THE CHURCH MILITANT
Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
“The government has long struggled with foreign involvement when it comes to the education of imams who lead Muslim communities across Germany. Now, a new educational association, with start-up funding from Germany’s interior ministry, is set to launch at the University of Osnabrück.”
The German Ministry of Education and Research has already invested $49.5 million USD to finance seven Islamic theology institutes across the country, courtesy of German taxpayers who have nothing better to do with their money.
There are many unanswered questions in this expensive proposition. Who is doing the teaching? If the teachers were taught by foreign influencers, they will simply pass on the same theology. Is Germany also prepared to dismantle all foreign-funded Islamic schools, mosques and Islamic centers that are currently in existence?
In another case of wishful thinking (or political posturing), Angela Merkel said:“These Muslims belong to Germany and in the same way their religion belongs to Germany, that is to say Islam.” But then she added that “the form of Islam practiced must conform to the country’s constitution.”
Germany has served as an example of how not to manage migration. Its leaders have offered no suggestions on how they intend to make sure that Islam conforms to the German constitution. One thing for certain: imams will not take instruction from kaffirs on how to teach Islam.
Germany has irrationally swung its doors open to mass and unvetted Muslim migration, and intends to do more of the same. The country’s migration and assimilation plans have no rhyme or reason to them: Germany has even lost track of a significant number of its asylum seekers. This latest venture “to take charge of imam education locally” is a face-saving gesture to appease the public, which is increasingly dissatisfied with Merkel’s mass migration policies. Germany is lost. Its public schools are already teaching Islam to students. Its future is clear.
“Germany set to take charge of imam education locally,” by Seda Serdar, DW, November 19, 2019:
The government has long struggled with foreign involvement when it comes to the education of imams who lead Muslim communities across Germany. Now, a new educational association, with start-up funding from Germany’s interior ministry, is set to launch at the University of Osnabrück on Thursday.
Even though some Muslim organizations have been training imams for their own communities in Germany, the majority of imams working in the country are affiliated with the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB).
Among Germany’s nearly 4.5 million Muslims, around 3 million are of Turkish origin.
Long awaited financing
It was precisely this influence that moved the German government to take such a bold step, Green party parliamentarian Filiz Polat told DW. It was a measure her party “had long been asking for,” she added.
DITIB is Germany’s largest Islamic umbrella group, with 900 affiliated mosques. Its imams are educated, financed and sent from Turkey….
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
This is a lot closer to happening than most people realize. In October 2009, the Obama administration joined Egypt in supporting a resolution in the UN’s Human Rights Council to recognize exceptions to the freedom of speech for “any negative racial and religious stereotyping” (a highly subjective category). Approved by the U.N. Human Rights Council, the resolution called on states to condemn and criminalize “any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.” Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton affirmed the Obama administration’s support for this on July 15, 2011, when she gave an address on the freedom of speech at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) conference on Combating Religious Intolerance. “Together, she said, “we have begun to overcome the false divide that pits religious sensitivities against freedom of expression and we are pursuing a new approach. These are fundamental freedoms that belong to all people in all places and they are certainly essential to democracy.”
But how could both religious sensitivities and freedom of expression be protected?
Clinton had a First Amendment to deal with, and so in place of legal restrictions on criminalization of Islam, she suggested “old-fashioned techniques of peer pressure and shaming, so that people don’t feel that they have the support to do what we abhor.” She held a lengthy closed-door meeting with OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu in December 2011 to facilitate the adoption of measures that would advance the OIC’s anti-free speech campaign. But what agreements she and Ihsanoglu made, if any, have never been disclosed. Still, the specter of an American secretary of State conferring with a foreign official about how to restrict the freedom of speech in order to stifle communications deemed offensive to Muslims was, at the very least, chilling.
Nor was that a singular case. In July 2012, Thomas Perez — then the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, was asked by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ):
Will you tell us here today that this administration’s Department of Justice will never entertain or advance a proposal that criminalizes speech against any religion?
Perez could have simply answered yes, and maybe even cited the First Amendment. Instead, Perez refused to answer the question directly. Franks persisted, ultimately asking it four times. Perez at one point responded that it was a “hard question.” He simply refused to affirm that the Obama Justice Department would not attempt to criminalize criticism of Islam.
This is today’s Democratic Party. If a Democrat wins the presidency in 2020 or thereafter, will that President advance the Left’s assault on the freedom of speech and move to implement Sharia restrictions on criticism of Islam in the United States? You can bet on it. In that eventuality, I hope some of y’all will visit me in prison.
