set in them to do evil.”

The pandemic has exposed the fact that the Left’s efforts to undermine America’s foundations have been tragically successful. No nation can long survive when its citizens don’t know where to turn for truth or who to trust. The Left’s war against America’s Christian morality, which began decades ago, has born rotten fruit in the wholesale lying, deception and misinformation which has accompanied the pandemic. As Christians we know better than to put our trust in men. However, most people do not have this understanding and find themselves confused about the nature of the disease, its treatment, and how to avoid it.  Most solutions offered by government officials and the media push the nation towards a totalitarian political framework as we are informed that we must do what “They” tell us to do, as if “They” really know! It is clear that “They” don’t.

Kipling wrote of maturity being marked by one’s ability to “keep your head when all about you are losing theirs. . . .”  This should certainly apply to those who claim the name of Christ. Unfortunately, the Coronavirus crisis has shown that many Christians do not have a sound theology upon which to arrange their lives. This crisis, as bad as it is, should not knock God’s people off balance.

The virus itself is one problem, but it has been compounded by both government officials and media who have in too many cases allowed their personal political and social agendas govern their perspectives and prescriptions. Those of us who name the name of Christ must do better. We have always known that this life is temporary, but we have become comfortable and have settled in as if this world is all there is. But in our hearts we know better. Let us now act accordingly, prioritizing the eternal over the immediate. Don’t let material losses discourage your faith. Do good to all. Be guided by the fact that it is not stuff that makes life worth living but relationships, first with God and then with others.

Don’t be moved by the panic of the press, or the hysterics of the “prophets.” Sadly, the world has been beset by many pandemics through the ages, and it is not likely this will rank even close to the worst. It is not in itself a mark of the “End Times!”  However, in a real sense we should always be living as if we are in the end times because we do not know when the Master will return. Again, let sound theology bring you peace. God told us to “occupy ‘til He comes,” so we should be busy with His business.

Regrettably, in spite of this crisis, most Americans will probably go back to life as usual once it is over. However, there will be some whose eyes will have been opened to the uncertainties of this life and will be hungry for a sure word from God. Let us not miss those opportunities for ministry!

May it be that this pandemic will focus the attention of millions of Christians on the fact that we are “not of this world” and have been given a stewardship by Jesus Christ to be His ambassadors. We are not to melt into the crowd, but to stand apart, calling, even pleading with our neighbors and friends to come to Christ, abandoning the priorities of the world.

In a win for religious freedom, Liberty Counsel just settled a $10.3 million class-action lawsuit on behalf of 500 current and former healthcare workers who were denied religious exemptions regarding the COVID shot mandate. Of the 500 workers involved in the suit, half had quit or were let go and the rest took the shot. Because of this unlawful discrimination, North Shore University Health will pay $10,337,500 in compensation to these health care employees who were punished for their religious belief that it is wrong to receive an injection associated with aborted fetal cells.

As late as last September, the hospital system had been prepared to accommodate employees who sought a religious exemption by letting them undergo routine testing as opposed to getting vaccinated. But in October,  North Shore suddenly changed its vaccination policy on a whim, causing more than a dozen employees to file a class-action suit in Illinois federal court to block the hospital system’s vaccine mandate for its workers.

What was even more ludicrous about the hospital’s sudden decision is that patients, visitors and even employees of other hospital groups that provide medical or religious accommodations to their employees were still permitted to enter North Shore facilities..  Furthermore, under the new policy, former employees, fired for being unvaccinated, were still permitted to visit a North Shore patient (even if that ex-employee remained unvaccinated). Where is the logic?

The plaintiffs suffered a set-back last December when U.S. District Judge John F. Kness, an Illinois federal judge, refused to grant a preliminary injunction that would hold off the hospital’s vaccine mandate. He did, however, allow the employees (plaintiffs) to continue the suit under pseudonyms “given the charged atmosphere concerning vaccinations and vaccine mandates” and the workers’ showing of the harms they would suffer should their identities be revealed during the ongoing litigation.

But now their fortitude is being rewarded. Although the lawsuit settlement still needs to be approved by the federal judge overseeing the case, the positive terms of the lawsuit include:

-A change to North Shore policy which will ensure unvaccinated employees are able to apply for a religious exemption allowing them to work. In the past, requests for religious exemption were denied across the board rather than being considered, as they should be, on a case-by-case basis.

-North Shore will also change its unlawful “no religious exemptions” policy and make it consistent with the law and provide religious accommodations in every position across its numerous facilities.

-No position in any North Shore facility will be considered off-limits to unvaccinated employees with approved religious exemptions.

-Those who were let go because they refused to get COVID shots on religious grounds are eligible for reinstatement.

-An estimated payout of $25,000 to those employees who quit or were fired due to the vaccine mandate

-an estimated additional $20,000 to the 13 original plaintiffs.

-Workers who had filed religious exemption requests, but then decided to get the shots, will receive an estimated $3,000 each.

So what’s in it for Liberty Counsel which invested resources in terms of significant attorney’s fees and costs to bring this suit against North Shore in order to hold it accountable for its actions? Liberty Counsel will receive 20 percent of the settlement ($2,067,500) which is actually far below the standard 33 percent in cases like this.

The sweeping mask and vaccine mandates that became a part of daily life in 2020 have been unsettling. They’ve caused many of us to have our backbone tested as our right to personal and medical freedom have been challenged in a new way.  It’s unfortunate that the right to medical freedom was not enshrined in the Constitution and, at the same time, surreal that Founding Father *Benjamin Rush had the foresight to argue for it:

“Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship to restrict the art of healing to one class of Men and deny equal privileges to others; the Constitution of this republic should make special privilege for medical freedom as well as religious freedom.’

However, this historic, first of its kind, class-action settlement of healthcare workers against a private employer encourages individuals everywhere who desire to make their own choices about what is or is not injected into their body. Let’s take a moment to enjoy this victory, thank those who fought for it, and thank our heavenly Father.

*Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educator, and the founder of Dickinson College.

It might not be a surprise to many to hear that our public education system is failing. However, it may come as a surprise to hear that it is creating illiteracy. The depths of the problem came to light during the years of the pandemic. Now critics of poorly developed reading curriculums and parents of struggling children are asking why we are not doing a better job teaching students how to read.

Children that started school during the COVID-19 pandemic show disturbing trends in their reading abilities. It is estimated that 1 in 3 students in grades k-3 are not reading at grade level. Although a problem existed before the pandemic, it has worsened over the last few years of online learning. Schools throughout the country assess their students yearly using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). This test was developed by Amplify and given to more than 400,000 students annually. The group then gathers the data to determine how many students are reading at level. Following the pandemic, only 47% of Kindergarteners, 48% of 1st graders, and 51% of 2nd graders are reading at grade level. Although the pandemic has undoubtedly played a role in the decline in literacy, the slow erosion of reading skills is not a new problem.

