SOUTHERN BAPTIST PRESIDENT FLOYD'S "POPISH" INQUISITION: DOCTRINE OF UNITY DEMANDS DECREE AGAINST DISSENTERS

MORE THAN "SLOWLY BECOMING CATHOLIC"

SBC’s Floyd: Doctrine of Unity Demands 

Decree Against Dissenters

BY BUD AHLHEIM

SEE: http://pulpitandpen.org/2016/05/18/sbcs-floyd-doctrine-of-unity-demands-decree-against-dissenters/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

In what might be appropriately compared to that time back in the 16th century when a certain pope, riled by the outrageous Biblical truths being spouted by an up-start academic German monk, issued a papal cease and desist order, Ronnie Floyd, President of the Southern Baptist Convention, has written a perhaps kinder, gentler entreaty with the same goals.  Silence the detractors for the sake of power … err … unity!

Floyd, soon to complete his second and final term at the helm of the SBC, wrote yet another blogged diatribe about his hallowed doctrine of unity.  It’s over on the Baptist Press, in case you want to read it.  Be aware that Floyd’s plea isn’t theologically rooted either in the doctrine of the unity of the Trinity, nor, even, the doctrine of the unity of the church. Floyd touts the doctrine of denominational unity, a tenet unfounded, as you know, in actual Scripture.

“Unity demands we accept one another in love.”  

That’s how he starts.  Well, umm, actually Ronnie, the overwhelming impact of Christ’s grace in saving me, giving me a new heart, and generating fruit of the Spirit in my life is what prompts me to love my perhaps otherwise unlovable neighbor. Unity has nothing to do with it.  In fact, “unity” is never on my mind as either a concern or a motive for my Christian love. Then again, I’m not enthroned over a denomination that seems to be looking up as the drain drags the clog further down.

Floyd needs unity, wants unity, craves unity because he thinks the magical potion of “come together, kum-ba-ya-ism” will be a tourniquet for the massive bloodletting of members from the ranks.  That wound of bloodletting has only widened under Floyd, by the way.

In his blog, Floyd goes on to blindly pass right over the actual reason the bloodletting continues.  The hemorrhaging is being catalyzed by the perpetual proclamation of little more than a prosperity gospel from pulpits, the so overly-contextualized Gospel that it’s surprising that the name Jesus even remains in it, and the self-righteous SBC presumption that we will do a job Jesus reserved for Himself – namely, build the church.

“Southern Baptists are no longer in a battle for the Bible, but in a battle with one another.  The very soul of our convention is at stake.”

Ooohhh, that sounds so foreboding.  The soul of the convention is at stake.

“The soul of the convention?”  Gimme a break.  Believe it or don’t – and apparently Ronnie “don’t” –  Jesus is incredibly more interested that His Gospel – the real one, not the one contextualized to nearly obscuring the divine – be proclaimed, in its’ fullness, to souls that He may just save.  Those are the souls matter.

But Floyd is absolutely mistaken that we aren’t any longer “in a battle for the Bible.”  That’s the error.  And it’s an error of … well … Biblical proportions.

IT IS ALWAYS ABOUT THE WORD, Ronnie.  Always.  Just pretend that your life as a believer is always in an “Eden” moment, because in some way, by some means, the enemy is incessantly attacking that Word … and your obedience to it.

In the sense that the SBC did, indeed, stand firm on our convictions regarding Scripture he is correct.  The results precipitated the “conservative resurgence” which swept through affiliated Baptist colleges and seminaries, insuring professorial compliance with our Statement of Faith, particularly on Scripture.

Yet Ronnie Floyd would have you, and me, rest on the laurels of a “been there, conquered that” battle as if the war itself were over.  That war rages on.  We know that because Jesus hasn’t returned yet.  So the Word is still being attacked and the battles yet continue.

Floyd’s assumptive statement about that “battle” being over leads to his complaint that now we are “in a battle with one another.”  Hopefully, those battlers unnamed by Floyd are battling against his claim that the battle over the Bible is won.  It assuredly is not. While he does name the foes in this unity-threatening battle, he defines it with a sense of ultimate, potential demise.  “The very soul of our convention is at stake.”

But here’s the problem.  Floyd, like so much of the SBC, disregards Scripture. While affirming its authority, infallibility, and inerrancy, he, and so many SBC pastors and leaders, deny its sufficiency.

We give it lip service but you can look at the very things we do that deny the sufficiency of Scripture to see that the enemy is winning that battle.  When you plant 1,000 new churches and lose a quarter million members in a single year, explain to me how that momentous victory in the battle for the Bible works out.  It doesn’t.

If we believed in the sufficiency of Scripture, we would actually trust Christ when He said, “I will build my church.”  Instead, scour the SBC web world and you will find enough church plant models and church growth procedures to shoot out of Floyd’s baptistry confetti cannons for a month of Sundays.  We have presumed to do Jesus’ job because we just don’t think He’ll do it right, I suppose.