“OIC chief demands international law to criminalize Islamophobia,” by Mohammed al-Kinani, Arab News, November 21, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
JEDDAH: Muslim leaders on Thursday demanded the introduction of an international law to criminalize all acts of Islamophobia.
Announcing plans for the celebration of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) 50th anniversary in Jeddah on Monday, its secretary-general called for a global crackdown on individuals or groups responsible for “insulting religions or prophets.”
Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen told Arab News: “There are laws against anti-Semitism and racism. So, we request a law against mocking religions.”
In a report released by the OIC, he said that modernization and the Internet revolution had turned the world into a “global village” where religions and cultures should coexist, and races and nations must live side by side as neighbors.
“Islamophobia is a sentiment of excessive fear against Islam that is transformed into acts of intolerance and discriminations against Muslims and even violent crimes against people with Islamic attires.”…
On Islamophobia, Al-Othaimeen said that the behaviors of some Muslims who did not truly represent Islam, had brought prejudice to the surface….
“These issues are of great importance, to be worked on in collaboration not only with governments, but also with people and non-profit organizations, to prove to everyone that Islam is the voice of mercy, moderation and coexistence with Muslims and non-Muslims,” he added.
VITAGLIANO: “It is appalling that a once-Christian organization like the YMCA has now become so morally bankrupt that it has adopted such a misguided policy," Ed Vitagliano, executive vice president for theAmerican Family Association, told LifeSiteNews. "It is clear not only from the Bible but nature itself that there are only two genders – male and female. The secularist rush to discard the binary nature of humanity is proof that the lunatics are in charge of the asylum."
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Let’s look at the numbers. Across the country, there are approximately 950,000 children and teens enrolled in YMCA summer camps. There are ten times that many U.S. adults—9 million—who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
These statistics may suggest that at least one child enrolled in any given summer camp has a relative or primary caregiver who identifies as LGBTQ. And perhaps, at least one youth enrolled in your community’s summer camp currently identifies—or in the future may identify—as LGBTQ.
Sobering research Opens a new window reveals 30% of LGBTQ youths have attempted suicide, with LGBTQ youth being nearly five times more likely to have attempted suicide in comparison to heterosexual youth.
So how can youth development professionals create a safe and welcoming environment for all children and teens? And how can we better equip staff to be both curious and knowledgeable about all communities, including LGBTQ communities?
Recognize that every child is unique in their self-identities, across all dimensions of diversity. No two people are the same. Our perspectives and experiences are influenced by how we identify—and we are ever-changing as we age, grow and develop. This is especially true for children. Take time to get to know each child’s unique self-identities. Include LGBTQ youth in the conversation and ask what will help them to feel safe and included.
Be an ally. Support and celebrate openly LGBTQ staff, youth and families.
Work to confound gender-based assumptions regarding toys, activities and attire. Use gender-neutral language and invite all children to participate in all activities. Avoid assuming that boys prefer to play sports and girls prefer to make arts-and-crafts.
Ensure all campers and staff have access to the facilities aligned with their gender identity and comfort within facility and resource limitations.
Provide training opportunities to foster education, awareness and knowledge-building related to LGBTQ communities and best practices for inclusion.
Use gender-neutral (or self-identified) pronouns when referencing guardians/parents, partners, families and significant others. When creating registration forms, camper communications and other messaging, consider that not every camper is raised in the same type of home. Being sensitive to language and aiming to respect the way individuals self-identify is a critical step to becoming an inclusive camp.
Lift up stories of LGBTQ inclusion in trainings, marketing and camp activities. Do your camp marketing or training materials include people from all walks of life, including same-sex couples, families and transgender individuals?
Celebrate Pride Month! June is the official month, but pride can be celebrated year-round! Communicate early and often that your camp is a safe space for LGBTQ youth, families and communities.
Build partnerships with local organizations that serve the LGBTQ community, such as houses of worship, health care centers and educational institutions. These relationships may provide support beyond the scope of Y services and also help your staff become more educated and welcoming over time.
At the Y, we believe that in a diverse world, we are stronger when we are inclusive and our doors are open to all—this includes LGBTQ identified individuals and communities.
-nov-20; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research
purposes:
The Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed annually on November 20 to honor the people killed by anti-transgender violence and celebrate the community members who are still with us. The Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) and Austin Black Pride will be holding this year’s ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 20, from 7-9pm in the TownLake YMCA gymnasium, followed by a mixer and a community conversation.
"This event is meant to take a moment and acknowledge those that we have lost throughout the year, while also uplifting and celebrating the members of the community that are with us today," said Sheldon Darnell, Co-Founder/President of Austin Black Pride, and Rocky Lane, Board President of TENT, in a shared statement. "While we know one evening is not going to bring about an end to senseless violence it's still important to create a space for us to not only mourn, but to show our resilience both collectively and individually."