In the late 1970s, Professor Lucy Calkins entered academia at Columbia University’s Teachers College. She would develop a curriculum and teachers of the curriculum for over 40 years. Her reading curriculum is one of the best-selling in the nation, Units of Study. The problem is that researchers have found that it is ineffective for teaching children to read. Calkins has utilized a technique known as “whole word.” In the whole word method, students typically do not use sound or even focus on individual letters in a word. Instead, they use what is called “three cueing.” In this method, they use pictures and cues surrounding the unknown word to “cue” the student to what the word might be. They might try to identify the word by the content of the rest of the sentence. But the system is little more than guessing. The student never learns phonics or the sounding-out of terms.

Researchers have discovered that students need phonics and letter recognition to develop the foundations of reading and that cueing does not necessarily lead to students developing word recognition. Teachers, researchers, and others have criticized the curriculum in the last few years. Ed Reports, a private group assessing curriculum, gave Unit of Studies the lowest review possible and stated that it did not meet expectations.

Another curriculum used widely in the U.S. was developed by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. The Fountas and Pinnell system does use some phonics but lacks exercises for the student to practice phonic skills. It also uses some of the whole word techniques. Phonics is only for the teacher to briefly instruct and does not even cover the entire curriculum. Ed Reports also gave the Fountas and Pinnell curriculum the lowest review and stated they did not meet expectations.

Researchers who have studied the way students learn to recognize letters, words, and sounds have stressed the need to instruct phonics. Calkins recently announced that she would be updating her curriculum this summer to include more phonics instruction. However, she had already introduced a text in 2018 that had some phonic in the curriculum. The curriculum still focuses on the whole word method, which has proven ineffective at teaching basic reading skills. Updating a useless methodology will not help our children learn reading skills. 

Before the pandemic, it was estimated that one-fourth of 4th graders were reading significantly below level. Now we have forced students out of the classroom and into virtual learning that was proven ineffective. As a result, public school has failed our children and our communities again. How can we continue to support a system that is obviously designed not to educate but indoctrinate?

During the summer, review your children’s curriculum. Did their school use one of the useless curriculums? Did their school force them to read books more focused on social indoctrination than skill development? If this sounds like your child’s school or curriculum, then perhaps it is time to remove your child from the indoctrination-centered public school system.

The supply chain shortages have caused bare shelves throughout the nation. Most of us remember the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, searching for household cleansers and hand gel. Although low cleaning supplies are aggravating, the new shortage could be serious for the most innocent among us. The U.S. is facing a severe lack of baby formula.

The shortages started in 2021 when the supply chain struggled to deliver supplies to the stores on time. The deficit in 2021 averaged around 2-8%. In November, the shortage rose to 11%, causing concern for suppliers. (Once the formula shortage increases above 10 percent, it is considered problematic.)  The pandemic, trucking problems, staffing problems, and the lack of materials were to blame.

Heading into 2022, things turned for the worse. In February,, Abbott Labs, the manufacturer of several types of formula, issued a recall of formulas under the labels of Similac, Alimentum, and EleCare. The recall was due to bacteria contamination at a Michigan manufacturing plant.. Once the recall was issued, many parents had to change to other brands such as Enfamil. The shortages increased dramatically due to the recall and parents changing their brands. The out-of-stock rate rose to 30 percent. In some states, such as Minnesota, there is a a 54 percent shortage.

Parents have been panicking as they face empty shelves. Many parents say that they are going to multiple stores and searching the internet to find the supplies they need for their babies. The lack of supply is not the only concern. When parents find the formula, it now costs  18 percent more than last year as inflation continues to plague the country.

What does the Biden administration plan to do to alleviate  the supply chain problems? Thus far, no one has adequately answered  this question. The incompetence of this administration has placed our infants’ well-being at risk. Formula manufacturers say they are increasing production to keep up with the demand. Regardless of the increased production, it may be 4 to 6 weeks before the shortage improves.

Parents may be asking what they should do in the face of this crisis. Experts agree the first thing is to avoid panicking. (Parents may be tempted to stockpile formula; however, this would worsen the supply shortage.) Next, call your pediatrician. You may be able to switch brands. Physicians also say that you should not water down formula or use homemade formula. They also suggest not purchasing breastmilk from untrusted sources. There are milk banks for breastmilk that are strictly monitored and tested, which may be a potential source for some parents.

If parents find themselves without formula, experts recommend calling food banks, charities, your local WIC office, or dial 211, which will connect you with various sources.

If you are concerned that you may have some of the formula that was recalled, you can check the list of recalled items at the Illinois Department of Human Services web site:

IDHS: Abbott Formula Recall (state.il.us)

Take ACTION: Please consider calling your US representatives and asking what they intend to do about the supply chain shortages, including the current lack of baby formula. If you are able, consider donating to your local crisis pregnancy center to help them provide necessary supplies to mothers in need.

“We cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.”
~2 Corinthians 13:8

It’s no secret that most of the major social media companies want to suppress speech, specifically that of conservatives, but they are becoming more emboldened and blatant in their intentions. Not only do they censor truth, but they also shamefully promote their radical, sinful agenda. In a recent interview, Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, talked about how difficult it has been to moderate the platform, specifically referring to COVID-19 “misinformation.” Wojcicki talks about the obvious things that must be censored, such as illegal content, but then she states that the “misinformation” surrounding COVID-19 is much more of a gray area. She gives numerous excuses as to why they need to suppress this information, such as advertisers wanting to withdraw from the site and remembering the “role that Youtube plays in society.”

Knowing the enormous influence that a large platform such as YouTube has, Ms. Wojcicki clearly has an agenda that she wants to push. But the censorship power she wields on her own platform isn’t enough for Wojcicki; she says that she wants governments to

“have more control of online speech…to pass laws … that be very cleanly and clearly defined such that we can implement it.”

Most social media companies would act as if it is an inconvenience to have such restrictions put on them, but I think Wojcicki gives an inside look into how she and other social media platforms really feels. They wouldn’t be upset, but rather they would be ecstatic since they now have an excuse to censor all the “misinformation” they want. Wojcicki and the rest of these big tech rulers don’t care about free speech in any shape or form, although many of them claim to. All they care about is pushing their agenda on the populace, and if getting the government involved is what it takes, then so be it.