It’s a simple formula you find in Scripture.  We share the Gospel.  God saves whom He will through its proclamation … all to accomplish the words of Jesus, “I will build my church.”

Instead, we skip right past the Gospel.  We fold it, spindle it, mutilate it, contextualize it and THEN – and only THEN – we engage the culture with THAT “gospel,” which is not the Gospel.  It’s a man-made, user-friendly appeal to join our family, or get in our club, or become a member.   We’ll do it our way, though “our way” is failing dramatically.  (Thank you all the same but the Gospel ain’t an order down at the BK.)

Floyd proceeds to lay out an agenda for his doctrine of unity .  Among his unity-inducing points is this comment:

”A runaway, unaccountable church lay leader, pastor, or a leader in our convention poses a major threat to unity among us. ”

SILENCE THE DISSENTER!  So let it be written.  So let it be done.  I’m thinkin’ Pope Leo felt the same way about that Luther fella.   Whaddya think?

Who is Floyd talking about here?  Anyone who challenges him?  Anyone who speaks up? (kinda like in this very article you’re reading) Floyd doesn’t state whom he’s referring to, but anyone anywhere in the denomination that threatens its unity is suggestively being called anathema.

But it’s evidence that Floyd and others worship the idol of unity, rather than trust the One True God. In calling out dissenters, those “unaccountable” voices Floyd bemoans, he’s engaging in nothing less than a reverse form of disunity. By attacking those who speak up, Floyd himself engages in defiant acts of disunity he himself bemoans. (Sounds kinda medievally popish.)

Nowhere in Scripture are we told that we must achieve, attempt, or ensure the unity of the church.  While the unity of the SBC may be, and probably ought to be, regularly, healthily assailed with “examine yourself” critiques, denominational unity is not a Scriptural goal.  Obedience to Scripture, and thus to God, is the goal.

As a denomination, we should be focused on the singular mission Christ gave all believers. And, that mission is NOT to build the church or the denomination.   It is to proclaim the Gospel.  This is why member churches are cooperating, isn’t it?  (Instead, during Floyd’s tenure, the SBC had to yank nearly 1000 folks from mission fields. But I don’t think I’m supposed to mention that, FYI.)

I learned this little secret from Scripture … Jesus ensured the unity of His church – the true church –back there when He prayed for it in John 17.  We don’t need to fret over it.  It’s a done deal.

Of course, Jesus was not praying for unity within the SBC because truly that is of little import to Him.  We would, instead, do well to serve Him well which means “do all that I have commanded.”  But the SBC is bleeding members like a stuck pig and … trusting Jesus just ain’t working!  We’re losing members!  (We’re losing members because of a watered down Gospel proclamation, not because of a lack of unity.)

We aren’t obeying.  We aren’t trusting Jesus. We aren’t trusting the Word.  We are trusting in – as Paul says in 1 Corinthians – the “wisdom of the world” to fix our woes with such things church planting models, church growth mechanisms, and a myriad of multiplication maneuvers.  All things founded in the world’s wisdom.  And that wisdom is folly to God, as you know and as you can see within the SBC.

The Gospel alone is the power of God for salvation. If lost souls being saved is our true desire – rather than back-slapping church growth statistics – then it’s the Gospel we must proclaim.

This is the downgrade folks.  A return to the primacy of, and obedience to, the sufficiency of Scripture is the fix for it because the disregard of those very things ARE the downgrade.  (Toss in a well-needed dose of Biblically commanded discernment and things might begin looking rather hunky-dory.)

As for “dividers” in the church, let’s define from Scripture who they are.

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught;avoid them. Romans 16:17

Dividers are those teaching contrary doctrine. It may be properly exegeted to also include those in pulpits and ecclesiastic leadership who simply teach NO doctrine.  Of note, Floyd, who has shown an eagerness to hold hands with those of blatantly unbiblical beliefs, thinks, though, that someone raising their voice in concern is a dissenter, a divider.

Based on his own behavior when compared to Scripture, though, Floyd is actually the divider, because rather than “exposing them,” Floyd holds hands with heresy. Rather than “avoiding” true dividers, Floyd bemoans those who just may be, simply like Luther, begging, pleading, and praying for a return of the denomination to the Word of God and strict obedience to its commands.  Such voices can only be considered divisive if you don’t agree to the sufficiency of Scripture and wish to obey it.

Methinks Floyd has identified the wrong foes, and aligned himself, and the SBC, with the wrong “friends.” Scripture is sufficient. It’s been sufficient for Christ’s purposes for two millennia. The SBC ought to repent, believe, and obey.

The Kingdom of God is, indeed, at hand … but the SBC is wandering aimlessly in a doctrine-free desert with a leader exuding pride over winning a “battle for the Bible.” It’s not enough to affirm a bold statement about Scripture in the BF&M.  That’s not the victory we need.  The one we need comes only from  “trust and obey.”