For the YMCA, opening our doors for the Trans Day of Remembrance is an opportunity to show support for trans Y members and staff and their families, as well as welcome new people and the wider community into our space, said Rev. Erin Walter, TownLake YMCA Community Engagement Director.
“Trans members, staff, and community members have long been a vital part of the YMCA,” Rev. Walter said. “We hope this gathering helps show trans youth that they are welcome here, underscore to trans elders that they are seen and valued members of our Y programs, and show the whole community that the Y is for all.”
The Transgender Day of Remembrance is both a solemn time – mourning the loss of trans people who have been killed, most of whom are black trans women – and a time to come together in support, celebration, and community care.
“The Day of Remembrance was, historically, the only place in Austin that trans folks regularly gathered,” said Katy Koonce, a longtime YMCA member, nonbinary activist, musician and psychotherapist who predominantly serves the trans community. “There was fear, and there was shame in the early years, and it was a hard sell. But the turnout in the last 10 years or so and the crucial involvement of people of color has been a leap forward.”
Nearby offsite event parking is available west of the facility, contributed by Y neighbors Austin High, Austin Pets Alive, and West Austin Youth Association (WAYA), so that Y members are still able to park in the TownLake lot for general facility use. Basketball players are invited to try the courts at the Southwest YMCA during this time.
YMCA of Austin board member Danielle Skidmore, an engineer, parent, and longtime Y member, said: “As a YMCA board member and a member of the transgender community, when my friends at the Transgender Education Network of Texas told me that the TownLake YMCA was going to host the 2019 TDOR, it made me so happy and proud to be part of both communities.”
In the long run, supporters hope increased visibility for the Transgender Day of Remembrance will lead to decreased transphobia and anti-trans violence, saving the lives of some of the most marginalized members of our community.
For more information, Spanish language information, or to register for the 2019 Transgender Day of Remembrance, see the Facebook event.
In a scenario that’s becoming increasingly common, when a YMCA parent complained that a male teenager was changing in the women's lockers, Y staff learned that the boy was a self-declared "transgender" person and defended the boy's use of the girls' showers.
Malone assured Chicagoland residents that despite its policy to allow the opposite sex in bathrooms, Y members are safe because "the expanded inclusion policy doesn’t give anyone a new opportunity to behave inappropriately."
The controversial policy, which affects all Y programs, including children’s camps and gym and pool facilities, applies to 21 Chicago area YMCAs, serving 140,000 people. It is not known whether Chicago's smaller, independent YMCAs will follow suit.
George Williams, a 22 year-old department store worker, gathered 11 friends to organize the first YMCA in 1844 as a refuge of Bible study and prayer for young men living on the dangerous streets of London. Its mission for more than 170 years has been to "put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all."
“It is appalling that a once-Christian organization like the YMCA has now become so morally bankrupt that it has adopted such a misguided policy," Ed Vitagliano, executive vice president for the American Family Association, told LifeSiteNews. "It is clear not only from the Bible but nature itself that there are only two genders – male and female. The secularist rush to discard the binary nature of humanity is proof that the lunatics are in charge of the asylum."
American Values President Gary Bauer said he blames a recent spate of bathroom attacks on the Obama Administration. "The tragedy of political correctness when it comes to the Obama Administration's attempts to force changes across the country will be experienced by the weakest among us," Bauer told LifeSiteNews. "Already, we are hearing stories of abuse in bathrooms, as women and children are alone in closed locations with those who have the potential to hurt them."
Bauer concluded, "Common sense protections need to stay in place, so that the primary goal of public safety is not lost to the social engineering goals of those who do not care who is hurt by their policies."
Vitagliano added, "Christians should certainly be compassionate towards those who are confused or otherwise struggling over their sexual or gender identity, but other people have rights too. For example, many parents and many young people prefer that someone born male not be allowed to undress around girls. Why don’t those feelings count?”
The Chicago Tribune reports that YMCA policy is to address members by the name and pronoun they choose, "regardless of any sex listed on identification." Y staff are being trained by LGBTQ "experts."
In 2015, Pierce and Kitsap counties near Seattle adopted policies allowing members to choose whatever shower or changing room they wish, "no questions asked," but after receiving 1,000 complaints, slightly modified the policy to apply only to adult YMCAs.
Jill explained that giving access to children in intimate private facilities increases the chance of sexual abuse. She also pointed out that the policy makes adults uncomfortable, too.