This interview with YouTube’s CEO shows a disturbing trend among the Left in general – they are becoming more flagrant in their intentions to suppress, indoctrinate, and control. We can see it taking root in schools, social media companies, and even in a lot of everyday liberals. For example, in a poll from Rasmussen Reports, 55 percent of Democrats want to “fine Americans who choose not to get the COVID-19 vaccine,” and almost half of Democrats want to “fine or imprison” people who question the vaccine. But the most disturbing statistic among these polls is that 45 percent of Democrats want to force those who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine to “temporarily live in designated facilities or locations.”

The average American used to say they valued freedom above all else, but it is becoming more and more clear that Democrat values and priorities are changing. It used to be unthinkable that any of the above restrictions or punishments would actually be considered, let alone come to pass, yet here we are with almost half of Democrats in favor of imprisoning COVID-19 dissenters. While the majority of Americans are opposed to this ludicrous idea, it is disturbing that about one quarter of the population would even consider it. In truth, Democrats don’t want a fair fight where information can be easily obtained for either argument; they just want to suppress, censor, and fight dirty against anything with which they disagree.

Government schools are another area in which liberals are becoming more blatant in their actions. At first, we were told there was no harmful indoctrination such as Critical Race Theory or LGBT propaganda in school curriculum, but they are slowly starting to admit that there is. On TikTok you can find a crazy number of deranged teachers fully admitting to being part of the LGBT movement in front of their students, often very young students. Also, you can find teachers celebrating the fact that they indoctrinate students with LGBTQIA lies. Many of these students are as young as preschoolers or kindergarteners. The former governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, has admitted that he thinks parents should have no say in government schools. He is on record as stating,

“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

Liberals used to laugh at us and call us “conspiracy theorists” for what they are now admitting to publicly. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, people have to stop sending their kids to public schools if they are at all able to do so. Even if you think your kid is good enough or “strongly rooted” in your family’s beliefs, they are still kids, and highly susceptible to suggestion. We have to do everything we can to fight this corrupt and evil system.

With the Left becoming more shameless in promoting their extreme social agenda, we must also consider the long-term impact. As I said earlier, Wojcicki believes that she plays a large role with a significant impact on society, and as much as I hate to admit it, she’s right. YouTube is a platform used by millions of people across the world, including many of my friends and even myself. While YouTube does have its benefits, such as access to many conservative voices, it also has a very dark side, especially if you are not politically astute.

Most of the YouTube recommendations I receive are for conservative voices, as that is my most frequent search. However, sometimes I get recommendations from YouTube or through YouTube Shorts (basically this is YouTube’s version of TikTok) for weird LGBT or BLM propaganda. Some of the most atrocious and ungodly things are posted on YouTube Shorts. Anyone can post pretty much whatever liberal propaganda they want (this is not an exaggeration) and be sure that YouTube will not censure the content because it aligns with their corporate agenda.

Despite awareness of YouTube’s unscrupulous tactics, many parents allow their kids to use the site with little to no supervision whatsoever. I understand it may be hard, and perhaps too restrictive, to keep teenagers off the site, but that is a conversation for another time. At this moment, I am concerned about parents who let their three-year-old go on the site, unsupervised, to do whatever they want. In such a scenario, it is impossible to know what that child will come across as he spends hours a day scrolling through countless videos. With Susan Wojcicki as the CEO of YouTube, innumerable innocent children will be exposed to this degenerate propaganda. Hopefully soon, more and more people will acknowledge and stand against the radical Left’s bold and flagrant indoctrination strategies that are promoted as truth by YouTube and other online platforms.

Conservatives have questioned the legitimacy of masking and the mask mandates since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it would appear that there are politicians in several Democratic-controlled states who agree with their conservative counterparts. Most will be ending the mandates within the next several weeks. Why they have changed their position is not entirely apparent, but we have an idea.  

States that have removed or changed their regulations – the most liberal states in the nation – include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. 

Illinois’ Governor JB Pritzker announced that the mask mandate for most public places in Illinois would end February 28th. This policy change does not include schools, health clinics, or public transportation. But school masking may also end in Illinois despite Pritzker’s objections. In a recent court decision, Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene DeWitte Gricshow ruled to strike down the mask mandate in 150 school districts involved in the suit. Governor Pritzker has asked that the Attorney General to immediately appeal the decision.

Although the governor seemingly refuses to let go of the mandates over schools, he and other Democratic governors are starting to loosen their grip over other COVID regulations. 

A recent poll conducted by Monmouth University found that the support for mandated vaccines dropped from 53 percent of those polled to 43 percent, and support for mask mandates dropped from 63 percent to 52 percent. In another poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, findings showed that 70 percent of the Americans polled agreed that “it’s time we accept COVID is here to stay, and we just need to get on with our lives.” It appears that the political climate is no longer accepting the mandates and tyrannical authority that has been exercised within the blue states.  

It is also possible that the recent protests worldwide have concerned the politicians. Canada’s Trucker Freedom Convoy protest is protesting mask and vaccine mandates and is closing down bridges, blocking travel, and slowing down the supply chain. The truckers in the United States are planning a similar protest convoy starting in March.

As a result of the polls and convoy protests, politicians are concerned about the upcoming midterm elections and their ability to appeal to the masses who have become weary of COVID and the mandates. However, because “absolute power corrupts absolutely,” it is doubtful that these leftist politicians are willing to give up their power quickly, as is evident in Governor Pritzker’s unwillingness to remove the mandates from school children.

The dismissal of the mandates is also only being done at state levels. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is still unwilling to remove the recommendations, stating that hospitalizations remain high. President Joe Biden is still trying to enforce various mandates. On Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) told host Maria Bartiromo that he would introduce legislation in the U.S. Senate to end President Biden’s Declaration of Emergency and stop the Medicare Vaccine Mandate on healthcare workers. Marshall went on to say that the mandates are “about power, it’s about control.” Politicians rarely give up power and control easily. Therefore, the very fact that Democrat-controlled states are willing to let go of mandates without a fight is very telling. Perhaps they see the writing on the wall.

However, voters must remain persistent in assuring that they are not misled by politicians who want to appear as though they have a conciliatory nature. Leftists may sway less informed voters by convincing them that they are willing to modify mandates.

Take ACTION: Although we should be hopeful that more states will dismiss mask mandates, we should remain vigilant. We must ensure that leftists are not trying to influence elections through policy changes that are only meant to temporarily pacify angry voters. Please call your state and federal representatives and ask them to end the mask mandates in Illinois schools in all districts, also voice your support for ending the federal declaration of emergency and all forced mandates. Continue to stay informed as we approach the midterm elections. 