TENNESSEE SUPPORTS GOLD DEPOSITORY, FEARING MONETARY CRISIS

TENNESSEE SUPPORTS GOLD DEPOSITORY, FEARING MONETARY CRISIS 

BY ALEX NEWMAN

SEE: http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/economics/item/23207-tennessee-supports-gold-depository-fearing-monetary-crisis;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

Citing concerns about about a possible economic crisis and a desire for monetary stability, the State of Tennessee is now officially on record supporting the establishment of a depository facility to house gold and other precious metals for Tennesseans. In a remarkable example of bi-partisanship on serious issues, the resolution passed unanimously in both the state House and Senate before being signed by the governor. But more work remains, according to pro-Constitution and sound money activists supporting the efforts.

Analysts and supporters said the measure was an important step on the road to restoring honest money and a stable monetary system based on gold and silver in Tennessee and beyond. As the Federal Reserve banking cartel continues to debase the U.S. dollar and enrich its cronies at the expense of everyday Americans, other states are also exploring and pursuing similar efforts — and in some cases even more ambitious ones, such as a law in Texas establishing a gold-backed bank that lawmakers said would challenge the Federal Reserve's monopoly on currency.

The measure in Tennessee, House Joint Resolution 516, puts the state on record in official support of “the safekeeping and storage of gold and precious metal bullion and coins in a Tennessee bullion depository or other such similar facility.” The resolution also supports the security that such an institution would provide.

According to the measure, the “unpredictable national economy” has led to efforts to achieve “increased monetary stability and liquidity and greater financial security in the event of a national or international financial crisis.” However, despite successful efforts in other states to expand and facilitate commerce in precious metals, the Tennessee resolution does not specifically call for or facilitate the use of precious metals as currency or legal tender.

Still, HJR 516 does acknowledge that concerns about America's economic health have spurred Tennesseans to acquire gold, silver, and other assets that cannot be quietly confiscated via inflation at the whims of central bankers. “In response to the state of our national economy, individuals and entities have purchased gold and other precious metals in the form of bullion and coins in order to achieve the desired financial security and stability,” explains the measure.

Because citizens have been buying up gold and other precious metals, being able to ensure the  “security and safekeeping” of their assets is “paramount to their utilization as investments in the event of an economic crisis,” the final measure declared, implicitly suggesting that the commodities would be used as money in the event of serious turmoil. As such, Tennessee lawmakers decided to support the establishment of an institution in the state to help citizens protect their gold and other precious metals.

HJR 516 was introduced by Tennessee Rep. Bud Hulsey, a Republican and retired lawman from Kingsport, in late January. The bipartisan measure was passed overwhelmingly in March, with 95 votes in favor and none opposed. The next month, it passed unanimously in the Tennessee Senate, with zero “nay” votes and 26 senators in favor of the resolution. On April 27, Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, signed it.

Despite its national significance, the media missed the story. However, in a series of articles on its webpage, the non-partisan Tenth Amendment Center, a national group that works to rein in Washington, D.C., and restore the proper constitutional balance between federal and state power, celebrated the measure. After the governor signed it, TAC Communications Director Mike Maharrey said the resolution is “setting the stage for the creation of a state bullion depository, an important first step toward establishing gold and silver as money in the state.”

However, more work remains to be done, he said. “As the next step, a bill to establish a depository should be introduced and passed during the next legislative session,” continued Maharrey, who is also an author of a book on restoring liberty. “There appears to be no barriers to getting this done. Now it’s up to activists in Tennessee to keep the pressure on and ensure the legislators and governor follow through.”

Separately, Maharrey called for state efforts to nullify the Federal Reserve's monopoly on legal tender currency. He also pushed for state adherence to Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits states from making anything but gold and silver into legal tender. “Creation of a Tennessee Gold Depository would take a step toward that constitutional requirement, ignored for decades in every state,” he continued. “Such a tactic would undermine the monopoly the Federal Reserve System by introducing competition into the monetary system.”

Making gold and silver more easy to use as currency, he added, could bring about important benefits to Tennessee and its people. And there is a bill in Tennessee that would move the state in that direction. However, while HJR 516 passed by massive margins, another piece of legislation that would actually help expand the use of gold and silver in commerce has not yet been approved. Introduced in January by Senator Frank Niceley, Senate Bill 1610 (SB1610) would exempt gold and silver bullion from sales tax. Numerous other states have taken similar action to help expand the use of precious metals in commerce.

It is not the first time lawmakers in the Volunteer State have considered the issue of monetary stability and how Tennessee might prepare for potential crises down the line. In fact, just five years ago, the legislature, joining other states pursuing similar efforts, considered whether the state might adopt an alternative currency in case the Federal Reserve System broke down. In response to questions from attorney Joe Wolverton of The New American, Tennessee State Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro), the sponsor of the resolution, offered his thoughts on why it was wise to consider the future.  