“Seeing a naked man in my locker room is sexual harassment for me,” Jill said. “That’s the way I feel about it.”
Michelle Larue, senior vice president of marketing with the Pierce and Kitsap YMCA, told KTTH that people who feel uncomfortable showering and changing clothes alongside the opposite sex may use one of the YMCA’s private rooms. But that is exactly the policy that transgenders have sued school districts over, claiming that "separate but equal" facilities are unconstitutional and discriminatory.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
A mom at a suburban YMCA recently reported to employees that she was unnerved to find a teenager who appeared to be male using the women's locker room.
But YMCA staff later learned the teen was transgender and determined the youth had every right to access the women's facilities.
"From (the mother's) perspective, there was a man in the locker room," said Rae Ulrich, senior vice president of marketing for the YMCA of Metro Chicago. "But there wasn't. There was a transgender individual in the locker room."
This situation and a few similar scenarios have spurred the YMCA to craft guidelines for accommodating transgender members and guests, which include allowing them access to restrooms and changing areas that match their gender identity.
The protocol was explained in a letter posted Wednesday on the organization's website. The YMCA of Metro Chicago said it also sent the letter to its 140,000 members at its 21 Chicagoland centers. The guidelines will cover all YMCA of Metro Chicago programs and services, from gym and pool facilities to summer camps and various classes. The policies wouldn't apply to some smaller, independent YMCA's in the Chicago area.
"We recognize our commitment in support of the rights of all individuals can cause some to feel uncomfortable," says the letter, signed by Dick Malone, president and CEO of the YMCA of Metro Chicago. "Again, it's our goal for all members to thrive at the Y, and this is why we will do our best to support each of you while maintaining an environment that reflects the inclusive values we share."
Any patron — regardless of gender identity — can opt to use a single-stall or private area when available. YMCA officials say they're also working to add private spaces to all locations.
The YMCA's new guidelines come amid a fervent national debate on transgender rights, particularly over access to public bathrooms and locker rooms.
The U.S. Department of Justice and North Carolina filed clashing lawsuits in May over a new state law requiring everyone use public restrooms and changing areas that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate, which the governor there has called a common-sense privacy policy. The federal agency has said that law violates the Civil Rights Act.
A few days later, the Obama administration issued a directive that all public schools treat transgender students in a manner that correlates with their gender identity, regardless of the sex indicated on their education records or identification. Nearly two dozen states have sued the federal government over that directive.
Locally, a landmark case continues in northwest suburban Palatine after the U.S. Department of Education found Township High School District 211 violated Title IX when a transgender student wasn't permitted to use the girls locker room. The district then gave her access to the locker room, while also installing privacy stalls, but a group of parents and students in May filed a federal lawsuit against the Education Department and school district, arguing it created an intimidating and hostile environment for other students.
With dueling laws and lawsuits in the news, YMCA officials said some members had inquired about their organization's stance on transgender access to public facilities.
Employees are directed to refer to patrons by the name and pronoun they desire, regardless of any sex listed on identification. Staff members are being trained on best practices with the help of experts from the LGBTQ nonprofit Center on Halsted and the Gender and Sex Development Program at Lurie Children's Hospital.
When asked about the guidelines, people at the Elmhurst YMCA on Wednesday night had mixed reactions.
Greg Vanderlaan, 66, who said he has been a member since the mid-1980s, called the guidelines a "big mistake."
"Locker room access should be based on physiology," he said.
"How do you explain this to very young children?" said Joe Idaszak, 84, who also said he's gone to the YMCA for three decades.
But 23-year-old Jake Walters said it didn't really have an impact on him.
"It's kind of a topic people are talking about," he said. "It doesn't surprise me. It doesn't bother me."
The battleground for transgender rights has included other nationwide gyms and fitness centers.
A Michigan woman filed a lawsuit against Planet Fitness in 2015 when the national chain revoked her membership alleging she repeatedly complained about a transgender woman in the women's changing area; the gym has said its patrons are allowed to use the public facilities of their choice based on "sincere self-reported gender identity." A trial court judge dismissed the case in January, but the plaintiff appealed.
A YMCA in the Tacoma, Wash., area in April 2015 created a policy that allowed transgender patrons to use public facilities matching their gender identity but didn't communicate this to the general membership, and backlash ensued when the news spread unofficially, according to The News Tribune in Tacoma. The YMCA then revised its policy to allow transgender patrons this kind of access only at adult facilities but not at family facilities, which LGBT advocates decried as discriminatory. By the end of 2015, that YMCA returned to its original policy of allowing bathroom and locker room use based on gender identity.