Written by Dr. Harvey Risch

The time has come for states and the federal government to end their COVID declarations of emergency and the accompanying closures, restrictions, propaganda, distancing requirements, forced masking and vaccine mandates. COVID may circulate at some level forever, but Americans can now protect those vulnerable to it with standard medical procedures. They can treat it as they would the flu. Emergency measures need continuous justification and there isn’t one anymore.

Omicron has become the dominant variant. Over the past two months, the Delta variant strain—Omicron’s main competitor and the most recent aggressive version of COVID—has been declining in the U.S. That is true both in proportion of infections (62 percent on Dec. 18 fell to 2 percent on Jan. 15, then to 0.1 percent on Jan. 29) and the number of daily infected people (97,000 to 14,000 to 400), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the next two weeks, Delta cases will almost certainly decline to the point that the variant essentially disappears, as did the strains that came before it.

Omicron is mild enough that most people, even many in high-risk categories, can adequately cope with the infection. Omicron infection is no more severe than seasonal flu, and generally less so. In America, many of those vulnerable to COVID are already vaccinated and protected against severe disease.

Treatments have also vastly improved since the early days of the pandemic. The medical community has learned much about the utility of inexpensive supplements like vitamin D to reduce severe disease risk, and there are a host of good therapeutics available to prevent hospitalization and death should a vulnerable patient become infected. For young people, the risk of severe disease—already low before Omicron—is minuscule.

There’s evidence that Americans have built up additional immunity through the recent Omicron wave. Daily Omicron infections peaked around Jan. 11 and have been declining. Mortality from COVID, including some from remaining Delta cases, is now declining as well. Influenza in typical seasons peaks in mid-February. That Omicron has been decreasing since early January suggests that the decline may have less to do with seasonal factors than built-up population immunity. If substantial new variants arise, this suggests case and death counts could still remain relatively low.

There is no longer any justification for the federal government and states to maintain their declarations of emergency. The lockdowns, personnel firings, shortages and school disruptions are doing at least as much damage to the population’s health and welfare as the virus. The state of emergency is unjustified now, and it can’t be justified by fears of a hypothetical recurrence of a more severe infection at some unknown point in the future. If the government can grant itself such power, then the limits imposed by the federal and state Constitutions are effectively meaningless.

Americans have sacrificed their rights and livelihoods for two years to protect the general public health. Government officials must now do their part and give Americans their lives back.

Dr. Risch is a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. This op/ed was originally published by the Wall Street Journal.

Wonder Land: President Biden must declare the pandemic over,
so that Americans can return to normal lives, in which Covid-19 is treated as endemic.
Images: AFP/Getty Images/Image of Sport/Zuma Press Composite: Mark Kelly

Written by Megan Basham

In September, Wheaton College dean Ed Stetzer interviewed National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins on his podcast, “Church Leadership” about why Christians who want to obey Christ’s command to love their neighbors should get the Covid vaccine and avoid indulging in misinformation.

For those not familiar with Stetzer, he’s not just a religious liberal arts professor and this wasn’t just another dime-a-dozen pastorly podcast. To name just a few of his past and present titles in the evangelical world, Stetzer is also the executive director of the Billy Graham Center and the editor-in-chief of Outreach media group. He was previously an editor at Christianity Today and an executive director at LifeWay, one of the largest religious publishers in the world. That’s to say nothing of the dozen-plus books on missions and church planting he’s authored.

Which is why, when Stetzer joined a line of renowned pastors and ministry leaders lending their platforms to Obama-appointee Collins, the collaboration was noteworthy.

During their discussion, Collins and Stetzer were hardly shy about the fact that they were asking ministers to act as the administration’s go-between with their congregants. “I want to exhort pastors once again to try to use your credibility with your flock to put forward the public health measures that we know can work,” Collins said. Stetzer replied that he sometimes hears from ministers who don’t feel comfortable preaching about Covid vaccines, and he advises them, in those cases, to simply promote the jab through social media.

“I just tell them, when you get vaccinated, post a picture and say, ‘So thankful I was able to get vaccinated,’” Stetzer said. “People need to see that it is the reasonable view.”

Their conversation also turned to the subject of masking children at school, with Collins noting that Christians, in particular, have been resistant to it. His view was firm—kids should be masked if they want to be in the classroom. To do anything else is to turn schools into super spreaders. Stetzer offered no pushback or follow-up questions based on views from other medical experts. He simply agreed.

The most crucial question Stetzer never asked Collins however, was why convincing church members to get vaccinated or disseminating certain administration talking points should be the business of pastors at all.

Christians and Conspiracy Theories

Stetzer’s efforts to help further the NIH’s preferred coronavirus narratives went beyond simply giving Collins a softball venue to rally pastors to his cause. He ended the podcast by announcing that the Billy Graham Center would be formally partnering with the Biden administration. Together with the NIH and the CDC it would launch a website, coronavirusandthechurch.com, to provide clergy Covid resources they could then convey to their congregations.

Much earlier in the pandemic, as an editor at evangelicalism’s flagship publication, Christianity Today (CT), Stetzer had also penned essays parroting Collins’ arguments on conspiracy theories. Among those he lambasted other believers for entertaining, the hypothesis that the coronavirus had leaked from a Wuhan lab. In a now deleted essay, preserved by Web Archive, Stetzer chided, “If you want to believe that some secret lab created this as a biological weapon, and now everyone is covering that up, I can’t stop you.”

It may seem strange, given the evidence now emerging of NIH-funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan, to hear a church leader instruct Christians to “repent” for the sin of discussing the plausible supposition that the virus had escaped from a Chinese laboratory. This is especially true as it doesn’t take any great level of spiritual discernment — just plain common sense — to look at the fact that Covid first emerged in a city with a virology institute that specializes in novel coronaviruses and realize it wasn’t an explanation that should be set aside too easily. But it appears Stetzer was simply following Collins’ lead.

Only two days before Stetzer published his essay, Collins participated in a livestream event, co-hosted by CT. The outlet introduced him as a “follower of Jesus, who affirms the sanctity of human life” despite the fact that Collins is on record stating he does not definitively believe, as most pro-lifers do, that life begins at conception, and his tenure at NIH has been marked by extreme anti-life, pro-LGBT policies. (More on this later).

But the pro-life Christian framing was sure to win Collins a hearing among an audience with deep religious convictions about the evil of abortion. Many likely felt reassured to hear that a likeminded medical expert was representing them in the administration.

During the panel interview, Collins continued to insist that the lab leak theory wasn’t just unlikely but qualified for the dreaded misinformation label. “If you were trying to design a more dangerous coronavirus,” he said, “you would never have designed this one … So I think one can say with great confidence that in this case the bioterrorist was nature … Humans did not make this one. Nature did.”