“We now owe China in the trillions and Japan is second. What would happen if there was another cataclysmic event? I'm not Chicken Little saying the sky is falling, but prudent businesses are always prepared for the worst-case scenario,” Senator Ketron explained. “The present monetary and banking systems of the United States, centered around the Federal Reserve System, have come under ever-increasing strain during the last several years, and will be exposed to ever-increasing and predictably debilitating strain in the years to come.”

Senator Ketron also pointed out correctly that many widely recognized experts have predicted the “inevitable destruction of the Federal Reserve System’s currency through hyperinflation in the foreseeable future.” And in the event of an economic calamity, if the state is not prepared, its finances and economy could be thrown into chaos, with serious implications for the lives, health, and prosperity of Tennesseans. But by adopting a potential alternative sound currency, the state would be able to avoid, or at least mitigate, many of the problems that would inevitably accompany a breakdown of the Federal Reserve and its increasingly discredited fiat (unbacked) currency.    

Lawmakers in Tennessee are hardly the only ones thinking ahead to the future — and projecting the lines. After all, the out-of-control central bank has now been thoroughly exposed showering trillions on its cronies around the world and bailing out mega-banks with debt-based currency conjured into existence out of thin air. As The New American has documented extensively, numerous states, including Utah, New Hampshire,Oklahoma, Virginia, Arizona, and others, have also adopted or considered measures in recent years related to creating, legalizing, or expanding the use of sound-currency alternatives such as gold and silver.

In Texas, state officials are currently taking bids from companies to build a gold-backed bank and depository institution for the state and its citizens, as well as for anyone who would like to store their precious metals there or use the bank's services. According to Texas Representative Giovanni Capriglione, who authored and sponsored the law that was adopted last year, the bank will allow depositors to bypass the Federal Reserve System and its fiat currency in banking and commerce — all while enjoying the safety and stability that Texas and hard assets can provide.  

In an interview with the popular TruNews radio program, the state lawmaker explained that the bank would be much safer and more reliable than traditional banks, for a number of reasons. “We set up a system of depository agents so you can have any corporation, any group, basically start a depository agent, and they can send and receive through this depository system, outside of the Federal Reserve System,” Capriglione explained. The bank has garnered interest from around the world, he added.   

Of course, Tennessee's latest resolution, state laws making gold and silver legal tender, and even Texas' gold bank are only small steps on the road toward eventually restoring sound currency in the United States. But as the economy continues to deteriorate, notwithstanding the bogus claims of the federal government and the banking cartel styling itself the “Federal Reserve” about an alleged “recovery,” those actions can help point the way for other states looking to restore economic sanity.

The “Fed,” as the central bank is known, has almost destroyed the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar, and the U.S. economy along with it, all to benefit the establishment, the mega-banks, and their cronies. But as states across America are proving right now, that does not have to be the end of the story.

Related articles:

Texas Launches Gold-backed Bank, Challenging Federal Reserve

Tenn. Joins States Considering Alternate Currency Legislation

Texas Contracts to Build Nation’s First State Gold Bullion Depository

Gold and Silver Currency Bills: Will States Nullify the Fed's Money Monopoly?

Arizona Legislature Approves Gold and Silver as Money

Virginia Considers Dollar Collapse, Gold Currency

Oklahoma Affirms Gold and Silver as Legal Tender

Gold, Silver Now Legal Tender in Utah

Fed Manipulations in the Crosshairs

The Federal Reserve: Bankers for the New World Order

Iceland Considers Stripping Power to Create Currency From Banks

Gadhafi’s Gold-money Plan Would Have Devastated Dollar

Alternative Currencies

Greeks Adopt Alternative Currencies as Economy Implodes

CHUCK BALDWIN: HAS AMERICA LOST THE WILL TO SURVIVE?

HAS AMERICA LOST THE WILL TO SURVIVE?
BY CHUCK BALDWIN
SEE: http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin909.htm; 
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

The Barack Obama Justice and Education departments have declared that all public schools be required to institute gender-neutral bathrooms where boys can freely enter girls’ bathrooms and vice versa. Failure to comply threatens federal funding. But putting boys in girls’ bathrooms is NOT where the proclamation stops.

Writing for National Review, David French reports, “You may not have realized it yet, but the Obama administration just destroyed the traditional American public school. Without an act of Congress, without a ruling from the Supreme Court, and without even going through the motions of the regulatory rule-making process, the administration issued a letter drafting every single public educational institution in the country to implement the extreme edge of the sexual revolution.

“The Department of Justice and the Department of Education have declared that they now ‘interpret’ federal law to not only support the fantastical notion that boys can become girls but also to impose new legal requirements that impact every aspect of school life. The administration’s letter sweeps far beyond bathrooms--imposing a new speech code on school employees and even students, opening girls’ showers to boys, requiring schools to allow boys to sleep in girls’ rooms on overnight field trips, requiring boys to room with girls even in single-sex dorms, and putting boys on girls’ sports teams.”