The YMCA — the Young Men's Christian Association — was founded in London in 1844, and the organization's goal was "the spiritual and mental improvement of young men by any means in accordance with the Scriptures," according to the nonprofit's website. The YMCA is not affiliated with the YWCA. Each organization has its own rules and leadership.
The YMCA of Metro Chicago formed in 1858.
"The YMCA is at the heart and soul of growing up in Chicago," the website says, "and will be so for years to come."
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
The Coca-Cola company recently debuted a bizarre advertisement in Argentina for its popular soft drink Sprite that completely ignores any pitch for the product itself and instead celebrates the LGBTQ agenda with a full 90-seconds of capering, cross-dressing males, “transgender” females trying to be boys, and other confused young people all dressing up to congregate at a local “gay pride” event.
As described in an article by BizPacReview.com, in one scene of the visually disturbing ad, “a girl helps her friend put on a binder, or an article of clothing commonly used by LGBTQ members to flatten their chests to present as male. In another, an older woman is seen helping a drag queen lace-up his corset. Yet another depicts two young children painting a heart onto a rainbow flag, the symbol of LGBTQ pride.”
Continues the BizPac piece: “These scenes play back-to-back with seemingly no context. In fact, the Sprite logo doesn’t even appear until the very last scene, leaving viewers wondering exactly what they’re seeing and why. More importantly, how does this tie in with carbonated beverages?
Among those sounding off about the over-the-top ad were PJMedia.com columnist Megan Fox, who noted that every June major corporations dutifully climb on the LGBTQ bandwagon to show their support for the annual gay “pride” month. “But the choice to release this commercial in November, several months after Pride Month, is one more signal that the Transgender Mafia is stepping up their game and you will not be getting a reprieve for the rest of the year,” warned Fox. “It’s not enough to inundate people with transgender propaganda in the month of June. We must be subjected to it every single day of the year until we all conform and celebrate mental disorders.”
Similarly, the “Activist Mommy” blogger noted that a common strategy of companies that push the LGBTQ agenda “is to use emotional advertising like [the Sprite ad] to make those who are LGBT-identifying feel good about their lifestyle while simultaneously making those who disagree with the LGBT lifestyle appear to be cold-hearted, un-compassionate, and hateful. This is an artificial juxtaposition contrived to bring divide and further polarize the opposing sides of the culture war.”
She concluded her analysis by suggesting that it may be high time for individuals and families who embrace traditional, common-sense values to stop supporting companies and brands that denigrate those values. “So ask yourself,” wrote the Activist Mommy, “Do you want to continue to support companies who subtly render you ‘hateful’ just for opposing the dangerous and harmful LGBT lifestyle?”
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Celebrate diversity! Diversity is our strength! ‘Tis the season to cower in fear because of the consequences of Merkel’s immigration policies, which you’re “racist” if you oppose!
“Germany: Concrete Christmas trees shields market from Muslim attacks,” Searchlight Germany, November 16, 2019:
With the holiday season just six weeks away, special security barriers made of concrete appeared at Essen’s Christmas market. A visit to the bustling square on Friday showed the green Christmas tree-shaped blocks deployed to protect the stalls from terrorist attacks. The blocks, 1.8m high and weighing around three tonnes, were installed at the markets’ entrance which faces the city main station. Security around Christmas markets has been tightened ever since the attack on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz event in 2016, which claimed the lives of 12 people.
"Now the fig leaf is gone and the reality is that the Chick-fil-A Foundation is just another corporate leftist charity that lavishes cash on organizations linked to local Democrats and assorted diversity causes. Without the fig leaf, the Chick-fil-A Foundation is no different than the other corporate charities run by their own equivalents of Bullard, men and women who had spent enough time in government to get a useless job in the corporate world, and its abandonment of Christian conservatives was an inevitability."
“To save its own corporate skin, Chick-fil-A has thrown good, biblical, organizations under the bus and legitimized the false narrative of the LGBT activists.”
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.
Chick-fil-A’s announcement that it was dumping the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which have come under attack by gay activist groups, caught Christian fans of the fast food chain by surprise. It shouldn’t have if they had been paying attention to CFA’s corporate structure.
The donations were coming out of the Chick-fil-A Foundation. The Executive Director of the CFA Foundation is Rodney D. Bullard, a former White House fellow and Assistant US Attorney. Some may have mistaken him for a conservative because he was a fellow in the Bush Administration, but he was an Obama donor, and, more recently, had donated to Hillary Clinton’s campaign while at Chick-fil-A.