It was the same message his subordinate, Dr. Anthony Fauci, had been giving to secular news outlets, but Collins was specifically tapped to carry the message to the faithful. As Time Magazine reported in Feb. 2021, “While Fauci has been medicine’s public face, Collins has been hitting the faith-based circuit…and preaching science to believers.”

The editors, writers, and reporters at Christian organizations didn’t question Collins any more than their mainstream counterparts questioned Fauci.

Certainly The Gospel Coalition, a publication largely written for and by pastors, didn’t probe beyond the “facts” Collins’ offered or consider any conflicts of interest the NIH director might have had before publishing several essays that cited him as almost their lone source of information. As with CT, one article by Gospel Coalition editor Joe Carter linked the reasonable hypothesis that the virus might have been human-made with wilder QAnon fantasies. It then lectured readers that spreading such ideas would damage the church’s witness in the world.

Of course, Stetzer and The Gospel Coalition had no way of knowing at that point that Collins and Fauci had already heard from leading U.S. and British scientists who believed the virus had indeed escaped from a Chinese lab. Or that they believed it might be the product of gain-of-function engineering, possibly with funding from the NIH itself. Nor could they have predicted that emails between Collins and Fauci would later show the pair had a habit of turning to friendly media contacts (including, it seems, Christian media contacts) to discredit and suppress opinions they didn’t like, such as questioning Covid’s origins and the wisdom of masks and lockdowns.

What Stetzer and others did know was that one of the most powerful bureaucrats in the world was calling on evangelical leaders to be “ambassadors for truth.” And they were happy to answer that call.

The question was, just how truthful was Collins’ truth?

Evangelicals of a Feather

Stetzer, CT, and The Gospel Coalition were hardly alone in uncritically lending their sway over rank-and-file evangelicals to Collins. The list of Christian leaders who passed the NIH director their mics to preach messages about getting jabs, wearing masks, and accepting the official line on Covid is as long as it is esteemed.

One of the most noteworthy was the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), an organization funded by churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.

While a webinar featuring Collins and then-ERLC-head Russell Moore largely centered, again, on the importance of pastors convincing church members to get vaccinated, the discussion also moved on to the topic of masks. With Moore nodding along, Collins held up a basic, over-the-counter cloth square, “This is not a political statement,” he asserted. “This is not an invasion of your personal freedom…This is a life-saving medical device.”

Even in late 2020, the claim was highly debatable among medical experts. As hematologist-oncologist Vinay Prasad wrote in City Journal this month, public health officials like Collins have had a truth problem over the entire course of Covid, but especially when it comes to masks. “The only published cluster randomized trial of community cloth masking during Covid-19,” Prasad reported, “found that…cloth masks were no better than no masks at all.” [emphasis mine].

At this point, even the CDC is backing away from claims that cloth masks are worth much of anything.

Yet none of the Christian leaders platforming Collins evidently felt it was worth exploring a second opinion. And the list of pastors who were willing to take a bureaucrat’s word that matters that could have been left to Christian liberty were instead tests of one’s love for Jesus goes on.

Former megachurch pastor Tim Keller’s joint interview with Collins included a digression where the pair agreed that churches like John MacArthur’s, which continued to meet in-person despite Covid lockdowns, represented the “bad and ugly” of good, bad, and ugly Christian responses to the virus.

During Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren’s special broadcast with Collins on behalf of Health and Human Services, he mentioned that he and Collins first met when both were speakers for the billionaires and heads of state who gather annually in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. They reconnected recently, Warren revealed, at an “off-the-record” meeting between Collins and “key faith leaders.” Warren did not say, but one can make an educated guess as to who convened that meeting and for what purpose, given the striking similarity of Collins’ appearances alongside all these leading Christian lights.

Once again, Warren and Collins spent their interview jointly lamenting the unlovingness of Christians who question the efficacy of masks, specifically framing it as a matter of obedience to Jesus. “Wearing a mask is the great commandment: love your neighbor as yourself,” the best-selling author of “The Purpose-Driven Life” declared, before going on to specifically argue that religious leaders have an obligation to convince religious people to accept the government’s narratives about Covid.

“Let me just say a word to the priests and pastors and rabbis and other faith leaders,” he said. “This is our job, to deal with these conspiracy issues and things like that…One of the responsibilities of faith leaders is to tell people to…trust the science. They’re not going to put out a vaccine that’s going to hurt people.”

Leaving aside for a moment the fact that government does have a record of putting out vaccines that “hurt people,” is it truly the pastor’s job to tell church members to “trust the science?” Is it a pastor’s job to slyly insult other pastors who chose to handle shutdowns differently, as Warren did when he quipped that his “ego doesn’t require” him to “have a live audience to speak to.”

And still the list goes on.

The same week MacArthur’s church was in the news for resisting California Governor Gavin Newsom orders to keep houses of worship closed, Collins participated in an interview with celebrated theologian N.T. Wright.

During a discussion where the NIH director once again trumpeted the efficacy of cloth masks, the pair warned against conspiracies, mocking “disturbing examples” of churches that continued meeting because they thought “the devil can’t get into my church” or “Jesus is my vaccine.” Lest anyone wonder whether Wright experienced some pause over lending his reputation as a deep Christian thinker to Caesar’s agent, the friends finished with a guitar duet.

Even hipster Christian publications like Relevant, whose readers have likely never heard of Collins, still looked to him as the foundation of their Covid reporting.

Throughout all of it, Collins brought the message to the faithful through their preachers and leaders: “God is calling [Christians] to do the right thing.”

And none of those leaders thought to question whether Collins’ “right thing” and God’s “right thing” must necessarily be the same thing.

Why not? As Warren said of Collins during their interview: “He’s a man you can trust.”

A Man You Can Trust

Perhaps the evangelical elites’ willingness to unhesitatingly credit Collins with unimpeachable honesty has something to do with his rather Mr. Rogers-like appearance and gentle demeanor. The establishment media has compared him to “The Simpson’s” character Ned Flanders, noting that he has a tendency to punctuate his soft speech with exclamations of “oh boy!” and “by golly!”

Going by his concrete record, however, he seems like a strange ambassador to spread the government’s Covid messaging to theologically conservative congregations. Other than his proclamations that he is, himself, a believer, the NIH director espouses nearly no public positions that would mark him out as any different from any extreme Left-wing bureaucrat.