See the report here.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant called the directive “outrageous” and directed his State’s education department to disregard the order. Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick called the order “blackmail” and also said, “This will be the end of public education. People will pull their kids out, homeschooling will explode, private schools will increase.” Both he and Texas Governor Greg Abbott have denounced the proclamation and have promised to fight it. Also saying they would fight the order are governors Asa Hutchinson (Arkansas) and Gary Herbert (Utah).

But for the most part, Republicans have been totally silent. In typical fashion, the GOP is too busy trying to not offend the media. And are we to take it that Democrats really want their sons and daughters going to the bathroom and taking showers with the opposite sex? Of course, Obama’s two daughters attend private schools that will not be affected by this perverse proclamation.

But even more disgusting is the fact that the vast majority of pastors and churches have said absolutely nothing. They are too busy trying to not offend the IRS and trying to figure out how to out-Hollywood Hollywood in order to draw bigger and bigger crowds.

The big question is: are the moms and dads of America's public school children going to stand for this perversity that is going to directly affect their children? Are they really going to sit back and give their sons and daughters over to the government-mandated corruption of the innocence and moral purity of our nation's schoolchildren? Lt. Gov. Patrick predicts the implementation of this order will be the “end of public education.” But will it? Will the parents of America actually resist this blatant attempt to invade not only the bathrooms and showers but also the moral conscience of their children? Or will they passively allow their children to be subjected to this grotesque and overt attempt to destroy their moral conscience?

If this order is allowed to be fully implemented, this nation is toast. In the entire history of the world, no nation has ever survived once it has given itself--and especially its children--over to universal moral corruption. Ever. And giving our children over to moral corruption is exactly what Obama’s proclamation does.

David French also correctly wrote, “First, the very act of teaching biology and human physiology will be hate speech unless it’s modified to conform to the new transgender ‘facts.’ Teachers will have to take great pains to note that chromosomes, reproductive organs, hormonal systems, and any other physical marker of sex is irrelevant to this thing called ‘gender,’ which, ‘factually,’ is a mere state of mind.

“Second, any statements of dissent--from teachers or students--will be treated as both ‘anti-science’ and ‘discriminatory,’ contributing to a ‘hostile environment’ that schools are legally bound to prohibit. This prohibition will go well beyond the use of pronouns and into discussions of what it means to be male and female. The argument that a ‘girl’ with a penis remains a boy will be treated exactly the same as an argument that blacks are inferior to whites or Arabs inferior to Jews.

“Third, public schools will now be even further opposed, doctrinally and legally, to orthodox Christianity. Christian parents who send their children to public schools need to be aware of the new ‘facts.’ They will be taught not only that their churches are factually wrong in their assessments of sex and gender but that they are actually bigoted and hateful--comparable to white supremacists.

“Fourth, the administration’s actions set a key political precedent. Federal funding--long seen as a boon to local schools--is now clearly and unmistakably an instrument of national control. The federal education bureaucracy is stocked with energetic and creative progressives, and last week’s letter represents just one more step in an ongoing effort to turn money into mandates.”

See the report here.

“Turn[ing] money into mandates” seems to be the crux of the issue. In the same way that the federal government threatens to withhold funding from schools that refuse to implement this act of corrupting the morals of our nation's schoolchildren, it threatens (through the IRS-created 501c3 tax-exempt status for churches) to withhold tax exemption from churches that dare to speak out on this or any other “political” issue.

Truly, for the sake of waking our pastors and churches out of their coma and getting them involved again in the fight to preserve the liberties and way of life of our nation, it would be better if churches were NOT tax-exempt at all. Let them start paying taxes and see how quickly and aggressively they would again engage the salient issues of our day. Again, in the same way that the federal government threatens to withhold funding for schools that will not comply, it threatens to withhold tax exemption from churches that speak out against compliance. Which is worse? School leaders and church leaders alike are groveling before the federal government for the scraps from the king’s table.

In addition to the immorality of Obama’s proclamation, constitutional attorneys Bill Olson and Herb Titus filed an amicus brief on May 10 in a Gloucester, Virginia, case that now falls under the Obama proclamation dated three days later. Here is a summary written by Olson and Titus:

“The Obama Administration has done it again. In an effort to strip school children of their modesty and morals, Obama has issued new instructions governing use of rest rooms, locker rooms, and showers in every government-funded school in the country. And, in predictably lawless fashion, Obama has violated not one, but two federal laws. First, he took a 1972 law, Title IX, which was designed to prevent sex discrimination in education, and says that as of today, the word ‘sex’ in the statute does not mean the ‘sex’ you were born with. It means whatever ‘gender’ you feel like on a given day. And, if that was not bad enough, the manner in which the Obama Administration acted was to legislate by letter, not just usurping legislative power, but Obama violating another federal law--the Administrative Procedures Act.

“Purporting to act according to what are known as official ‘good guidance’ practices, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education issued a transgender ‘good guidance’ letter, dated May 13, 2016. Such a ‘good guidance’ letter can only be issued if it does not add requirements to applicable law, but provides information and examples to inform recipients about how the Departments evaluate whether covered agencies are complying with their legal obligations.