Like many corporations, Chick-fil-A branded its charitable giving as a form of social responsibility. Bullard became its Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility. Unlike charity, corporate social responsibility is a leftist endeavor to transform corporations into the political arms of radical causes. Like other formerly conservative corporations, Chick-fil-A had made the fundamental error of adopting the language and the infrastructure of its leftist peers. And that made what happened entirely inevitable.
In an interview with Business Insider earlier this year, Bullard emphasized that the Chick-fil-A Foundation had a "higher calling than any political or cultural war." The foundation boss was preparing the way for the shakeup that was coming in the fall. Even while he claimed that the CFA Foundation had a higher calling than a political or cultural war, he was preparing to accommodate the Left’s cultural war.
Bullard would have been seen as a safe bet. The CFA Foundation and the Christian groups it supported were so entangled that Bullard serves on the Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board and was on the National Board of Trustees of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. But Bullard’s vision was not that of charity, but of corporate social responsibility. And the two things are fundamentally different.
Charity helps people. Corporate social responsibility is virtue signaling by capitalists to anti-capitalists. Unlike charity, corporate social responsibility isn’t about helping people, but ticking off ideological and identity politics boxes like diversity and the environment. If people accidentally get helped in the process of helping a corporation signal its membership in the politically correct creed, that can’t be helped.
The Chick-fil-A Foundation will go on funding leftist groups like Atlanta's Westside Future Fund. The Westside Future Fund is a project of the Atlanta Committee for Progress together with former Mayor Kasim Reed. It will just opt out of funding Christian groups whose views offend anyone on the Left.
The $1.7 million that the Westside Future Fund shoveled in last year from the CFA Foundation vastly outpaces the mere $115,000 that the Salvation Army got for its Angel Tree program to provide gifts for poor children during the holidays. But even that low end six figure donation was too much and the gifts had to be snatched away from the kids by leftist pressure groups and identity politics protesters.
Sorry kids, our politics are more important than your presents.
A less publicized donation of $100,000 went to Sustainable Atlanta. That could have bought a lot of gifts. There was also a $10,000 donation to Saris to Suits whose mission is to "advance women's empowerment, education, gender equality, and social justice."
There’s money for social justice, but not for the Salvation Army.
There was $25,000 for UNICEF and $75,000 for the Andrew Young Foundation. That last one isn’t a surprise. Carter’s radical UN ambassador sits on the CFA Foundation’s advisory board. $20,000 went to the Latino Leaders Network, another $20,000 to the Harvard Debate Diversity Network, $45,000 to the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and $5,000 was allotted to Friends of Refugees.
The latter boasts of resettling the sort of refugees who would demand that Chick-fil-A go Halal.
There’s money for Muslim refugees, but not for the Salvation Army.
And that’s the tip of the iceberg. “Diversity”, “equity”, and “social justice” are typical buzzwords associated with many of the organizations that the Chick-fil-A Foundation had been funding. And that’s typical of corporate social responsibility ventures which are all about pictures of smiling poor children cradling green plants accompanied by women in hijabs. There’s nothing unusual about that.
But most conservatives thought, without investigating, that Chick-fil-A was different. It wasn’t another corporate social behemoth. It didn’t answer to shareholders and stakeholders. It had a biblical vision. And, it was under fire for donating to Christian groups. But even when the CFA Foundation donated to Christian organizations, it was also pouring a lot of money into conventional social justice causes.
The controversy and arguments over the donations to organizations like the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes conveniently distracted from where a lot of the money was going.
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes had received a mere $25,000 last year. Far less than the funds that poured into Andrew Young’s non-profit empire. A fig leaf.
Now the fig leaf is gone and the reality is that the Chick-fil-A Foundation is just another corporate leftist charity that lavishes cash on organizations linked to local Democrats and assorted diversity causes.
Without the fig leaf, the Chick-fil-A Foundation is no different than the other corporate charities run by their own equivalents of Bullard, men and women who had spent enough time in government to get a useless job in the corporate world, and its abandonment of Christian conservatives was an inevitability.
And the question is what will the Christians who made Chick-fil-A boom do now?
They can either fight to hold Chick-fil-A accountable or shrug and accept another loss. Most of the country’s major brands are pipelines of cash that lead directly to leftist causes. Hardly any of the money that conservatives spend on products and services every day ends up going to conservative causes.
Major brands hammer the air with ad campaigns that directly attack the values and rights of ordinary Americans. And, most Americans, including conservatives, keep on buying from the same huge conglomerates like Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Diageo (Johnny Walker), RBI (Burger King and Popeyes), General Mills, and from retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon, despite their leftist politics.