He has not only defended experimentation on fetuses obtained by abortion, he has also directed record-level spending toward it. Among the priorities the NIH has funded under Collins — a University of Pittsburgh experiment that involved grafting infant scalps onto lab rats, as well as projects that relied on the harvested organs of aborted, full-term babies. Some doctors have even charged Collins with giving money to research that required extracting kidneys, ureters, and bladders from living infants.

He further has endorsed unrestricted funding of embryonic stem cell research, personally attending President Obama’s signing of an Executive Order to reverse a previous ban on such expenditures. When Nature magazine asked him about the Trump administration’s decision to shut down fetal cell research, Collins made it clear he disagreed, saying, “I think it’s widely known that the NIH tried to protect the continued use of human fetal tissue. But ultimately, the White House decided otherwise. And we had no choice but to stand down.”

Even when directly asked about how genetic testing has led to the increased killing of Down Syndrome babies in the womb, Collins deflected, telling Beliefnet, “I’m troubled [by] the applications of genetics that are currently possible are oftentimes in the prenatal arena…But, of course, in our current society, people are in a circumstance of being able to take advantage of those technologies.”

When it comes to pushing an agenda of racial quotas and partiality based on skin color, Collins is a member of the Left in good standing, speaking fluently of “structural racism” and “equity” rather than equality. He’s put his money (or, rather, taxpayer money) where his mouth is, implementing new policies that require scientists seeking NIH grants to pass diversity, equity, and inclusion tests in order to qualify.

To the most holy of progressive sacred cows — LGBTQ orthodoxy — Collins has been happy to genuflect. Having declared himself an “ally” of the gay and trans movements, he went on to say he “[applauds] the courage and resilience it takes for [LGBTQ] individuals to live openly and authentically” and is “committed to listening, respecting, and supporting [them]” as an “advocate.”

These are not just the empty words of a hapless Christian official saying what he must to survive in a hostile political atmosphere. Collins’ declaration of allyship is deeply reflected in his leadership.

Under his watch, the NIH launched a new initiative to specifically direct funding to “sexual and gender minorities.” On the ground, this has translated to awarding millions in grants to experimental transgender research on minors, like giving opposite-sex hormones to children as young as eight and mastectomies to girls as young as 13. Another project, awarded $8 million in grants, included recruiting teen boys to track their homosexual activities like “condomless anal sex” on an app without their parents’ consent.

Other than his assertions of his personal Christian faith, there is almost no public stance Collins has taken that would mark him out as someone of like mind with the everyday believers to whom he was appealing.

How did Collins overcome all this baggage to become the go-to expert for millions of Christians? With a little help from his friends, who were happy to stand as his character witnesses.

Keller, Warren, Wright, and Stetzer all publicly lauded him as a godly brother.  When presenting Collins to Southern Baptists, Moore gushed over him as the smartest man in a book club he attends that also includes, according to Time Magazine, such luminaries of the “Christiantelligentsia” as The Atlantic’s Pete Wehner and The New York Times’ David Brooks.

In October, even after Collins’ funding of the University of Pittsburgh research had become widely known, Moore continued to burnish his friend’s reputation, saying, “I admire greatly the wisdom, expertise, and, most of all, the Christian humility and grace of Francis Collins.” That same month, influential evangelical pundit David French deemed Collins a “national treasure” and his service in the NIH “faithful.” Former George W. Bush speechwriter and Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson struck the most poetic tone in his effusive praise, claiming that Collins possesses a “restless genius [that] is other-centered” and is a “truth-seeker in the best sense.”

Except, apparently, when those others are aborted infants or gender-confused children and when that truth pertains to lab leaks or gain-of-function funding.

Since news began breaking months ago that Collins and Fauci intentionally used their media connections to conspire to suppress the lab-leak theory, none of the individuals or organizations in this story has corrected their records or asked Collins publicly about his previous statements. Nor have they circled back with him to inquire on record about revelations the NIH funded gain-of-function coronavirus research in Wuhan. They also haven’t questioned him on the increasing scientific consensus that cloth masks were never very useful.

The Daily Wire reached out to Stetzer, Keller, Wright, Warren, Moore, and French to ask if they have changed their views on Collins given recent revelations. None responded.

Francis Collins has been an especially successful envoy for the Biden administration, delivering messages to a mostly-Republican Christian populace who would otherwise be reluctant to hear them. In their presentation of Collins’ expertise, these pastors and leaders suggested that questioning his explanations as to the origins of the virus or the efficacy of masks was not simply a point of disagreement but sinful. This was a charge likely to have a great deal of impact on churchgoers who strive to live lives in accordance with godly standards. Perhaps no other argument could’ve been more persuasive to this demographic.

This does not mean these leaders necessarily knew that the information they were conveying to the broader Christian public could be false, but it does highlight the danger religious leaders face when they’re willing to become mouth organs of the government.

What we do know about Collins and his work with Fauci is that they have shown themselves willing to compromise transparency and truth for PR considerations. Thus, everything they have told the public about the vaccines may be accurate and their message a worthy one for Christians. But their credibility no longer carries much weight. It would’ve been better had the evangelical establishment never platformed Collins at all and shipwrecked their own reputations to showcase their lofty connections to him.

While these evangelical leaders were warning about conspiracy theories, Collins was waging a misinformation campaign himself — one these Christian megaphones helped further.

Why they did it is a question only they can answer. Perhaps in their eagerness to promote vaccines, they weren’t willing to offer any pushback to Collins’ other claims. Certainly, the lure of respect in the halls of power has proved too great a siren call for many a man. Or perhaps it was simply that their friend, the NIH director, called on them for a favor. If so, a friend like Collins deserved much, much more scrutiny.

There’s an instructive moment at the end of Warren‘s interview with Collins. The pastor misquotes Proverbs 4, saying, “Get the facts at any price.”

That, of course, is not what the verse says. It says get wisdom at any price. And it was wisdom that was severely lacking when so many pastors and ministry heads recklessly turned over their platforms, influence, and credibility to a government official who had done little to demonstrate he deserved them.

This article was originally published by The Daily Wire, which is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. 

We are all familiar with the expressions, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” or, “A stitch in time saves nine,” meaning it is wise to catch a problem early, while it is small and manageable, rather than to wait until it has grown and become a serious threat.  We understand this with things like weeds in our garden or cancer.  But somehow, we neglect it in the arena of politics.

James Madison lamented that Americans waited until a situation became a crisis before they acted, but I expect it is not only Americans who have that problem. It is people in general. Politics are so wide ranging, and solutions seemingly beyond the reach of the individual, most people simply throw up their hands and hope for the best. This must change for those of us who love what made America the greatest and freest nation ever!