“However, like a newly enacted statute or promulgation of a new regulation, the May 13 good guidance letter includes list of new terms, never previously adopted by Congress or the Administration. Not only that, but the letter contains rules governing the interpretation of those new legal terms. For example, the letter defines ‘gender identity’ to be ‘an individual’s internal sense of gender,’ but then forbids the use of any objective standard--such as ‘medical diagnosis or treatment’--to verify any individual claim. One’s gender identity is, thus, established solely by a person’s subjective claim. And that claim can change from day to day.

“Additionally, the good guidance letter indicates that the rules governing ‘sex segregated activities and facilities’ are not the same. As for restroom and locker use, ‘transgender students must have access to such facilities consistent with their gender identity,’ but with respect to ‘athletics,’ gender identity is not the sole determinant of access. That is, for athletics, a boy who feels he should be a ‘transgender girl’ could be excluded from the girls’ basketball team, but not put out of the girls’ locker room.

“None of these examples merely ‘provides information and examples’ of existing regulations--which is all that guidance letters may do lawfully. This letter presents brand new interpretations of the word ‘sex’ and new applications of new terms. And, they are binding.”

See the report here.

I repeat what I said earlier: if this order is allowed to be fully implemented, this nation is toast. In the entire history of the world, no nation has ever survived once it has given itself--and especially its children--over to universal moral corruption. And giving our children over to moral corruption is exactly what Obama’s proclamation does.

William Wilberforce, the famed British statesman who was primarily responsible for ending the slave trade in Great Britain, astutely observed, “It is a truth attested by the history of all ages and countries, and established on the authority of the ablest writers, both ancient and modern . . . that the religion and morality of a country, especially of every free community, are inseparably connected with its preservation and welfare; that their flourishing or declining state is the sure indication of its tending to prosperity or decay. It has even been expressly laid down, that a people grossly corrupt are incapable of liberty.”

Sam Adams, The Father of The American Revolution, rightly said, “Public liberty will not long survive the total extinction of morals.”

This is not a conservative or liberal issue. And at its core, it is not even a religious issue. This is an issue about the most fundamental duty that responsible adults have in a civilized society: the responsibility to safeguard their posterity. Failure at this level would mean that this country no longer has the will or reason to survive.

SOCIALISM: BERNIE SANDERS’ WIFE JANE BANKRUPTS BURLINGTON VERMONT COLLEGE, FORCING ITS CLOSURE

TAKING FROM THE "RICH" 

CAUSES BANKRUPTCY 

SEE: http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/23212-vermont-college-recently-led-by-socialist-sanders-wife-closes-in-financial-turmoil

SEVERANCE PACKAGE

SOCIALISM: BERNIE SANDERS’ WIFE BANKRUPTS COLLEGE, FORCING ITS CLOSURE

Bernie pushes "free college" while his wife bankrupts school

BY KIT DANIELS

SEE: http://www.infowars.com/socialism-bernie-sanders-wife-bankrupts-college-forcing-its-closure/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

Burlington College, which took on heavy debt during the tenure of Bernie Sanders’ wife, is closing down.

The closure of the liberal arts college in Vermont was blamed directly on Jane Sanders, who bankrupted the school as president from 2004 to 2011.

“Founded in 1972 as an informal gathering of students, Burlington College grew into a small, regionally accredited liberal arts college, but financial strain and academic probation created by an ambitious but ill-fated expansion under then-President Jane Sanders onto a new campus on prime waterfront land led to the school’s demise,” the Burlington Free Press reported.

Dean of Operations and Advancement Coralee Holm said it was impossible to pay back the debt from Sanders’ land deal.

“I believe the vision was enrollment would grow, which it did, but not at the level that would have allowed us to manage the financial debt we had incurred,” she said. “So here we are.”

Well, isn’t that hilarious: after Bernie Sanders spends his entire presidential campaign pushing “free college” for everyone by increasing the national debt, his wife bankrupts a college into oblivion through deficit spending.

“When a socialist runs a program, this is what happens when they can no longer steal money from the ‘greedy capitalists’ as they call them,” news commentator E.T. Williams said. “This is what happens when you put socialists in charge, just look at Venezuela.”

“Bernie keeps telling you how wonderful socialism is, but socialism only works if you run it alongside capitalism and steal from capitalists.”

Economics professor William L. Anderson echoed a similar sentiment.

“In Sanders’ world, entrepreneurs are parasites and employers are oppressors who seek to harm their employees, and wealth is defined by how much governments have in their treasuries,” he said. “If I could put the economics of Bernie Sanders into a nutshell, it would be this: Burden private enterprise with one directive after another, and then demonize it when it ultimately falls down under the awful weight of taxes, higher costs, and mandates.”

“While many people believe that instituting the Sanders economic agenda would help turn the USA into another Sweden or Denmark, the more likely outcome would be turning this country into another Venezuela.”