Chick-fil-A was supposed to be different. If there’s any company that conservatives can hold accountable, this is it. And if they can’t hold Chick-fil-A accountable, then what’s left?
Accountability doesn’t just begin with restoring donations to worthy charities like the Salvation Army, but a serious reevaluation of the Chick-fil-A Foundation’s leadership and its overall charitable priorities.
If Chick-fil-A wants to be in the business of corporate social responsibility, rather than charity, it will over time become increasingly hostile to the very customers who made it successful. Corporate social responsibility will take it down the same dark road of virtue signaling and political correctness.
Then, before you know it, there will be a Chick-fil-A ad campaign about toxic masculinity.
And then the legacy of its founder will be as thoroughly lost as the legacies of the founders of so many other great American companies whose modern incarnations slavishly serve anti-American causes.
That would be a tragedy. This is a test of whether that tragedy is truly inevitable.
It’s also a warning. If conservatives had paid closer attention to the Chick-fil-A Foundation’s leadership, Bullard’s $1,000 donation to Hillary Clinton in 2016 would have provided a warning of what was coming.
Organizations don’t trend rightward. They trend leftward. Any organization that isn’t closely watched will go the way of the Chick-fil-A Foundation. If this can happen at Chick-fil-A, it can happen anywhere.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
ATLANTA —The popular fast food chain Chick-fil-A has been touting the work of a pro-homosexual organization since May of this year — long before the recent outcry over its plan to halt donations to the Salvation Army, which also boasts of its service to homosexuals, and in 2017, actually cancelled a contract with another Christian charity due to its anti-inclusive views. The chicken giant continues its established path to affirm pro-homosexual nonprofits despite telling Christians that it has not caved to the pressure of the “LGBT” agenda.
In its press release on Monday, the Chick-fil-A Foundation outlined that it would be “expanding [its] partnership” with Covenant House International in its desire to continue to address youth homelessness. The organization had been one of the recipients of Chick-fil-A’s 2019 True Inspiration Awards, which honors the legacy of founder S. Truett Cathy and recognizes the work of nonprofits that the restaurant chain applauds.
In May, the Chick-fil-A Foundation posted an update on how two organizations it supports financially — Atlanta Mission and Covenant House International — were “making an impact in the area of youth homelessness.” It noted that many young people who age out of the foster care system or the juvenile justice system become homeless.
“Still others find themselves without a home after coming out to their parents or caregivers,” Chick-fil-A wrote. “A 2017 Chapin Hall report found that LGBTQ youth disproportionately experience homelessness. In fact, LGBTQ young adults had a 120% higher risk of reporting homelessness, even though they make up just five to 10 percent of the overall youth population.”
In providing various details on the work of Covenant House International, the Chick-fil-A Foundation specifically noted that Covenant House California works with the True Colors Fund, which addresses homelessness among homosexual youth and works to make partner organizations more “LGBT-inclusive and affirming.”
True Colors Fund was co-founded by secular rocker Cyndi Lauper and her agent Jonny Podell, and states on its website, “We believe in a world where every LGBTQ young person, wherever they live, is celebrated for being their authentic selves.”
“In California, Covenant House California — also a 2019 True Inspiration Award winner — is partnering with the True Colors Fund and enhancing its services to LGBTQ youth,” Chick-fil-A noted in its writeup. “The True Colors Inclusion Assessment was designed to help agencies implement best practices to welcome and serve LGBTQ youth. Based on the assessment outcome, the True Colors United team guides the agency through the necessary steps to create a more LGBTQ-inclusive and affirming program and environment.”
Rodney Bullard, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility at Chick-fil-A, Inc., and executive director of the Chick-fil-A Foundation, then remarked in a statement, “We’re proud to work alongside Atlanta Mission, Covenant House International, Covenant House California and many other organizations that are working to understand and address the root cause of youth homelessness.”
Covenant House International has a page on its website dedicated to “LGBT Youth and Homelessness,” which outlines its works both nationally and internationally to “ensure that our houses are welcoming, affirming, and safe for LGBTQ youth.”
Covenant House at NYC Pride parade. Click to enlarge.
According to the Chick-fil-A Foundation, in 2018, “Covenant House received $225,000 in support of national and local programs (in California and Georgia) that support youth facing homelessness” and “The Chick-fil-A Foundation has since committed to a significant partnership with Covenant House in 2020.”
As previously reported, in March, Think Progress reported that Chick-fil-A had advised the outlet that “[i]n 2017, a decision was made by the Chick-fil-A Foundation to no longer donate to the [Paul Anderson Youth Home] after a blog post from 2010 surfaced that does not meet Chick-fil-A’s commitment to creating a welcoming environment to all.”