If you are at all aware of what is going on in America, you know radical changes are occurring. This nation was founded on the novel idea that if people are adequately taught in Christian virtues and self-disciplined, they can govern themselves. America is the only, or at least best, example in human history of a self-governing nation! Abraham Lincoln noted in his famous “Gettysburg Address” that we have a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”  The point being that, as the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution states, “We the People” are the government and those we send to our state and national capitals are our servants, not our masters.  With the events of the last several years it is clear that many of those we have sent to do our will now see themselves as rulers, not servants.  President Joe Biden betrayed his own personal ambition when he commented publicly regarding Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Stacey Abrams, that if the Democrat Party had many more like her, “We could rule the world!”

No, Mr. Biden, our Constitution does not make politicians rulers!  It makes them servants!  Any American politician who establishes himself as a “ruler” is guilty of insurrection!

Good and wise leaders do not exacerbate fears or exploit them to increase their own personal power, but rather seek to calm the public in times of crisis.  Yet day after day our political and cultural leaders ignite new fires and then throw gasoline on them to arouse as much panic as possible.  Sweep aside the rhetoric and anyone can see that while the pandemic has tragically taken many lives, it has not done nearly as much damage to America as the rhetoric and fearmongering.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died in wars to enable us to be free to live according to our own consciences, desires, and abilities, but we are now being led down a path toward submission, even tyranny, ironically in the name of “saving lives!”  However, virtually everything we have heard from the media and government over the last eighteen months has proven to be either inaccurate or outright lies! One mandate after another is getting Americans used to the idea that “they” are our masters, and we must obey! This must be resisted!

Should we be concerned that tyrants might walk the halls of Congress or other institutions of power in the United States?  Well, consider that Joseph Stalin studied religion as a young man, and Adolf Hitler wanted to be an artist.  Basher al-Assad, the butcher of Syria, studied medicine. From these examples we understand that tyrants’ personal ambitions and brutality are generally not known until it is too late to stop them.

The adage, “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” reminds us that under no circumstance can we allow individuals or small groups to gain too much power. Do we have a Hitler or Stalin walking in our midst? Do we really wish to find out? By the time we figure it out it will be too late! At times like this we are reminded of the thoughts of patriot Patrick Henry who notably said, “is life so dear and peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?  Forbid it, Almighty God!” He also noted that “the Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government-lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” How prescient he was!

For that reason, we must act now to prevent any person or any group from amassing such political powers. If multiplied thousands of Americans went to their deaths on the battle fields of Europe and the South Pacific to ensure our liberties, then we must not shirk our responsibility to stand for freedom, regardless of the personal or national cost.

We were told in panicked tones that COVID-19 would take millions of lives in America, and that if we wore masks for two weeks it would flatten the curve and put us on a course to defeat it. Here we are, going on two years since the virus showed up and neither of those predictions were accurate. Such proclamations were, in fact, merely a pretext for amassing power to Washington. Sadly, a precise accounting of deaths appears impossible as the government incentivized listing any death where COVID-19 was present a COVID death, even if COVID was not the actual cause of death.  And we have myriad anecdotal reports of people dying who were not infected at all yet were reported as COVID related deaths. We understand that “the first victim of war is truth.” And, if you are not seeing it, understand that we are in, as some have pointed out, a “cold civil war.”

Actor Michael Douglas in a video made not long ago noted that our political system has been “hijacked” to “ensure that those with power keep it.”

Truer words have not been spoken, and if noble and patriotic citizens do not stand up, speak up and act, it may soon be too late.

There is a new poll from Rasmussen Reports that is flat-out scary. First, here is a finding that probably won’t surprise you. Americans are split evenly on President Biden’s vaccine mandate.   Roughly half (48 percent) of voters favor President Joe Biden’s plan to impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on employees of large companies. (The U.S. Supreme Court just declared this unconstitutional.)  The same percentage of voters oppose this.

Another split concerns Dr. Anthony Fauci. Forty-five percent (45 percent) view Dr. Fauci favorably, while Forty-eight percent (48 percent) have an unfavorable impression of him.

Nearly 6 out of 10 voters (58 percent) would oppose fining Americans who do not choose to get the COVID vaccine. However, the poll contains a very disturbing mindset in the deeper numbers among Democrats.

• Fifty-nine percent (59 percent) of Democratic voters would favor a government policy requiring that citizens always remain confined to their homes, except for emergencies, if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine. (This is opposed by 61 percent of all those surveyed.)

• Nearly half (48 percent) of Democratic voters think federal and state governments should be able to fine or imprison individuals who publicly question the efficacy of the existing COVID-19 vaccines on social media, television, radio, or online or digital publications. (Overall, this anti-free speech idea is supported by only 27 percent of those surveyed.)

• Forty-five percent (45 percent) of Democrats would favor governments requiring citizens to temporarily live at designated facilities or locations if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine. In other words, half of Democrat voters support COVID detention camps! (Overall, this is opposed by 71 percent of all voters.)

• While 66 percent of all voters oppose governmental tracking of the unvaccinated, 47 percent of Democrats favor a government tracking program for those who won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine.

• Twenty-nine percent (29 percent) of Democratic voters support temporarily removing parents’ custody of their children if they refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

A near majority of the Democrat party, and in my view the mainstream media which shills for the DNC daily, is moving dangerously toward far-left totalitarianism under the cover of the COVID pandemic. President Biden’s strongest supporters are the most likely to support the harshest punishments of those who question the COVID narrative.

The poll didn’t ask this, but I would bet that close to 90 percent of those in favor of these ruthless steps would falsely claim that they believe in “tolerance.”

The poll was conducted on Jan 5, a time when the 91 percent less fatal Omicron variant was (and still is) upon us. Many scientists believe that the COVID virus is following the paths of other viruses by becoming more transmissible but weaker. They also believe that this mass Omicron infection, which is impacting both the vaccinated and unvaccinated, will boost national immunity. Historically, most pandemics of this kind last about two years.

More than two dozen pro-family organizations signed onto an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court to oppose the Biden Administration’s tyrannical vaccine mandate. The brief, filed on Monday, January 3, 2022, urges the Court to protect religious liberty and oppose this sweeping and unchecked mandate, which requires COVID-19 vaccination in employers with 100 or more employees with little to no regard for the religious liberty interests of American citizens.