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"Crushing" Debt Forces Closure of College Jane Sanders Used to Head

Published on May 16, 2016

Burlington College, the private liberal arts school formerly led by Jane Sanders, announced Monday that it will be closing its doors by the end of the month due to the “crushing weight of debt” incurred. The current interim president, Carol Moore, said at a press conference Monday the college had recently lost a line of credit. Moore said the loss, combined with heavy debts related to a land purchase made under Sanders’ leadership, left the college with no other option to continue. Under her tenure, the college had purchased a $10 million 33-acre property and began plans to expand its programs.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/claudiakoern...
http://www.wochit.com

TARGET'S CEO IS OFF AMERICA'S RADAR~A LONG RECORD OF SEXUAL ASSAULTS IN THEIR STORES

TARGET'S CEO IS OFF AMERICA'S RADAR
by BRADLEE DEAN
SEE: http://www.newswithviews.com/Bradlee/dean278.htm; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

“And they had the American people believing that they were the victims….”

Have Americans now become so demoralized that they do not even realize the severity of those who are transgressing the law and what it is that they are clearly attempting to promote? (Jeremiah 5:21) They are making our innocent the prey to sexual predators. This is what Target stores are now attracting.

Friends, I have spoken thousands of times, from public high schools to colleges to tea parties, television, and radio across the country. If anyone were to even suggest the things that Target and the President of the United States are attempting to advocate by force, it would not be long before that person was thrown into a prison cell for a long time.

The Obama administration has threatened North Carolina to either accept a “Gender Neutral Bathroom bill” led by a known sodomite pedophile named Chad Severance, or federal funds will be cut from that state. What does that suggest America? Mask off!

In the state of Minnesota, according to Statute 609.342 Subdivision 11, a person in sexual contact with a person under 13 years of age may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 30 years or to a payment of not more than $40,000 or both. How is it that both Target and the Obama administration are advocating that which is clearly illegal? This is not about people using the bathroom. It’s about targeting the innocent.

This should all be called for what it is “The Pedophilia Enabling Act” which is criminal from the beginning to the end.

Michael Swift’s Homosexual Manifesto, which was printed in Gay Community News in February 1987 was also entered into the congressional records. Here’s what he wrote.

“We will unmask the powerful homosexuals who masquerade as heterosexuals. You will be shocked and frightened when you find that your presidents and their sons, your industrialists, your senators, your mayors, your generals, your athletes, your film stars, your television personalities, your civic leaders, your priests are not the safe, familiar, bourgeois, heterosexual figures you assumed them to be. We are everywhere; we have infiltrated your ranks” (Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:24-27).

America, why is it that the Brian Cornell, the CEO for Target, is not being held accountable for the said crimes that have taken place in Target stores across the country with his companies policies? A little common sense comes into play here. Is he not the one that gave a green light for sexual predators to prey on the innocent? That is what is happening.

Speaking of sexual predators in Target stores, check out these criminals who have been caught committing their crimes.

1. Suspect Arrested in Target Sexual Assault of a 11-Year-Old Girl

A Kentucky man has been charged with the sexual assault of an 11- year-old girl at a Target store.

Surveillance camera images of the suspect leading the girl through the store have been broadcast nationally.

Allen D. Coates, 37, of Irvington, Kentucky, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in the downtown area of Louisville, where he is being held at the Metro Corrections Facility…

Allen D. Coates, 37, of Irvington, Kentucky, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in the downtown area of Louisville, where he is being held at the Metro Corrections Facility…

The girl was assaulted July 12 at knife point after she and her mother separated in the store to do individual shopping, authorities say.

Surveillance video from inside the store shows a man wearing a gray, sleeveless T-shirt, baseball cap and shorts roaming the aisles. Just before the sexual assault, he can be seen holding the girl’s hand and leading her through the store.

Comment: Now he’ll be able to loiter outside bathrooms and fitting rooms and wait for 11-year-olds shopping by themselves to answer a call of nature or try on a blouse.

2. Man arrested for store gropes to face multiple sexual assault charges, prosecutor says

A Jefferson man arrested on Friday after police said he followed and then touched a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl in separate incidents could face “multiple” child sexual assault charges, a prosecutor said in court Tuesday…

[T]he officer making the stop for speeding recognized Cooper as the suspect from video that was distributed about the incidents at Target and West Towne Mall…

[T]he girl said that a man approached her and a friend in the shoe section of the Target store, then followed them before he “purposefully” veered into the girl and brushed against her upper thigh and lower buttock area.

Comment: Now let’s imagine that the perpetrator does not have to accost her in the shoe section but can follow her without any questions asked into a bathroom or a fitting room. What father in his right mind is going to allow his teenage daughter to shop at Target ever again?

3. Man with history of molesting women arrested, case may be related to St. Louis County sexual assault

On Tuesday, St. Louis City Police confirmed that they are investigating the sexual assault of a 13-year-old female inside the Target store on Hampton Avenue in south St. Louis Monday night. Police say the suspect walked past the victim, squeezed her buttocks, then walked away. The girl told a relative and police were called. St. Louis Police are not commenting on whether or not their case could be connected to the Alverson or Mehlville cases.