Click to enlarge.
On Monday, controversy began stirring over whether or not Chick-fil-A had caved to complaints and resistance from homosexual advocacy groups after reports revealed that the company had discontinued donations to The Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Comments from Chick-fil-A President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Tassopoulos, as quoted by Bisnow, implied that the matter at least had some degree of influence in the decision.
“There’s no question we know that, as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are,” Chick-fil-A President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Tassopoulos was also quoted as stating. “There are lots of articles and newscasts about Chick-fil-A, and we thought we needed to be clear about our message.”
Tassapoulous serves on the advisory board of the Atlanta Area Council for the Boy Scouts of America.
As a result of the report, the Salvation Army released its own statement asserting that the charity was being mischaracterized in terms of its relationship to those who identify as homosexual. The organization, founded by evangelist William Booth in 1865, contended that it provides more assistance to homosexuals in poverty than any other charity.
“We’re saddened to learn that a corporate partner has felt it necessary to divert funding to other hunger, education and homelessness organizations — areas in which The Salvation Army, as the largest social services provider in the world, is already fully committed,” the organization wrote. “We serve more than 23 million individuals a year, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. In fact, we believe we are the largest provider of poverty relief to the LGBTQ+ population.”
“When misinformation is perpetuated without fact, our ability to serve those in need, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or any other factor, is at risk,” it continued. “We urge the public to seek the truth before rushing to ill-informed judgment and greatly appreciate those partners and donors who ensure that anyone who needs our help feels safe and comfortable to come through our doors.”
The organization also linked to a page on its website that is dedicated to information about its efforts surrounding those who identify as homosexual or transgender.
“Almost one-third of transgender people have been rejected from an emergency shelter. The Salvation Army created a dorm in Las Vegas to offer safety and shelter to this group, which is statistically more vulnerable to assault,” it reads.
“LGBTQ Americans are more likely to be poor. Many face disproportionate job and housing insecurity due to discrimination. Your donation could mean rental and utilities assistance,” the page also outlines.
However, the Christian Post released an article the same day with the headline “Chick-fil-A denies capitulating to LGBT activists; Christian groups won’t be excluded from donations.”
“Beginning in 2020, the Chick-fil-A Foundation will introduce a more focused giving approach, donating to a smaller number of organizations working exclusively in the areas of hunger, homelessness and education,” the company told the site. “We have also proactively disclosed our 2018 tax filing and a preview of 2019 gifts to date on chick-fil-afoundation.org. The intent of charitable giving from the Chick-fil-A Foundation is to nourish the potential in every child.”
“Our goal is to donate to the most effective organizations in the areas of education, homelessness and hunger. No organization will be excluded from future consideration — faith-based or non-faith based,” it added.
On Tuesday, Franklin Graham took to social media to outline that he personally called Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy, who contended that the company had not changed because of pressure from homosexual advocates.
“I picked up the phone and called Dan Cathy. Dan was very clear that they have not bowed down to anyone’s demands, including the LGBTQ community,” he wrote.
“They will continue to support whoever they want to support. They haven’t changed who they are or what they believe. Chick-fil-A remains committed to Christian values. Dan Cathy assured me that this isn’t going to change. I hope all those who jumped to the wrong conclusion about them read this.”
“Franklin, you have done a huge disservice by not doing more investigation into Chick-fil-A’s betrayal and capitulation to the LGBT agenda. While Dan Cathy may say the company has the same values, the company’s statements and actions tell a different story,” he wrote.
Staver noted that, as stated, Chick-fil-A dropped the Paul Anderson Youth Home several years ago, and that Covenant House International is active in its homosexual advocacy.
“Covenant House also proudly supports the New York City Gay Pride parade with its own float, banners, t-shirts, and hashtag #CovUnity. Covenant House is recognized as a national funder of LGBTQ causes,” he outlined. “And Covenant House does not stop at LGBTQ activism; it also takes girls to abortion clinics.”
“To save its own corporate skin, Chick-fil-A has thrown good, biblical, organizations under the bus and legitimized the false narrative of the LGBT activists.”
As previously reported, Chick-fil-A has repeatedly stated since the original controversy in 2012 that the company intends to “leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”
RAINBOW MAFIA SAYS NOT ENOUGH: GAY RIGHTS GROUP DEMANDS MORE FROM PERSECUTED CHRISTIAN CHICK-FIL-A RESTAURANT~MEDIA MOSTLY OVERLOOKS SALVATION ARMY'S LONG STANDING PRO-LGBTQ & PRO-ABORTION POLICIES