In November, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the Biden Administration issued an unilateral vaccine mandate for the aforementioned employers. It did so without the approval of the U.S. Congress and without even allowing for public comment, which is a key part of the rule-making process. Because the mandate circumvented these critical checks, the mandate “undermines rule-of-law values,” the brief argues, “for it puts important policy decisions in the hands of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats…”

More importantly, by placing this power in the hands of an unelected agency, there is a great threat to religious liberty. “In the last 20 years,” says the brief, “[the U.S. Supreme Court] has repeatedly had to step in to protect religious exercise from agency hostility.” The OSHA vaccine mandate is evidence of this continued hostility, as it did not offer any guidance for religious employers or employees. Rather, it creates a potential religious conflict with its mandate, and then “places responsibility for that conflict in the lap of the employer.”

Putting aside the many strong opinions Americans have on the vaccine issue, this sweeping mandate by OSHA both exceeds the agency’s authority, and backhands religious liberty, a bedrock value of our nation.

IFI Family will keep you informed on any action by the U.S. Supreme Court on this issue.

Written by Patience Griswold

For many years people have insisted that the online world is not the “real world.” There are elements of truth to this —a screen avatar can never capture the fullness of who someone is and the filtered versions of ourselves that we present on the internet can often hide what is actually happening in our lives — but in the nearly two years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have found ourselves, at some point or another, living significant portions of our lives online. As we grapple with this brave new world it is important that we recognize how the shifting digital landscape affects children and teens and the ways that it can harm them.

A recent report from Thorn found that 14 percent of 9 to 12-year-olds had shared explicit images of themselves in 2020 and 21 percent said it was normal for kids their age to do so. Nearly one in five teens had shared sexually explicit images of themselves. Thorn’s report also found a rise in children using secondary accounts to avoid online supervision. In 2020, 25 percent of 9-12-year-olds surveyed said that they were using at least one secondary account and 73 percent said they would prefer not to say. This lack of supervision leaves kids vulnerable to online predators and exposure to explicit content. Of the minors who reported that they had shared sexually explicit images of themselves, half said that they had shared those images with someone they had never met in real life, and over 40 percent reported having shared the images with someone over the age of 18.

As shocking as this is, it is sadly not surprising given the rise in pornography use across all age groups and the increasingly violent and exploitative nature of that content. According to Fight the New Drug, “teen” was one of the most popular search terms on one of the largest pornography platforms for five years running. When fantasizing about sexual exploitation becomes accepted as “normal,” real-life exploitation increases, which is exactly what is happening with the growing number of children sharing self-generated child sexual abuse material.

An important thing to realize when considering this trend is that children are listening to what the culture around them says about sexuality. When “sexting” is treated as normal, healthy, and “empowering,” it is hardly surprising that kids imitate this behavior. People deserve to be treated with more dignity than that and young people need to know that their bodies and God-given sexuality are good and beautiful — and what is good and beautiful should be valued and protected, not flippantly distributed on the internet.

Sexual exploitation is not the only issue that has arisen around kids and technology. Recreational screen time among 12 to 13-year-olds has doubled since the beginning of COVID-19 related lockdowns, reaching over seven and a half hours per day. Increases in screen time, including time spent on social media, has coincided with an alarming rise in depression and anxiety among children and teens. This is especially prevalent in girls, but it affects boys, as well. In addition to depression and anxiety, too much screen time can result in trouble sleeping and irregular sleep schedules, behavioral problems, poor academic outcomes, and desensitization to violence.

To address this, families need to be intentional about how they approach technology, recognizing how the design of a device may encourage isolation, making sure that young children do not have unfettered and unsupervised access to the internet, and helping teens establish healthy boundaries and accountability around devices. Parents need to make sure that they are aware of their children’s online activities and how that may be affecting them, and they also need to make sure that their own habits around technology set a healthy example for their kids.

Many adolescents have expressed that they wish their parents had more rules about screen use. This is imperative, not because we don’t want to treat teens as emerging adults but because we recognize that, as emerging adults, they need to develop habits of discipline. Moreover, preventing kids from interacting with strangers on the internet and sending explicit images is just as important as helping them understand that they shouldn’t get in a car with a stranger or that there are certain places where no one should ever touch them.

Because children are valuable their bodies, hearts, and minds should be protected. Part of protecting children’s bodies, hearts, and minds is helping them safely navigate the digital landscape, including setting boundaries on how much time they spend in front of screens and what online activities they engage in. Children deserve not to be exposed to sexual content online or in person. They deserve to be taught that their bodies matter and should be treated as valuable. And they deserve to know that their hearts are precious and that they matter to the adults in their lives – and that those adults will work to protect them from harm.

This article was originally published by Minnesota Family Council.

Written by Patience Griswold

The so-called “Abortion Care Network” (ACN) recently reported that independent abortion facilities are closing at an “alarming rate.” In the past five years, 113 independent abortion facilities have closed, including 34 since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past decade, the number of independent abortion facilities has declined by 30 percent. The rate at which these clinics are closing is not what is alarming. What is alarming is that they ever opened in the first place and that, far too often, we are numb to the daily massacre committed by the abortion industry.

It’s well past time for these clinics to close. Abortion is a grave injustice that has plagued the United States for too long, and the sooner these clinics close the doors, the better. Although Planned Parenthood continues to commit over a third of abortions in the United States, ACN reports that independent abortion facilities commit 58% of all abortions.

Meanwhile, 40 Days for Life recently celebrated the 20,00th baby saved thanks to their campaign! For 14 years, the group has held a 40-day, around-the-clock vigil outside of abortion facilities praying for the women entering and offering them hope and resources to choose life, and their annual vigil has saved an average of over 1400 babies per year! The pro-life movement is making strides, not just in passing life-saving legislation but also in changing hearts and minds about abortion and offering real care and support to women.

The abortion industry preys on fear. The impact of organizations like 40 Days for Life and other pro-life sidewalk counseling ministries shows that women do not need abortion and that, when shown the reality of abortion and offered life-affirming support, many abortion-minded women choose life.

Time and again, the pro-life movement consistently demonstrates true compassion for women and families. And time and again, the abortion industry has proven that their concern is not the wellbeing of women, as they claim, but their own bottom line. Here in Minnesota, abortion activists recently called for an end to the Positive Alternatives to Abortion program, which provides grants to organizations that offer women support and resources to choose life, including pregnancy resource centers, as well as organizations that offer housing and financial assistance, and help with adoption placement, family, pregnancy, and parental counseling, and post-abortion care. If the abortion movement truly cared about women, they would not consistently target organizations that offer compassionate care and resources to expecting mothers and their families.

Women don’t need abortion. They need the support, compassion, and resources that the pro-life movement consistently offers them. The growing number of abortion facilities closing their doors for good is excellent news for women, babies, families, and a society that has been numb to the reality of abortion for far too long.

This article was originally published at MFC.org.