Comment: All this man will have to do now is wait outside a Target bathroom of fitting room until your 13-year-old daughter enters, then follow her right on in.

4. South Bend police looking for men who performed sexual act at Target department store

South Bend police are looking for a man who performed a sexual act Monday afternoon at a Target department store at 1400 E. Ireland Road, according to our news partner ABC57.

A 16-year-old girl was shopping at the department store when a man approached her from behind and performed a sexual act on himself at about 2 p.m., police said. The man got away, and police are still looking for him.

Comment: Now that men can simply follow a 16-year-old into a dressing room, commit the sexual act while the victim is putting her clothes back on, how many more of these incidents are we going to read about?

5. Police Tip Leads to Man Wanted for Touching Young Girls at Target

San Leandro police say they have a person in custody for allegedly assaulting two young girls inside two different stores on Monday night.

Police arrested the suspect, a 20-year-old parking attendant, a couple of hours later at his place of work on the Peninsula.

Investigators are convinced, he is the man shown in the store surveillance videos, first at a Walmart, then at a Target store Monday. It was in those two store where he allegedly groped two young victims within 15 minutes of each other.

“I do know that people in this, from my training and my experience, that these people that have this desire to offend against children, will do so pretty much at all costs,” said McManus.

The suspect has been arrested on two counts of felony lewd and lascivious with a child. Police say he does have a criminal record, but not for any similar offenses.

Comment: If they will offend against young girls “pretty much at all costs,” the last thing they need is for Target to help them by providing private areas where the assaults can occur.

6. Suspect Accused of Sexually Assaulting Girl at Sandy Target Turns Self In

Sandy authorities have arrested the suspect accused of sexually assaulting a girl at a Target store in Sandy.

Sandy Sgt. Dean Carriger said 47-year-old James Scot Fullmer was arrested Wednesday. He turned himself in after he learned police were looking for him. Fullmer is booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on felony forcible sexual abuse charges. Officials said a man approached an underage girl who was shopping with a friend Aug. 7. Sandy officers said the suspect briefly talked to the girl and then sexually assaulted her.

7. Sexual Assault Suspect Arrested at Folsom Target Store

A jogger and Target security officers helped Folsom police track down and arrest a man wanted in connection with sexual battery and an attempted rape Saturday.

Police arrested Timothy Ortiz, 25, at the Target store on Blue Ravine Road after security officers reported he was following women in the store and masturbating.

Comment: Why would a deviant now need to follow women through the store when he can wait for them inside the women’s bathroom or a fitting room where there are no cameras?

8. HANFORD MAN CONFESSES TO HIDING CAMERA IN TARGET STORE RESTROOM, POLICE SAY

Authorities in Hanford say a man has confessed to placing a hidden camera inside a restroom of a local Target store. The suspect was identified as Eugenio Rodriguez, 32, of Hanford.

Hanford police responded to the store on North 12th Avenue on Wednesday after an employee found the camera in the family restroom. They say the camera was concealed with toilet tissue and had a red light illuminating before the employee turned it off. Officers say the camera didn’t record anything but it did stream live video…

A criminal case was sent to the DA’s office charging Rodriguez with using a concealed camera to view a person’s body in a private room.

Comment: You think Target has a problem with video voyeurism now? Just wait until perpetrators have unimpeded access to fitting rooms and restrooms where they can install their hidden cameras in ever more creative and hard to detect ways.

9. Anderson PD: ‘Peeping Tom’ took pics of people in Target bathroom

A Six Mile man accused of taking pictures and video of people using the restroom at Target has been arrested, according to Anderson police.

According to the incident report, police were called to the store on Thursday where one victim said the suspect had a cellphone positioned under the stall to capture video of men at the urinals.

Comment: Now that video voyeurs have the same unrestricted access to your daughter’s restroom and fitting room, you’ll be reading about more incidents just like this. It might be best to keep your daughter out of Target altogether.

10. Man Arrested for Taking Photos of Woman in Target Bathroom

Athens-Clarke County police have arrested a 26-year-old man for being a peeping Tom in the women’s room at a Target.

Police say Luis Mesqueda Hernandez was caught on security cameras sneaking into the women’s bathroom at the store Sunday afternoon and using his cell phone to take photos of a woman. The store’s security officers detained Hernandez until police arrived.

The woman told police she did not notice Hernandez was in the bathroom.

There are more than two dozen such stories like those above that have occurred in Target.

When the American people long to have their country back and start holding the guilty parties accountable to the laws that have been transgressed and violated, then, and only then, will she begin to understand what liberty is all about. Protest is good America, but justice is better (Proverbs 20:8; Isaiah 26:9; Psalm 97; Jeremiah 9:24).

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Top Twenty Sexual Crimes Committed 

at Target Stores

SEE: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/04/26/top-twenty-sexual-crimes-committed-target-stores/